Mystery MIA Jazz Bass

[TNMoney]

Hey everyone. New here to the boards. So I picked up a "MIA" Fender Jazz for a couple hundred bucks from a friend that inherited the bass from an uncle. Plays nice, good tone, good shape for age. He is under the impression that it's a 1995 American Standard and the neck serial number lines up that way. Serial number isn't in the Fender database, but if you follow the numbers next to it by changing the last digit up or down, it's surrounded by '95 American standard j Basses. I also have another j from '98 and can tell it's a legit neck. But I don't think the body is a match.

For one, it's not string thru, and I'm under the impression all American standards from 95 on were. But the finish is very nice (obviously with 25 years of wear and play) and feels quality built.

So after looking at lots of pictures my suspicion lies that it may be an early to mid 80s body. The bridge was odd to me because it's a three screw one, and I had never encountered that until I saw pics of an '83 jazz.

The other thing that steers me in that direction are the "original" pickups which were kept in the case. They have off white covers just like the 80s Js did. No distinguishing markings or serial numbers though. They had been replaced with custom shop 60s j pickups.

obviously this bass has seen its share of mods- the pick guard looks like a 70s style one and a chrome pickup cover has been added and there's holes for a bridge cover as well as a thumb rest. Knobs are obviously not original.

I don't know if taking the neck off will offer more clues, but haven't had the free time to go for it yet.

Maybe it's just a MIM body. Maybe it's a time traveler from multiple decades of US Fender production. What do you guys think? I've added photos of it as well as an 80s Jazz for bridge and pickup comparison. Either way it's a nice bass for very little investment...

 

[TNMoney]

Also has micro tilt neck plate...

 

[lowphatbass]

Look to see what's under the pickguard and control plate.

 

[shojii]

Also has micro tilt neck plate...

I'd guess that it's an '80s MIA standard with a mid 90's neck. I had a black 80's standard with the same PG, white pickups, micro-adjust neck and cast tuners. It had a different neck to yours though, with the truss rod adjustment at the headstock.

 

[MynameisMe]

Play it!

 

[ahc]

I've got a 95 Am Std Jazz. The neck/tuners look right but the body/hardware does not. Should be different bridge, string thru only, normal black plastic jazz knobs and no provision for PU covers. It's a parts bass but if you only paid a couple hundy and it plays and sounds good you did OK.

 

[hypercarrots]

how many holes under the bridge?

 

[TNMoney]

how many holes under the bridge?

Just 3

 

[cdef]

I thought that MIM Jazz with the large pg was only made in 1991-92?

 

[Stewie]

Does it matter? My 73 Jazz still has it's original body, pickguard, control plate and neck plate. All the other parts have been changed to protect the innocent. Is it still a 73?

 

[ZedLepp]

You could pop the neck off and look for codes. That might give you a direction as to what this bass really is.

 

[StayLow]

Does it matter? My 73 Jazz still has it's original body, pickguard, control plate and neck plate. All the other parts have been changed to protect the innocent. Is it still a 73?

Nope.

 

[TNMoney]

Does it matter? My 73 Jazz still has it's original body, pickguard, control plate and neck plate. All the other parts have been changed to protect the innocent. Is it still a 73?

It doesn't really matter to me as far as tone/playability/satisfaction goes. But I'm a curious person who likes the story behind things. The more I look at photos of those 80s MIA jazzes with white pups, 3 screw bridges and micro tilt neck plates, the more I'm leaning toward that. It would make sense if the original neck went wonky to pop on a new American standard one.

what wouldn't make a lot of sense is to slap a American standard neck on some rando body that didn't have some measure of value... but that's just me.

 

[BobKos]

I thought earlier MIM bodies had equal length pickups. I am inclined to believe it is an 80's body that had the neck changed to the '95 neck. I could be wrong, but weren't the early 80's basses Fullerton factory?

 

[Chrisk-K]

One will never be able to figure out the correct origin of the body. So, there's no point trying to guess. Just enjoy playing the bass.

 

[Cutter8]

I'd guess that it's an '80s MIA standard with a mid 90's neck. I had a black 80's standard with the same PG, white pickups, micro-adjust neck and cast tuners. It had a different neck to yours though, with the truss rod adjustment at the headstock.

I agree.

 

[foolforthecity]

Couple hundred bucks? Thank the powers that be that brought this to you and CRANK ON IT!

 

[Rip Van Dan]

Also has micro tilt neck plate...

I thought the micro-tilt neck plates were all 3-bolt necks, not 4-bolt?

