Fender Precision in the 70s

[jezzaboy]

That`s shocking that is, no straplocks on Sid`s bass! Does anyone know where this bass ended up?

Jez

[Highfox]

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1322413760' post='1450546']
Does anyone know where this bass ended up?

Jez
[/quote]

I heard (the journalist and event promotor) Jon Savage say in the early 80's that he had all the Pistols gear in storage after they split. Not sure if that included all the guitars.

[Billy Apple]

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1322413760' post='1450546']
That`s shocking that is, no straplocks on Sid`s bass! Does anyone know where this bass ended up?

Jez
[/quote]

I did some shuffling around the internet (so must be true!), but a couple of stories kept coming up, and they don't sound too far fetched. He was supposed to have two white P Basses, one was given to a NY cabbie in lieu of payment prior to his incarceration, this is now in the possession of the Hard Rock Cafe. The second is in the possession of Steve Jones.

[Lfalex v1.1]

If there was a one in five chance of leaving a music shop with a P, is out safe to say that the other four were;
Jazz
4001
EB 0 / 3
Thunderbird
?

[BigRedX]

That's it. The fifth choice is the P-bass.

[chris_b]

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' timestamp='1322484958' post='1451273']
....there was a one in five chance of leaving a music shop with a P....
[/quote]
I think the maths was more along the lines of 99% Fender, .9% Gibson and .1% other.

[BigRedX]

Really?

My memories from watching TotP and TOGWT were about 49% Fender 49% Gibson and Rickenbacker and 2% other stuff.

Maybe it was just as a teenager who was discovering all this for the first time the Fenders just looked like big guitars, while the Rickenbacker 4001 and the Gibson Thuderbird were more noticeable.

[pete.young]

[quote name='4-string-thing' timestamp='1322313937' post='1449225']

As for the competion back then? Guild, Ricks, Gibson, Hofner, Shergold, Ibanez, Yamaha + loads of Jap crap copies. No wonder Fenders were considered the best!
[/quote]

My Yamaha BB800 , which dates from 1978-9, is as good as any Fender from that period.

[franzbassist]

A fun article to read.

[quote name='merello' timestamp='1322167926' post='1447578']

[b]Is a Precision without frets really a Precision? Certainly. 1970 catalog page for the most ironic of all Fender instruments.[/b]

One of the first significant Precision Bass developments of the decade seemed to be the very height of irony; a design feature that seemed to controvert the very name of the instrument at the ever-experimenting hands of Fender itself.
[/quote]

An here is mine, newly acquired by me, and with a neck date stamp of December 1970. It's 8.9lbs of woody loveliness...

[Musky]

[quote name='4-string-thing' timestamp='1322322144' post='1449384']
Hmmm, not sure about that. Ricks may be good, but are certainly an aqquired taste, Gibsons bass of the late 70's was the Grabber (I think) and I don't think anyone has ever said that they were any good. The Hofner was a relic from the early 60's and played like one. Ibanez made cheap copies at the time and didn't really hit the big time til the 80's. Yamaha didn't really get known til the 80's either. Guild did build a bass that was ok, but was certainly no better than an average P. I played a Shergold in the 70's and while it may have been ok, it seemed a bit of a gimmicky (had some weird plug in electronics iirc)

I would still say that the only basses that were better than a P or J were a lot more expensive. I remember trying an Ovation Magnum which was good, but it was a bit weird and 30% more than my P.
[/quote]
Like I said, it's down to the individual whether they're to your taste. But in terms of playability they all stacked up against Fender's Late 70's offerings.

Whether people picked up on the quality of many Japanese instruments in the 70's is a moot point really, although it didn't go unnoticed by Fender themselves. It's worth remembering that Ibanez didn't manufacture any basses themselves but had Fuji Gen make them. The same company that produced the Fender/Squier JV series, which were noticeably lacking the issues that bedevilled Fender in the late 70's/early 80's.

For me the Precision is a classic, iconic design that deserves the praise heaped upon it, and a design I love. But I don't think glossing over Fender's difficulties of the period is doing anyone any favours.