Which Fender Jazz Fretless is this?

I can't tell much from those pictures other than it's a Jazz Bass and it's among the very desirable 1984-87 Fuji-gen plant Japanese Fenders.

 

Depending on condition, I’d say up to $800 if it’s in great shape

 

Who told you the Badass II was not worth the money? They really created the mold for modern high mass bridges. I know the bridge on my American Fender Geddy Lee is patterned after a Badass. I had my eyes on a few Fretless Fender Japan basses. Odds are this is at worst, a good bass, and it may be great.

 

The Badass bridge has been around in one form or another nearly fifty years, I suspect they are at least pretty good.

 

That is why I laugh when people tell me how easy it would be to sell my Pedulla.

 

David, I posted this elsewhere, but check out these sound samples comparing hi-mass vs standard bridges. The accompanying soundwave images are virtually identical. I'd spend the $100 on something else. YMMV (&good luck)

 

IME, the Badass II made no difference in sustain on my MIM 60's classic Jazz, and as far as tone is concerned, the vintage-style bridge was fine. I eventually added Fralin split coil pickups, which actually sounded darn good. The guy who bought the bass for $550 was pretty stoked by the tone and set up.

Moral of story: if you like a BAII bridge, and install it (groove the witness points) properly, it works fine. IME, no change in sustain, and I could never decide if the tone was the same or not. Any difference was subtle. The Fralin split coils were a noticeable change. YMMV.

 

Badass ii bridges are excellent in every way. Nothing "not worth the money" with them, unless you were mistakenly led to believe by salesmen at stores in the mid 80s that they would transform your bass into something magical. They don't, unless your current bridge is crap. But I do prefer them to standard older style fender bridges by quite a large margin.

 

As I mentioned in another thread not long ago, you will absolutely notice an improvement going to a high mass bridge unless any of the following are true:
- your current bridge is so bad as to not stop the strings properly at the saddle (there are some cheapo bridges who's feet don't even touch the baseplate properly due to crazy design issues).
- in theory, if your current bass body is so crappy as to make your tone terrible.... then putting on a high mass bridge will more effectively stop the string without the interaction of the body affecting it as much. A less likely scenario, but possible.
- if your current bass bridge doesn't keep the saddles locked in place as well as your new bridge, and your playing style can move the saddles around (I experience this sometimes when playing near the bridge on some simpler bridge designs on basses with light strings).. a high mass bridge often is accompanied by a more sturdy design where the saddles don't have as much free movement... which is an improvement for me.

If your current bridge works perfectly well, and your bass isn't a total piece of junk, then you probably won't notice or measure any difference at all.

 

I'd remove the Original Fender "Bent" bridge .. There are plenty of better bridges with way more setup options. If you want a "Classic" setup than keep it.

 

I have tried to interchange newish Fender bent plate, Badass II and some other (Shaller?) on a P. To me, Badass wins, because the feel of plucked strings is more solid/precise with Badass. (I like the Fender bent plate for slap better, but you won't slap on a fretless). I learned to believe that the feel, the overall mechanics of bassguitar has a big impact on the sound, because it affects your choice of notes/rhythms.

If I'm not mistaken, Leo Quan company doesn't exist anymore, the bridge is famous and will probably gain in price in coming years.

I don't remember I'd be surprised by the weight difference.

And I remember my Fender vintage bridge screws were made from very crappy (brittle) metal (in comparison to the 70s original on my jazzbass).

To sum it up, I'd be happy for the opportunity to buy a Badass bridge. You can always change it, you will probably sell the Badass II nicely.

 

Plus, and all y'all keep missing saying this, but ya can tell people, "Hey, it's a Badass bridge" and they'll be, like, all impressed and poopie.

 

I had one of these except the Made in Japan was on the headstock. It was a very quiet bass. I don’t know if the pickups were not very hot or it needed active electronics.

 

Haven't Badass II bridges become more valuable since they stopped making them? Might be worth checking in to the market, you may make some money on it!

 

Just my opinion but I had a Fender high mass bridge on my Fender Vintage hot rod which I took off and put a good 'ol bent plate on, plays and sounds the same.