‘74 P-Bass: bitsa build

[Skol303]

I’m 40 years old this month. The big Four-Oh! And for the past year or so I’ve been ferreting around, piecing together parts for a year-of-birth Fender Precision (1974). Here’s what happened…

[b]Firstly, why a Fender Precision?[/b] Well, I’d previously owned a P-Bass copy that I used to enjoy playing. So that was a good start. But on a more practical level there aren’t many basses from the ‘70s that you can piece together, bit by bit, sourcing parts hither and tither. So the Fender P fitted the bill perfectly - it being a factory made, mass-produced instrument that I could piece together in the same way the factory workers at Fullerton would have done 40 years ago.

[b]Secondly, why not just go and buy an ‘all original’ P-bass?[/b] The thought did cross my mind. But I wanted this bass to be something a bit special. I liked the idea of piecing it together myself. Of every part having a small story behind it. And the romance of that idea just got the better of me

So the first thing I did was draw up a parts list, which looked something like this:[list]
[*]Tuners and bushings
[*]Neck
[*]Neck plate
[*]Body
[*]Volume & Tone pots
[*]Jack socket
[*]Pickup shield
[*]Pickups & screws
[*]Thumb rest & screws
[*]Pickup foam
[*]Pick guard & screws
[*]Volume/Tone knobs
[*]Bridge
[*]Strap buttons & felts
[*]Strings
[/list]
Armed with my list, I began sourcing parts on eBay and elsewhere. It was a slow process that required a lot of patience! Luckily I made some good friends along the way and managed to negotiate some real bargains.

My general rule was that the parts had to be dated as close as possible to 1974, but of course some pieces of the jigsaw were just impossible to date accurately. I got lucky with the body and managed to get hold of a genuine ’74 sunburst from a friend who builds bitsa Precisions for a hobby. He also sold me the neck - a one piece maple from ’73 together with the machine heads (also from ’73). So that was a good start.

I got lucky again with the pots/jack and pickups - both coming from a ’74 bass being parted out by a guy in New York (the pot code is 1377438, which puts them in the 38th week of ’74). I also managed to get a ’74 neck plate (serial number 545673).

The strap buttons, pick guard, thumb rest and volume/tone knobs were dated ’somewhere’ in the 1970s, but that was good enough. The knobs were bought on eBay from a fellow Basschatter, although I still don’t know the guy’s username here (but thanks, whoever you are!). The knobs are different types and one of them needed drilling out to widen to aperture, but that wasn’t a problem.

The pick guard screws I got free from a mate in the US (thanks Mike!) and the strap button felts I got free from our very own KiOgon (cheers John!). Thanks also to BC’s Gary Mac who donated a set of strings for me to use while putting the bass together. The thumb rest is the dark maroon/brown type and was donated by a friend who used to build bitsa basses in the US. Yeah, I love free stuff!

The bridge I got from a new friend of mine in Brooklyn. It came off a fretless ’74 P-Bass (natural finish), which he later sold on Craigslist with a different ’74 bridge fitted. It has an extended G-string screw, which Fender stopped using in ’73 (but of course they continued fitting them on basses in ’74). I’d had a geeky obsession with these bridges from the get go and was really happy to have found one.

So that was that.

It took about a year to source all the parts, after which I put the bass together with my old dad one weekend not long after Christmas. My dad is an artist with a soldering iron (far more delicate than I am), so he did the soldering while I screwed everything together. All very simple, just as Fenders are designed to be.

The end result is well… amazing. At least I’m very happy with it. It plays and sounds great. It’s chock-full of mojo and little stories I picked up along the way from the people who donated and sold parts to the project. It’s been put together by me and my dad, and when I leave this mortal coil (which hopefully won’t be any day soon!) it’ll be passed on to my son… by which time it’ll be an instrument spanning three generations of our family, which he’ll probably sell for beer money if he grows up to be anything like I was. But whatever.

