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Post subject: Re: Fender Jazz Bass from 1977 – need your help :-)
Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2014 7:53 am
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mariajazzbass wrote:
Doesn't it look a lot like these two:


The link you provided from Promenade music with a photo of a 75 Jazz bass,..... this is a new bass,.. Fender does vintage re-issues (they currently have Brand new American Vintage re-issue 1964 & 1974 jazz basses in their 2014 catalogue & last year had a American Vintage re-issue 1975 Jazz bass )
I'm not going to comment any further on whether they look the same ..etc
For the answers you're looking for to determine the value of this bass,.. this can't be done online,..... I'm also not going to BS you & say wow!! you're right they look the same,....the bass you have is worth Muhco $$$$ because it's not & that's the God Honest Truth,.... the bass you have is in rough shape & needs some TLC & attention (I gave you some suggestions in a earlier post).

I think you should bring the bass to your local music store & get it appraised by someone who can touch, feel & play & inspect this bass or if you just want quick cash bring it to a pawn shop .
Most of us here on the Fender Forum have been playing Bass for 30 to 40 years & when ask for an opinion on what a bass is worth we will give an honest answer with regard to the condition of the bass & it's market value for the condition it's in .


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Post subject: Re: Fender Jazz Bass from 1977 – need your help :-)
Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2014 12:14 pm
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Hi Maria, I am really confused. Did you not post that you had a short scale Fender 1977 Jazz Bass? Did you CHANGE your original post to delete the information originally given?

The photos you posted look much like a standard 34 inch 20 fret Jazz neck but since it is hard to judge length in photos, please measure the scale from the center of a bridge saddle (the metal thing the string rests on near the big of the instrument) to the nut (the white plastic strip at the end of the finger board on the little end of the instrument.) If that measurement is 34 inches (86.36 centimeters) or so, it is not short scale at all! So my original post was based on bad information provided by you and would not be relevant to a 34 inch (86.36 centimeters) scale.

The Torres stamp for sure on the neck looks legitimate as does the F/R/R inspection stamp. I'd say the neck is legit Fender for sure whether it has a date stamp on the butt end of the neck or not. Can't read the stamps for sure in the body's neck pocket but I see what appears again to be a F/R/R inspection stamp which would be correct for this general era. Can't explain the crude chiseling in the neck pocket other than maybe it was done by someone (not by anyone at Fender) to perhaps address intonation issues after some modification trying to make the scale just a hair shorter, most likely after the bridge swap. Not sure at all and this chiseling is maybe the most unusual and puzzling thing about this instrument. You see instruments with part swaps and "upgrades" all the time, but neck pocket chiseling is very bizarre.

It appears this body might have started out sunburst judging by the various paint colors present in the neck pocket. That would make it an alder body. Can not explain the extra hole in the neck pocket unless it was used to secure the neck in place during the chiseling.

While it is almost certain from what I can see in the photos that both the neck and the body are genuine Fender and the tuners also, there is really no way to know if the neck and body started out as a unit or if someone assembled two divergent parts. It could be the chiseling was done to use some other neck on the Fender body like an Asian Lawsuit Era Tokai neck and then they happened upon a real Fender neck. Stranger things have happened.

The neck serial dates to 77-78 so if there is a date stamp on the neck butt it could be as late as June of 78 and still be considered a 77 model year instrument, even though the neck was made in 78. (Model years at Fender run on fiscal years, not calendar years.)

YES! You can search "77 Jazz Bass" and find a bunch of "Collector Class" instruments bringing about twice the value Affprod posted. HOWEVER, unfortunately you do not have a "Collector Class" instrument such as the one Rivington has for sale at one of the links you posted. (The other link you posted is in fact a brand new production reissue model.)

You being in Europe means the dollar value would be higher than here in the USA because Fender USA made instruments are far scarcer there and even way more expensive to buy new due import duties. So any Fender Bass is worth more in Denmark than in the USA.

What you actually have is a "PLAYER CLASS 77/78 JAZZ BASS" at best. Player Class instruments are worth about half of an all original instrument at the most. This is far from original shape, so comparing a Collector Class instrument's value to yours is folly.

Here in the USA it is worth exactly what Affprod said. There it is worth more because it will probably be the only 77 Jazz for sale in Denmark while here there are hundreds for sale right now. The advice given to get it to someone who knows about them and set it up with new strings and give you an appraisal is great advice as this will be money well spent. The strings on it now are past being done and are even installed incorrectly which makes it look amateurish.

I would NOT worry about replacing any parts now on it, unless they don't work. (Other than the strings and having it setup by someone who knows what they are doing.) I'd leave it otherwise as it is because 77 parts cost way more than the total value of the thing would increase if you restored it by replacing every incorrect part. Besides once the original solder joints in the controls are gone, (and these obviously ARE gone since the pickup was definitely swapped out) it can never again be Collector Class no matter what you do to it. Oh, you can buy all the right parts if you have the cash but what you can't buy are original factory solder joints. You also can not buy an original factory finish either. Replacing the obviously incorrect parts with original vintage parts would NOT result in bumping the thing back to collector class pricing, so why bother so long as everything works? I'd say it is what it is, a Player Class Jazz Bass.

