I posted a thread last night looking for some help on a possible jazz bass purchase. http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=952542&referrerid=105494
After a 5 hour round trip this afternoon to a small town I brought it home. I realize there are some things about this bass that are not 100% original but I really like it and it plays and sounds great. It came with its original case and ashtray. The seller owned it since the mid 80's and hasn't done anything to it. All the wear and tear was prior to his ownership. He was a great enthusiast and was happy to talk bass for a couple of hours and show me his collection. Perhaps I paid too much or too little I don't really know for sure. It doesn't much matter at this point.
I have no idea if this started life yellow or was Olympic white at one time (matching headstock). You can certainly see white underneath the yellow where it wore off. Perhaps this was a primer. Did Fender even use primers? It also is yellowed under the guard and where the ashtray was. The buckle rash on the back is fairly severe. It more than just took the finish off. Apparently it has had a refret at one time too. Interestingly enough I found another picture earlier today of a very similar jazz bass with the yellowed finish, black pickguard and top mounted thumb rest which is supposed to be a 70's things. The owner says there are no screw holes under the guard for a lower thumb rest. Very odd.
I plugged it in. Its a little mellower than I thought it would be. It was wearing GHS Boomers of unknown vintage (I didn't ask) but it sounded great. A couple of the interesting things I noticed is that the tone is great even when the tone knob is rolled all the way off. With my newer Fenders I can't say this. It is very honest sounding which is perhaps just another way of saying it sounds like an old jazz should.
Once I got it home I did play it back to back with my 64 AVRI with Fralins. The 64 is quite a bit louder and still sounds good. They are just slightly different animals. I wonder if this whole pickup output thing is misunderstood.
I have often wondered if these old vintage Fenders were worth the money, time and trouble or if perhaps the new stuff was at least as good. All I can say is that I am quite happy with it! If anybody has any thoughts on the original color I would certainly like to hear them.
After a 5 hour round trip this afternoon to a small town I brought it home. I realize there are some things about this bass that are not 100% original but I really like it and it plays and sounds great. It came with its original case and ashtray. The seller owned it since the mid 80's and hasn't done anything to it. All the wear and tear was prior to his ownership. He was a great enthusiast and was happy to talk bass for a couple of hours and show me his collection. Perhaps I paid too much or too little I don't really know for sure. It doesn't much matter at this point.
I have no idea if this started life yellow or was Olympic white at one time (matching headstock). You can certainly see white underneath the yellow where it wore off. Perhaps this was a primer. Did Fender even use primers? It also is yellowed under the guard and where the ashtray was. The buckle rash on the back is fairly severe. It more than just took the finish off. Apparently it has had a refret at one time too. Interestingly enough I found another picture earlier today of a very similar jazz bass with the yellowed finish, black pickguard and top mounted thumb rest which is supposed to be a 70's things. The owner says there are no screw holes under the guard for a lower thumb rest. Very odd.
I plugged it in. Its a little mellower than I thought it would be. It was wearing GHS Boomers of unknown vintage (I didn't ask) but it sounded great. A couple of the interesting things I noticed is that the tone is great even when the tone knob is rolled all the way off. With my newer Fenders I can't say this. It is very honest sounding which is perhaps just another way of saying it sounds like an old jazz should.
Once I got it home I did play it back to back with my 64 AVRI with Fralins. The 64 is quite a bit louder and still sounds good. They are just slightly different animals. I wonder if this whole pickup output thing is misunderstood.I have often wondered if these old vintage Fenders were worth the money, time and trouble or if perhaps the new stuff was at least as good. All I can say is that I am quite happy with it! If anybody has any thoughts on the original color I would certainly like to hear them.
Its on Ebay this week.
