Fender Jazz Bass Model Solid Body Electric Bass Guitar (1973), made in Fullerton, California, serial # 345926, natural polyester finish, ash body, maple neck, original black hard shell case.
This is a super clean example of an early 1970s CBS-era Jazz bass in a natural livery, a fairly new idea for Fender at the time. The heel of the neck is not dated, but is marked "SPECIAL" on the bottom, with the familiar stamp of inspector J.Torres. The neck cavity is stamped "NATURAL" to make sure this very grainy piece of ash received that treatment. Several inspector's marks are visible in the neck pocket as well; the pots are dated to the 44th and 46th weeks of 1972 and the pickups are ink-stamped indicating fabrication in March 1973.
The features of this bass are typical for the era; the body and neck are finished in clear Polyester, getting thick but not as heavy as it would later become. The fingerboard is maple, black bound with black block inlay as had been used since the late '60s. The headstock decal the later black logo that appeared around the same time. The 3-layer white plastic pickguard with the "tug bar" mounted low and the chrome covers are unchanged since the 60s. The signature Jazz Bass characteristics including two 8-pole pickups, the 3-knob control array, narrow 1 1/2" nut and offset contour body are all in evidence, of course.
This is a very nice example from this era, before the 3-bolt neck and bullet truss rod was added to the model a year or so later. This bass has apparently sat not much used for decades by the look of it and sounds exactly as it should, a cool period find and one of the nicer early '70s Fender basses we have had recently.
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.)., 9.92 lbs.
This bass has survived nearly 50 years so far in extreme well-preserved condition. The finish has some very minor scuffing, with no really notable wear. The pickups and electronic components are all original and intact but some of the solder joints have been re-done, probably when the control cavity was lined with shielding foil and the pickup routs had shielding paint added as was often done in the '70s. All else appears original and unaltered. The original frets appear to have been crowned down a bit and show no subsequent wear. This is a fine playing and sounding Jazz, substantial but not too heavy for an ash bodied 70s example at just under 10 lbs., which really looks like it has not been out of the house a lot. It remains with its original black Tolex fender HSC. Excellent Condition.
