Reviewer Bob Marciszewski
Manufacturer Fender
Model 1973 Jazz Bass, American
Price $70 + $550

Neck Type 1 piece maple, bolt-on, with black binding
Fingerboard (Maple) Fretted with Black block markers
Body Type Single Block Ash
Finish Natural
Pickup(s) Original passive, J-Bass Single Coil (2 counter wound -NS/SN)
Controls 1 Volume Knob for each Pickup (Large black heptet Highhat), 1 To
ne Knob (small black heptet Highhat)
When I bought this Guitar, it was crying from the condition that it was in. The previous owner had engraved scrollwork, his name and a bong into the Poly finish and had stained it to highlight the carvings. It was a true abomination to the Original Natural finish and highlights in the ash body (northern ash, not swamp ash). The original pickguard had been highly engraved with scrollwork, a bull's head and "Taurus". His name was also engraved into the neckplate and the back of the head. He had also saturated the pickups and controls with beer.

I completely stripped the finish off of the body and smoothed out the finish on the neck, leaving the original decals on the face of the head. My finish man is a wizard and restored the finish on the body with tinted Polyurethane to match the original patina. I soaked, cleaned and resoldered all of the electronics, including buffing the copper ground plates under the pickups and controls. I had the neckplate rechromed, to remove traces of the engraved name. The original W/B/W pickguard was replaced with a Tortoise/W/B pickguard. I located and installed original Fender Chrome Pickup and Bridge covers. Total repairs and parts cost about $550.

The '73 Jazz Bass now looks nearly showroom clean with ~25 years of seasoning. The ash has beautiful twists and burls that shimmer through the finish rather than being hidden beneath someone's interpretation of artwork. As far as performance, she now plays like a charm. I get great solid bottoms and bright pings as I ask for them. The tonal range is phenomenal. The counter winding of the two single pickups North-South/South-North produces the effect of a humbucker cancelling any unwanted humm.

By setting the neck properly, I can maintain fairly low action which improves playability and speed. For all of those people who insist that the only way to get good sustain out of a J-Bass is to replace the bridge with a LQ BadAss, they've never tried the real thing with a solid ash body. Sustain is very good.

While the ash body is on the heavy side, it is in perfect balance with the neck and makes for a very playable bass, as opposed to Thunderbirds and EB-3s which are significantly neck heavy. (I'm also accustomed to playing heavy guitars. e.g., Metal body Dobros, Les Pauls, etc.

This restoration was well worth the six months of work that it took to bring it back to playable condition.

Construction 100%
Playability 100%
Appearance 100%
Sound 100%
Value 100%
Cust. Service 100%
(I like myself & my finish guy is a genius)
Overall 100%
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