Today's post bought a nice surprise :)

[molan]

As part of my recent interest in old Fenders I recently put down some money on a nice looking '73 Jazz & a '79 Precision as a joint purchase. The '79P was a bit of a 'makeweight' in the deal for me as I really fancied the natural '73J but realised I could get a better deal on the pair.

I got a message from customs that one of them was due to arrive today but didn't know which one. It turned out to be the '79P and it really is a cracking bass

It's been professionally routed for an additional J pickup at the bridge and this 'P bass with J pickup' isn't something I've tried before.

It looks super cool in black with a maple board and the deep red tort guard (it also came with a black guard) and the pickup combination works really well. Roll off the bridge a little and back of the master tone and it retains a great '70's P thump and growl but adds that extra crisp bite from the J bridge pickup.

It also has a slightly different neck profile than I've seen on a Fender before & the nut seems to sit bang in the middle between a J & P (I'm sure someone here will know if this was a common late '70's option).

Here's some pics from the previous owner:

Edited September 3, 2011 by molan

[karlfer]

Gorgeous, everything a man could want bass wise. Bet it's 40mm at the nut, bomb proof and playable beyond belief .
Nice one molan.

[EdwardHimself]

Great. It doesn't get much better than a P bass with a J pickup in it really.

[molan]

La Bella light gauge flats fitted too - great strings, really like them

[Kirky]

That looks great. I've recently bought a MIM Precision Special Deluxe which is black with a gold pickguard and P/J pickups. I've been thinking of rewiring it to passive and putting on a tort pickguard. Its a very cool looking bass.

[warwickhunt]

Nice one, love a PJ Precision (a PJ Jazz just doesn't work for me aesthetically) however Fender still got the P pup the wrong way round!

[grahamd]

Great looking bass Barrie. Ive just nabbed a Precision deluxe, with a jazz humbucker at the bridge and it does it all. Black tort RW and superbly playable neck. Thinking about putting an OB3 in there, it's a keeper for sure!

[Clarky]

Very nice Barrie. Looking at your gear list now, just how big is your music room?

[gary mac]

Looking good.

[molan]

Mmmmm, interesting, this bass also came with a black guard & someone's just offered me a pair of original '78 creamy white DiMarzio pickups that would slot right in.

I've always preferred tort guards on a black body but the all black with white pickups sounds kinda funky for a 'hot-rodded' late '70's P bass. Just the kind of thing someone would have done at the time

[BassBod]

Do it....DiMarzios on a late 70's Pbass. Cheese and pickle!

[sixshooter]

[quote name='molan' post='1361310' date='Sep 3 2011, 09:02 PM']Mmmmm, interesting, this bass also came with a black guard & someone's just offered me a pair of original '78 creamy white DiMarzio pickups that would slot right in.

I've always preferred tort guards on a black body but the all black with white pickups sounds kinda funky for a 'hot-rodded' late '70's P bass. Just the kind of thing someone would have done at the time [/quote]

I have active EMG pickups on my Black 79P with maple neck which weighs a ton but sounds awesome!

[merello]

Wow!

[molan]

[quote name='BassBod' post='1362676' date='Sep 5 2011, 10:53 AM']Do it....DiMarzios on a late 70's Pbass. Cheese and pickle![/quote]

I don't know much about '70's DiMarzios - anyone know what they sound like?

[BassBod]

Like your favourite Pbass...but just a bit more. And the (model) J will be a humbucker with a decent output that should be a reasonable balance with the P, unlike most real single coil J pickups.