Sweet! I always thought JPJ played a '62 Jazz with the slab board.
Yes, John Paul Jone's Jazz Bass was a '62 slab board. It was a 3 knob, there actually aren't any stackknob '62s, that's a myth born or the '62 stackpot reissue...I think Fender called them '62s for symmetry with the '62 Strat reissue. In fact I've owned a fully original 3 knob Jazz Bass with a May '61 neck date. Seen a few others too. It appears that the 3 knob arrangement comes in (actually, they reverted to it, the prototype Jazz had the 3-kob setup...) around the spring of '61. It's possible a few might pop up later, but I don't know if there were ever any original '62 stack knobs.
As for the '62 reissues, they were decent basses, but they made them for a LONG time...about 30 or 31 years...therre are plenty of them available out there used. BTW, the stack knob control plate and knobs were quite different than the originals, I've owned some of each. The originals plate was thinner and lighter, and the knurled volume knobs were much lighter too, made of pot metal or aluminum, like Tele or P-Bass knobs of the period only shallower. The RI vol. knobs were chrome plated brass, I think. Shape and gnurl pattern was different too.
The new American Vintage '64 Jazz looks nice in pics, haven't played or even seen one yet, though. GC/Sam Ash don't carry many cool basses around here (central NJ). Fender discontinued the Time Machine Series '64s, which were very similar, at the same time. The price is a bit lower on the new '64 RI, but it's not available in Closet Classic or Relic forms as the Time Machine instruments were. It seems that Fender's consolidating their line a little, which may be a good thing. They make WAY too many models/variants IMO.
