❌SOLD❌ Fender Jazz Bass Natural Refinish, 1966

Here is a Fender Jazz Bass Natural refinish, with body and neck built towards the end of 1965 but assembled, wired and sold in early 1966.

The Jazz Bass was introduced in 1960, as Leo Fender’s second distinct bass after the two versions of the Precision Bass. Targeted towards Jazz players and taking design cues from the then-new Jazzmaster and Jaguar models, particularly the offset body, the Jazz Bass offered a brighter, more focused tone with less fundamental than the Precision Bass along with a much narrower neck.

The Fender Jazz Bass Natural seen here is refinished, or perhaps de-finished, from its original sunburst and then given a light clear coat, which has worn significantly. This type of finish treatment was common through the late 1960s into the 1980’s. One driver for this trend was John Lennon’s refinish of his Epiphone Casino, originally a sunburst but stripped to bare wood. The idea was to allow for improved resonance and response, unrestricted by the finish.  The body and neck for this instrument were built during the later part of 1965, with a neck date of November 1965. However, the codes on the back of the volume and tone pots indicate that they were made in 1966, and that’s the earliest the bass could have been assembled and first shipped. This is a CBS era bass, as control of Fender passed to CBS on January 1 1965.

This Fender Jazz Bass Natural has clearly been used as intended; the wear on the body and the marks from use of the low E section between the nut and tuner as a cigarette holder attest to this. The body and neck are both now basically unfinished, and are worn to a smooth surface. The bare Maple neck feel is something that many builders seek to emulate. The tuners and strap pins have been changed, and the originals are in the case along with the original F-stamp bridge cover and a Leo Quan Badass bridge that was once installed. The faux-tortoise pickguard is original, as are the pickups and other electronics.

This bass plays well and sounds great, as expected from a mid 1960s model.

The original, black rectangular Fender hard shell case is included.