NBD: 71 Jazz Bass restoration project

Here is a cool restoration project I recently completed. I picked up this heavily routed 71 Jazz body here on talkbass and planned to just keep the Marcus thing going by installing a Marcus pickguard and whatever pre I wanted.




But I really do not care for the look of a Marcus pickguard, so I patched the preamp route with a 1/4" thick wooden cap, filled the extra holes and painted the area to match. One of the patched holes didn't quite get painted but I decided to leave it that way, it fits in with the wear the body already had. Cool thing is that by capping the routed area, the cavity is still there for a preamp and battery... I have a vintage Bartolini TCT which I plan to install soon.

I used an Allparts Blocked and Bound neck with Hipshot Ultralite tuners and some original Fender gray bottom 77 Jazz pickups I had. I love the ETS Transmission bridge that came on the body, I'm sure it contributes to this instrument's crystal-clear tone. The previously-installed gold side jack also remains and will be used when the pre goes in. As pictured below, the complete bass weighs 8 lb. 2 oz.

I'm very pleased with how well this turned out. It's a great example of a modded 71 Jazz Bass with original paint that shows lots of cool player wear. Plays and sounds great, super lightweight... It is the nicest Jazz I've ever had (and I've had some great ones)

I will try to post some more pics that I shot during the restoration process to show what all was done.

Best,
Darren

 

Yeah it pretty much *is* chambered. My main objective was to keep the spirit of the bass intact. The body came to me with excellent mojo and some nice parts, I had fun selecting the other elements to compliment what was there. It's great to finally find a home for my gray bottom Jazz pickups. The Bound and Blocked Allparts neck comes *very* close to what an original 71 Jazz neck feels like, and I always love to have Hipshot Ultralites on my basses. Everything's awesome!

 

No problem, yes it's a Fender-Licensed Allparts neck with a Fender decal on the headstock.
The decal is not about the neck, it is about the bass. And I love a TV logo on *my* 71 Jazz Bass restoration project.

 

Of course the Sadowsky knobs are "incorrect" as well. I can always put everything back to stock and have all the parts to do it. But I like these parts, they are actually nice upgrades and are in keeping with the provenance of the bass which I respect more than trying to make it correct and original which it will never be.