If money was no object, I would ask Fender's Custom Shop to make a NOS replica of your 71 unless you want something completely different.
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Replacing my '71 Fender Jazz
- Thread starter Ace666
- Start date
If money was no object, I would ask Fender's Custom Shop to make a NOS replica of your 71 unless you want something completely different.
The Fender Select may be discontinued, but there are quite a few of them on ebay. Some are new, too. It's not too late if that's what you really want.
I've owned two Custom Shop basses (team build) - a '64 Jazz and a '55 Pbass relic. The '64 was good, the '55 is great. Fit and finish on both were as good as you are going to get, but the '64 was just a little lacking. I have an original '66 and a '69 and both sounded better than the CS - more growl, more punch. The '55 is a superb instrument - perfect weight (for me), v neck and has the sound I was looking for. Like all other basses, it is a good idea to play before buying, especially when paying big $$.
Many thanks all for your excellent guidance. My safest option appears to be (as suggested) a CS 1971 'copy'.
Can anyone advise on the options for the gold hardware? I've read the info on the CS web site and the order form has a 'Hardware Colour - Gold' option. Would this be ALL metal hardware (Tuners, bridge etc.) gold plated, anodized or what?
Many thanks
Ace
Can anyone advise on the options for the gold hardware? I've read the info on the CS web site and the order form has a 'Hardware Colour - Gold' option. Would this be ALL metal hardware (Tuners, bridge etc.) gold plated, anodized or what?
Many thanks
Ace
Ace, this is a wise and good choice. If you decide to go down this road, the first thing is to find a Custom Shop Fender dealer near you, and I can personally recommend requesting Dennis Galuszka as your Master Builder as he's one of their best current Bass builders.. I know him personally thru my prior interactions and can also put you in touch with him...
Thanks for the offer SamJ. My local Fender dealer (UK) has received the following from Fender:
1. Fender Custom Shop 71' Jazz Bass Black G/H Master Built DG £4995.00
2. As above but team built £3295.00
I can afford either but the lead times are 3 - 4 years and 18 months respectively. Both too long I'm afraid so new question: which is the best production Fender Jazz currently available?
3-4 years? Whew! For that kind of money you could buy a vintage early-70's Jazz, with no lead time at all. You're in UK, check out the inventory at andybaxterbass.com , he's in London, UK.
If money is no object, go shopping and try out jazz style basses until you find one that you can't live without. There's nothing that can replace the up close and personal nature of finding your instrument. If we only took as much time choosing wives as we do basses...
The waiting time may be shorter, especially for the TeamBuilt - my CS '64 had an estimated 8 months delivery time, but arrived 4 months earlier.
You can check out Thomann (I ordered my CS from them, great store) and ask for delivery times, too.
You could literally buy another real '71 Jazz and a '71 P Bass along with it for the price of one new CS masterbuilt (and not have to wait 3+ years). Not that MBs aren't super nice instruments, but IMO there aren't very many (if any at all) pro bassists that could tell the difference between a MB, a regular CS, and even an American Vintage series with their eyes closed. You're paying for the prestige more than anything else with a MB. They're all just wood, plastic and metal.. and a decades old design. By all means, spend your money however you see fit, but I would play some new AVRI '74 & '64 Jazzes (or the new American Geddy like the others mentioned above), and try to play a regular CS team-built '64 Jazz or something too, before you make a decision. I've owned them all and some of the AVRIs were as good or better than the CSs. A guy I did some work for a while back spent $7K on his MB and had a hard time coming to terms with the fact that he liked my $1200 used '64 AVRI better.
