![]() ![]() Fender starts offering maple cap fingerboards with black block inlays and black binding for Jazz Basses during the years of 1967-68, although they are quite rare. The tuners no longer turn backward for tuning up. Fender starts using its own tuning machines, known as “paddle” or “lollipop” tuners on the Jazz the same year. The smaller, thinner vintage frets are replaced with medium jumbo frets in mid ’66. These features are not added to Precision basses. Binding is added to Fender Jazz necks in early 1966, and later that year “mother of pearl” block inlays are set into the rosewood fingerboards. The era before this time is now known as the pre-CBS years by collectors, and it encompasses the most coveted of Fender’s instruments. In 1965, Leo Fender sold his company to CBS. Fender also moved the offset contour decal out to the ball end of the headstock around this time. They also replaced the nitrocellulose pickguard with a vinyl one. In 1964, Fender changed the clay dot markers to faux pearl dots. Sometime in 1962, Fender changed the slab rosewood fingerboard to a radiused laminated rosewood board which was much thinner. ![]() The individual mute system was also changed around this time to the more basic foam strip that was used on the Precision Bass. The first two knobs controlled each pickup volume, and the smaller third knob served as a master tone. The Fender Jazz Bass Throughout the 1960sīy late 1961, Fender changed the stacked knob controls to a simpler three-knob design. It was rumored that Leo Fender used old floor tile material for the “clay” dots, but it’s generally believed now that it was a type of wood putty. The new, thin Jazz Bass neck, which was only 1 1/2″ at the nut, had a slab Brazilian rosewood fingerboard with “clay” dot position markers. The mute holders were screwed into the body and were hidden by the bridge cover. Instead of a simple foam strip glued under the bridge cover, the Jazz featured an individual mute for each string. The bridge was identical to the threaded saddle that was found on the Fender Precision Bass, but the mute system was more complicated. The top knob would adjust the pickup volume, and the bottom knob would adjust the tone of that pickup. The 1960 Fender Jazz Bass had two single-coil pickups with stacked knob concentric controls. There have, however, been many smaller changes over the years that are important not only to Fender Jazz bass history in general, but also as valuable year indicators for vintage Fender bass buffs. Since its debut, the Jazz has stayed remarkably similar to its original design. Fender introduced the Jazz Bass in 1960 as a “deluxe” model to augment the Precision Bass. ![]()
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