JV , SQUIER fender,FENDER squier, fender, what's the difference?

[spencer.b]

I've had a few JV squiers over the years and I love em, just wondered what the difference is between the usual ones and the one's that say fender but with squier on the headstock tip and I've recently seen a few fenders with JV serial no.s are they the same thing?

[GuyR]

• The first few months of production exported to the uk have the large Fender logo. Serial numbers up to very approximately JV10000. I don't think there are many other significant detail differences. I have '82 and '84 jv Jazz basses (Fender logo and Squire logo)The '84 has an extra layer of ply to the scratch plate. That's about it.

the Fenders with JV serials are a whole different category and not one I know much about, but I believe the 21frets website has all the infoyou need.

Great basses, have had mine since '83 and '84 new. 

Edited September 26, 2019 by GuyR

[warwickhunt]

The difference is... £££

 

[spencer.b]

Thanks for the 21 frets tip

From what I can tell the fender jvs have nitro paint and USA pups although the website only mentions guitars not basses, anyone got more info?

[police squad]

The JV serial numbers with Fender logo only were non-export models

ie Japan only. They have obviously found their way over here

[LukeFRC]

Fender set up Squier brand with a Japanese factory (Gakki?) copying original 50's and 60's guitars. 

• The first batch were large Fender logo with small "Squier series" logo on the headstock. Apparently they mostly came to Europe. These are the expensive ones, mainly based on rarity. Unlike it is suggested in every sales advert for anything JV these were Japanese made using Japanese parts (so metric screws!) and there's nothing wrong with that (possibly some of the first JV Strats used US pickups which is where the legend seems to come from). I had one of these in a '57ri P bass, In my view having tried out a fair few P basses if I wanted to get something similar now from Fender that wasn't a JV I would be looking for a USA AVRI '57 from a few years back or a current custom shop. In that company even £1000 for a JV isn't bad value. In my view, yours may differ!
• They then switched to large Squier logo on the headstock. Like the first batch they were fairly good vintage copies. Over time there were some changes in hardware which 21frets website lists. 
• After the JV range there was a slightly cheaper Squier SQ range, which were not modelled on vintage basses as much. They are also good instruments.
• After that the go into single letter before the Seiral A, B, C etc. I have no comment on quality except by the early 90's the "silver series" was issued and was supposed to be better than the average. I've had Silver series Squier and it's not that close to the older JV stiff in terms of feel. At this point you're getting a Japanese made Squier rather than anything more interesting.

At the same time as making these vintage reissue Squiers for the export market they also made instruments with JV serials for the domestic Japanese market, these would have had Squier or Fender badges. The problem for us now is that they sold a range at different price points, and not necessarily using the vintage correct stylings that make the export JV stuff desirable. Personally I wouldn't pay a premium for a domestic JV instrument - unless I played it and it was worth the asking price on it's sound as an instrument. That's partly because the justifiable hype around the early export JVs mean that sellers of domestic JV's hope that people don't know the difference and pay more, and partly as if your aim is Japanese bass from the 80's  there's a whole ton of interesting and lovely stuff out there for the money. 

My 2p is: if it's a export Squier JV, either with the first series Fender or Squier badges, try it out. Ignore the price for a bit, compare it to other basses and decide if you want that instrument based on how it plays. People who have them tend to keep hold of them for a long time, and there's a reason for this. 
 

[LukeFRC]

On 24/09/2019 at 23:01, spencer.b said:

From what I can tell the fender jvs have nitro paint and USA pups although the website only mentions guitars not basses, anyone got more info?

The basses will have Japanese pups and poly finish

[epoxyjazzbass]

There is different specs depending on the models; I suggest you search for the catalogs (they can be found online)

For exemple the Fender PB57-70 (for 70000 yens catalog at the time) is poly finish with japanese pickups while the PB57-95 (for 95000yens catalog) is nitro with US vintage pickups (the same as on a Fullerton RI).

Only 3 Models of bass have nitro and US pickups and pots and correct tuners/bridge : the PB57-95, PB62-98 and JB62-115 (with stack-knobs). They are the most desirable and generally go high in price on the used market

What we call a Squier JV is generally an "export" JV Squier, they are the only one officially exported to Europe as previously mentionned. A Squier Export is on the medium price (about 65000 yens), poly finish but "real" tuners. Some domestic Squier JV also exists but are on the lowest grade and/or non vintage in specs

So the price of a JV depends on the exact model. A Fender JB62-115 costs the double on the catalog to a Squier export and is much much rarer also, pecs are not the same also. This is why you will find some high price on some models that are perhaps justified and a lot that are not totally

Edited September 26, 2019 by epoxyjazzbass

[Twigman]

On 24/09/2019 at 21:53, GuyR said:

• The '82 has an extra layer of ply to the scratch plate. That's about it.

 

How many layers does it have?

My 83/84 Squier branded JV has a 4ply plate

Edited September 26, 2019 by Twigman

[pierreganseman]

my pair of Fender JV JB62-115 

US pickups, Nitro Finish and electronics. Reversed tuners.

[spencer.b]

1 hour ago, epoxyjazzbass said:

There is different specs depending on the models; I suggest you search for the catalogs (they can be found online)

For exemple the Fender PB57-70 (for 70000 yens catalog at the time) is poly finish with japanese pickups while the PB57-95 (for 95000yens catalog) is nitro with US vintage pickups (the same as on a Fullerton RI).

Only 3 Models of bass have nitro and US pickups and pots and correct tuners/bridge : the PB57-95, PB62-98 and JB62-115 (with stack-knobs). They are the most desirable and generally go high in price on the used market

What we call a Squier JV is generally an "export" JV Squier, they are the only one officially exported to Europe as previously mentionned. A Squier Export is on the medium price (about 65000 yens), poly finish but "real" tuners. Some domestic Squier JV also exists but are on the lowest grade and/or non vintage in specs

So the price of a JV depends on the exact model. A Fender JB62-115 costs the double on the catalog to a Squier export and is much much rarer also, pecs are not the same also. This is why you will find some high price on some models that are perhaps justified and a lot that are not totally

Here we go, this is exactly what I wanted to know, isn't basschat great

[LukeFRC]

30 minutes ago, pierreganseman said:

my pair of Fender JV JB62-115 

US pickups, Nitro Finish and electronics. Reversed tuners.

Beautiful both alder or is the fretless that “sen ash” you see used?

[pierreganseman]

3 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

Beautiful both alder or is the fretless that “sen ash” you see used?

both alder as far as I know. 

Fretless is a bit of an enigma as it doesn't exist on catalog but it's original. 

Factory  Request.... custom order ,  who knows

Original board , original dots... 

[GuyR]

10 hours ago, Twigman said:

How many layers does it have?

My 83/84 Squier branded JV has a 4ply plate

Apologies, it is the '84 that has the extra layer -- 4, the same as yours. The '82 has 3 layers to the plate. (Have edited my earlier post)

Edited September 26, 2019 by GuyR