A BIG thanks to Scott, Mike and Trevor in the US; Gary and John here in the UK, and the mystery BC’er who sold me the knobs at a great price. Speaking of which, I’ve done the sums and I reckon this project has worked out at around 1/2 to 2/3 the price of an ‘all original’ 1974 P-bass. So I’m happy with that

Edited March 14, 2014 by Skol303

[Skol303]

[b]Here are some tips I learnt along the way for anyone considering a similar project:[/b]

1) The US is where it’s at for Fender parts, so you need to a) get comfortable with the idea of importing stuff and b ) make some friends over there that you trust. Some of the people I met initially on eBay, but ended up buying from them privately. Get to know these people… they’re enthusiasts just like you and I. Take the time to pick their brains, ask plenty of questions, request photos - and then some more photos - check every fact, compare each part against parts you know are genuine and then, only then, spend your money. I ended up getting some fantastic deals this way - and I’m still in touch with many of the people I bought from as friends. It’s worth the effort.

2) Haggle! I don’t think there’s a single part on this bass that I bought for the original asking price. You can save a lot of money this way, but…

3) If you spot the right part, buy it quickly! I had to spend money on a few parts at times when I’d rather have waited and saved a little more (the deal with Mrs Skol was that I funded the project using eBay sales of my own). But some parts don’t crop up too often and you may end up disappointed if you don’t grab them while you can. I’ve still yet to come across a ’74 sunburst body as good as the one I got, and I bought it nearly a year ago. Had I not grabbed it when I did, I’d still be waiting. [i]Carpe diem![/i]

4) Ask the sellers to tell you what they know about the parts. Some might just be parts they’re passing on. Others might be from instruments they’ve owned for many years. I had some great chats along the way with fellow bass players as a result of being nosy - and now the parts on my bass aren’t just ‘parts’, they remind me of the people I bought them from and the stories they shared. All good mojo

5) Don’t bust a gut over the small stuff. When you’re searching eBay for “pick guard screws 1974” then it’s time to have a reality check and a lie down. Trust me, it’s easy to get obsessive over this stuff! But some parts just aren’t worth the time or money.

Edited March 14, 2014 by Skol303

[Skol303]

Ok, that’s ended up being an essay. Sorry about that. And you probably just wanted some pictures, right? So here you go…

[i]Naked body… ooh matron![/i]


[i]Neck detail[/i]


[i]Pickups[/i]


[i]Pots[/i]


[i]Finished![/i]


[i]Rear view[/i]


[i]Body[/i]


[i]Knobs[/i]


[i]Headstock[/i]


[i]More headstock…[/i]

[Skol303]

[b]And more importantly, here’s a quick recording of how it [i]sounds[/i].[/b] This isn’t anything fancy - recording or playing-wise - it’s literally just a couple of quick things I recorded on the first day I put the bass together (both based on some practice exercises by Scott Devine).

No FX or processing applied here… the bass was DI’d straight into my computer with the tone rolled all the way off. Strung with LaBella flats. No more, no less:

https://soundcloud.com/skol-mixes/p-bass

Cheers folks!

Paul

Edited March 14, 2014 by Skol303

[gjones]

It sounds absolutely gorgeous.

[gary mac]

Great work Paul, great write up and great photos, it's all great I love the look and sound.

Sounds like like it was a real worthwhile project for you and you've ended up with a rather lovely instrument.

[stinson]

Great job, looks and sounds just the ticket

[Horizontalste]

Great work, I love the fact that your forty & still roped the old fella in.
Dad's eh, they're great!

[andydye]

that looks amazing mate! a superb p with a great story behind it

[Mr Anthony]

That is absolutely lovely! Enjoy it, I know I would.

Really good write up, I rather enjoyed reading it. Happy birthday, have fun with your new bass!

[Cat Burrito]

Great article although I assume the pictures are on Photobucket as they are blocked at work. I did a similar thing with a late 70s bass although being born a year before you I missed a trick... and I think the trick was haggling as I tended to pay asking price for everything. I'll check this thread at home to admire the pictures

[Skol303]

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1394768604' post='2395063']
It sounds absolutely gorgeous.
[/quote]
[quote name='stinson' timestamp='1394782374' post='2395101']
Great job, looks and sounds just the ticket
[/quote]
[quote name='andydye' timestamp='1394797782' post='2395327']
that looks amazing mate! a superb p with a great story behind it
[/quote]
[quote name='Mr Anthony' timestamp='1394797813' post='2395328']
That is absolutely lovely! Enjoy it, I know I would.

Really good write up, I rather enjoyed reading it. Happy birthday, have fun with your new bass!


