dlloyd

(£750 is a fantastic price for a 76 Jazz)

It would have had a three bolt neck originally. Is there an extra hole under the neck plate?

[quote name='jjay69' timestamp='1329912383' post='1549481'] I don't think you can say that, there is no one true decal that dictates a specific time.[/quote] I'm afraid it's true. The Fender "spaghetti" logo on your bass was not used in 1978 and had not been used since 1964/5. Edit: Coming to think of it, I don't believe Fender Precisions have ever had a "Contour body" logo... Maybe a Fender Expert will correct me on that? For reference, this is what a genuine 1978 Fender P headstock looks like, with a seven digit serial number usually starting with "S8" (there may be some S7s as well):

[quote name='jjay69' timestamp='1329910835' post='1549423']I wouldn't neccesarily say that, i have a genuine 78 Fender Precision, it's neck plate is completely blank, just a square block,[/quote] On a 78 Precision, the serial number would be on the headstock. [quote] The headstock [url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjay69/6406532079/in/set-72157628162331605"]http://www.flickr.co...157628162331605[/url] [/quote] That decal is not correct for a 78 Precision.

The number you have there is a neck code... 02 = Jazz bass 07 = Neck type (I'm guessing this is specific for block inlayed rosewood) 42 = week 42 6 = 1976 4 = day of the week, ie. Thursday So it was probably finished on Thursday October 14, 1976

[quote name='petercomfort' timestamp='1329869647' post='1549031'] The neck is a Jazz as the pictures show with the serial - 0207 4264 on the butt of it. This is very faint and I'm hoping this is a familiar serial.[/quote] Nope... On a bass that looks like that, you'd expect to find a serial number on the neckplate (metal bit that the screws that attach the neck to the body go through). It would be somewhere between 300,000 and 700,000.

[quote name='noelk27' timestamp='1329829238' post='1547969'] Removed, or just obscured? I'd say the seller has obscured the serial, to protect the identity of what he owns from potential fraudsters.[/quote] Could be [quote]As for the bass, at circa £650, I think that's a reasonable buy. It looks in good order, and these usually sell for more than what's being asked. The bodies and necks, pickups and electrics were all reliable, it was just the plastics and the mix and match attitude at Fender that caused any issues. It's why you'll see some with the 3D style tuners, [b]some with a metal control plate[/b], some with five screw bridges, none of which make these bad basses. [/quote] That being the case, it probably wouldn't cause too many problems if the OP were to tweak the aesthetics with a replacement scratchplate plus metal control plate... (personally I'd leave it alone)

[quote name='q_of_doom' timestamp='1329802640' post='1547565'] Hmmm. I'm not too keen to do a 1 000km round trip just on the off chance that this might be one of the few good ones from the era. @Stacker, if I convert the price from Rand to Pound Sterling, he's asking £650.00, which is not too unreasonable. Having said that, I'll think I'll pass. I love the colour and the knobs, but the one-piece scratch plate makes it look cheap. [/quote] I don't think there's any serious doubt that it's a c1983/84 Jazz. While the less desirable c1998 Mexican/American hybrid "American Traditional" Jazz had the one piece scratchplate, it has a few things that distinguish it... most obvious being the colour of the pickup covers, but also the headstock of the American Traditional had a logo on the end of the headstock, standard open tuners (as opposed to the chunkier 80s Fender tuners... difficult to tell which this bass has). I believe the 1980s model had a less yellow Fender logo. Here is a typical 1983 Jazz: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/109641-1983-fender-jazz-bass-100-original-w-ohsc/ This is an American Traditional: http://produto.mercadolivre.com.br/MLB-215060587-baixo-fender-jazz-bass-american-traditional-_JM The American Traditional series only appears to have been intended for the export market. My concern with this example is mainly that the serial number appears to have been removed... was this done because it was stolen at some point?

[quote name='73Jazz' timestamp='1329774515' post='1547250'] If i remember correct, this basses were a mixture of mexican parts assembled in usa, they say, so they could sell as MIA. [/quote] I'm not sure this is the same thing. Around 1998 there was some issue with Fender's compliance with new emissions rules, so they imported sprayed Mexican bodies and built them in the Corona plant to similar specs and called them the American Traditional series.

Awesome!