Having a Player Class 77 is the next best thing to having a Collector Class 77. Players tend to care less about pickup, pickguard and bridge swaps than collectors. Collectors pay BIG MONEY for 100% factory original Fenders, players don't care so much about part swaps, they just want one that plays and sounds good while looking cool. This thing does have some MOJO and character to it.

Player class Fender basses often are beaten up and have had parts replaced precisely because they PLAY good and SOUND good. Collector Class instruments sometimes are pristine because when new they didn't play well or didn't sound as good as others the owner had access to using, so it became a Closet Queen. That is the truth. First thing I want to know about a Collector Class instrument is WHY is it in such good shape? Often when you play it you instantly know that it just is not a good playing or good sounding example, but it sure is pretty.

Will close on a positive note. That case is ultra cool and is probably worth about $300 to me here and again it is for sure worth more in Denmark or Europe in general. Usually European Fenders did not come with an original Fender factory case but came instead in a case that the importer/distributor obtained in Europe so they would not have to pay import duties on the case and then the importer/distributor charged you for the case too. This Fender factory case would bring more if someone had not put the stickers on it, but it is still a pretty cool CBS era case! It even has vintage stickers! I'd expect to pay about $300 at least for that case stickers and all here. I wouldn't try taking the stickers off either as you might do more harm than good. My point is that the case is possibly more rare in Denmark than a 77 Jazz Bass! So in Denmark I'd consider selling the instrument and case SEPARATELY to maximize the total value of what you have. You can buy a cheap gig bag or another modern hard case for the instrument for 20 to 100 dollars here. But I'd want at least $300 for that case here if I had it. There? Who knows! A local vintage dealer might know when you get it appraised. I'd get the case appraised separately there too.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Jazz Bass from 1977 – need your help :-)
Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2014 12:44 pm
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brotherdave wrote:
It appears this body might have started out sunburst judging by the various paint colors present in the neck pocket.


I picked up on this too, seeing that there's some black & Red paint in the pocket & to myself personally when I look at the body on this Bass it looks like it was originally Sunburst or Black & someone stripped the paint off it.. The Bridge looks period correct.
as do the tuners & micro tilt neck plate,........ get it appraised & professionally set up.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Jazz Bass from 1977 – need your help :-)
Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 12:27 pm
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I don't know if "Maria" is still following this thread, but in case you have the original parts with this bass, please replace all of the replacement parts with the originals and you will have a more valuable instrument.

Such as: the bridge, the pick guard, the pick guard screws, the bass pick up and the control plate along with original knobs.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Jazz Bass from 1977 – need your help :-)
Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 10:01 pm
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mariajazzbass wrote:
Please note that I don't find all replies cynical and also please note that I'm grateful for any information I can get.

I just don't see the reason in comments like this: "if you have had the bass for 20 years and if you play it you could certainly be able to know what one is worth by searching e bay. Plus you know exactly how to post a description of a bass like you own a music store. Just comes off a little odd/ fishy."

To answer a few questions:

The thumb rest in in need of a new screw, that's why it's in the wrong position.

I'll add images of the back of the bass.

The Silver Plate says: "Fender Micro Neck Adjust PAT.35500496"

Image

Image

Image

When taking off the neck to see what dates are stamped on the body & neck for authenticity I get this:

Image
Image



You may not be familiar with the amount of viruses we get in the US just by clicking on a link.

And yes you sounded knowledgeable enough about the bass and having said you owned it for 20 years I took for granted you were a bassist. Usually a bassist who has a bass for 20 years and plays said bass for 20 years POSSIBLY knows what it's worth and what's up with the changed parts and whatnot. However I can tell the bass hasn't been played--AT LEAST it looks that way.

First off it has white hair growing out of it. It's all rusty and looking pretty dirty. If you do play it --may I suggest a new set of strings ? Those look like one could get flesh eating skin disease from them.

Now don't hate -I'm really not mean- I'm just messing with you like you're one of the guys. Welcome to the forums and have a great day.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Jazz Bass from 1977 – need your help :-)
Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2014 10:19 am
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:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: h


Last edited by 1959burst on Thu Jun 26, 2014 7:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Jazz Bass from 1977 – need your help :-)
Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 2:02 am
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HI Maria. Det er interessant! Jeg har haft mange Fender Jazzer og har en mage til din, dog i bedre stand :-) Din bas er original - de ting Amerikanerne tror er fup tegn, er fordi Fender sjuskede i 70erne! Den er helt sikkert 100% original!! MEN - hvordan LYDER den???? Hilsen Nicholas. PS - Min 77er er ca 15.000kr værd - jeg gætter på at du kan få 5000 for din som den står.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Jazz Bass from 1977 – need your help :-)
Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 1:43 pm
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Quote:
HI Maria. Det er interessant! Jeg har haft mange Fender Jazzer og har en mage til din, dog i bedre stand :-) Din bas er original - de ting Amerikanerne tror er fup tegn, er fordi Fender sjuskede i 70erne! Den er helt sikkert 100% original!! MEN - hvordan LYDER den???? Hilsen Nicholas. PS - Min 77er er ca 15.000kr værd - jeg gætter på at du kan få 5000 for din som den står.


That's easy for you to say.

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