Late 1960s Fender Jazz Bass with different year for body and neck

[cascanicoff]

Good morning Vietnam, everyone.

 

I will be trying out soon a vintage Fender Jazz with a 1967 body and a 1969 neck. It is not the first time that I see something like that, just for instance in this very forum.

 

It makes sense, of course: Back in the days someone may have bought a 1967 bass, had a problem with the neck (or just did not like it) and replaced it after a couple of years. That is the way it possibly happened. But I really wonder if it would be also a possibility that some parts of the bass were made in 1967 and left the factory as a fully built bass after two years. Could that be a possibility? It sounds unlikely to me, but I really do not know about the way companies like Fender deal with stocks and parts.

 

 

Edited January 27 by cascanicoff

[Hellzero]

So, yes it's a huge possibility, and quite common I would say, as CBS bought Fender in January 1965 with the intention to dismantle the company, so they used all stock components available to build instruments.

 

The pots should also be from 1966 as they bought the whole remaining stock from CTS back then.

 

Instruments built from 1965 to 1969 can be weirdos with different years for parts, but to give them a date, it's always the youngest one that counts.

 

And I wonder how the seller can date the body to 1967 as, except if there's a date hand penciled, the bodies were the same?

[OliverBlackman]

4 hours ago, cascanicoff said:

It makes sense, of course: Back in the days someone may have bought a 1967 bass, had a problem with the neck (or just did not like it) and replaced it after a couple of years.

The worry is, if they had two bodies and two necks creating one fantastic bass and one dog, which one is it….

Edited January 27 by OliverBlackman

[Reggaebass]

Out of curiosity what are the pickups and neckplate dates 

[GuyR]

In my opinion, it’s more likely to be a warranty neck replacement or bitsa than a factory original.
2 years difference in neck & body dates for a standard production model would create enough doubt to prevent me paying the value of a full original, as it inevitably would were you to sell it on.
It wouldn’t stop me buying the bass, but I’d make clear before trying it what my position money wise was.

There will always be another matching numbers bass to buy if the seller won’t be reasonable.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

When I bought my US Precision in 1982, I liked the Cherry sunburst Ash body of one that had a fretless neck, and the maple fretted neck that was attached to a yellow body. I asked if they could get one in with the combination I liked. Once it was clear that I was in a position to buy, they swapped the necks. I expect that probably happened fairly often.

[pierreganseman]

very hard to say. 

 

ive seen so many "weird things" dealing with Vintage Fender Japan so I would say very possible however They obviously go for so much less money. 

[Beedster]

8 hours ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

When I bought my US Precision in 1982, I liked the Cherry sunburst Ash body of one that had a fretless neck, and the maple fretted neck that was attached to a yellow body. I asked if they could get one in with the combination I liked. Once it was clear that I was in a position to buy, they swapped the necks. I expect that probably happened fairly often.

That’s interesting and amusing in equal measure 👍

[Hellzero]

3 hours ago, Beedster said:

That’s interesting and amusing in equal measure 👍

And is the main problem with all Fender basses or guitars: the parts swapping.

 

To me, at least 50% of the Fender vintage market are put together instruments sold as fully original at delirious prices, without any shame.

[Burns-bass]

1 hour ago, Hellzero said:

And is the main problem with all Fender basses or guitars: the parts swapping.

 

To me, at least 50% of the Fender vintage market are put together instruments sold as fully original at delirious prices, without any shame.

I can attest to this. A prominent shop in Scotland sold two of my old basses. Both were constructed from vintage parts. This was made clear to me when I bought them and made clear to the new owners when I sold them.

 

Sadly the vintage shop either didn’t know, or, perhaps more likely, ignored it. 

[cascanicoff]

Well, I do not have much information about the bass yet, I only saw a couple of pictures. Good news is that the current owner lives directly in the area, so I have the possibility to try it out... once I am healthy and out of home again, because right now I have the flu.

 

Thanks for all your feedback, pals, it really helps a lot to a vintage bass ignorant like me.

 

 

[Reggaebass]

19 minutes ago, cascanicoff said:

Thanks for all your feedback, pals, it really helps a lot to a vintage bass ignorant like me

When you have a bit more info you could always ask here or in the vintage fenders thread , there’s a lot of knowledgeable people there who would be happy to assist if you needed, good luck 

[peteb]

1 hour ago, Reggaebass said:

When you have a bit more info you could always ask here or in the vintage fenders thread , there’s a lot of knowledgeable people there who would be happy to assist and / or have a fight  if you needed, good luck 

 

🙂 

 

Edited January 29 by peteb