This was a "Rescue Dog" from a pawn shop in 1989 or so. The previous owner(s) chose to paint it Richard Petty Blue and then black, probably with a brush. They also scraped everything off the headstock. leading me to think that it had a checkered past.
If they were trying to conceal it's identity or owner, they should have also removed the neck plate as the original serial number is right there. That along with the date of manufacture written on the neck joint made it easy to identify it as a Japanese Vintage Squire Jazz from 1982; the primo vintage for these basses.
Components
Along with the custom black brushed-on paint job, it had the original tuning keys and bridge, but the Fender pickups had been swapped out for Bartolini 9s' A significant upgrade worth about $300 for the set. This made the $75 price tag on the bass itself a no-brainer. The body is Alder or Ash. It's just to dense to be Poplar or Basswood.
Restoration/Hot Rodding
The first step was removing all of the finish from the body. It's been a while now, but I seem to recall the original finish being Arctic White. Over the next few years, it went from a natural oil finish, to Canary Yellow, until I decided to do a proper restoration.
Before refinishing, it got a serious bridge upgrade though. A 2TEK through-body bridge. The 2TEC is a massive, 4lb chunk of brass that mounts from the back of the instrument. This means removing a huge amount of the bass body to fit the bridge. Think long and hard before doing this to a vintage instrument because it can't be undone and it destroys any resale value.
The improvements the 2TEK makes to the instrument are well worth it though. The extra mass and individual "fingers" for each string removes any dead spots from the neck, brings the neck and body back into balance since Jazzes are neck-heavy to start with, and sustains for days. ("You can go and have a bite, come back and it's still going")
When Dupont automotive paints re-released all of the original Vintage Fender colors, I started the process of refinishing it in Fender Surf Green. All finish was removed again, grain filled, sanded, then a few coats of color enamel (since you can't get tinted lacquer anymore). Finally 8 or 9 coats of clear lacquer, wet-sanded with 800 through 2000 grit and compounding and buffing.
Why does the headstock say Fender if it's a Squire?
As mentioned earlier, somebody destroyed the headstock by grinding everything off it. I leveled the headstock with wood filler as much as possible, but it was too far gone to reveal the natural maple, so a thin sheet of Maple veneer was laminated on. Then to redo the branding I used this restorers' trick; find the Fender fonts on the web and create the new logos in Photoshop. Print the logos on a sheet of clear acetate using a laser printer. Choose a gold or silver metallic Sharpie and fill in the Fender logo from the back. Cut the sheet to fit the headstock and glue it on with Mod-Podge. Add 8 or 9 coats of clear lacquer to level.
Choosing a Fender logo rather than a Squire logo, authentic to the instrument was a poor decision and I'll probably redo it one day.
Coming Next: Black Bart, the 1983 Japanese Vintage Precision Restoration
I'd kill for a few boxes of those TE strings
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