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66 precision weight


Scott Dilley
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Hi probably an odd question but something I have been wondering about. I have a few fender basses a 68 tele a 72 jazz a 66 precision and then some more modern ones. I have been wondering why my 66 bass is really light when the tele and jazz are solid and quite heavy. I remember playing a 58 precision when I was young and it weighed a ton.

Are 60s p basses normally quite light?

Scott

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I would imagine they all vary depending on the piece of wood, although there may be periods where they were more consistent; I'll let others chime in about that.

Can't speak for '60s Fenders but my Rickenbackers (13 or 14 so far) have all varied in weight by quite a bit, even where they've been from a similar period. My 2 current'72s weigh about the same, but I once played a'72 that weighed a ton.I've played '70s P basses that have varied from pretty light to incredibly heavy too.

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There was a lot of weight variation in the '60s, but generally speaking, P's were lighter than Js by a bit, and the Tele bass was usually heavier than both.

The Tele had a slab body, so more weight there, and the neck was an absolute beast, deep and fairly wide. I've played about 4 or 5, and they were all close to 10lbs, though I did buy and own a nice 1970 one for a few years, that was exactly 9lbs with the cover on, exceprionally light for a Tele Bass.

IME, typical 60s weights were between 8 1/4 and 9 lbs for a P, and between 8 1/2 and 9 1/2 lbs for a J. Early '70s ones often were quite light, similar to '60s basses, but by 1974 anything could happen, the wood being specced for price only and not weight as before. A lot of Northern Ash was used, very dense wood, and even the alder was often heavier.

In general, yes, '60s Fenders were quite light (as surprisingly many '50s ones were). My '61 P is well under 9lbs, and my '66 P is well under 8 1/2lbs, and they are typical based on the 100 or so vintage ones I've held.

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There is no 'rule' for that i think, but if you want to create one, here is my experience.
The tele made of ash is mostly heavier than alder, but this depends on what kind of ash is used.
The 60s p i have held and own are really light, as well as the earlie 70 ones.
Following the timeline in the 70s the basses get more heavy, but as i said before, there is no asolute rule about that.
Against the myth, that a bass that weighs a ton has also a tone of a ton is not right.
The best sounding basses i have heard are the light ones, They are more resonant.
But to make my words senseless, i have heard also amazing basses which seem to be made of ironwood

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[quote name='73Jazz' timestamp='1329669753' post='1545590']
There is no 'rule' for that i think, but if you want to create one, here is my experience.
The tele made of ash is mostly heavier than alder, but this depends on what kind of ash is used.
The 60s p i have held and own are really light, as well as the earlie 70 ones.
Following the timeline in the 70s the basses get more heavy, but as i said before, there is no asolute rule about that.
Against the myth, that a bass that weighs a ton has also a tone of a ton is not right.
The best sounding basses i have heard are the light ones, They are more resonant.
But to make my words senseless, i have heard also amazing basses which seem to be made of ironwood
[/quote]

Absolutely spot on, this is also my experience.
Best bass i've ever played was a very light 1961 Precision.

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[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1329873849' post='1549076']
Have you lifted the scratchplate? There was a Fender bass on eBay recently that had half of its body weight removed by a hole saw. You would never have known unless you took the pickguard off.
[/quote]

You would never have known, because the person who did this, was killed by a group of assasins that came out of the dark, called... the leominati

Edited by 73Jazz
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[quote name='73Jazz' timestamp='1329895721' post='1549127']
You would never have known, because the person who did this, was killed by a group of assasins that came out of the dark, called... the leominati
[/quote]

They are led by a shadowy criminal master-mind who dresses as a priest ... Felonious Monk.

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