Fender Jazz Bass Solid Body Electric Bass Guitar (1962)
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Item # 12819
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Fender Jazz Bass Model Solid Body Electric Bass Guitar (1962), made in Fullerton, California, serial # 89514, Blonde lacquer finish, ash body, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, original brown tolex hard shell case.
This wonderful feeling and sounding "Real Relic" early "three-knob" Jazz Bass is a rare variant of the model with an ASH (not alder) body finished in blonde lacquer. Telecaster-style blonde was a Fender custom order option on higher-grade models, but ONLY blonde bodies were carved from ash, making this Jazz Bass part of an elite club sonically as well as visually. This was an extra-cost option at the time and VERY few of these were ordered compared to standard sunburst models. We find ash-bodied Fenders from this period often have an extra resonance compared to their common alder-bodied brethren, and this Jazz Bass certainly bears this out.
The bass has been well gigged but remains in nicely original condition. The neck heel is marked OCT62A; the forward volume pot is code-stamped for the 23rd week of 1961, the tone pot the 37th week of 1962 while the center volume pot was long ago replaced with a 1973 part. This bass has all the hallmarks characteristic of the later 1962-3 model Jazz Bass including the slim tapered "thin-slab" rosewood fingerboard neck, outside metal grounding strip and residual holes from the (removed) individual string mutes under the tailpiece cover. The "clay dot" neck is exquisitely comfortable, worn to smooth wood by endless play time.
The 1960 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 "Cadillac" 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.
This blonde and beautiful bass looks to have been played for decades and with good reason. Perfectly balanced, this Jazz Bass has a very well defined, singing sound with loads of character. Even well worn it avoided being stripped to "hippie wood" in the '70s when that was considered the cool thing to do. The very resonant ash body still carries the original semi-transparent blonde finish. The pickguard is a very attractive mottled tortoise celluloid, typical of this period. This blonde ash beauty is one of the coolest "Real Relic" Fender basses we have had in a long time and carries a serious vibe for any Jazz Bass fan, vintage-styled bass player or classic Fender bass connoisseur.
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.).
This bass is quite well worn overall, heavily used but not abused and remains an exceptionally fine playing and sounding instrument that really shows why these have been considered the cream of Fender basses for decades now. It remains largely original with some small repair and hardware replacements along the way.
The original finish shows wear basically everywhere but no added overspray or alteration. The body has numerous scrapes, dings and dents with a small spot of finger wear into the wood above the pickguard. The back of the body has many dings and scrapes and several large spots of buckle wear, the edges endless dings and dents. The screw holes in the top ahead of the bridge for the original mutes have been filled in somewhat sloppily. The original bridge itself is relatively clean; the large chrome cover was likely in place for much of the instrument's life, as indeed it still is. The center chrome pickup cover is the correct style but a later piece. And something we have never seen before; soldered to the bottom strap button is a hook that appears to be intended for hanging a Gris-Gris bag or some similar Mojo item. THAT we did not dare disturb!
The back of the neck is almost completely worn down to the wood and heavily smoked in places on the heel and headstock. There is a typical small crack repair to back of headstock under low E tuner off the bottom screw; this is completely solid and was never finished over. The peghead has a small filled-in screw hole in face for long-ago-removed second string retainer. The thin-slab curved slab rosewood fingerboard has been trued and neatly refretted with era-correct wire. The Fender logo headstock decal is dirty but intact, with some small flakes off the "F" and a few other spots. There is a "classic" cigarette burn along the lower edge of the headstock below the E tuner barrel.
The all-important pickups remain original along with most of the cloth-wire electronics rig, the exception being the replaced bridge pickup volume pot in the center position. The hardware remains original except the forward chrome pickup cover and the "Tug Bar" fingerrest, both correct style but later pieces. The pickguard has some typical shrinkage but no broken or cracked corners; a small extra thumbrest screwhole has been filled in its face above the E string.
All the artificial "relicing" in the world will never come close to re-creating the look and feel of this bass. It plays simply effortlessly and had a sound for the ages, strung with LaBella Flats which we find a particularly nice match for these early Jazz basses. A VERY well-worn original Brown Tolex HSC is included, which is battered but remains fully useable. Overall Very Good + Condition.
