Fernandes ‘stone logo’ jazz

[Richard Jinman]

Seen a Fernandes jazz on eBay that I love the look of. It’s a ‘stone logo’ from 79-80 apparently... know nothing about them. He’s asking £600, but open to offers. I’ll try to play it first if I can obviously but I’d be interested if anyone has any thoughts

Edited May 1, 2021 by Richard Jinman

[Reggaebass]

Is it this one https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fernandes-Jazz-Bass-Stone-Logo-1978-81-Japan-Quick-Sale-Offers-Considered-/373563110431?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286

[Richard Jinman]

Yes! What do you think?

[Reggaebass]

That’s really nice, looks like it’s in good condition , maybe a clean up on the hardware, but that’s nothing major,  I don’t really know their value, @Bassassin, would maybe be able to give more information on these basses 🙂

[Richard Jinman]

2 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

That’s really nice, looks like it’s in good condition , maybe a clean up on the hardware, but that’s nothing major,  I don’t really know their value, @Bassassin, would maybe be able to give more information on these basses 🙂

thanks... stripped back look really appeals to me and seller is clearly a bass player rather than a ‘look what I found in the attic’ eBayer

[Bassassin]

Afraid I don't know too much about Ferrnandes specifically but this looks to be a nice example, all looks original and in cosmetically good condition, apart from some slightly manky looking metalwork. These are considered replica-standard instruments alongside Tokai, ESP & other high-end 80s Japanese brands - and price-wise it looks good, certainly when compared to JV Squiers & such from the same era.

One thing I'm not a huge fan of is the visible wiring channel between the control & pickup route when the scratchplate's removed - that's an odd thing to see on a bass with correct neck pickup routing & I'd wonder if that's original. The seller also mentions the bridge pickup being 'weak' - without any more detail it's hard to know what that issue might be or how weak the output is.

Had a quick look at the Fernandes catalogue archive & I think it's an FJB-65 - page 11 in this 1980 catalogue:

http://fernandes-cojp.check-xserver.jp/fer_wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/1980.pdf

Text is Japanese but the images appear to show DiMarzio-style split coil pickups & the push/pull controls.

 

 

[Richard Jinman]

1 hour ago, Bassassin said:

Afraid I don't know too much about Ferrnandes specifically but this looks to be a nice example, all looks original and in cosmetically good condition, apart from some slightly manky looking metalwork. These are considered replica-standard instruments alongside Tokai, ESP & other high-end 80s Japanese brands - and price-wise it looks good, certainly when compared to JV Squiers & such from the same era.

One thing I'm not a huge fan of is the visible wiring channel between the control & pickup route when the scratchplate's removed - that's an odd thing to see on a bass with correct neck pickup routing & I'd wonder if that's original. The seller also mentions the bridge pickup being 'weak' - without any more detail it's hard to know what that issue might be or how weak the output is.

Had a quick look at the Fernandes catalogue archive & I think it's an FJB-65 - page 11 in this 1980 catalogue:

http://fernandes-cojp.check-xserver.jp/fer_wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/1980.pdf

Text is Japanese but the images appear to show DiMarzio-style split coil pickups & the push/pull controls.

 

 

Thanks for all the info. I’m going to take a look at it tomorrow. Agree that wiring channel looks odd. I suspect the owner won’t know too much about it because of the bass’s age. 

[EMG456]

Did you look at this?

I would agree with @Bassassin that the routed channel to the neck pickup doesn't look right. there is a 65 model in that catalogue without a scratchplate and it's unlikely that they would have used a different routing pattern for just one version of the same bass at the same price.

Could it be that someone has popped an old Fernandes neck onto a different body - not suggesting the seller - he just bought it fairly recently- might have been that way for a long while.

[bagsieblue]

1 hour ago, EMG456 said:

Did you look at this?

I would agree with @Bassassin that the routed channel to the neck pickup doesn't look right. there is a 65 model in that catalogue without a scratchplate and it's unlikely that they would have used a different routing pattern for just one version of the same bass at the same price.

Could it be that someone has popped an old Fernandes neck onto a different body - not suggesting the seller - he just bought it fairly recently- might have been that way for a long while.

I agree - a few question marks over this one.

Maybe a 70N (natural?) model on the same page - though may have expected a more attractive piece of wood for a natural finish.  The back of the bass looks more attractive than the front on this one to me too.

The pickup channel route is strange indeed.

[SurroundedByManatees]

I have a sunburst (with maple board) one in transit right now. I've played some older Fernandes basses before, and they felt and sounded really good. 

I think the pickup/bridge position is a bit remarkable on the FJB-65. The pickup is a lot closer to the bridge than a 70s Fender. It seems like this has to do with the bridge position that seems further to the edge on 70s Fenders.

Edited June 14, 2021 by SurroundedByManatees

[Phil Starr]

I have a Burny (made by Fernandes) Thunderbird copy. It is beautifully made and plays really well too. It's way better made than any Gibson I've seen but I'm not sure I don't prefer my old Gibson. The Fernandes one is kind of too good, the finish is really high gloss and the sound is kind of tidied up and a bit more generic than the original but with a real thump that sounds great. The balance is way better than the original. It's as if they really couldn't bring themselves to do something as rough and unfinished as Gibson. It's Gibson taken to a luthier and sorted. I only paid £125 for it though (it had a couple of easily fixed dinks)

What i'm saying is expect the quality to be exemplary but that might be a highish price unless further research shows others going for that sort of amount. It looks like it has gone though.

[LukeFRC]

1 hour ago, SurroundedByManatees said:

I have a sunburst (with maple board) one in transit right now. I've played some older Fernandes basses before, and they felt and sounded really good. 

I think the pickup/bridge position is a bit remarkable on the FJB-65. The pickup is a lot closer to the bridge than a 70s Fender. It seems like this has to do with the bridge position that seems further to the edge on 70s Fenders.

The one in the OP ended up at the bass gallery - I think it’s there now - if you take their photo and compare it to a standard 60s or 70s jazz then *both* pickups are closer to the bridge! Even closer than a 70s fender position