LeftyBassist.com

Is this guy misinformed, or am I misinformed? I never seen anything coming out of Japan finished in nitro. Maybe those early '82s Squier were nitro but not anything with a CIJ label. Or is this true?


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mint-1997-Left-Handed-CIJ-Fender-Jazz-Bass-62-Vintage-Reissue-JBD-62L-Japan-MIJ-/190714246420?pt=Guitar&hash=item2c67747514#ht_6839wt_1399

Those reissues have poly finishes. He's made an error in his description.

Are those CIJ made of basswood? I can't remember. I think there is a difference between CIJ and MIJ.

I have a sunburst '97 Fender Japan Jazz bass. He's off in a couple of other areas as well. These basses are wonderful instruments. But he obviously doesn't know what a genuine '62 Fender Jazz Bass looks like. As some or most of you guys know, The tuners on a real '62 Fender are reverse rivet type Klusons, not forward turning CBS style large cloverleaf's. The bridge's were an allthread saddle with flathead screw adjusters for height. Not hammerhead CBS style, with Allen head screws- only found on foreign basses. The Fender CBS hammerhead bridges used flathead screws. The brass ground strip on a real '62, is wider- and not 'off-center' like mine was, or almost all the Japan '62's I've seen. The Japanese basses use small 250k pots. '62 Fenders used large 250 pots.
That said, I'll bet that bass is a really nice bass. Mine is killer- I upgraded my bass to the correct reproduction hardware and it sounds and plays great. I didn't replace the pickups- 'cause they sound as good or better than some of the custom winders pickups I have. My bass has a basswood body. Sounds every bit as good as my '62 alder bodied re-issue Japanese Jazz bass. And it's lighter.

You ,Sir, are an expert!

Frenchy, MIJ and CIJ are the same, thed just changed the word to crafted, I guess to make it sound more sophisticated, but I don't think anything changed in terms of quality. not sure exactly when this happened, but I want to say mid '90s. I had an early '90s one that was alder (sunburst), but all the other 5 or so MIJ/CIJ I've had were basswood. I know this has been discussed to death, but it's hard to really pinpoint whether basswood sounds inferior. I do tend to believe that basswood is less focused and a bit dark, but that's just my perception. I never did a side-to-side comparison of both.

Really stupid question: how do you tell if its alder or basswood? Would love to know what mine is made of.

Basswood is really soft and doesn't have really dramatic grain patterns. Alder will have more grain to it.

Hey, you forgot about creme-colored clay dots vs. plastic white dots.

MIJ/CIJ basses are definitely NOT nitro, but one thing I can say about the poly finishes on them is that they are usually incredibly thin and dent and chip very easily. This could be why he thinks it's nitro, because of the way the finish is flaking around the neck joint.

Not sure why they did this... if it's to cut costs or if it's to let the basswood resonate a little more... but, it was very noticeable on all 3 of the MIJ Fenders I have owned.


Not stupid at all... here's the way I do it, although it's not 100% accurate since alder wood grain can be hard to see.

Take off your neck and look in the body neck joint... if the neck joint is completely devoid of any grain at all or if the grain looks "washed" or blurry, then it's probably basswood. This is what basswood looks like:



Basswood can also sometimes look white or grayish in appearance... and I can usually get the raw wood to dent with my fingernail.

Alder grain is also sometimes hard to see, but when you can see it well, it's easy to identify. It's usually made up of fairly dense straight lines... here's an alder body:



If you look in the neck pocket in the picture, you can see the differences. Alder also has a more yellowish hue to it... like a more traditional wood color.

I understand that these aren't "exact" sciences, but once you see enough of them, it's pretty easy to tell the differences.

Also, basswood is noticeable lighter than ash and alder, specially on a full-size body like a Jazz. If your bass is around 8.5 lbs and has some neck dive, it probably is basswood. Alder Jazz bass usually are at least 9 lbs.

What those guys said^

Thanks Addison and Carlos, super insightful, that's why I love this forum.
With apologies for hijacking the thread, and based on what you are saying, I'm thinking basswood. Do we agree?

Basswood

Yeah, that's where I'd put my money.

Roasted marshmallows!

Yummy!

HEY- THOSE COULD BE BISCUITS!

I'm a professional guitar and bass- and string bass repairman, and I haven't a clue how on EARTH you guys can see through the cloudy sealer buildup in the neck pocket to determine the wood species! I almost always have to look the entire bass over- to really know. Sometimes you can tell right away by the grain in the pocket- but it's The WEIGHT, that is a fairly good indicator. Alder bodied basses are heavier, almost all the time. I have made a lot of instruments, and I use basswood in my repair work. I made an endblock out of a block of basswood for a Chinese made 3/4 student bass violin a few years ago. Basswood turns into a fine, almost talc like powder when you machine and sand it. It IS a 'hardwood' and as such, falls into the specialty category- you don't 'just' find it at Home Depot. I love my three Fender Japan basswood bodied basses. Two P-basses, and one J-bass. My other Japanese J- has an alder body. I also have a Squier Maple bodied '70's j- with Nordstrand 70's winds, and an aftermarket neck- NOT one of them sounds 'better' or 'worse'- or 'brighter, or 'darker' than the others, IMHO. The J's sound like Jazz basses, and The Precisions sound like Precisions. I know- I've been working on Fender basses since 1968. There were no such thing as reissues back then.
Just a bit of an observation, even the crummiest made sloppy neck jointed Ash bodied boat anchor Fenders from the 70's still sound like Fender basses. My lighter weight Japanese made bases are FAR better basses than my original, '73 P-bass, and my '71 Jazz were.
If you're not a total abuser, and treat your instruments carefully, the hardness and durability of basswood is a moot point. My basses are all used, and show some minor wear, but premature relic'ing jobs are not my thing. I take care to protect them...they were too hard to come by, as you all know!
And, as some of you know, basswood is not quite as 'hard' as Alder, or Ash, or Maple...but I'll bet anyone that has similar basses- differing only in alder and basswood bodies- that an mp3 recording of both in a controlled environment would be extremely hard to differentiate between. I'd love to hear someone else's ideas on this topic- with recorded examples, and in an absolute control situation- same amp- mic- recording level, player, strings, and steups.