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Post subject: Why "62" Reissue?
Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 7:24 am
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Does anybody know why Fender calls the Jazz Bass with concentric knobs a 1962 Reissue? From what I've read, the concentric knobs were phased out in late 1961. (Black & Molinaro, The Fender Bass, An Illustrated History p.35)

And now for some eye candy...
Here's my 1982 62 Reissue.

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Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 6:56 pm
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Location: Fender's Hometown
I think the stack knobs were used into early 1962. Fender didn't cutover very smoothly on a lot of design changes, they just kept makin' them until they were out of stock I guess. For example, on my 64 Jazz Bass, the neck is dated Mar 64, but the pots are dated late 63.

That is a very nice bass! That is the first year of the Fullerton Reissues. I've been looking for one myself.


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Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 12:06 pm
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I don't know. I realize that feature change-overs are usually not abrupt. But still, the defining feature of a 1962 Jazz Bass is the introduction of the VOL/VOL/TONE electronics, not the concentric knobs. Another feature that came in 1962 was the radiused fret board. My "62" has a slab fret board.

By the way, your bass is interesting. From what I've seen the neck is usually the oldest dated part on most Fender basses. The newest parts were usually the pots. But I'm sure there are thousands of exceptions, like your bass. I remember reading a story somewhere that in about 1966 Fender made a huge order for pots and it took them a few years to use them up.

I have a 73 P bass. The neck is dated April 1973 and the pots are dated October 1973. I imagine they had a lot of necks in their inventory when they assembled my bass.

As for my "62RI", it's almost a closet classic – if I can believe the sales guy's story. (Yeah, right.) It was on consignment in a music store when I bought last December.

They said the previous owner bought it in the early or mid 80s with some insurance money he got after he was robbed. He played it for a while and then just left in its case for about 20 years.

The story is plausible. It has a couple of small dings and it still had the adhesive plastic on the pick guard when I bought it.

The original owner probably didn't play it much because, as I discovered, the frets are not level. Even with a good set-up and a fret levelling it still rattles on the highest frets. The neck is straight so I'm going to have it refretted.

I added the chrome covers, myself. I thought I would just install them for a few pictures (and to get the "authentic" screw holes) but then I got used to playing with them on. Now, they're on to stay. (Like Marcus Miller once said, the bridge cover makes a nice palm rest when slapping.)


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