Holey Jazz Bass Batman

[StevFargan]

Have any of you found a hole in your bass?

I recently found one in my Fender Player Jazz Bass.

Let me briefly back up to what brought me around to finding this.
I recently changed the pickguard on my new Sterling by Music Man StingRay Ray 4HH from the original white to a dark blue pearloid.
I though that it would be cool to put a clear pickguard on my Fender Player Jazz Bass in order to show more of the beautiful Blue Burst body.

I’ll continue with pictures of the process and what I discovered.

First a before(and eventually after) of the bass.

Next, the bass with the original black pickguard taken off.

Seeing more of the blue is good, but what else do I see?

It looks like a hole and a gap/little trench between the neck pickup and the controls.

Here is a closeup of the hole.

I wonder why this hole is present. Does anyone know why? Has anyone else seen this on another bass?

I tried covering the hole with a pick and put on the clear pickguard.

This really didn’t look good to me at all.
So I went back to the original black pickguard.

I was still curious and explored what my Squier Classic Vibe 60s Fretless Jazz Bass looked like and the possibility of swapping out the tortoiseshell pickguard with the clear pickguard.

Here it is.

No hole, no gap/trench, and the wood grain and burst look pretty good to me.
I’m guessing that there are some who might miss the tortoiseshell pickguard while there are others who will applaud replacing it.

Both basses play fine.
However, I am still baffled by why the Fender Player Jazz Bass is holier than thou.
Does anyone have an explanation for the presence of the hole?

Have any of you had a similar experience?

Thanks.

[Al1885]

It’s for ID/ registering for the CNC machine alignment. (If that’s the right term)

I did similar thing on my Fretless too.

[StevFargan]

@Al1885

It’s for ID/ registering for the CNC machine alignment. (If that’s the right term)

Thanks for the reply and explanation.
However, it wasn’t necessary on the Squier Fretless.

P.S. Did you get the matching strings and pickups from the same place/manufacturer?

[Al1885]

@StevFargan

P.S. Did you get the matching strings and pickups from the same place/manufacturer?

The pickups are from EMG. It’s an X series and I custom ordered the red cap.

Strings are DR Red devil, there’s also a red neon sets that reacts to the UV lights as well. It looks really cool like this, oh! My bass also glow in the dark,

[Mike_NL]

@Al1885

It’s for ID/ registering for the CNC machine alignment.

This is what I was told as well. Apparently, many/all Fenders have it. This is my MIM Precision:

[JustTim]

@Al1885

oh! My bass also glow in the dark

Wait. You have a GLOW IN THE DARK bass?

…

This shouldn’t surprise me. I don’t know why I’m surprised. You have EVERY bass. Of course you have a glow in the dark bass.

[Al1885]

Yeah man, check it out

- YouTube

[soulman]

All of the Mexican built bodies have that feature. AI1885 explained it’s purpose. It also prevents a seller from representing an MIM model for a MIA model.