Fender Jazz Bass 1980-Left Handed- Blocked Bound Neck- Original

Very rare combination late 1970s early 1980 Fender Jazz Bass Left Handed in Black Finish. Finding one of these left handed takes some work , not many lefty versions were made but it’s also black which is even more uncommon. What’s really impressive is the weight , under 9 pounds for a jazz of this era is unheard of. In fact I have a ‘78 Jazz Body posted and just the body alone (without neck) weighs 8 pounds 11 ounces whereas this complete bass weighs 8 pounds 13 ounces. Some of these are complete tanks at around 12 pounds , most are over 10. This is a very comfortable weight. Another rarity is the originality at over 40 years of age it’s remained completely original in components and is in overall good shape.

The headstock serial number on this bass is S830879. The S denotes the 1970s, the 8 being the year of that decade 1978. In this time frame Fender was owned by CBS and they were making bodies and necks that would be used over a number of years. So while the neck and likely the body were manufactured in 1978 the bass was not assembled and sold until 1980. I’ve owned some Fenders with the S8 serial number that were not completed and sold until as late as 1982. Often the way you date one is the most recently dated components would be the year it was finished . The electronics in this bass are all original. The pots are correct CTS brand and the neck and bridge pickup pot codes carry the sequence R137800X the X being both these pots have soder that’s obscuring the last digit making them impossible to date. The tone pot however carries the same sequence, R1378009. Having that last digit allows me to decode the pot which gives me the info they were manufactured the 9th week of 1980. That being the most recent date is the year it was manufactured and the 9th week being early March. Making this bass an early 1980 or one can argue late 70s since the neck/body was made then. The pickguards often had a sticker on the back of them that would match the headstock serial number. When I removed the pickguard I saw someone had added shielding to the back of it. When I removed the neck I found the sticker that would of been on the back side of the pickguard was moved to under the neck pocket before the shielding was added. That sticker reads S830879- matching the necks serial number. Both pickups are original period pickups and correct for this age of Jazz. They are the period gray bottom pickups and I can see some coding on them but it’s very faint and I cannot really confirm what the numbers state. When I removed the control plate for the pots I noticed a little extra routing in the shape of a circle toward where the neck volume pot would be, see photo. With the electronics being stock I’m not sure if the factory did that for extra clearance or if for some reason that was done after the fact , while this doesn’t inhibit function I wanted to mention this. The bridge is correct original 70s Fender with the slot headed height adjustment screws. The knobs are original, they used Stratocaster knobs for jazz basses in the late 70s and early 1980s. This has the correct pickguard as stated and you can see 1 screw in the middle of the guard this was correct for the 70s - as the 60s guards would lift or warp , this was a method to help with that. The pickguard also has the correct holes for a thumbrest and chrome neck pickup cover. I do not have these components , they were often removed new and lost over the years but are easily replaceable with reissue parts. The body features original black paint evident by the pickup and neck cavities. It also has the original holes for where a bridge pickup cover would of been installed new but again I do not have these covers. After 1975 Fender went to 3 bolt neck plates for a number of years , this has that feature still original with an intact micro tilt feature stock. The neck is in its original finish and a nice piece of maple. This has the original bullet type truss rod, these are sometimes over tightened and crack the first inlay- their is no such issue with this bass. The inlays are in fantastic shape and real pearl that show a 3D depth effect. This is a blocked and bound neck so their is white binding up the sides of the neck. The original logo is in good shape. The left handed jazz basses had a different logo then right handed this is correct. The tuning machines are stamped fender and shiny chrome- after 1976 Fender went from nickel to chrome tuners and the correct nickel string tree is intact. A very correct period lefty Jazz bass.

As for condition at 42+ years of age I’d say this is in good original shape. All hardware chrome is in good shiny condition , no corrosion and everything works well. The tuning machines are not stiff, the bridge adjusts well etc. All original electronics are functional as factory intended. The pots all turn and function without static and were recently sprayed with pot cleaner. The pickups are both working. The body finish has No chips or dents that expose bare wood. No finish has been rubbed away to expose bare wood. There is some cloudiness to the finish and some dull spots. There is also scratches and some small dents , again this is an original 42 year old finish- not perfect but very presentable. Like most Fenders of this era the neck pocket has some gap on both sides as they were using original router jigs that had become worn at that time, I made sure to include photos of both sides of the pocket but this is the nature with this era of Fender. The neck is straight, the truss rod adjusts as it should. The frets do have some wear but no deep grooving in them. These 70s fenders have very wide big frets and there is some flatness to these but with the amount of meat left they should last a long time. The binding shows some yellowing but is all well seated with no issues. You can see the way the binding is around the nut shows it’s never been tampered with and that the nut itself is original. The rear of the neck has 2 dents , 1 more on the edge that’s mostly just broken the clear finish and another that’s dented a little deeper and it can be felt more, looks like someone leaned it against a speaker cabinet. The rear of neck shows the original gloss finish none of which has been played away. Overall a great jazz bass only going up in value. I’ve priced this competitively , someone should be able to enjoy this years and get their money back and/or likely make some.

I do not have an original case for this bass. I am including a rather nice Levi gig bag model CM19E that’s rather thick and will insure safe travel to its new home.

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