Fender Jazz Bass, Olympic White (1973)

Finished in one of the true classic Fender colors and built during of the last great CBS-Era years, this '73 Jazz Bass has all the vibe, tone, and feel you could ask for.

This 1973 Fender Jazz Bass arrived at our shop right around the time we acquired its photo negative sibling, the one-owner '73 Black Jazz Bass. We couldn't help but take the opportunity to celebrate having two great examples from the same year in what are essentially opposite color schemes of each other. How cool is that?!

This Olympic White Jazz Bass had seen some serious action over the years by evidence of the natural yellowing of the top coat and body wear throughout; with the exception of a short period in the early 60s, many of the guitars finished in this color share the same yellowing, which has become one of the signature looks of a vintage Fender custom color instrument. We absolutely love the way it contrasts the bound Rosewood fingerboard and tortoise pickguard!

Interestingly enough, it weighs a touch more than the Black '73 but feels just as balanced. You'd swear they were the same weight, or possibly even figure this bass as the lighter of the two. Either way, it shares much of the resonant qualities, and offers a level of playability that makes these early 70s examples such great players. This Jazz Bass saw its share of changes, but at its core, it's maintained all of the vital elements that give us that character and tone we long for in a great vintage bass. The pickups were recently (2022) rewound by Lindy Fralin and sound fabulous! They're connected to a pair of original CTS potentiometers from early 1973, with just the tone pot having been replaced a few years prior to the rewind. At one point, an aftermarket bridge was installed and the original left far behind. Thankfully, the original mounting holes were unaffected, and a replacement bridge was reinstalled.

We also uncovered some black shielding paint underneath what was a replacement pickguard. The shielding paint was carefully removed by our repair staff, revealing clean, original paint beneath it. We opted for a custom-spec tortoise pickguard from Spitfire to set the aesthetic back into its proper form, which truly transformed the look from where it had previously been. There's evidence of tug bar screw holes on the bass side (likely created later), but it's presumed that given its age and period of manufacture that it had the proper treble side tug bar location. The original bar is missing, but a replacement can easily be added thanks to the pickguard screw holes lining up perfectly.

Sure, there's been some changes to this lovely bass, but we've worked to get it back into a more appropriate period-correct place, doing our best to match the original vibe of what is one of the coolest and most fun-playing Js to have had here in the shop.

Includes original hardshell case.