Fender Jazz Bass Solid Body Electric Bass Guitar (1964)
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Fender Jazz Bass Model Solid Body Electric Bass Guitar (1964), made in Fullerton, California, serial # L21840, black lacquer finish, alder body, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, black tolex hard shell case.
Are there many things cooler in vintage bass world than a genuine Pre-CBS Jazz Bass in this striking black-and-white "tuxedo" livery? We don't think so, and in this era of ersatz "relics" here is the real thing, heavily played in but never stripped or altered as so many were. This Jazz Bass' chrome accents and "green" nitro pickguard over the jet black finish (with matching headstock) give it the air of the baldest hot rod at the track, the guy nobody wants to challenge looking fast just sitting still! If not absolutely the rarest of these player/dealer ordered finishes, Black is pretty close; in those brighter times, most players preferred more festive reds, whites and blues to this darkly badass look. Even heavily worn this bass avoided being stripped to "hippie wood" in the '70s when that was considered the cool thing to do.
This is a true Pre-CBS Jazz bass, assembled around the beginning of 1964 with a fairly early L-series serial number. The neck date is December 1963 and the pots are date coded to the 3rd week of '64. It shows typical features for that year; the slim tapered maple neck has a thin veneer clay dot rosewood fingerboard with no binding; the peghead sports a gold Fender logo decal (with no other text as is correct for black-finished headstocks) and is fitted with Kluson tuners. The alder body is finished in black lacquer over a white undercoat, now exposed in many places by wear. The pickguard is the lovely greenish nitrocellulose discontinued about a year later in favor of whiter ABS plastic.
The 1959 introduction of the Jazz Bass represented a major step for Fender, and the electric bass in general. The Precision Bass had been on the market for about eight years and Fender was seeing increasing competition in a market they had created. The Jazz Bass was designed as an upgrade, the hot rod of the electric bass world. With the sleeker "offset" body adapted from the Jazzmaster and a much slimmer 1 1/2" nut width, it had a racier look and sleeker feel than the Precision. The two slimmer-cased, multi-pole pickups offered a wider range of sounds, with a sharper attack and more definition to the tone.
Not only a looker, this bass is a superlative player. At 9 lbs., this is a medium-light weight 1960s Fender bass and extremely resonant. While always a successful model, in the Pre-CBS period the Jazz Bass was more expensive than the Precision and built in smaller numbers. In this rare finish even weathered as it is this is a fantastic find in a vintage Fender bass.
Overall length is 46 1/2 in. (118.1 cm.), 14 in. (35.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 34 in. (864 mm.). Width of nut is 1 1/2 in. (38 mm.)., 9 lbs.
This bass remains heavily worn but largely original, a "genuine relic" in every sense. The only notable restoration is both original pickups arrived DOA and were recently rewound by Tom Brantley, who is the gold standard for such work perfectly preserving their original character. The bass obviously shows LOTS of wear and chipping to the all-original finish but no other repairs or alterations. The face of the body has heavy wear from a player's arm and hand and many chips and dings along the edges. We were told the original owner played in a C&W band and sported a large cowboy belt buckle; over the years that took a lot of the back finish off as well!
The neck is more subtly worn and appears comparatively clean, with only a few small areas where the finish is rubbed off down to the wood on the back and a few feelable dinks. The black-faced headstock shows only minor wear with chipping along the border and a bit of loss to the "F" in the logo decal. The original small frets show some wear in the lower positions but are still quite playable. It is a good bet this bass has been strung with flatwound strings most or all of its life; the set of old green-silk Fender strings it walked in with is still on for the authentic vintage experience; of course we can replace them as desired.
The hardware is nearly all original; even the obscure flat-bottomed control cavity screws are still intact. As noted both pickups were rewound so the pots are original but some solder joints have been redone, and the ground wire to the bridge is later. The chrome bridge cover is original, the center cover is correct style but more recent. The beautiful green nitro pickguard remains in better shape than many, with only light shrinkage and no broken or pulled screw holes.
While definitely very heavily played, this bass remains an excellent instrument as well as a lovely example of a super rare Custom Color Fender from their Pre-CBS zenith. No amount of the currently fashionable artificial ageing can claim the mojo of this one! It arrived in an early 1970s vintage black-Tolex covered Fender HSC that looks to have been with the bass a long time, with a few cards to join the mailing list of the original owners band! Overall Very Good + Condition.
