japanese j-bass...or is it?

alan · Post by **alan** » January 14th, 2011, 12:05 pm

Hey guys, I'm fairly new to the board, or I should say I'm new to posting to the board, and as my first post aside from the introductory one, I was hoping to get some advice.

So I was looking for a new backup bass and I saw this craigslist post for a lefty Japanese J-Bass. The seller was asking $300, which seems like a pretty good deal even though it has quite a few cosmetic issues (dings, scratches, etc).

The weird thing is, and this is were I'd like to get your thoughts, he sent me some larger pics and the headstock looks very strange to me. The way Fender is written out doesn't seem quite right and there's no serial number on the headstock. But then again I don't know much about what to look for in a Japanese Fender.

I've attached a picture of the headstock below. What do you guys think? Am I being overly critical?

PunkRockBassist · Post by **PunkRockBassist** » January 14th, 2011, 12:38 pm

looks right to me sometimes MIJ fenders would sometimes put the the fender logo with model like Fender Jazz Bass but in the more common cases ive seen MIJ fenders have just their Fender logo on the headstock alot with the older ones and the serial number sometimes was on the front of the headstock and could also be on the back of the neck near the the neckplate like in the 1st pic i posted or very rarely it may be on the back of the headstock.

Jeroen · Post by **Jeroen** » January 14th, 2011, 12:50 pm

Why is there a jack socket mounted on the headstock as a stringretainer?

alan · Post by **alan** » January 14th, 2011, 12:58 pm

Is that what that is? I thought it was just differently shaped.

Like I said, the body has got quite a bit of wear on it, but the price seems to give me some wiggle room to upgrade it.

Frenchy-Lefty · Post by **Frenchy-Lefty** » January 14th, 2011, 1:56 pm

I had one of those and actually kept the neck for a fretless project. The headstock is conform to the MIJ Jazz Basses (called reissue 62') with just the logo on it.
$300 is the right price to pay. (they were around $550 new) In my humble opinion the most recent MIM Jazz (built after 2004) are better as they have an Alder body which give this typical Fender punchy mid-range sound. Those MIJ JB were made of basswood and seemed to me lacking punch and definition. I also thought the pickups were pretty sloppy.
One of the best MIM I have tried was actually the MIM Ash body limited edition made for Musicianfriend/Guitar center. You can find some used ones for around $300. (although some wishful-thinking dude is trying to sell one on Ebay for $600 which is more than the price of a new one)
Now, I know that some peeps on this board like their MIJ JB so it is a matter of taste really. Good luck!

Post by **andrew** » January 14th, 2011, 1:57 pm

I'd ask for a pic of the back of the neck where it meets the body as PunkRockBassist pointed out. There should be a serial number there.

Any more pics of it? Is it sunburst or white?

danomite64 · Post by **danomite64** » January 14th, 2011, 2:08 pm

That is not where an input jack goes.

andrew wrote:Is it sunburst or white?

It could be black, too

LefThanDed · Post by **LefThanDed** » January 14th, 2011, 2:10 pm

About 20 miles from me at Carrboro Music in Chapel Hill, NC. Classic old school type store in lower level of a cinderblock bldg in auto repair area. (May have to deliver some books to my kids at UNC - if so will take a look)

Carrboro Music make heavy use of Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carrboro- ... 843?ref=ts

alan · Post by **alan** » January 14th, 2011, 3:38 pm

I really appreciate all the feedback guys.

Lefthanded, that's actually the one I was looking at, good catch. Saw it on craigslist, I didn't realize it was a music store, thought it was an individual seller.

The more I look at it though I think it might be a bit too beat up for my taste, and not in that in that classic weathered sense.

One of the best MIM I have tried was actually the MIM Ash body limited edition made for Musicianfriend/Guitar center.

Is this the one you're referring to? http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend.com ... sku=517888

Frenchy-Lefty · Post by **Frenchy-Lefty** » January 14th, 2011, 4:22 pm

Yes - That's the one -

Post by **andrew** » January 14th, 2011, 4:39 pm

danomite64 wrote:That is not where an input jack goes.

andrew wrote:Is it sunburst or white?
It could be black, too

While it's true any left handed bass is likely to come in black, I've never seen a MIJ lefty jazz from when Fender offered them for sale in North America in anything but Sunburst or White finish.

danomite64 · Post by **danomite64** » January 17th, 2011, 8:29 am

Neither have I, but when I got my lefty black MIM body from The STRATosphere, they were also selling several lefty black MIJ bodies. I wanted alder though, so I went with the MIM.

Jeroen · Post by **Jeroen** » January 17th, 2011, 2:22 pm

andrew wrote:While it's true any left handed bass is likely to come in black, I've never seen a MIJ lefty jazz from when Fender offered them for sale in North America in anything but Sunburst or White finish.

I've seen a 60s RI in LPB once, and a few MIJ '75RIs in different colours

LeftyBassist.com

japanese j-bass...or is it?

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