1960 Jazz bass overspray shenanigans?

[magnaton]

Hi all — just received a beautiful 8/60 Jazz bass but a bit worried about the decal here. Why is it wrinkled? Is this definitely the sign of overspray? Some parts of the neck perhaps a little darker but who’s to say that isn’t just lacquer changing over time.

I snapped some pics to share and would love to hear from those in the know. Not my first vintage but always more to learn with this stuff. Black light in the mail as we speak. Thanks!

 

[magnaton]

Blacklight pics

 

[flojob]

What's the blacklight for?

 

[magnaton]

Helps you spot finish inconsistencies

 

[lug]

What's the blacklight for?

In case the bass was part of a crime scene.

 

[FunkHead]

The finish is crazed and that is causing the Decal to wrinkle. I'm not saying that authenticates the bass/Decal. I'll let the experts chime in on that.
Sweet bass though.

 

[Grinderman]

In case the bass was part of a crime scene.

Sex offenders who have a very specific compulsion to defile Pre-CBS Fender Jazz Basses are a subset that is recognized by FBI criminal profilers.

 

[Fitz]

Everything looks good. Those decals are just very thin and very delicate.

 

[jamro217]

The neck grain looks too clean for a '60 in relation to the wear on the back of the body despite having checking. Could be a replacement neck dressed up to look original. Either that or it is an original with a funky looking decal. I've seen lots of vintage Fenders and this is the first decal I've seen like that one.

 

[Dynacord]

Very cool bass. Congrats. I'd ask David Davidson at Well Strung Guitars (and who curated the Songbirds collection). Very nice and super knowledgeable guy. That's a too high dollar piece to go off of random opinions. It is the correct decal design for a '60 - though I would also be questioning the wrinkling, particularly on the foot of the 'F'.

 

[7dollarbologna]

Because the decal is on top of the finish, rather than encased in lacquer, the decal is fragile - if I were to guess maybe the instrument was exposed to excessive heat and it softened the lacquer. Nice bass!

 

[2F/2F]

I’m sure you just spent a lot of money on that thing. You should take it to a well reputed professional appraiser, as a matter of course! An online Website open to anyone who signs up should not be trusted to authenticate the instrument, based on pictures.

That said, all kind and manner of wear and damage to old Fender decals is known to occur. That would not be a red flag to me. However…what I said above.

 

[okabass]

I'm only saying that on my '65 PB and '68 Tele bass the neck wear, the wood, is quite a lot darker. And the wear line is not so clear.
View attachment 4346682

 

[Dynacord]

An online Website open to anyone who signs up should not be trusted to authenticate the instrument, based on pictures.

And often those with the least knowledge are the most definitive in their statements...

I'm only saying that on my '65 PB and '68 Tele bass the neck wear, the wood, is quite a lot darker. And the wear line is not so clear.

True. And they can vary all over the place depending on the environments they've been exposed to, idiosyncratic playing styles of previous owners, etc. and very possible someone was over aggressive in trying to 'clean' it before.

'68 Tele bass could have either nitro or poly on the neck so the wear could be quite different. Even earlier Fender used different clears - I had a '58 and '59 P and the original neck clearcoats were distinctly different (the '58 being 'whiter' as was typical on a lot of 50's Fenders and the '59 - maple neck - having much more of the orangish ambering typical of early 60's Fender necks - and the '58 was much more heavily worn overall so one might expect the reverse).

 

[Dynacord]

But anyway, going off the black light photos I don't see any evidence of overspray. Always possible that it got excessively moist/wet at some point and I certainly have seen otherwise original Fenders which had the decals replaced (not saying that's the case but can't really know). Or maybe someone tried using a decal set chemical and there was a reaction - or any number of other possibilities. Super cool bass. Original case, too

 

[1960jbass]

If the decal wrinkling bothers you, send it to me as that's a birth year bass. It will have a good loving home!!

 

[Fitz]

The neck grain looks too clean for a '60 in relation to the wear on the back of the body despite having checking. Could be a replacement neck dressed up to look original. Either that or it is an original with a funky looking decal. I've seen lots of vintage Fenders and this is the first decal I've seen like that one.

I see plenty of wear down to the bare wood on the lower half of the neck behind around frets 2-5ish.

OP, pop the neck off and check for a date on the butt of the heel. The neck looks good to me.

 

[InternetAlias]

What I can tell you with almost 100% certainty is that it, indeed, is a bass guitar.

 

[Jim C]

I've played a number of Pre-CBS Fenders and own a 60' P. I've never seen a decal like that but have no evidence to support it one way or another.
The neck does look too clean for the body though and suspect it might have been re-sprayed / touched up.
There used to be a guy on this board named Fran that had loads of experience with older Fenders but I can't remember his board name.

 

[Dynacord]

There used to be a guy on this board named Fran that had loads of experience with older Fenders but I can't remember his board name.

I think you're thinking of @FranF - (EDIT on second thought, I might have the wrong Fran there - I think he's the one into Hofners) - @johnk_10 has also struck me as knowing what he's talking about re: vintage Fenders.