Are there many things cooler in vintage bass world than a genuine Pre-CBS Jazz Bass in this striking black-and-white "tuxedo" livery? We don't think so, and in this era of ersatz "relics" here is the real thing, heavily played in but never stripped or altered as so many were. This Jazz Bass' chrome accents and "green" nitro pickguard over the jet black finish (with matching headstock) give it the air of the baldest hot rod at the track, the guy nobody wants to challenge looking fast just sitting still! If not absolutely the rarest of these player/dealer ordered finishes, Black is pretty close; in those brighter times, most players preferred more festive reds, whites and blues to this darkly badass look. Even heavily worn this bass avoided being stripped to "hippie wood" in the '70s when that was considered the cool thing to do.
This is a true Pre-CBS Jazz bass, assembled around the beginning of 1964 with a fairly early L-series serial number. The neck date is December 1963 and the pots are date coded to the 3rd week of '64. It shows typical features for that year; the slim tapered maple neck has a thin veneer clay dot rosewood fingerboard with no binding; the peghead sports a gold Fender logo decal (with no other text as is correct for black-finished headstocks) and is fitted with Kluson tuners. The alder body is finished in black lacquer over a white undercoat, now exposed in many places by wear. The pickguard is the lovely greenish nitrocellulose discontinued about a year later in favor of whiter ABS plastic.
The 1959 introduction of the Jazz Bass represented a major step for Fender, and the electric bass in general. The Precision Bass had been on the market for about eight years and Fender was seeing increasing competition in a market they had created. The Jazz Bass was designed as an upgrade, the hot rod of the electric bass world. With the sleeker "offset" body adapted from the Jazzmaster and a much slimmer 1 1/2" nut width, it had a racier look and sleeker feel than the Precision. The two slimmer-cased, multi-pole pickups offered a wider range of sounds, with a sharper attack and more definition to the tone.
Not only a looker, this bass is a superlative player. At 9 lbs., this is a medium-light weight 1960s Fender bass and extremely resonant. While always a successful model, in the Pre-CBS period the Jazz Bass was more expensive than the Precision and built in smaller numbers. In this rare finish even weathered as it is this is a fantastic find in a vintage Fender bass.
Overall length is 46 1/2 in. (118.1 cm.), 14 in. (35.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 34 in. (864 mm.). Width of nut is 1 1/2 in. (38 mm.)., 9 lbs.
This bass remains heavily worn but largely original, a "genuine relic" in every sense. The only notable restoration is both original pickups arrived DOA and were recently rewound by Tom Brantley, who is the gold standard for such work perfectly preserving their original character. The bass obviously shows LOTS of wear and chipping to the all-original finish but no other repairs or alterations. The face of the body has heavy wear from a player's arm and hand and many chips and dings along the edges. We were told the original owner played in a C&W band and sported a large cowboy belt buckle; over the years that took a lot of the back finish off as well!
The neck is more subtly worn and appears comparatively clean, with only a few small areas where the finish is rubbed off down to the wood on the back and a few feelable dinks. The black-faced headstock shows only minor wear with chipping along the border and a bit of loss to the "F" in the logo decal. The original small frets show some wear in the lower positions but are still quite playable. It is a good bet this bass has been strung with flatwound strings most or all of its life; the set of old green-silk Fender strings it walked in with is still on for the authentic vintage experience; of course we can replace them as desired.
The hardware is nearly all original; even the obscure flat-bottomed control cavity screws are still intact. As noted both pickups were rewound so the pots are original but some solder joints have been redone, and the ground wire to the bridge is later. The chrome bridge cover is original, the center cover is correct style but more recent. The beautiful green nitro pickguard remains in better shape than many, with only light shrinkage and no broken or pulled screw holes.
While definitely very heavily played, this bass remains an excellent instrument as well as a lovely example of a super rare Custom Color Fender from their Pre-CBS zenith. No amount of the currently fashionable artificial ageing can claim the mojo of this one! It arrived in an early 1970s vintage black-Tolex covered Fender HSC that looks to have been with the bass a long time, with a few cards to join the mailing list of the original owners band! Overall Very Good + Condition.