 

[Rip Van Dan]

Hey everyone. New here to the boards. So I picked up a "MIA" Fender Jazz for a couple hundred bucks from a friend that inherited the bass from an uncle. Plays nice, good tone, good shape for age. He is under the impression that it's a 1995 American Standard and the neck serial number lines up that way. Serial number isn't in the Fender database, but if you follow the numbers next to it by changing the last digit up or down, it's surrounded by '95 American standard j Basses. I also have another j from '98 and can tell it's a legit neck. But I don't think the body is a match.

For one, it's not string thru, and I'm under the impression all American standards from 95 on were. But the finish is very nice (obviously with 25 years of wear and play) and feels quality built.

So after looking at lots of pictures my suspicion lies that it may be an early to mid 80s body. The bridge was odd to me because it's a three screw one, and I had never encountered that until I saw pics of an '83 jazz.

The other thing that steers me in that direction are the "original" pickups which were kept in the case. They have off white covers just like the 80s Js did. No distinguishing markings or serial numbers though. They had been replaced with custom shop 60s j pickups.

obviously this bass has seen its share of mods- the pick guard looks like a 70s style one and a chrome pickup cover has been added and there's holes for a bridge cover as well as a thumb rest. Knobs are obviously not original.

I don't know if taking the neck off will offer more clues, but haven't had the free time to go for it yet.

Maybe it's just a MIM body. Maybe it's a time traveler from multiple decades of US Fender production. What do you guys think? I've added photos of it as well as an 80s Jazz for bridge and pickup comparison. Either way it's a nice bass for very little investment...

My Jazz has a serial number that says it's a late '77 or early '78 but by checking parts numbers in the control deck it's a late '82-early '83. Mine also has the white pickup covers and white strat-type knobs. Additionally it has white binding on the neck, which was an option on the maple neck in '82. My bridge has 5-screws along the bottom.

Here's the tone-pot, which is where my dating comes from. The last 4 numbers are 824_. I can't read the last number with out bending that wiring and I'm not going to do that. The number 82 means 1982 and the 4_ means it was made on the 40-something week of 1982.

Usually you can check the heel of the neck to see when the neck was made and that's usually the determining factor when the bass was made. HOWEVER, during the late 70's and in through the 80's they didn't date stamp them. Here's what mine looks like. I was very disappointed when I didn't find a date on it.

Neither the neck heel or neck pocket have a date on them either but "J. Serna" is stamped a couple of times and Jose Serna was making necks for Fender for 49-years before he retired. His son Carlos took that job over for Fender when Jose retired.

Take a look at the neck heel on yours and see if it has any stamps or handwritten dates on it. And, as long as you have it out, you should probably go ahead and take some pictures of it too. If your heal doesn't have any dating on it, then check the back of your control plate. Write down part numbers and take pictures. We may yet figure out when it was made.

 

[two fingers]

Hey everyone. New here to the boards. So I picked up a "MIA" Fender Jazz for a couple hundred bucks from a friend that inherited the bass from an uncle. Plays nice, good tone, good shape for age. He is under the impression that it's a 1995 American Standard and the neck serial number lines up that way. Serial number isn't in the Fender database, but if you follow the numbers next to it by changing the last digit up or down, it's surrounded by '95 American standard j Basses. I also have another j from '98 and can tell it's a legit neck. But I don't think the body is a match.

For one, it's not string thru, and I'm under the impression all American standards from 95 on were. But the finish is very nice (obviously with 25 years of wear and play) and feels quality built.

So after looking at lots of pictures my suspicion lies that it may be an early to mid 80s body. The bridge was odd to me because it's a three screw one, and I had never encountered that until I saw pics of an '83 jazz.

The other thing that steers me in that direction are the "original" pickups which were kept in the case. They have off white covers just like the 80s Js did. No distinguishing markings or serial numbers though. They had been replaced with custom shop 60s j pickups.

obviously this bass has seen its share of mods- the pick guard looks like a 70s style one and a chrome pickup cover has been added and there's holes for a bridge cover as well as a thumb rest. Knobs are obviously not original.

I don't know if taking the neck off will offer more clues, but haven't had the free time to go for it yet.

Maybe it's just a MIM body. Maybe it's a time traveler from multiple decades of US Fender production. What do you guys think? I've added photos of it as well as an 80s Jazz for bridge and pickup comparison. Either way it's a nice bass for very little investment...

Pop the neck off. Also open up the control cavity. Post pics of everything you see, including any numbers on the pots.