SHOW YOUR DISTRESSED FINISHES!

[SJLee]

Thanks JIO for starting this thread. I'm new to it, and love the pics and info.

Question for sneha1965?
That 62 green Jazz bass, it's not yours right?

That's correct. It is not my bass.

Your posting cool pics of bass you find on line correct?

Correct.

I'm just wondering about the neck. It seems way darker than the Jazz basses I've had. Is it made of a different wood? Could it be mahogany or something? A darker wood, or are my eyes just fooling me. Great bass!

Not owning the bass and never having it in hand, I can't say with absolute certainly, but I believe it's a standard maple neck. I have seen examples of the clear coat darkening over time.

Dynacord- so Fender Bass Guitars were painted with auto paint? Interesting.

Have any of you guys figured out a way to put the thumb rest on the other side of the strings on
an older Jazz Bass.I don't want to screw something up, but would love to switch mine around.
I was at a music store that had a new Fender bass with the thumb rest on the E string side.
( I think it was a mustang bass)

 

[countrybass]

Thanks.
Yea I’m not super keen on
drilling holes in the cover.

The bass didn’t come with the
thumb rest, and the holes are there on the G string side.

Just wondered if someone figured out a way, ( glueing, duck taping, putting on a different cover, etc).

The edge of the cover is right where I anchor my thumb(just like in the pictures).

Thanks for the info on the dark neck. That green 62 Jazz’s neck looks double tough!

 

[JIO]

Thanks.
Yea I’m not super keen on
drilling holes in the cover.

The bass didn’t come with the
thumb rest, and the holes are there on the G string side.

Just wondered if someone figured out a way, ( glueing, duck taping, putting on a different cover, etc).

The edge of the cover is right where I anchor my thumb(just like in the pictures).

Thanks for the info on the dark neck. That green 62 Jazz’s neck looks double tough!

Double-stick tape. If done correctly it should stick and not damage the pg.

 

[JIO]

View attachment 3825721 View attachment 3825722

That's pretty cool - a distressed Antiqua finish sans finish-matched pg. I wonder if white was part of the process or if it was Antiqua-ized over Oly White?

 

[JIO]

On that Ocean Turquoise one (yes, automotive paint - Gibson did this too), it's a regular maple neck with Brazilian rosewood fingerboard. The maple is darker just as the nitro lacquer has heavily yellowed - usually due to UV and/or nicotine, etc. The maple itself can darken with age and exposure, too.

On moving the thumb rest, if your bass has an original pickguard, I would STRONGLY encourage you not to drill any extra holes into it - just that part alone, if original, can be worth $500+ (I just anchor my thumb on the pickups or the edge of the neck) I have seen some people make their own thumb rests which used one of the existing pickguard screw holes and the hole for the chrome pickup cover on the E string side of the neck pickup. The idea is to make it as reversible as possible.

That is certainly true - I've seen such on eBay. However, I also saw a mid-late '60s thin-blk line tort pg with a big cut-out for a neck-hugging (probably Gibson EB-0) pu also selling for that sort of scratch! It's like that tort in any condition is made of gold...

Oh, and I like your new handle

 

[God's Favorite Bass]

That's pretty cool - a distressed Antiqua finish sans finish-matched pg. I wonder if white was part of the process or if it was Antiqua-ized over Oly White?

I wondered the same. I like it quite a bit but it seems anomalous.

 

[JIO]

I wondered the same. I like it quite a bit but it seems anomalous.

Good choice of word to describe how you feel about it.

 

[God's Favorite Bass]

Good choice of word to describe how you feel about it.

I tok gud.. But seriously, the guys post said he was original owner so I think it's a legit-tigua, just haven't seen one with quite that wear coloration. It's like it's been played a lot in a smoke free Micheal Jackson barometric chamber in the shade or something. The other thing that seemed odd was I was pretty sure (albeit wrong often) that Antigua finishes always had maple boards, but neck looks period legit so I'm stumped. I do still like it though.

 

[JIO]

I tok gud.. But seriously, the guys post said he was original owner so I think it's a legit-tigua, just haven't seen one with quite that wear coloration. It's like it's been played a lot in a smoke free Micheal Jackson barometric chamber in the shade or something. The other thing that seemed odd was I was pretty sure (albeit wrong often) that Antigua finishes always had maple boards, but neck looks period legit so I'm stumped. I do still like it though.

Good point, but as the pg has been replaced, the neck may not be original although it is at least a '76 judging by the reduced size graphics. The other odd thing about that bass is the saddle positions - opposite of most all Fender basses.

 

[SJLee]

Thanks.
Yea I’m not super keen on
drilling holes in the cover.

The bass didn’t come with the
thumb rest, and the holes are there on the G string side.

Just wondered if someone figured out a way, ( glueing, duck taping, putting on a different cover, etc).

