2010 Jazz parts bass, a set on Flickr.
Here is a bass that I assembled this week. This project is one that has taken on a quasi-epic element. I first purchased a fretless bass (my first of that type) last fall. The bass was damaged in shipping by UPS. That issue got resolved just fine since the seller immediately refunded my money. He eventually got a payout from UPS for the bass, and also got the bass returned to him by UPS, which was a pleasant surprise to him. After the basses return, he sold me the neck and bridge, which I installed on the agave blue Fender Jazz, Mexican version, aka MIM in bass circles. Stands for "Made in Mexico." I had purchased the blue bass immediately after I had received my refund for the the damaged bass. I liked the blue bass, but still the loss of the damaged bass lingered with me. That bass was exactly the design and color scheme that I had wanted.
But I did enjoy the blue bass, especially once I added the nice looking pearloid pickguard. So I kept it and played it happily. Then last week I was looking through the Talkbass classified ads in the "accessories" section and saw that someone was selling the body to a brand new Fender Jazz MIM in a sunburst finish. This body was from a "70's Classic" bass, a newer line that Fender has produced as a more custom version of their standard MIM basses. Usually carries a "classic" price as well, so I had not considered one prior. Didn't seem worth the extra money. But the seller wanted only $200 for the body. I contacted him to see if he would be willing to hold it for me while I tried to sell my blue body and pickguard, and buy his with those funds. I was able to luck into a local buyer for my body and pickguard very soon after I placed my add to sell my body. Um, that didn't sound right... Anyway, the local buyer was able to come to my office at lunch that very day. He liked what I had to sell, and we had a deal. From there I bought and subsequently received, this time safely from UPS, the new sunburst body and put it together during lunch this week when I received it.
The box it came in had a big old dent, so there were some anxious moments as I looked inside to see if the bass had survived yet another drop by UPS! To my relief, it had been very well packed by the seller, and was unscathed! So for $0 outlay on my part, I was able to upgrade from a 2004 standard blue body to a 2010 shiny new body, with a very nice upgraded pickguard in tortoise shell, my favorite design! See my other basses if you don't believe me! :-)
For anyone interested, the "Classic 70's" body has the pickup spacing of that era. The bridge pickup is positioned slightly closer to the bridge, giving the bass a slightly more edgy sound than the standard pickup spacing gives. Probably not noticeable to most listeners.
This model was popular, and still is, with bassists who like that "funk" sound. We'll see how it sounds with the fretless neck that it now wears. So far I like how it sounds through my headphones. And we'll also see how it sounds in the jazz band where it will be showcased as my "Jaco tribute" bass. Not a replica, just a nod or 2 to the legendary bassist and his bass, the "Bass of Doom" as he called it. Nods include fretless neck with lines and fret markers. He did not play the 70's model body, but his main bass looked similar to this one, minus the pickguard. His fret markers were dots, not diamonds as is the case with mine. And his markers were real whereas mine are vinyl inlay stickers.
For those not familiar with Jaco and his bass, Jaco is the only electric bass player in the jazz hall of fame. He is widely known as a genius and a pioneer in electric bass playing. His style has been copied by many bassists, and many of us list him as our top influence. his fretless sound was achieved primarily by playing the bridge pickup only, which is easy to do on a Fender Jazz bass.
Sadly, Jaco suffered from mental illness and was untreated for much of his life, resulting in chaos and instability in his personal and professional life. He was homeless during the last years of his life, and he took his bass with him on the streets, with no case, and abused it with now legendary neglect.
My bass story is a small reflection of the epic journey that he and his bass took, minus the tragic ending. Jaco sadly lost his life in a bar, beaten to death by a bouncer at a night club in Florida when he was not even 40 years old.
Jaco's Bass of Doom was lost for years after having been stolen from him prior to his death. It remained missing until very recently, when it re-sufaced in a New York City pawn shop. The shop owner laid claim to it, setting the stage for a legal battle that was avoided when the bass player from the hard rock group Metallica took it upon himself to buy the bass outright from the pawn shop ower and then donate it to Jaco's family, where it belonged. This act is indicative of the wide renown that bassists of all genres have for Jaco and his influence.
Below is a pic of the bass in it's current form. I replaced the Gotoh bridge for a standard Fender bridge. Simple, yet effective and way more effective in achieving a quality set-up.I added the diamonds to the neck. They are stickers. They still look great after 18+ months of regular use!
