Hi Everyone - Long time vintage collector, but first time on this forum. I recently bought this 1961 Fender Jazz Bass in what appears to be the "Surf Burst" finish. It was recently found in a storage locker clean-out in California from the seller's deceased relative. The color instantly reminded me of the guitars in the Beach Party films and with Dick Dale and the Del-Tones. I'm looking for some expertise from this forum regarding if this specific guitar was ever in a film, or background on this finish - this could be a really amazing piece of surf rock history. The parts/electronics are all original and the color seems to match the guitars in the movies (the finish is very old and what I'd expect from a 50-60-year old finish). Thank you!

Last edited: Feb 12, 2020 11:42:13

I think this thread covers what we know at this point about the Del-Tones surf burst guitars. It contains links to other threads, stills, and to the youtube video where the Del-Tones performed with these guitars in a movie.

https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/29855/?page=1#p403121

Really interesting find though!

Its not the bass in Muscle Beach Party

That one has a white pickguard and does have the chrome ashtray cover like yours has, but definitely a early 60's aged finish.

Fender made custom colors for Black n White TV spots as well to make the guitars look better etc.

Eddie and the Showman got custom colors too as example. Hard to say unless you know the history of the bass. Usually they were deep blue I think.

I'm still looking at other films . . . will be back

Last edited: Feb 09, 2020 23:47:01

Thanks so much everyone! The photo comparison was showing the color similarities, but I realize that the Muscle Beach Party bass is a Precision and not Jazz. I think with enough digging, we can figure this out!

Does anyone know the whereabouts of the guitars in those films? Perhaps a feature comparison would nail down that it was painted the same way as mine...Thanks again!

Sonichris wrote:

Here's another thread where we discuss the Del-tones guitars to death.
https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/28936/?page=1#p391445

the guitars weren't painted for the movies - they were painted earlier by a guy named Dennis Swiden -

Yours looks like a Dennis Swiden paint job, but I doubt a Del-tone ever played it.

Thanks for that info, I appreciate it! Are there any "tell-tale" signs of a Dennis Swiden paint job?

Also, what would make you rule out a Del-Tone never played it? Seems plausible since videos exist of the Bassist playing guitars in this same finish, and occasionally a Jazz Bass.

treyrab wrote:

Sonichris wrote:

Here's another thread where we discuss the Del-tones guitars to death.
https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/28936/?page=1#p391445

the guitars weren't painted for the movies - they were painted earlier by a guy named Dennis Swiden -

Yours looks like a Dennis Swiden paint job, but I doubt a Del-tone ever played it.

Thanks for that info, I appreciate it! Are there any "tell-tale" signs of a Dennis Swiden paint job?

Also, what would make you rule out a Del-Tone never played it? Seems plausible since videos exist of the Bassist playing guitars in this same finish, and occasionally a Jazz Bass.

Did you look at the pictures of the guitars he painted? He has a burst pattern style that is pretty consistent. He used a lot of pearl paint. By his own admission, he painted lots of guitars for Fender, usually 12 at a time.
It isn't too far of a stretch to think Dennis painted a bunch of guitars like the Del-tone guitars, without them all being related to the Del-tones. We've seen pics of another Strat that looks like a Dennis Swiden blue burst, but it isn't the Art Munson strat.

And, here's a color pic of the Jazz Bass playing Del-tone and his bass. It looks like dark blue or black, not surf burst. And, he's not the same guy that owned the Surfburst P bass.

"You can't tell where you're going if you don't know where you've been"

Last edited: Feb 10, 2020 12:42:14

I can't help thinking about the tort pickguard. It would have been swapped out for white at the time of the refin as the others in the "set" have. That means someone later decided to put the tort back on which strikes me as a strange choice. Of course there is no accounting for taste, but it is hard to imagine.

Anyway, let's not let conjecture about its "provenance" distract us from what a freakishly cool find this is!!! Thank you for sharing.

I wonder what the seller knew about how his relative came to own it.

To me it looks like a Dennis Swiden custom paint job for sure (early Surf era).

Its amazing it survived the late 60's acid rock period without another paint job. Lots of Surf axes ended up in pawn shops back then after surf died. Lots of showman amps traded in for Vox amps etc.

This bass looks like the real deal to me, I'm sure it was used in a surf band even if it wasn't in a movie or TV. Its a nice piece of history there.

edwardsand wrote:

If it were mine, I'd take off the pickguard and neck to look for any markings that may have been associated with the customization.

Under the pick-guard looks the same as the rest of the body (along with a lot of dirt and grime). The butt of the neck says 8-61 in pencil. I'm not familiar with Dennis's other work and features though.

Last edited: Feb 10, 2020 21:43:20

Surfing_Sam_61 wrote:

Not only did he paint Dick Dale's beast gold, and many other surf era guitars and basses, he painted hot rod cars back then.

Yes, that is what I found out as well, thank you for that info! Dennis's nephew is looking into this for me to see if he can find any old photos, he too thinks his Uncle painted it just by the looks of it.