E series Fender Japan jazz bass wood identification

[Tong Cherd]

Hey y'all! I'm new to this forum but has been getting a lot of knowledge from reading all the posts here. I finally went ahead and bought an E series Made in Japan Fender jazz bass. I've read a lot about it before buying it and these are some things I've learned:

• It's probably the same factory and parts used for squires back then but with different logo stamped on it.
• The neck and neck pocket is stamped JB-355 which is the same for alot of squires in that era.

Im pretty sure the body wood is basswood but I just wanted to see if anyone can really make sure! And I was wondering what the "V' on the neck ment if anyone knows! I think "E" on the neck probably means export model?
Anyway thank you !

 

[winston]

Hi @Tong Cherd , welcome to TalkBass! While I am not a MIJ Fender expert, I did have a 1990 MIJ Squier Jazz Bass and paid attention to specs over the years. Almost certain that my ‘90 was alder, while I’ve seen MIJ/CIJ Fender/Squier Jazzes from that era that were basswood but otherwise mostly faithful to whatever vintage they were referencing.

 

[Robert Booker]

I would think that it's more likely to be alder but one way you can tell is to test the softness of the wood by removing some of the parts that are screwed into the wood. Basswood will fray very easily and often require some repair to the screw holes. Also screws won't bite into the wood like they do with alder and some will never tighten down completely.

 

[Tong Cherd]

I would think that it's more likely to be alder but one way you can tell is to test the softness of the wood by removing some of the parts that are screwed into the wood. Basswood will fray very easily and often require some repair to the screw holes. Also screws won't bite into the wood like they do with alder and some will never tighten down completely.

 

[Tong Cherd]

Both screws for the strap was stripped and coming lose when I bought the bass. I had to repair it with adding toothpicks into the holes... I think it might be basswood. I also tried denting the wood at the neck pocket with my nai land I think I left a mark. I think it sounds really good though but just so many talks about basswood being bad..

 

[Robert Booker]

Both screws for the strap was stripped and coming lose when I bought the bass. I had to repair it with adding toothpicks into the holes... I think it might be basswood. I also tried denting the wood at the neck pocket with my nai land I think I left a mark. I think it sounds really good though but just so many talks about basswood being bad..

IMHO that part is nonsense. There are basses costing upwards of $2k that have basswood bodies. My PBass has a basswood body and it will never be sold. I've gotten so many compliments on it from other bassists and yet it's a "lowly" Squier Matt Freeman I've upgraded a bit. Basswood is a very acceptable tonewood for bodies.

 

[TrustRod]

That doesn't look like either basswood or alder to me. I'd guess maybe a Meranti/Phillipine Mahogany or another Asian wood I can't remember the name of right now

 

[Bill Whitehurst]

I expect basswood to be a bland grey/green color with little grain showing.
Can't say just what that is.

 

[Tong Cherd]

I expect basswood to be a bland grey/green color with little grain showing.
Can't say just what that is.

Hmmm... Yea me too I just didn't know there was any other wood they used back in the late 80s. I know it's soft... Maybe it's plywood? Lol

 

[Jeff K]

I'm almost positive that my E-Series P-Bass ('84-'87 is basswood. Mine's Vintage White, so I can't see any grain through the finish. But even though it's almost 40 years old, mine is in excellent condition. No chips at all, and only a few very minor dimples that didn't even go through the paint.

 

[Philonius]

I'm with TrustRod above; that doesn't look like either basswood or alder to me. In many cases it's hard to ID wood from photos, but that grain just doesn't look typical for either of them. What caught my eye was the discrepancy between the neck pocket and the pickguard cutout. Those seem badly out relative to each other, which is rather out of character for an MIJ E series Fender.

 

[Tong Cherd]

I'm almost positive that my E-Series P-Bass ('84-'87 is basswood. Mine's Vintage White, so I can't see any grain through the finish. But even though it's almost 40 years old, mine is in excellent condition. No chips at all, and only a few very minor dimples that didn't even go through the paint.
View attachment 4853522 View attachment 4853523

I'm almost positive that my E-Series P-Bass ('84-'87 is basswood. Mine's Vintage White, so I can't see any grain through the finish. But even though it's almost 40 years old, mine is in excellent condition. No chips at all, and only a few very minor dimples that didn't even go through the paint.
View attachment 4853522 View attachment 4853523

Wow looks amazing man! Yea I've seen some like grain patterns of basswood that looked likey neck pocket but it's usually from like basswood that was not used for instruments. I think we have the same model ish, mine is not a reissue just a standard I think yours is too?

 

[Tong Cherd]

I'm with TrustRod above; that doesn't look like either basswood or alder to me. In many cases it's hard to ID wood from photos, but that grain just doesn't look typical for either of them. What caught my eye was the discrepancy between the neck pocket and the pickguard cutout. Those seem badly out relative to each other, which is rather out of character for an MIJ E series Fender.

Ah yes, I think the owner before me changed the pickguard and probably ordered a cheap one to replace the old one. I saw a basswood grain on a plank of one that looks identical to my grain though, but still not sure at all. The resonance is amazing though that's why I'm surprised. The open strings ring loud and longer than 2 of my other MIA basses

 

[mikewalker]

Basswood is pretty soft, but my personal subjective opinion is that a good piece of basswood tends to add a surprising amount of "clarity" to an instrument's sound. I was tasked with play-testing several hundred instruments for the export side of our custom shop, and from all those years, that's my takeaway for 'the sound of basswood'. Incidentally, our locally grown and seasoned linden became the body wood of choice for most of our really "metal" customers (many of whom were repeat buyers) - I think they liked how it worked with extreme high-gain sounds! Another similar non-intuitive observation is how paulownia wood bodies always seemed to produce surprisingly bright sounding instruments. You would think that such a soft lightweight wood (often considerably softer than basswood!) would tend to be more on the dull side... but that's never been my experience...

 

[Tong Cherd]

Basswood is pretty soft, but my personal subjective opinion is that a good piece of basswood tends to add a surprising amount of "clarity" to an instrument's sound. I was tasked with play-testing several hundred instruments for the export side of our custom shop, and from all those years, that's my takeaway for 'the sound of basswood'. Incidentally, our locally grown and seasoned linden became the body wood of choice for most of our really "metal" customers (many of whom were repeat buyers) - I think they liked how it worked with extreme high-gain sounds! Another similar non-intuitive observation is how paulownia wood bodies always seemed to produce surprisingly bright sounding instruments. You would think that such a soft lightweight wood (often considerably softer than basswood!) would tend to be more on the dull side... but that's never been my experience...

Wow thank you so much for the reply! Thank you also for this information I really appreciate it! I don't have much experience with basswood at all but this bass sounds amazing if it's bass wood. Couple dead spots on the G string around frets 3,4,5,6but other than that it's amazing!

 

[Jeff K]

Wow looks amazing man! Yea I've seen some like grain patterns of basswood that looked likey neck pocket but it's usually from like basswood that was not used for instruments. I think we have the same model ish, mine is not a reissue just a standard I think yours is too?

Yeah, of course mine is a P while yours is a Jazz, but my S/N is E7187XX. Probably an '87, but those E-Series can't be pinned down exactly like most Fenders can. That's why they always say '84-'87 when discussing them. Great bass though. I did change the original pickup to the Seymour Duncan SPB-1, which is my favorite pickup for P-Basses.