Fender Jazz Bass Solid Body Electric Bass Guitar (1965)
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Item # 10918
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Fender Jazz Bass Model Solid Body Electric Bass Guitar (1965), made in Fullerton, California, serial # 114240, sunburst lacquer finish, alder body, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, original black tolex hard shell case.
This is a VERY well-worn but still original super vibey example of a "transitional" early-CBS era Jazz bass, heavily played but still original and unaltered. It has typical mid-late 1965 features: a pearl dot rosewood fingerboard without the binding that appeared at the end of the year, gold logo decal and the then brand new Fender-made "egg button" chrome-plated tuners oddly particular to this period's Jazz basses. By the summer of '66 the bound, block marker fingerboard came in and dots were banished for the next couple of decades. Apart from the oddly specific tuners this bass still has the full pre-CBS feel, with only the pearloid dots and second generation plastic pickguard as other CBS-era signposts.
The body is finished in a bright 3-tone "target" sunburst lacquer finish that has been heavily worn into and somewhat faded topped off with a particularly colorful tortoise pickguard. The neck is dated October 65 and the pots are a beautiful matched set from the 42nd week of that year. The original small wire frets and fingerboard show less wear than we might expect; likely this bass had flatwound strings on for most of its life. At just under 9 lbs. (with the bridge cover on) this is around average weight for a 1960s Fender Jazz Bass and feels fantastic.
This bass appears somewhat heavily used over the past 55+ years and it sounds like a cliche, but the ones that have seen this much use do have a special vibe going on. Besides being such a badass looker this is an excellent player with a somewhat more mellow midrangey tone than many '66s, which tend to be very bright. It still has the chrome bridge covers but the forward pickup cover is gone; it remains a timeless piece of "real relic" Fender cool.
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.)., 8.88 lbs.
In this era of artificially created Fender relics this is the genuine article, heavily played but not abused with a lot of honestly-earned wear and all original. The body finish in particular is very heavily worn, with the traces of where one player's arm ran across the face and their hand wore down into the wood in the area between the pickups. There is a heavy swath of belt buckle wear on the back as well, mostly extending across the upper horn. The rest of the body finish has considerable wear but remains original.
The back of the neck is heavily worn down to the wood with that glorious "played-in Fender" feel, there are only a few light dings and dents and for the most part the surface is quite smooth. The headstock is ambered and checked but the decal is better preserved than many from this year. As noted appears to have always been played mostly with flatwound strings, as the original frets do not show heavy wear as would otherwise be expected.
All hardware is original and complete except the forward pickup cover has gone missing; the large rear cover is still intact. The pickguard has shrunken up a bit and curled at the upper edge but has no cracked or broken corners. The pickups and wiring appear untouched original, and the sound is still straight out of 1965, a "Genuine relic" Fender bass that is an excellent player with a killer feel and the real vibe of the ages. It is complete in the original no-logo black Tolex Fender case, worn but still solid and fully functional. Very Good + Condition.
This is a VERY well-worn but still original super vibey example of a "transitional" early-CBS era Jazz bass, heavily played but still original and unaltered. It has typical mid-late 1965 features: a pearl dot rosewood fingerboard without the binding that appeared at the end of the year, gold logo decal and the then brand new Fender-made "egg button" chrome-plated tuners oddly particular to this period's Jazz basses. By the summer of '66 the bound, block marker fingerboard came in and dots were banished for the next couple of decades. Apart from the oddly specific tuners this bass still has the full pre-CBS feel, with only the pearloid dots and second generation plastic pickguard as other CBS-era signposts.
The body is finished in a bright 3-tone "target" sunburst lacquer finish that has been heavily worn into and somewhat faded topped off with a particularly colorful tortoise pickguard. The neck is dated October 65 and the pots are a beautiful matched set from the 42nd week of that year. The original small wire frets and fingerboard show less wear than we might expect; likely this bass had flatwound strings on for most of its life. At just under 9 lbs. (with the bridge cover on) this is around average weight for a 1960s Fender Jazz Bass and feels fantastic.
This bass appears somewhat heavily used over the past 55+ years and it sounds like a cliche, but the ones that have seen this much use do have a special vibe going on. Besides being such a badass looker this is an excellent player with a somewhat more mellow midrangey tone than many '66s, which tend to be very bright. It still has the chrome bridge covers but the forward pickup cover is gone; it remains a timeless piece of "real relic" Fender cool.
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.)., 8.88 lbs.
In this era of artificially created Fender relics this is the genuine article, heavily played but not abused with a lot of honestly-earned wear and all original. The body finish in particular is very heavily worn, with the traces of where one player's arm ran across the face and their hand wore down into the wood in the area between the pickups. There is a heavy swath of belt buckle wear on the back as well, mostly extending across the upper horn. The rest of the body finish has considerable wear but remains original.
The back of the neck is heavily worn down to the wood with that glorious "played-in Fender" feel, there are only a few light dings and dents and for the most part the surface is quite smooth. The headstock is ambered and checked but the decal is better preserved than many from this year. As noted appears to have always been played mostly with flatwound strings, as the original frets do not show heavy wear as would otherwise be expected.
All hardware is original and complete except the forward pickup cover has gone missing; the large rear cover is still intact. The pickguard has shrunken up a bit and curled at the upper edge but has no cracked or broken corners. The pickups and wiring appear untouched original, and the sound is still straight out of 1965, a "Genuine relic" Fender bass that is an excellent player with a killer feel and the real vibe of the ages. It is complete in the original no-logo black Tolex Fender case, worn but still solid and fully functional. Very Good + Condition.