1966 Fender Jazz Bass Natural Refinish

1966 Fender Jazz Bass — Natural Refinish, Original Pickups and Electronics — From the Collection of Bob Welsh

The Story

This bass has been a working presence in the Central Pennsylvania music scene for decades. It belonged to Bob Welsh of Harrisburg, a musician and studio owner who arrived in the city in 1983 and went on to own and operate Green Room Records and the Green Room recording studio. Welsh was elected to the Grammy Academy. Over the years, this Jazz Bass laid down the low end on dozens of tracks that came out of that studio and the Central PA scene around it.

One of the most notable is Jeffrey Gaines’ 1992 major label debut single “Hero In Me” on Chrysalis Records. Welsh played all the bass parts on that track — the fundamental low part, and a modified Scruggs Roll played up in the cello register behind the solos that made the final cut. “Hero In Me” got MTV and radio play, and Gaines performed the song live on Good Morning America.

This bass was also a favorite tool of the late Dale Epperson, Welsh’s longtime Green Room partner and one of the most well-traveled engineers and musicians to come out of Central Pennsylvania. Epperson’s resume runs deep: through Green Room he engineered and produced Jeffrey Gaines, Fuel, Cold, Marcy Playground, Sonny Landreth, Brother Cain, Webb Wilder, and Jimmie’s Chicken Shack, and through his separate work with Old School Audio he was in rooms with Les Paul, Sheryl Crow, Andy Johns, Glyn Johns, the Tragically Hip, Cinderella, and Blind Melon. Welsh recalls that Dale would simply ask, “Hey Bob, can I use the bass?” and take it with him. Exactly where it traveled with Dale over the years is part of the story we can no longer fully reconstruct, but this is an instrument that has clearly been around.

The Bass

Built in Fullerton in June 1966, early CBS era. The neck heel is stamped JUN 66 A, and the serial number 157661 confirms 1966 production. The original sunburst was stripped and refinished in natural decades ago — this is not a recent flip. The refinish itself has worn through from years of steady playing after the fact. The wear you see is a vintage refinish that has earned its own patina on top of the one underneath.

What’s Original

• Pickups: Original single-coil Jazz Bass pickups
• Electronics: Original
• Four-bolt F-plate neckplate, correct for the era
• Rosewood fingerboard neck, straight and playing well

Condition

Honest, earned wear from a lifetime of working gigs:

• Worn-through spots on the upper bouts from body contact
• A pronounced worn area on the back from decades of belt buckle contact — the mark of a bass that spent a lot of time on stage
• General surface scratches and playing marks throughout
• No cracks, no structural issues, no repairs of concern

The Takeaway

You can hear how this bass sounds up and down the fretboard on the audio examples from its recorded work. That tone, that feel, that range — that is what decades of being someone’s main instrument does to a vintage Jazz Bass. It is not a collector piece kept under glass. It is a working instrument with documented history and real music attached to its name.

Serial: 157661 Neck date: June 1966 Previous owner: Bob Welsh, Harrisburg PA (Green Room Records / Green Room Studio)

Consignment Sale Item Notice:

• This is a unique item available through our consignment sale.
• All Sales Final: No returns or exchanges accepted.
• No Discount Codes: Excluded from discount code usage. Purchases made with a discount code will be canceled and refunded.

Thank you for your understanding as you explore this special piece from our curated collection.