Posted by Oteil Burbridge on January 2, 2013 64 Fender Jazz Bass (J-Bass)

For years I thought, “One day I want to get a J-bass that was made the same year I was born”. Then one day in LA I ran across one. Tobacco Sunburst was always my favorite finish on old Fenders so that was a plus for me from the start. I remember grabbing it by the neck just below the headstock as it sat on it’s stand. I was blown away by the feel of it before I ever took it off the stand. It was more slender than my seventies Jazz bass. Vintage basses are usually more primitive sounding in ways but also more classic sounding, and this one is no exception. So many of my favorite bassists from Jaco to Verdine White used them. On a side note, anyone that knows me well knows that I name all my basses. This one is named “Sister Odell” after a character in one of Steve Harvey’s comedy routines. She was an old church lady that cursed quite liberally.