Fix It :

Well here is another project. As some people know, my favorite Jazz Bass is my 1969 Seafoam Green bass. That bass just has the right combination of weight, feel & sound. It was a custom order and it has a Mahogany body. These basses are pretty rare. I have only seen a couple of them and I have owned over one hundred Jazz Basses over the past 15 years. The bass has that great late sixties neck and a little more weight than an Alder body. Yet it's still a lot lighter than a seventy's Jazz.

In late March 2001 I saw a bass on the internet that I couldn't believe. I was looking to buy an early 70's Jazz for a student. A guy was selling a early 70's J Bass with a Mahogany body! Nobody seemed to want to pay his price, so he was holding on to it. I asked him what he wanted and he said $1,000. He had only been offered $600 for it. I saw the golden opportunity and stepped right in and bought it for a grand right away. He even paid the shipping. He didn't know I would have paid at least $1,500 for it. I'll find another one for my student. You can see the condition I got it in. Not bad really. The only thing wrong with it is that the body has been stripped and sprayed with a clear coat. All the hardware is original. The neck is beautiful and looks pretty new. It just needs a little fret work. This is going to be a quick restoration. I just stripped the body and have it ready to go out to Pat Wilkins for re-finishing. i'm going to do a purple to yellow sunburst like paint job. This way you will still be able to see the wood and grain. I'll be posting pictures and updates right here.

Well I have finally got the bass back. I decided on a cherry burst finish after I sent it to Pat Wilkins. When I first saw the body the other day, I was a little dissapointed. I was looking for more color in the finish. That was until the bass was put together. Once I saw the bass all together, I thought it looked great. The finish is light enough so that you can see the grain of the wood real well. Besides the look, the bass plays and sounds awesome just as I though it would. I will probably put a hip shot on this bass so I can use it as my touring instrument. The paint job and little bit of work to the bass costed $300. That makes my total investment $1,300. This bass is worth a lot more than that to me. How rare are these old J Basses with the Mahagony bodies? I don't know, but I have only seen a few and I own two of them, The thing that is always great about these projects is that I feel like I rescued an old instrument and gave it new life. This bass will now be played and recorded. Let me know what you think of it.