help identifying a fender P J bass

tomsmith · Not So Newbie Joined: 01 Apr 2004 Posts: 9

I picked this up at an estate sale. The neck says fender jazz, made in usa (serial number suggest 1978) but its a precision body, P & J pups and a 3 way switch.
finish is natural wood, black pickguard....maple neck......four bolt on neck with FENDER neck plate dating from the 70's too.
Is this somebody's custom creation from parts or was this ever a factory issued bass??? Shocked

BassMan02 · Tiger Joined: 15 May 2003 Posts: 848

I have a Fender Delux P bass with p/j pickups but I never seen one with a three way switch on it. I never have heard of what you are describing. Maybe take it into a shop, but not guitar center because they sure as hell won't know.
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Beowulf · Growing Lion Joined: 18 Jun 2003 Posts: 876

Ha ha... freakin Guitar Center. Laughing

The Jazz neck and Precision body point to a Deluxe P-bass Special, but I have no idea if they were producing those in the 70s. I somehow doubt that they did. Not only that, but I can't even guess where the three way switch came from.

It sounds an awful lot like someone was just mixing and matching parts. That's really easy to do with Fenders. I would assume it's a mutt... as long as she plays and sounds good, go with it.

Otherwise, you could e-mail or write Fender. They have pretty good Cust. Service department and should help you out.

BassMan02 · Tiger Joined: 15 May 2003 Posts: 848

I am almost certain that they didn't produce those in the 70's. I think the actual delux pbass concept is fairly new. I think you are right....it may be a mutt.
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Sometimes we ride on your horses
Sometimes we walk alone
Sometimes the songs that we hear
are just songs of our own

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MVE · Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2004 8:00 am Post subject:

Thats interesting, I know you said the neck "says" jazz, but does is it actually a tapered jazz neck or a retangular precision? What does the three way switch do and what kind of electronics are in it? Oh yeah, what does the bridge and nut look like? I think the P-bass Special that beowolf mentioned has a fully adjustable bridge and graphite nut.
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Beowulf · Growing Lion Joined: 18 Jun 2003 Posts: 876

Post pics.

tomsmith · Not So Newbie Joined: 01 Apr 2004 Posts: 9

http://www.angelfire.com/folk/tomgwenkcd/fenderbass.html

Rufio · Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2004 2:07 pm Post subject:

You need to have a web host, you can't post it from your computer.
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tomsmith · Not So Newbie Joined: 01 Apr 2004 Posts: 9

oops...okay kids here is my mystery fender bass..

definitely a tapered jazz neck (nice and skinny) and three way switch is basically 1) neck pickup only 2) BOTH 3) bridge pickup only
electronics..I think its a stock Fender 70's split P bass pup and a dimarrzio jazz bridge pup? Bridge...not fender..see pics...is this a schaller??
Body weighs a ton...more of a weapon than a bass....

http://www.angelfire.com/folk/tomgwenkcd/fenderbass.html

thanks for any impressions/comments....

BassMan02 · Tiger Joined: 15 May 2003 Posts: 848

deffinately not origonal. that bridge pickup gives it away.
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Sometimes we ride on your horses
Sometimes we walk alone
Sometimes the songs that we hear
are just songs of our own

-"Eyes of the World" Grateful Dead

scorpionldr · Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2004 2:17 pm Post subject:

awesome looking bass. I wanna a custom bass some day

gibson_thunder · Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2004 8:38 pm Post subject:

yep, its a mutt... or...maybe its the original long lost Precision Deluxe prototype, hand-mutted by leo fender himself in 1979!!!! it could be worth a fortune!!! Laughing

Im just funnin ya, but it is a sweet bass...
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Mkuk0 · Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2004 3:21 am Post subject:

Well if you don't like it I'll gladly take it off your hands for a reasonable sum!

Mkuk0
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livejive · Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2004 1:26 pm Post subject:

Definitely a mutt. Note specifically the unequally spaced control knobs and the crooked bridge pup.

BassGuitarMyLife.com · Newbie Alert Joined: 09 Jul 2008 Posts: 2

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