I reckon a lot of the negative attitude comes from the guitar playing community, and it's entirely related to fashion. In the late 1960s/early 1970s, Strats weren't all that desirable, despite Hendrix's use of them. Everyone wanted Gibsons to be like Eric Clapton. Believe it or not, "vintage" Strats were cheaper than new ones. Then Eric Clapton started using strats, etc. (overly simplified, I know). The trouble was that 1970s strats didn't look entirely like the strats that Clapton et al were playing... people didn't like the big headstock and overly large decal, they didn't like the bullet truss rod, the repositioned 12th fret markers, the black plastic knobs and pickup covers... more seasoned players noticed that the newer guitars also had a three bolt neck, thicker paint, a die-cast bridge, level pole pieces... so they went for the older guitars. An increased range of budget guitars like the Bronco, the Bullet and the Lead series and slightly iffy QC didn't particularly help Fender's image into the 1980s. The three bolt neck was a feature of 1970s strats, that was used as a convenient explanation by those who wanted to justify their preference of the older instruments. Or, more likely, by those who wanted to sell an older instrument.

Richard Galliano, Chat Pitre [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uGN19ZRSjQ[/media]

[quote name='musophilr' timestamp='1328879979' post='1534233'] @ them that use rigid picks ... any string wear? I'd rather grind the end off the pick than unravel the windings off an expensive set of strings ... [/quote] No string wear that I've ever noticed.

I regularly use picks and have gone through a total of three in the last six years. One of them I gave to Sonny Thompson when drunk in a hotel in Rome. He was drunker. I use Wegen picks. They're hand carved and expensive, but don't wear down like normal picks.

[quote name='Jazzneck' timestamp='1328813585' post='1533158'] Ed Zachary........ because the guitar was made from scratch by master luthier Tony Zemaitis and not someone who took a an old guitar to a superb craftsman for an "upgrade". Why didn't the client buy an original Zemaitis, Greco Zemaitis or Alden Zalike instead? Each to his own, I suppose............... [/quote] Because he had a wrecked late 60s/early 70s Les Paul Deluxe that he wanted blinged up? How much are mint LP deluxes worth? Around £1,500? I don't see any immediate problem.

[quote name='Jazzneck' timestamp='1328810388' post='1533086'] And how much is that Zemaitis worth, I wonder, if it's for sale? [/quote] Probably around $50,000. Edit: One for $40,000 here... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Zemaitis-Dual-Tone-Pearl-Front-Original-UK-guitar-1995-Stunning-Original-Guitar-/200709401434?pt=Guitar&hash=item2ebb366b5a

Keef on bass with John Lennon, Eric Clapton and Mitch Mitchell: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vVJYnG8cBw&feature=related[/media]

I don't mind it. From what the guy says, it had been wrecked by someone who had tried to do it by sticking plastic triangles to it and wanted it done properly... It sounds like a previous owner had tried to make it look like a Zemaitis... Never been done before?

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' timestamp='1328728705' post='1531838']dlloyd, do you still play? You must be very good! All my friends who hold Grade 8s on Clarinet or Violin are very skilled players! [/quote] Nope... I essentially gave up more than 20 years ago, before I got to grade 8, but that Finzi piece was something I was working on back then. Regrets... I've had a few...

Just to contrast to the Rockschool pieces above (the first one earned the guy a distinction), here is a piece that is listed for ABRSM grade 8 violin [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjQJ5kpDE8U[/media] And this is one of the ABRSM grade 8 clarinet pieces... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPAyF9_Eb_g[/media] The ABRSM pieces are obviously played by professional musicians, so we're not comparing like with like, but nevertheless I believe there is a considerable difference in the complexity of the music compared with the Rockschool pieces. It all comes down to what the people holding the audition are expecting.

Here are some of the Rockschool grade 8 pieces... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn9LEcoLxUQ[/media] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_N-8MGXjjQ[/media]

Chord melody. Solo bass is boring for the vast majority of people. Something like Viaceslav Svedov's cover of Michael Jackson's Black or White manages to showcase his abilities without being something only endurable by a bass player. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v2qcqvZfms&feature=related[/media]

[quote name='lobematt' timestamp='1328609716' post='1529768'] The email I got with the audition info says... "it must be of a high level (Grade 8/Diploma). We are looking for all applicants to show themselves and their skills..." And that's basically it! [/quote] Hmm... The Rockschool grade 8 pieces are not of a high level, IMHO, based on recordings I've seen on youtube. What sort of a music school is it? What other instruments/disciplines do they teach/intend to teach?