WTF!? Fender Jazz Bass dating/setup

[ZoSo58LP]

so i've got a fender jazz, it's a Made in Japan 1975 Reissue. got it back in '04 or so, for like $430 used at my local store. so, everytime i dated this thing, according to every fender method of dating, it's between a 1985-1986. it's MADE in Japan, NOT CRAFTED IN JAPAN! every where i look for dating serial numbers, it comes to 1985-86. The SN is A035635. again, MADE in japan, not CRAFTED.

so low and behold, when i'm setting it up today and take it apart, i see this:

Picasa Web Albums - Jay Ochs

then this confirmed it:

Picasa Web Albums - Jay Ochs

WTF!? June/Aug 1998?!?! EVERYWHERE says it's from the 80's. Also notice, but I didn't take a pic (damnit) the neck stamp where it fits into the pocket says 75R/EX...

the body says 72R/EX.....

huh?! are these just random mismatched parts from the factory? the time frame is around the same time, but was there a 1972 reissue as well as a 1975!?

either way, this sucks as this whole time i thought I had a vintage bass, much like everyone online apparently thinks when i look up the '75 Made in Japan Fender Jazz Reissue (they all say their serial number dating led them to 1985 as well...)

so that sucks huh? any insight?

2nd topic: setting it up.

this thing has microtilt, and first thing i did was eliminate the micro tilt 100% from the neck, meaning there's no shim in there at all now. I did this because the micro tilt basically killed all my upper frets (from like 14 and up was dead on all the strings basically). so now, it's not dead, and i can play up there (yay) but i noticed i had to make my saddles much lower....so i did, and i adjusted the truss for a bit of a bow to lower the action as well. it plays nice, but not enough fret buzz for me (i like REAL low action, especially for slap) so i was going to adjust the saddles a bit more....then i realized, i get an AWFUL POP when i play hard or slap, especially on the E string....meaning my pickups are too close to the strings. yeah, well, the pickups won't lower anymore than they already are, and if i go anymore, i hardly have a place to rest my thumb when i play now, and i'm still getting terrible pop. anybody have any suggestions for this? idk what to do, except go back and add the shim, and have to eliminate those frets again in order to be able to play like i used to.

other than that, s he shined up great and is nice and shiny now! lol

 

[AbuseTheMuses]

I had a '76 JB I got in italy a few years ago (2004-05-ish) for 500 euro as a steal (thats aprox 1000 bucks US at the time). It weighed a ton. It came with the origional case including a yellow piece of paper from fender detailing how to plug it in to a fender bassman, and an ancient looking strap. I checked it and nowhere were there any kind of parts that said anything other than 'Fender' on them. Pickups, neck, bridge, strap, pick, etc. That japan stuff means probably that someone replaced the old guts with something else. The micro-tilt? Remember this thing was made before 'slap' was even a concept, and they were made for solid oomf and fret buzz was not considered anything anyone would want in an instrument either. Mine was seriously mint (I got it from an old collector dude who had tons of old mint stuff in the back of a van, referred to by the engineer of the studio I was sessioning at - all he did was collect, never played, modified, anything) and it didn't have a shim in it. Just a educated guess but I think you got something that had some work done to it. Hey if it polishes up nicely, who cares right? Does it play nice and sound good and weigh a ton?

 

[ZoSo58LP]

yours is a genuine 76? that's awesome! yeah this thing weighs a ton, def lol. i didn't check the pots/pickups for any dating or whatnot, but i read that the Made in Japan series was made up until 1997, and from 97 after, they started saying CRAFTED in Japan on every bass.....mine says Made. so i mean, this makes no sense, as it completely contradicts the serial code system here. i've been watching a lot of larry graham stuff lately, and he has an awesome looking jazz type bass that sounds so amazing, i want that sound! lol

also wait, yours does or doesn't have microtilt? i thought all 70's did starting around 74 or something? yours is the 3 bolt neck too, right?

 

[AbuseTheMuses]

Well, I don't have it any more, just used it for one project, bought for the production not the player
It sounded punchy good but that's becase it was so thick 'back-in-the-day' kind of wood I guess. I honestly believe it was never used beyond test to see if it works kind of usage and just belonged to this collector fella. Nothing that said 'crafted' or 'made' in anywhere either on the neck or body, just 'fender' and a number I didn't pay attention to. I looked at the pickups when I was getting a scrunchy noise but that was just solder job on the pot, nothing about Japan either. I dunno, the body/neck combo itself was the gem, I just assumed that the guts were what came with it too.