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I know this subject has been discussed to death on the forum here already (and I promise I really did read every post I could find about it over the past couple of weeks, lol), but I'm having some trouble determining what wood the body of my new-to-me recently acquired CIJ Jazzmaster is actually made of. It's a 1997-2000 '66 Reissue model, in Olympic White finish. I've looked up the serial number online at a couple of different places, and apparently this guitar must have been made in those few "transition years" in which MIJ switched to CIJ as it's listed as being made by the Fuji-Gen factory. I also own a 2002-2004 CIJ Jaguar, and this JM seems to be quite a bit lighter weight-wise than it does...though the Jag has always seemed kinda abnormaly heavy (which I like, lol). I know that, from researching online, that it's said that from around 1996-1997 and onwards that all CIJ Jazzmasters were made of alder instead of the basswood used up until then for the MIJs. I'm just wondering if this is actually some kind of exception to that rule or something though, honestly. The previous owner seemed about 90% sure that it was an alder JM, by the way. Anyways, just wanted to ask and see if any of you guys here have had any experience with this kinda thing or some knowledge / answers on the subject. I very much appreciate any thoughts on this whatsoever; thanks!

I have a V-serial CIJ JM that i bought new in 1997 (or was it 98?), which always seemed heavier than others. Has a JAN97 neck stamp.
Dunno what wood that is, though.

Hmm... strange. Mine is an "O" serial number of O067638. This is really kinda boggling my mind as to how to find a concete answer on this; i'm kinda starting to think it may not really be possible to identify it "100%", you know?

Fender Japan specs state alder. Alder can be quite light, by the way. 7-8lbs for an alder JM isn't unusual, but 6lbs would be.

You can find light and heavy JMs (and Jags) in any year of Fender Japan's production.

Thanks for the replies, guys. I'm going to weigh mine today and see what I come up with. I do know after checking out the neck pocket that the grain looks more like alder to me than basswood from the examples I found online (though I could be completely wrong 100% just as well). The only markings are on the actual neck are the normal place on back where it meets the pocket and reads the standard (I believe) "JM-66"; there's no other type of dating anywhere I can find other than a "D" stamp not far above the "JM-66" stamping which I'm guessing makes it a "D" profile neck shape (though it's pretty slim imho and I really, really like it)...

Ok...so I weighed my Jazzmaster finally. It came out to about 8.4 to 8.5lbs. So I'm about convinced it's more than likely alder. And it turns out my Jag weighs around 9lbs (my Les Paul DC Pro, which I thought might be my heaviest guitar, weighed exactly the same as my JM and it's all mahogany) so it isn't that much heavier like I thought. What do you guys think?

Go to the Fender Japan catalog archive and look up the specs for your year. They list the body wood.

https://vintagejapanguitars.com/catalog ... -catalogs/

I used that when I couldn’t determine the year of my MIJ because the serial lookup said it’s either 1995 or 2010. Seller thought it was ‘95, but turned out the paint color wasn’t available in 1995 per the catalog.

bogginhead wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 01, 2023 4:34 am

Ok...so I weighed my Jazzmaster finally. It came out to about 8.4 to 8.5lbs. So I'm about convinced it's more than likely alder. And it turns out my Jag weighs around 9lbs (my Les Paul DC Pro, which I thought might be my heaviest guitar, weighed exactly the same as my JM and it's all mahogany) so it isn't that much heavier like I thought. What do you guys think?

Weight gives you no indication of whether something is alder or basswood. Both can be light or heavy depending on a lot of factors.

The main differences between alder and basswood are hardness and the appearance of the bare wood. Basswood is a "soft hardwood" that dents easily (particularly with a flexible poly finish). Poplar is also like this, and mahogany to a degree, but basswood even more so. Alder, by contrast, is stiffer, more resistant to denting and doesn't "smoosh" the way basswood does. Alder is more likely to break or splinter when something smashes into it. Screw holes in basswood also strip out more easily than alder.

Basswood, when stripped to the bare wood, often can have a "featureless" quality. Alder is not really known as a wood that has particularly attractive or ostentatious grain, but it usually has a *bit* more going on visually than basswood, with thin but darker grain lines. This is not universal to all pieces but it is a general rule. Basswood is often paler than alder too.

And of course alder is often pink-ish, whereas basswood never is.

Interesting sound comparison.

Can you Hear any difference?

Soniqfreq wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 05, 2023 8:43 pm

Go to the Fender Japan catalog archive and look up the specs for your year. They list the body wood.

https://vintagejapanguitars.com/catalog ... -catalogs/

I used that when I couldn’t determine the year of my MIJ because the serial lookup said it’s either 1995 or 2010. Seller thought it was ‘95, but turned out the paint color wasn’t available in 1995 per the catalog.

Thanks for this. When looking at new threads earlier I happened to see this post of mine again, and checked out the link you'd posted. It's definitely alder per the catalogs from those four years.

Although - the Fender J catalogs describe instruments available in Japan, which may differ from MIJ instruments made for export. In early years, for example, export instruments were either alder for sunbursts, or basswood for solid colours, whereas solid colour domestic production used alder. If you're buying an instrument which was originally sold in Japan, you can rely on the catalog specs.

MattK wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 16, 2024 10:23 pm

Although - the Fender J catalogs describe instruments available in Japan, which may differ from MIJ instruments made for export. In early years, for example, export instruments were either alder for sunbursts, or basswood for solid colours, whereas solid colour domestic production used alder. If you're buying an instrument which was originally sold in Japan, you can rely on the catalog specs.

Gotcha; thanks, man