This wonderful feeling and sounding "Real Relic" early "three-knob" Jazz Bass is a rare variant of the model with an ASH (not alder) body finished in blonde lacquer. Telecaster-style blonde was a Fender custom order option on higher-grade models, but ONLY blonde bodies were carved from ash, making this Jazz Bass part of an elite club sonically as well as visually. This was an extra-cost option at the time and VERY few of these were ordered compared to standard sunburst models. We find ash-bodied Fenders from this period often have an extra resonance compared to their common alder-bodied brethren, and this Jazz Bass certainly bears this out.
The bass has been well gigged but remains in nicely original condition. The neck heel is marked OCT62A; the forward volume pot is code-stamped for the 23rd week of 1961, the tone pot the 37th week of 1962 while the center volume pot was long ago replaced with a 1973 part. This bass has all the hallmarks characteristic of the later 1962-3 model Jazz Bass including the slim tapered "thin-slab" rosewood fingerboard neck, outside metal grounding strip and residual holes from the (removed) individual string mutes under the tailpiece cover. The "clay dot" neck is exquisitely comfortable, worn to smooth wood by endless play time.
The 1960 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 "Cadillac" 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.
This blonde and beautiful bass looks to have been played for decades and with good reason. Perfectly balanced, this Jazz Bass has a very well defined, singing sound with loads of character. Even well worn it avoided being stripped to "hippie wood" in the '70s when that was considered the cool thing to do. The very resonant ash body still carries the original semi-transparent blonde finish. The pickguard is a very attractive mottled tortoise celluloid, typical of this period. This blonde ash beauty is one of the coolest "Real Relic" Fender basses we have had in a long time and carries a serious vibe for any Jazz Bass fan, vintage-styled bass player or classic Fender bass connoisseur.
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.).
This bass is quite well worn overall, heavily used but not abused and remains an exceptionally fine playing and sounding instrument that really shows why these have been considered the cream of Fender basses for decades now. It remains largely original with some small repair and hardware replacements along the way.
The original finish shows wear basically everywhere but no added overspray or alteration. The body has numerous scrapes, dings and dents with a small spot of finger wear into the wood above the pickguard. The back of the body has many dings and scrapes and several large spots of buckle wear, the edges endless dings and dents. The screw holes in the top ahead of the bridge for the original mutes have been filled in somewhat sloppily. The original bridge itself is relatively clean; the large chrome cover was likely in place for much of the instrument's life, as indeed it still is. The center chrome pickup cover is the correct style but a later piece. And something we have never seen before; soldered to the bottom strap button is a hook that appears to be intended for hanging a Gris-Gris bag or some similar Mojo item. THAT we did not dare disturb!
The back of the neck is almost completely worn down to the wood and heavily smoked in places on the heel and headstock. There is a typical small crack repair to back of headstock under low E tuner off the bottom screw; this is completely solid and was never finished over. The peghead has a small filled-in screw hole in face for long-ago-removed second string retainer. The thin-slab curved slab rosewood fingerboard has been trued and neatly refretted with era-correct wire. The Fender logo headstock decal is dirty but intact, with some small flakes off the "F" and a few other spots. There is a "classic" cigarette burn along the lower edge of the headstock below the E tuner barrel.
The all-important pickups remain original along with most of the cloth-wire electronics rig, the exception being the replaced bridge pickup volume pot in the center position. The hardware remains original except the forward chrome pickup cover and the "Tug Bar" fingerrest, both correct style but later pieces. The pickguard has some typical shrinkage but no broken or cracked corners; a small extra thumbrest screwhole has been filled in its face above the E string.
All the artificial "relicing" in the world will never come close to re-creating the look and feel of this bass. It plays simply effortlessly and had a sound for the ages, strung with LaBella Flats which we find a particularly nice match for these early Jazz basses. A VERY well-worn original Brown Tolex HSC is included, which is battered but remains fully useable. Overall Very Good + Condition.