Here’s a nice vintage Fender Jazz Bass with highly desirable Rosewood fingerboard and block pearloid markers. It looks the same as a 1966 Fender Jazz Bass and has mostly the same appointments with the 3-bolt adjustable neck and bullet truss rod being the exception. This bass was made at the original Fender factory in Fullerton California USA in 1975 according to the serial number and potentiometer date codes. The guitar is totally original other than the pickguard and pickguard screws. The Jazz Bass has just had a pro setup and it’s ready to go-it needs nothing.
The ash-body is deeply contoured and the woodgrain is nicely defined. The bright vintage 3-color sunburst finish really sets off the high contrast grain for a striking effect. The finish is in great condition and shines with a nice gloss. There are a few pecks, dings and dimples here and there along with other handling evidence-see photos. There is one long finish-check line on the back, which starts just inside the bottom horn and rolls over the backside about 3/4 of the way across the body. It traverses the grain and is clearly in the finish-not a structural thing. The neck joint is solid. The neck itself is smooth and straight. It has the classic tapered jazz bass profile and measures .860” deep at the 1st fret and .985” deep at the 12th fret. The nut is the standard Jazz Bass size 1 9/16” wide. The tuners all work perfectly and the bass stays in tune. The headstock and logo display nicely. This is the last of the 1960’s full size logos-they got smaller soon after this one was made. The string height is set fairly low for an easy playing experience. The current string height is .020” at the first fret and .100” at the 12th fret. The bridge is fully adjustable, so you can raise the string height, if you prefer a higher action. The Rosewood fingerboard is very clean and the pearloid block markers display excellent. The frets have just been leveled, crowned and polished so they look near new condition and are near-original height as well-see photos. The fingerboard has also been freshly oiled and the high contrast grain really pops-see photos. The Bass plays nice up and down the fingerboard with no dead spots. The pickups sound great with a strong and balanced signal. The bridge position provides a nice punch and the neck position has a great complimentary low-end. The neck pickup reads 7.15 ohms and the bridge pickup has a slightly hotter 7.25 ohms reading. The controls all function smoothly and quietly. The control configuration is individual volume controls for each pickup and one master tone control. The pickups are the factory grey bobbin units with factory batch ink stamps. The bridge has ‘24176’ and the neck has ‘130176’ -see photos. There is some electric tape wrapped around one of the wires for some reason-but everything functions as it’s supposed to and the solder joints all appear to be untouched, factory original. The original thumb rest is missing and it was moved at some point from top to below the pickup like an earlier 60’s jazz bass. The pickguard is a newer piece. The chrome bridge cover was removed and the neck cover was moved over it. Because of these 3 things-there are some extra holes in the body-they are all covered by the pickguard and bridge cover. See photo with the pickguard removed for details. The bridge saddles are clean and the adjustment screws all function. The bass is lots of fun to play and has a great sustain. It is well balanced and weighs 11.50 lbs-pretty typical for an ash bodied 70’s Fender bass. A late 70’s molded Fender hard case is included for safe keeping. This bass is a great player and it just looks killer. It plays, sounds and looks just like a 1960s Jazz Bass for only a fraction of the price.
