Hellzero

And Jimmy Haslip who simply took a righty (sixer) bass and played it as a lefty with everything reversed.

Nope, the new versions of Precision Bass and the Jazz Bass introduced in early 80's with the white pickup cover(s) didn't have any of these ashtrays anymore. The pickguard was white and became even a single ply after some time around 1983. The Jazz Bass ended up with a single ply white integral pickguard around 1983, so no more metallic control plate and the knobs were white too. The colours proposed were Black, Brown Burst, Sienna Burst (reddish Sunburst) and Ivory, that's it. But the quality construction was back after years of sloppy made instruments: thank you Dan Smith!

This just appeared in Germany and it's really cheap for what it is: https://www.bassic.de/kleinanzeigen/sushi-box-fx-c2c-electronics-bassdude-bassman-inspirierter-preamp.52735/

Check this (my review): And this (another testimony): Link to this combo: https://www.guitarsoundsystems.com/combos-c102x4030036 And the battery pack: https://www.guitarsoundsystems.com/gss-7s35v2-intelligent-lithium-battery-pack-for-guitar-sound-systems-mini-bass-amps-c2x18346407

You're welcome @Robert Manning. If the seller is willing to let you use a screwdriver, check the pots code. I'm pretty sure these are CTS pots as Fender was using them at the time, so starting with 137, the two next digits being the year and the last two the week, so something like 13781** There should be a stamp too under the pickup, the last 2 digits being the year. Check this ad for all the necessary information in photos: https://www.andybaxterbass.com/collections/fender-precision-bass/products/1979-81-fender-precision-cherry-sunburst

Also it looks like the seller needs some money very quickly hence the super low price If you decide to pull that trigger, meet the seller and check the bass before buying, don't do a distant deal.

Lots of crossed messages here. 😉

The pickup cover is original, Tony. 😉

Quite cheap for a Fender P-Bass from that period. Everything seems period correct from these photos, including the white pickup cover that was introduced in the early 80's. The S9 serial number is not reliable at all and this bass could be from 1978 to 1981 and as it's got a white pickup cover, I may date it to 1981. To date it more precisely you need to check the stamps, the pots code and other internally hidden clues. At this price tag, I truly think that you can pull the trigger as as fast as you can.

In fact, officially, it's late 72, early 73 for the transition from 4 to 3 bolts on the Jazz Basses. I don't know why this 1974 is always put upfront. When in doubt, this website is a goldmine, with, sometimes, a very tiny minor "oversight" in the text itself: https://www.guitarhq.com/fender.html

Here's a link to the stacked linear 50 kOkms with center detent: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alnicov-Guitar-Stacked-Concentric-Potentiometer/dp/B08MPK9Q4J/ And the stacked logarithmic 500 kOhms: https://www.allparts.uk.com/collections/potentiometers/products/stacked-concentric-pots-500k-500k-metric They both come from the same manufacturer. 😉

I just checked the pot values of your two favourite preamps. The Darkglass has 50 kOkms EQ pots, so a stacked pot is easy to source and a stacked volume 500 kOhms is easy to source too, so 3 pots with the stacked volumes, stacked mids and separate bass or whatever ever configuration you want. For the Spector Tonepump, a stacked volume 500 kOhms is again easy to source, but a stacked 100 kOhms/10 kOhms is quite hard to find, so again 3 pots with the stacked volumes, the separate bass and the separate treble. A killswitch is very easy to implement. If you can use a soldering iron, it's a very easy job.

I did this to my Acacia Custom 4 and some other basses @NancyJohnson: a stacked knob with two volumes (originally I intended to use a stacked volume and blend, but the cavity is not deep enough and can't be deepened anymore), a stacked knob for bass and treble, plus a Delano stereo pot for the mids and passive tone (so a single knob). As it had two switches, one is active/passive and the other is the mid frequency selection. The preamp is an Aguilar OBP-3.

You forgot the broken truss rod... 🫣🤪🤦

Thanks @Cliff Edge, but you don't seem to know that it's something I'm known for and that I also wrote a mémoire (in French) about vintage instruments, which has been shared here. 😉 It's as hard to date a pre CBS, CBS or post CBS Fender than a Dan Smith era model and you have to take everything into account including stamps, known facts and the absolutely non reliable serial numbers. The instrument has to be disassembled to asses its origins and to be able to date it even if some are reluctant to do so. Check with my pseudo and you'll see that I've done this a lot of times just to help when others would have asked for money.

And to be totally complete, just in case, the Precision Bass never received the 3 bolts tilt neck with the bullet truss rod (introduced in June 1971), but the Telecaster Bass second version introduced in early 1972 was immediately fitted with this new "improved" system. That said 1974 as the transition year for the abovementioned system on the Jazz Bass is just a TalkBass statement... And there are certainly early example of 3 bolts Jazz Bass in the wild as usual with Fender.

Indeed, but I was simply giving the correct year of introduction of the 3 bolts tilt neck and bullet truss rod, not mentioning at all it was for the Jazz Bass. 😉

This is mine, bought the 6th of December 2023. I put an old original epoxied American Sadowsky VTC preamp that I had in the drawer as well as some brand new real deal original Sadowsky pickups. That said, it was already excellent sounding with the Chinese pickups and preamp. I also put a Sadowsky decal, but let everything else. The Sadowsky Portabag is also pictured @King Tut

A push-push, yes push-push as it's way easier and faster to use, for series/parallel would be better.

1971 for the 3 bolts necks by Fender. I clearly read 72 too. 😉

By pulling the bass knob, you enter the passive mode without tone control. If you want a tone control, you can buy the expensive VTC upgrade kit or do it yourself or put a Sadowsky VTC preamp. They come with the Sadowsky Portabag and the whole lot of goodies.

Nope, six coats, and he could thank Kevin Kaufman for making it right afterwards... https://ricksuchow.com/rebuilding-the-bass-of-doom-added-2-21

With an ebony tailpiece, it will look even more stunning!