Again, thanks everyone for the feedback and comments. Based on comments by @Belka and @iammr2 , I took a better look at the bass and took some pics, and I found some interesting stuff.
I was curious as to if I could tell what the original color was, and I came up with more questions than answers.
First off, when I say it is a crappy refin, I really mean that it's a crappy refin. This is the treble side neck pocket.
Now, I know under that neck in the neck pocket are some stamps and wood, so that wasn't completely painted over, but pulling the neck off is more of a commitment than I can handle right now. If you're thinking "why don't you go pull off the neck instead of posting on TB," I technically supposed to be in an all day work session, and I can easily type while on video, but if I start pulling the neck off of a bass, someone may start asking questions. Aside from that, I'm the boss and I should be leading by example ...
Here's where I find it interesting. There are several places where the paint has chipped/worn thru, and I've done my best to capture in the pics. As I stated earlier, there is no clear coat over the white pearl finish. Best I can tell, it's a layer of blue-gray primer underneath then bare wood (the primer looks more blue IRL than in the pics, I almost got a little excited that the pearl white was just painted over the original blue, but nope, it really does look like primer).
So the primer looks a little more blue in person, and the wood looks slightly darker IMO. The underlying wood is uniform in color underneath all of the chips, so it's safe to assume that the wood is consistent in color on the entire bass (i.e. this isn't a section of wood that is darker because it got exposed to oils, etc.).
I think the interesting part is the wood underneath. It's worn very smooth, and in some places it seems like it might actually be the clearcoat of the old finish, but it is most likely bare wood, as the wood color matches the spot that's exposed in the cavity, and that is definitely bare wood.
Given that, it doesn't look like ash to me - it really looks like alder. I'm not a wood expert by any means, and after 52 years who knows what it's been thru, but I find it interesting nonetheless. It wasn't uncommon for Fender to use what they had, so a maple neck with an alder body from the factory wouldn't be out of the question. It's pretty light for a 70's Jazz, a shade under 9 lbs.
I'm now really curious as to what's underneath, to the point where I don't think leaving it "as is" is going to be an option - especially if I pull the neck/pups out to further investigate.
I'm interested in opinions!
I was curious as to if I could tell what the original color was, and I came up with more questions than answers.
First off, when I say it is a crappy refin, I really mean that it's a crappy refin. This is the treble side neck pocket.
Now, I know under that neck in the neck pocket are some stamps and wood, so that wasn't completely painted over, but pulling the neck off is more of a commitment than I can handle right now. If you're thinking "why don't you go pull off the neck instead of posting on TB," I technically supposed to be in an all day work session, and I can easily type while on video, but if I start pulling the neck off of a bass, someone may start asking questions. Aside from that, I'm the boss and I should be leading by example ...
Here's where I find it interesting. There are several places where the paint has chipped/worn thru, and I've done my best to capture in the pics. As I stated earlier, there is no clear coat over the white pearl finish. Best I can tell, it's a layer of blue-gray primer underneath then bare wood (the primer looks more blue IRL than in the pics, I almost got a little excited that the pearl white was just painted over the original blue, but nope, it really does look like primer).
So the primer looks a little more blue in person, and the wood looks slightly darker IMO. The underlying wood is uniform in color underneath all of the chips, so it's safe to assume that the wood is consistent in color on the entire bass (i.e. this isn't a section of wood that is darker because it got exposed to oils, etc.).
I think the interesting part is the wood underneath. It's worn very smooth, and in some places it seems like it might actually be the clearcoat of the old finish, but it is most likely bare wood, as the wood color matches the spot that's exposed in the cavity, and that is definitely bare wood.
Given that, it doesn't look like ash to me - it really looks like alder. I'm not a wood expert by any means, and after 52 years who knows what it's been thru, but I find it interesting nonetheless. It wasn't uncommon for Fender to use what they had, so a maple neck with an alder body from the factory wouldn't be out of the question. It's pretty light for a 70's Jazz, a shade under 9 lbs.
I'm now really curious as to what's underneath, to the point where I don't think leaving it "as is" is going to be an option - especially if I pull the neck/pups out to further investigate.
I'm interested in opinions!
