Question: Ever seen uneven finish fading like this before?

[Elias Graves]

This is the neck off Foo's Jazz Bass. It's from March 7, 1972. Appears to be a one piece maple with a little bit of birdseye in it.
The headstock is a dark amber color while the rest of the neck is still very clear.
Anybody know was this painted that way or what? Is it fading?

 

[Kerouac]

I dunno about the neck, but my grandparents have that carpet!

 

[Elias Graves]

 

[Tiltsta]

On some 70's vintage fender bass guitars the headstock face was finished in a butterscotch/amber blonde finish to match the body, while the board was left with just a clear coat.

Here is a 70's bass with the same thing, and you can see the headstock color was made to match the body color.

http://www.hendrixguitars.com/Lh350.htm

 

[Elias Graves]

On some 70's vintage fender bass guitars the headstock face was finished in a butterscotch/amber blonde finish to match the body, while the board was left with just a clear coat.

Here is a 70's bass with the same thing, and you can see the headstock color was made to match the body color.

http://www.hendrixguitars.com/Lh350.htm

Looks like the same neck as on Foo's burst.

To match the center of the sunburst, I suppose.

 

[Tiltsta]

I don't know which colors had the different color spray on the headstock. I don't really follow bass guitars closely, but I've seen lots of natural and butterscotch with that look. Maybe they did it on all of them. I've also heard someone say that it was extra layers of finish on the headstock to overlay the logo decal, but that seems less likely to me, as I have seen some minty 70's basses with no yellowing that had the darker headstock. I suppose it could be extra coats of clear that yellow, but all the ones I have seen look really evenly dark.

 

[Tiltsta]

Looking at your pic, it seems you can easily see the string tree outline in light color finish, so maybe it is just UV aged urethane, adding support to the logo coating idea.

 

[Coralkong]

Looks almost like mildew or fungus or something under the finish.

 

[Tone Reaper]

I've seen quite a few 70s fenders that look like that. Not sure what it's all about.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

 

[Elias Graves]

Looks almost like mildew or fungus or something under the finish.

Around the frets? That's corrosion stains.

 

[CBHScott]

It's all mojo

 

[wagdog]

It's all mojo

Was gonna say; you can scrape the mojo off that neck with a knife.

 

[Elias Graves]

Was gonna say; you can scrape the mojo off that neck with a knife.

Unfortunately, no, you can't. It goes all the way through. I'm not sure how those frets corroded like that, but it messed up the wood pretty bad. There's no re-fretting this one. That's why it got retired and replaced.

 

[Psychotronic]

The darker headstock is normal for that era Fender. Mine is the same way.

 

[Elias Graves]

The darker headstock is normal for that era Fender. Mine is the same way.

Thanks. Seems that way.
Perhaps a coat of amber on the new headstock is in order.

 

[Foo]

yes, i have seen a guitar like that

 

[cuffdc]

yes, i have seen a guitar like that