1963 Fender Jazz Bass

Feliz na blah blah!

Today we are looking at the holy grail of electric basses: a 1963 Fender Jazz Bass. As with all pre-CBS buyout basses, it is a collector’s dream, but it is also a fabulous playing and sounding bass.

I bought this in the late 80’s from Albert Molinaro at his Hollywood store for what seemed like a lot of money (at the time), but it was totally worth every penny. During that time, I never had to change or repair anything, other than replacing the strings and adjusting the truss rod periodically.

As far as I could tell, it is all original. The finish is worn, and I could never get a straight answer from anybody (even vintage dealers) about whether it had been refinished. The finish is completely worn off the back of the neck. The tortoise shell guard has shrunk a little, but has no cracks and still look nice.

The frets show a little wear but have not been replaced, and it even survived the 70’s without having a brass nut installed. Amazing! The end of the fingerboard at the body has eroded a bit, maybe from finger oil? I have not seen anything quite like it before.

The hardware is also all original, and it even came with the pickup and bridge covers. A couple of the reverse tuners are a little bent, but I never had any trouble with them. The spiral saddle is extra cool, IMO.

The electronics are all original, with 30A-6340 dated potentiometers, and all original cloth wiring and solder joints, except for one ground wire that appears to have been changed.

It plays beautifully. It is pretty light (8 pounds, 8 ounces), and the neck is perfectly broken in. The action is low, and there is no buzzing at all. The fretboard stayed pretty flat after all of those years.

It also sounds incredible. The pickups might be getting a tad microphonic, but it has such a warm tone that it helps you understand why people are willing to pay so much for these basses.

And, that is why it is not around anymore. I was made an offer I could not refuse. And, honestly, for the money it is not exponentially better than other good quality jazz basses out there, so I could justify letting it go. Maybe if I was a professional player, it would be different.

I still have a soft spot in my heart for it, and think about it whenever I am playing my 62 re-issue.

Mahalo!

p.s. Happy 17th anniversary to my Lisa!

1965 Fender Jazzmaster Guitar

Hey there!

Today we are looking at a well-loved 1965 Fender Jazzmaster. This example is mostly original, and has a true mojo to it.

The original run of Jazzmasters were built between 1958 and 1980, and were designed to be the top of the Fender line (i.e. most expensive) but never really caught on with the same popularity of the Stratocaster and Telecaster models. They have a warmer tone, and did catch on with the surf bands, though.

The slab body on this one was finished in black with a non-matching headstock, which is fairly rare. I believe this is the original paint, and it shows a lot of lacquer checking on the front and back.

This Jazzmaster has the most worn neck I have ever seen, making me wonder if maybe someone took some sandpaper to it at some point. There is a little flame to the male which you do not usually see on these. It is dated 4 MAR 65 B. The medium frets and nut were professionally replaced at some point, and they did a really nice job.

All of the hardware and electronics are original. The pickguard turned a lovely minty green over the years.

It came to me with the tremolo arm, the bridge cover and the ultra rare no logo hardshell case that was only available in 1965.

It played well, and the neck was super-well broken in. The sound was ok, but perhaps a bit noisy. I was always afraid to mess with those original solder joints.

I sold this a few years ago before the economy fell into the crapper. It was a great guitar, but was just not my style.

Mahalo!

1962 Fender Jaguar Guitar

This 1962 Fender Jaguar is not the Holy Grail of collectible guitars, despite being a pre-CBS model.

The original run of Fender Jaguars were built from 1962 to 1975. They were intended to be the top of the line model, but never became as popular (or collectible) as the Stratocaster and Telecaster. They were, of course, popular with the surf crowd and later with the grunge bands.

This one is all original and 100% complete. That means no changed parts, and no modifications. There is a lot of finish wear, with nicks and dings, but this vintage Jaguar is structurally sound with no cracks, breaks, or repairs. One of the tuners is chipped on the end, but it still works ok, and I chose not to mess with its originality. I hope I look this good when I am 48.

It has a very nice straight neck with great frets. The finish is worn off the back of the neck and it feels great. There are faint impressions along the top edge where someone wrote the names of the notes along the top of the neck. This is not a big deal, and it does not affect playability at all. Actually, it is kind of cool (I think).

The serial number is 94XXX, dating this one to 1962.

All of the electronics work fine and it sounds great, perhaps with less hum than other guitars of the era I have played. When I had it, it had a pro set-up with 9s, and I think it played as well as it could. It has a nice mojo, and was a good catch for a guy that actually likes Jaguars.

However, I did not like it very much. I had trouble adjusting to the shorter scale, and was never fond of the goofy tremolo set-up and had a very hard time finding strings for it that worked well for me. Add in the horrible control layout, and it was a pretty easy decision to move it on to another owner.

Live and learn.