warwickhunt Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 This particular bass came up in another thread but on examination I thought it raised a serious question; was this a conscious effort to save wood or was the bass constructed on a Friday afternoon shift? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-1976-American-Jazz-Bass-Guitar-Natural-Ash-M-N-/250766618313?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3a62daeec9"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-1976-American...=item3a62daeec9[/url] I have to say that the 70's must have been a rough period for Fender when they don't even joint the wood parallel with the neck. I realise that it shouldn't have any affect to the tone whether it is parallel or offset but every bass (copy or genuine) I've ever encountered in the past has been parallel jointed in roughly regular sections (2-5 pieces depending on manufacturer/period). I could understand if the lower piece was jointed so that the lower offset bout could be added without the need to waste wood but the bottom section actually carries over to the bottom lower horn! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 [quote name='warwickhunt' post='1203480' date='Apr 18 2011, 12:18 PM']This particular bass came up in another thread but on examination I thought it raised a serious question; was this a conscious effort to save wood or was the bass constructed on a Friday afternoon shift? [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-1976-American-Jazz-Bass-Guitar-Natural-Ash-M-N-/250766618313?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item3a62daeec9"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Fender-1976-American...=item3a62daeec9[/url] I have to say that the 70's must have been a rough period for Fender when they don't even joint the wood parallel with the neck. I realise that it shouldn't have any affect to the tone whether it is parallel or offset but [b]every bass (copy or genuine) I've ever encountered in the past has been parallel jointed in roughly regular sections (2-5 pieces depending on manufacturer/period).[/b] I could understand if the lower piece was jointed so that the lower offset bout could be added without the need to waste wood but the bottom section actually carries over to the bottom lower horn! [/quote] This one should be worth a fortune then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted April 18, 2011 Author Share Posted April 18, 2011 [quote name='Ou7shined' post='1203497' date='Apr 18 2011, 12:31 PM']This one should be worth a fortune then. [/quote] I should have clarified '...of the basses that are made from multiple pieces of wood'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 I've seen stripped Fenders from a similar era with odd joins, but this looks like a factory natural finish...odd choice of join is odd. I'm not sure £1975 is the right price point either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted April 18, 2011 Author Share Posted April 18, 2011 [quote name='AndyTravis' post='1203573' date='Apr 18 2011, 01:37 PM']I've seen stripped Fenders from a similar era with odd joins, but this looks like a factory natural finish...odd choice of join is odd. I'm not sure £1975 is the right price point either.[/quote] You only have to know a bit of previous history with the seller to realise that their take on value can be very different to that of (virtually) everyone else! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 I've seen shonky lamination like that on a few Korean Fender copies from the 70s, never seen it on a Japanese copy & certainly not on a US Fender, CBS era or otherwise. I'd guess it's been stripped & refinished. Jon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigAlonBass Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 I bought a Sunburst Fender Precision in 1975, and a Sunburst Fender Jazz in 1976, both brand-new from the shop. A couple of years later, I decided they would fit in better with the other natural Basses in my Collection if I got them stripped and re-finished, so this is what I did. They BOTH looked similar to the example we're talking about! I immediately told the Luthier to spray them in a different colour, and sold them as soon as I could. That's why I have a chuckle to myself when I hear all the comments on '70's Fenders being such wonderful 'Vintage instruments' because there was a hell of a lot of dross slipping through quality control at the time. Over the years I've had conversations with fellow Bass Players with similar stories to mine, so it doesn't seem as though it was a rare occurence either. I had it all documented with Receipts and photographs, but lost them all in a House Fire about 10 years ago. It won me some arguments at the time, I can tell you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted April 19, 2011 Share Posted April 19, 2011 [quote name='BigAlonBass' post='1204044' date='Apr 18 2011, 07:56 PM']I had it all documented with Receipts and photographs, but lost them all in a House Fire about 10 years ago.[/quote] Fender don't mess around, you know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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