[/quote]

Thanks guys! Yeah, I was nicely surprised by how good it sounds. I’m used to EQ’ing and generally playing around with the tone of my recordings quite a lot, but this bass just sounds good straight away. It doesn’t have the range of tones I can get with other instruments, but the tone it does have is solid. Can’t argue with that

[Skol303]

[quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1394779998' post='2395080']
Great work Paul, great write up and great photos, it's all great I love the look and sound.

Sounds like like it was a real worthwhile project for you and you've ended up with a rather lovely instrument.
[/quote]

Cheers Gary! And thanks again for those strings Allowed me to put it all together and test everything out whilst the LaBellas were on order.

[quote name='Horizontalste' timestamp='1394795768' post='2395295']
Great work, I love the fact that your forty & still roped the old fella in.
Dad's eh, they're great!
[/quote]

Damn right! My dad is getting on in years now and I wanted to make sure he had a hand in this project. We used to tinker with stuff together when I was younger (making amps and speaker cabs), so this was like old times.

[quote name='BurritoBass' timestamp='1394810887' post='2395517']
Great article although I assume the pictures are on Photobucket as they are blocked at work. I did a similar thing with a late 70s bass although being born a year before you I missed a trick... and I think the trick was haggling as I tended to pay asking price for everything. I'll check this thread at home to admire the pictures
[/quote]

Yep, the photos are hosted on Photobucket (I always post images that way, as it saves bandwidth on Basschat). Friendly haggling was definitely the way to go for this project. It also helped that I found a couple of guys who had a lot of the necessary parts in stock, so I was able to negotiate deals on bundles of stuff altogether.

[Lozz196]

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1394768604' post='2395063']
It sounds absolutely gorgeous.
[/quote]

Agree, looks it too.

[Skol303]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1394897757' post='2396451']
Agree, looks it too.
[/quote]

Cheers Lozz! The photos don't quite do it justice... there are a zillion little dinks and marks that give it loads of 'character' (if that's the right word) and the patina on the body is great. It's certainly worn, but not knackered. Just like its owner

[Jono Bolton]

That's really nice, I love the subtle wear and tear on it, and the fag burn on the headstock too!

[AntLockyer]

Looks superb, and having been born in the 38th week of 1974 I want that pot lol

[JapanAxe]

Looks and sounds great. I found myself thinking, 'Sounds like Scott Devine' - then I realised why

Edited March 16, 2014 by JapanAxe

[Skol303]

[quote name='Jono Bolton' timestamp='1394981656' post='2397306']
That's really nice, I love the subtle wear and tear on it, and the fag burn on the headstock too!
[/quote]

Cheers Jono! Yeah it's got plenty of wear without being worn out. The fag burn wasn't a deliberate choice, but as an ex-smoker it does have some 'resonance' with me

PS: I think it's an A-size neck. Very playable whatever it is.

[quote name='AntLockyer' timestamp='1395000026' post='2397651']
Looks superb, and having been born in the 38th week of 1974 I want that pot lol
[/quote]

Happy 40th for you this year! You can't have my pots... but you can have a sincere smiley from one '74-er to another

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1395000427' post='2397661']
Looks and sounds great. I found myself thinking, 'Sounds like Scott Devine' - then I realised why
[/quote]

That's a huge compliment! Cheers. It's a cool riff and I'm a big fan of Scott - although of course he plays it way better than I do.

Edited March 16, 2014 by Skol303

[Sibob]

Glad you got hooked up with Scott! He's a great guy, with a crazy nice collection of old Fenders

Your build looks brilliant! Nice one

Si

[Skol303]

[quote name='Sibob' timestamp='1395579322' post='2403850']
Glad you got hooked up with Scott! He's a great guy, with a crazy nice collection of old Fenders

Your build looks brilliant! Nice one

Si
[/quote]

Cheers Si! Aye, it's a cracking bass. I've barely put it down since I finished screwing everything together. Plays and sounds great

[socrates]

What a truly wonderful looking bass, and a great story - made my day! Owning a '74 Jazz bass myself I think there really is a unique look to the aging which relicing doesn't come anywhere near close to I think. I did a build project myself after a similar landmark (turning 40, first baby) and it really is most satisfying (though mine not nearly as nicely done as this, nor vintage)..