Here is a bass that I assembled this week. This project is one that has taken on a quasi-epic element. I first purchased a fretless bass (my first of that type) last fall. The bass was damaged in shipping by UPS. That issue got resolved just fine since the seller immediately refunded my money. He eventually got a payout from UPS for the bass, and also got the bass returned to him by UPS, which was a pleasant surprise to him. After the basses return, he sold me the neck and bridge, which I installed on the agave blue Fender Jazz, Mexican version, aka MIM in bass circles. Stands for "Made in Mexico." I had purchased the blue bass immediately after I had received my refund for the the damaged bass. I liked the blue bass, but still the loss of the damaged bass lingered with me. That bass was exactly the design and color scheme that I had wanted.
But I did enjoy the blue bass, especially once I added the nice looking pearloid pickguard. So I kept it and played it happily. Then last week I was looking through the Talkbass classified ads in the "accessories" section and saw that someone was selling the body to a brand new Fender Jazz MIM in a sunburst finish. This body was from a "70's Classic" bass, a newer line that Fender has produced as a more custom version of their standard MIM basses. Usually carries a "classic" price as well, so I had not considered one prior. Didn't seem worth the extra money. But the seller wanted only $200 for the body. I contacted him to see if he would be willing to hold it for me while I tried to sell my blue body and pickguard, and buy his with those funds. I was able to luck into a local buyer for my body and pickguard very soon after I placed my add to sell my body. Um, that didn't sound right... Anyway, the local buyer was able to come to my office at lunch that very day. He liked what I had to sell, and we had a deal. From there I bought and subsequently received, this time safely from UPS, the new sunburst body and put it together during lunch this week when I received it.
The box it came in had a big old dent, so there were some anxious moments as I looked inside to see if the bass had survived yet another drop by UPS! To my relief, it had been very well packed by the seller, and was unscathed! So for $0 outlay on my part, I was able to upgrade from a 2004 standard blue body to a 2010 shiny new body, with a very nice upgraded pickguard in tortoise shell, my favorite design! See my other basses if you don't believe me! :-)
For anyone interested, the "Classic 70's" body has the pickup spacing of that era. The bridge pickup is positioned slightly closer to the bridge, giving the bass a slightly more edgy sound than the standard pickup spacing gives. Probably not noticeable to most listeners.
This model was popular, and still is, with bassists who like that "funk" sound. We'll see how it sounds with the fretless neck that it now wears. So far I like how it sounds through my headphones. And we'll also see how it sounds in the jazz band where it will be showcased as my "Jaco tribute" bass. Not a replica, just a nod or 2 to the legendary bassist and his bass, the "Bass of Doom" as he called it. Nods include fretless neck with lines and fret markers. He did not play the 70's model body, but his main bass looked similar to this one, minus the pickguard. His fret markers were dots, not diamonds as is the case with mine. And his markers were real whereas mine are vinyl inlay stickers.
For those not familiar with Jaco and his bass, Jaco is the only electric bass player in the jazz hall of fame. He is widely known as a genius and a pioneer in electric bass playing. His style has been copied by many bassists, and many of us list him as our top influence. his fretless sound was achieved primarily by playing the bridge pickup only, which is easy to do on a Fender Jazz bass.
Sadly, Jaco suffered from mental illness and was untreated for much of his life, resulting in chaos and instability in his personal and professional life. He was homeless during the last years of his life, and he took his bass with him on the streets, with no case, and abused it with now legendary neglect.
My bass story is a small reflection of the epic journey that he and his bass took, minus the tragic ending. Jaco sadly lost his life in a bar, beaten to death by a bouncer at a night club in Florida when he was not even 40 years old.
Jaco's Bass of Doom was lost for years after having been stolen from him prior to his death. It remained missing until very recently, when it re-sufaced in a New York City pawn shop. The shop owner laid claim to it, setting the stage for a legal battle that was avoided when the bass player from the hard rock group Metallica took it upon himself to buy the bass outright from the pawn shop ower and then donate it to Jaco's family, where it belonged. This act is indicative of the wide renown that bassists of all genres have for Jaco and his influence.
Below is a pic of the bass in it's current form. I replaced the Gotoh bridge for a standard Fender bridge. Simple, yet effective and way more effective in achieving a quality set-up.I added the diamonds to the neck. They are stickers. They still look great after 18+ months of regular use!
