I keep telling myself I'm done buying basses - but then they drag me back in....
I posted some time ago about a project '66 Jazz Bass I got a couple years ago:
I really, really like this bass. Neck profile is perfect for me, great weight, etc and it made me really grow to love the dots and binding look of the early '66s. I was aware of the Japanese market only Fender "JB65B" basses (misnamed but to draw distinction from the JB66B with is blocks and binding). Thought it might be fun to find one and use it as a platform to do a sparkle/metal flake refin. I set up eBay notification for them but whenever they showed up they - to my relief - were just too expensive - plus I'd want to make changes which would add further to the overall costs. Then this showed up and it already had the mods I'd want (more vintage correct hardware and the poly stripped from the neck and body and reshot in nitro Candy Apple Red - trans red over silver - I know that's a contradiction but I'd want at least the back of the neck in nitro and I HATE stripping poly) plus an onboard Sadowsky preamp with the VTC and DiMarzio Ultra-Jazz pickups (very similar to some of the pickups Sadowsky uses as well). 9.29 lbs (was misrepresented as 8.5 but it's okay...) Anyway, here it is:
Reds are always hard to photograph accurately but it's a better than expected refin - looks accurate (I had an original '65 CAR for years) and very thin:
Inexplicably, the pan pot was wired backwards. Reversed the wires, cleaned the bass up, oiled the fretboard - beautiful piece of rosewood:
The dots are faux pearl.
Put on some GHS Balanced Nickels and set it up and it plays and sounds as good as I could have hoped for.
It has 'aged' nickel Gotoh lollipops on it. Thanks to a recent trade with Dave Reimer I have a set of original lollipops/ovals so I may throw those on - can always remove them if I find a more appropriate use in the future:
Anyway, really happy with the bass - it feels like 'home' relative to my other one but would be a better choice for fly gigs, etc and does offer the expanded palette of the Sadowsky sound and noiseless pickups while still being able to default back to the passive mode.
So, how does it compare to the 'real' one? Pretty well, main point is the neck profiles do feel similar. There are some minor cosmetic differences (the binding is wider, side dots are smaller, hootenanny button placement, truss rod nut is smaller, there's a truss rod access route in the body - but no CNC guide hole under the pickguard, nut is plastic vs bone). The main differences are that it has a more pronounce neck volute:
(^ 1966 on the left, JB65 on the right)
('66 top, JB65 bottom)
And the belly cut is not as deep on the JB65:
Cool basses worth seeking out IMO if one is into that particular look and feel.
I posted some time ago about a project '66 Jazz Bass I got a couple years ago:
I really, really like this bass. Neck profile is perfect for me, great weight, etc and it made me really grow to love the dots and binding look of the early '66s. I was aware of the Japanese market only Fender "JB65B" basses (misnamed but to draw distinction from the JB66B with is blocks and binding). Thought it might be fun to find one and use it as a platform to do a sparkle/metal flake refin. I set up eBay notification for them but whenever they showed up they - to my relief - were just too expensive - plus I'd want to make changes which would add further to the overall costs. Then this showed up and it already had the mods I'd want (more vintage correct hardware and the poly stripped from the neck and body and reshot in nitro Candy Apple Red - trans red over silver - I know that's a contradiction but I'd want at least the back of the neck in nitro and I HATE stripping poly) plus an onboard Sadowsky preamp with the VTC and DiMarzio Ultra-Jazz pickups (very similar to some of the pickups Sadowsky uses as well). 9.29 lbs (was misrepresented as 8.5 but it's okay...) Anyway, here it is:
Reds are always hard to photograph accurately but it's a better than expected refin - looks accurate (I had an original '65 CAR for years) and very thin:
Inexplicably, the pan pot was wired backwards. Reversed the wires, cleaned the bass up, oiled the fretboard - beautiful piece of rosewood:
The dots are faux pearl.
Put on some GHS Balanced Nickels and set it up and it plays and sounds as good as I could have hoped for.
It has 'aged' nickel Gotoh lollipops on it. Thanks to a recent trade with Dave Reimer I have a set of original lollipops/ovals so I may throw those on - can always remove them if I find a more appropriate use in the future:
Anyway, really happy with the bass - it feels like 'home' relative to my other one but would be a better choice for fly gigs, etc and does offer the expanded palette of the Sadowsky sound and noiseless pickups while still being able to default back to the passive mode.
So, how does it compare to the 'real' one? Pretty well, main point is the neck profiles do feel similar. There are some minor cosmetic differences (the binding is wider, side dots are smaller, hootenanny button placement, truss rod nut is smaller, there's a truss rod access route in the body - but no CNC guide hole under the pickguard, nut is plastic vs bone). The main differences are that it has a more pronounce neck volute:
(^ 1966 on the left, JB65 on the right)
('66 top, JB65 bottom)
And the belly cut is not as deep on the JB65:
Cool basses worth seeking out IMO if one is into that particular look and feel.
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