The edge of the cover is right where I anchor my thumb(just like in the pictures).

Thanks for the info on the dark neck. That green 62 Jazz’s neck looks double tough!

I don’t know how you could adhere the thumb rest north of the strings aside from adding a hole or would require a strong enough adhesive that would make the modification reversible.

I think the best solution has yet to be manufactured but would be similar to the zero-mod thumb rest produced after market for the Rickenbacker bass. Something like this but which followed the Precision or Jazz pickguard contour would be ideal.

EDIT: And I see this has already been suggested by Dynacord.

 

[SJLee]

 

[Dynacord]

Thanks.
Yea I’m not super keen on
drilling holes in the cover.

The bass didn’t come with the
thumb rest, and the holes are there on the G string side.

Just wondered if someone figured out a way, ( glueing, duck taping, putting on a different cover, etc).

The edge of the cover is right where I anchor my thumb(just like in the pictures).

Thanks for the info on the dark neck. That green 62 Jazz’s neck looks double tough!

Good about not being keen on drilling! If you did, I'd recommend removing the original guard (and screwing it down to a scrap board to prevent shrinkage - otherwise you would never get it back on). Here's a commercially made alternative that uses existing holes as I mention before:

Link for it here:
Fender Jazz

EDIT: Doh! I see @sneha1965 said the same!

That is certainly true - I've seen such on eBay. However, I also saw a mid-late '60s thin-blk line tort pg with a big cut-out for a neck-hugging (probably Gibson EB-0) pu also selling for that sort of scratch! It's like that tort in any condition is made of gold...

Oh, and I like your new handle

Yeah, but do they actually sell for that after being modded?... People ask stupid money on a lot of vintage parts - saw a trashed and refinished strat neck (with poorly painted black headstock) for sale yesterday for $10,000 (but free shipping! - 2nd class though...) When working at Real Guitars and with Gary Brawer saw a number of vintage Jazz Basses with that same neck hugger mudbucker mod - seemed like a local favorite which I always guessed was inspired by Jack Casady - being an SF Bay Area thing.

Thanks on the user name thing - I was surprised (and grateful) that they let me change it!

 

[God's Favorite Bass]

View attachment 3827056 View attachment 3827057 View attachment 3827058

Cool basses of cool guys, win win.

 

[Dynacord]

On distress, here's the most worn area on my 1965 Meazzi - it's early poly (probably similar to what was used on @JIO's Burns) so it's much tougher than nitro but can and does still chip and crack. The finish is quite thick - I'm sure it adds to the weight:

The whole thing for context:

 

[LennyJ]

I know it is not really distressed - it is road worn by some Fender employee.

But it is the one of my best playing basses. I call it a Highway Worn, complete road worn body with a highway neck and bridge.

 

[SJLee]

On distress, here's the most worn area on my 1965 Meazzi - it's early poly (probably similar to what was used on @JIO's Burns) so it's much tougher than nitro but can and does still chip and crack. The finish is quite thick - I'm sure it adds to the weight:

View attachment 3827073

The whole thing for context:

View attachment 3827074

What a beauty!

 

[Dynacord]

What a beauty!

Thanks! I'm still in the honeymoon phase years after getting it.

 

[countrybass]

Thanks for the link.
I’ll check out the size on my bass.

You guys rule!!!!!

 

[SJLee]

Thanks! I'm still in the honeymoon phase years after getting it.

I've hear the name Meazzi for effects; Tape Echo but not familiar with the basses. Is that a stock guard or something you made?

 

[Dynacord]

I've hear the name Meazzi for effects; Tape Echo but not familiar with the basses. Is that a stock guard or something you made?

Meazzi was an ubiquitous brand in Italy in the 50's and 60's. Sort of like what Peavey was in the US in the late 70's - 80's or maybe Yamaha in Japan. PAs, drums (amazing celluloid finishes), guitars, effects, etc. The bass is mostly stock - I had it refretted and the bolt-on "ski-jump" taken out, the two knobs are replacements as one of the originals was missing and the corresponding pot had been previously replaced (I replaced that one with a push/push to bypass the active pre-amp - yes, it has one and it is original - on the bridge pickup). Cosmetically the knobs are the only real difference and these ones are pretty similar to the originals. That and I lost the uppermost top dot to the ski-jump so replaced the plain white plastic dots with pearl dots I had (surprising what a visual improvement that made IMO despite not being 'correct'). With these small mods it's a totally gig-worthy bass now. I actually did a small tour of 10 or 12 shows in Ukraine and Poland last fall using it.

It's a major step up in quality from the other European basses of the 60's - long scale, hardware as good or better than Fender of the era and some really crazy details (the mercury kill switch for the battery is the most off the wall - and the slider controls - but also has adjustable polepieces, rosewood binding to hide the fret tangs, threaded screw inserts and other details not generally seen until recent boutique instruments).