Chiliwailer Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 (edited) I have a 1963 Closet Classic Jazz Bass, in Lake Placid Blue with matching peghead. It was finished in January 2002. It has some hand written info on the neck heal (see picture) and [u][b]I'm wondering if anyone else has this on their bass or knows anything about it?[/b][/u] I'm assuming it is a special edition of 30 basses (finished in LPB with matching peghead). The neck stamp says '64 J-Bass', though the certificate has this bass as a '63 reissue. This looks to be because they made a 64 replica in 2001 and possibly a 63 ltd ed (?) in 2002. This bass was put together at the end of 2001. I believe Fender Custom Shop only make a replica of a certain bass for one year only, could this be one of only 30 LPB '63 Closet Classics they made with matching peghead? It's so hard to find Custom Shop info, can anyone please enlighten me? Thank you. Edited May 25, 2013 by Chiliwailer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynepunkdude Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 Means it's fake I'm afraid, I'll give you £10 for it out of pity Seriously though I don't know but this bass sounds amazing, do you have pics of the bass? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiliwailer Posted May 25, 2013 Author Share Posted May 25, 2013 lol! Oh well, at least that's £10 to go towards that 90's Encore P Bass I found on eBay! Here's a pic, shame the cool lacquer checking doesn't show. I'm getting a tortoiseshell plate for it, that'll finish it off nicely! Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynepunkdude Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 [quote name='Chiliwailer' timestamp='1369476725' post='2089599'] lol! Oh well, at least that's £10 to go towards that 90's Encore P Bass I found on eBay! Here's a pic, shame the cool lacquer checking doesn't show. I'm getting a tortoiseshell plate for it, that'll finish it off nicely! Cheers [/quote] That is amazing,. Please don't tortoiseshell it, that would be the worst, go checkered like me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waynepunkdude Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 [quote name='Chiliwailer' timestamp='1369476725' post='2089599'] lol! Oh well, at least that's £10 to go towards that 90's Encore P Bass I found on eBay! Here's a pic, shame the cool lacquer checking doesn't show. I'm getting a tortoiseshell plate for it, that'll finish it off nicely! Cheers [/quote] That is amazing,. Please don't tortoiseshell it, that would be the worst, go checkered like me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiliwailer Posted May 25, 2013 Author Share Posted May 25, 2013 Very Ska, nice one!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 Signature looks like 2 of 3 to me (with the signatory being ON) rather than 2 of 30? CS do make some limited run stuff but I don't remember this far back, lol. They will almost always replicate any of the limited edition models as well. EG If there's a 30 unit run and someone wants to buy one a year later they can still build a one off for them - one of the joys of a 'custom shop' is that, within reason, they'll build whatever a customer asks for. They often have certificates saying '62, '63' '64 etc for what is, essentially, the same bass IE a '64 if it's 3 knobs or a '60 if it's 2 (although sometimes the '62's a 2 knobs as well!). These are basic templates to build from and it only gets really complicated when someone wants a '68 bound & blocked or a transition '66 with binding but clay dots etc. It's at this point that prices start to hurtle upwards as well! You could write to the CS in the States and see if they have any ideas (going through Fender UK is a slow process as they only really have one guy working the CS and he's mostly focused on guitar not bass). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiliwailer Posted May 25, 2013 Author Share Posted May 25, 2013 [quote name='molan' timestamp='1369485620' post='2089703'] Signature looks like 2 of 3 to me (with the signatory being ON) rather than 2 of 30? CS do make some limited run stuff but I don't remember this far back, lol. They will almost always replicate any of the limited edition models as well. EG If there's a 30 unit run and someone wants to buy one a year later they can still build a one off for them - one of the joys of a 'custom shop' is that, within reason, they'll build whatever a customer asks for. They often have certificates saying '62, '63' '64 etc for what is, essentially, the same bass IE a '64 if it's 3 knobs or a '60 if it's 2 (although sometimes the '62's a 2 knobs as well!). These are basic templates to build from and it only gets really complicated when someone wants a '68 bound & blocked or a transition '66 with binding but clay dots etc. It's at this point that prices start to hurtle upwards as well! You could write to the CS in the States and see if they have any ideas (going through Fender UK is a slow process as they only really have one guy working the CS and he's mostly focused on guitar not bass). [/quote] That's a great reply, thank you very much indeed. It looks like you're right about the '2 of 3' part. I sent an email to Fender USA, hopefully I'll get an answer as the curiosity is building! Most importantly, it's a great bass. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merello Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 Go on the Fender forum. A team member often comes on with a definitive answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiliwailer Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 I had a reply from Custom Shop. They didn't keep good records back in 2002. It is legit, which I knew anyway, but sadly I couldn't find out what was 'special' about it i.e. who ordered it etc. Well, at least I love it and know it's special! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeswals Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 I'm very sure there were more than three lake placid blue with matching headstocks made of the 63/64 CS. I remember seeing a bunch of them for sale from a couple dealers and mostly through Sam Ash, on the online retail listings way back then. They also had candy apple red ones also with matching, also in the 63/64 CS at the same time. I have a shell pink CS 55 P Bass, that was made in a small batch, and the first time I saw one was also in a Sam Ash store (I'm in the States), but mine doesn't have any additional "ltd" scribbling other than the order number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiliwailer Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 (edited) For The Bass Doc Edited June 1, 2013 by Chiliwailer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiliwailer Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 [quote name='mikeswals' timestamp='1370073912' post='2096171'] I'm very sure there were more than three lake placid blue with matching headstocks made of the 63/64 CS. I remember seeing a bunch of them for sale from a couple dealers and mostly through Sam Ash, on the online retail listings way back then. They also had candy apple red ones also with matching, also in the 63/64 CS at the same time. I have a shell pink CS 55 P Bass, that was made in a small batch, and the first time I saw one was also in a Sam Ash store (I'm in the States), but mine doesn't have any additional "ltd" scribbling other than the order number. [/quote] Yeah, I agree, these are too nice to only make 3! I wonder if someone or some shop had them made with a change or two? Or perhaps they were made when the others ran out? The mystery continues. You're from Seattle, man I could have spent a few bucks in Bass NW! Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick's Fine '52 Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 I've seen this before, but for the life of me cannot recall what instrument it was on, from memory, the '2 of 3', referred to the components for final assembly, as in '1 of 3' is the body, '2 of 3' is the neck, and '3 of 3' is the pickguard (I recall it was a custom colour Stratocaster, with loaded pickguard). Can't say that's the case here though, but just remember that being the case on another instrument. In my experience, as its not a Master Built, there would be far more than 3 made of such a well known, desirable finish. LPB on a Jazz is the most common custom colour on originals (Along with CAR), so I would say they would be safe making 100 of these, as is typical from the CS. Matching headstocks wasn't so common in 2001 though (quite normal now on CS CC J's), so maybe someone requested it, so it had the neck took off and peg sprayed, and the parts numbered so it didn't get mixed up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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