Fender 1970's Precision Fretless P \ J - SOLD PENDING USUAL £1000

[tanuki]

PRICE DROP NOW £950

REPOSTING DUE TO NEW SITE

 For sale is my mostly 70’s Fender Precision bass. I will detail the modifications below but in short this is a wonderful player with a great worn–in feeling neck and an ebony board. (All modifications by John Shuker) The Nordstrand P\J pickups and the vintage Fender high-mass bridge help provide a warm buttery tone with lots of sustain and definition.
I have owned this bass for around two years having originally bought it from Beedster who purchased it from Bass Direct.

BODY

The body is an original ash late 70’s precision with a natural finish in fantastic condition. It has been routed for an additional Jazz pickup in the bridge position and an additional tone control to make up the current VVT configuration. The bass used to contain active EMGs so there is a currently unused single 9v battery box on the rear. All modifications are top notch and if the new owner wanted to install an active system again then everything is already in place. The finish is in great condition for the age with the occasional ding and some buckle rash on the back. I believe the white scratch-plate to be original.
 
NECK
The neck is an interesting and unique piece, which really sets this bass apart. Originally this was a standard 70’s neck which has had an amazing ebony board fitted by John Shuker. The back of the neck has been sanded slightly to give a more satin feel and feels absolutely incredible. Shuker has really done an excellent job, as you would expect, the result is a neck that feels as comfortable as an old 60’s bass with the improved definition and sustain of the ebony. The neck profile is also extremely comfortable; it’s a B-profile neck (1.625" at the nut) the side dots are on the fret rather than between, this is another part of the John Shuker modifications. I guess the only equivalent neck to this would be the one on the Fender Tony Franklin bass, having played that one I have to say this has a much more comfortable profile and also the worn in feel.

 

HARDWARE AND PICKUPS
The tuners and knobs are both 70s with the additional volume knob being slightly newer but well matched. The bridge is an early 80’s fender high mass model, very similar to the early Starz Guitarz bronze bridge that Juan Alderete uses on his main fretless.
The pickups are a Nordstrand NPJ4 P/J set bought from Bass Direct. I’ve had a few experiences with mixing the precision and jazz pickups and found the balance is usually a problem but this matched set sounds great. I’m considering a P/J pickup set on another old precision I have and would definitely go for these.

 

OVERALL
What you get here is a sweet sounding fretless bass made with old parts and with a wonderful broken in feel. The sound is warm and defined with a lot of scope in tones from the P\J pickups. I bought this because I liked the Tony Franklin bass but hated the neck and the lack of freedom in pickup balance. The real unique part is the amazing Shuker modified neck, I’ve owned a lot of fretless basses over the years and this is by far the most comfortable. Moving abroad forces sale or I would be keeping this.

Weight - A tad under 10lbs
Price - £950 

NB- ALTHOUGH I AM LIVING IN SPAIN, THE BASS IS BEING LOOKED AFTER BY MY FRIEND IN BRISTOL, SHIPPING WILL THEREFOREBE FROM BRISTOL OR PICKUP COULD BE ARRANGED.

Edited January 28, 2018 by tanuki
Price Drop

[jikkbass]

Hi,

are you interested swapping for an almost brand new Fender American Dimension Deluxe 5 string? I guess it's worth the same.

https://goo.gl/images/cvUWSm

cheers

[tanuki]

Hi there, lovely bass but I am not a 5 string player really. The only trade I am really interested in is for a Guild Starfire II. 

[jikkbass]

Ok. Thanks for your reply.

[tanuki]

SOLD PENDING USUAL