Jump to content
Why become a member? ×
Site will be going offline at 11pm Boxing Day for a big update. ×
  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt

John Deacon’s “Live Aid” Fender Precision (A Gear Abstinence Failure)


Recommended Posts

So, the charity gig that I’ve mentioned elsewhere on Basschat (The Last Resort) is happening again this year in November and I’ve been asked to return.

The theme this year is ‘tributes’ and being in a Bowie tribute, I was originally asked to play the Bowie set. Obviously I said yes, but I now have the opportunity of doing the Queen Live Aid set as well, which I’m super excited about as I’m a big fan. 

I thought it would be a nice touch to play the set on a bass that looked the part and I’ve been having a look for some information on the bass John used, which seemed to be quite a favourite of his, a stripped Fender Precision with a 3ply tort guard and rosewood fingerboard. There are many photo’s of him playing it and it seems to be distinguishable by a dark blemish below the bridge. However, I can’t seem to find any specific details about it, what it used to be finished in, it’s vintage etc.

The thing is, I don’t get on with P necks. I did find a Fender Artisan Precision on Thomann which had a Jazz neck, but it’s €4,400! It also has Fender Jazz on the headstock, even though it has a Precision body 🙄. [I should add that I’ve always wanted a P bass that I could get on with in the arsenal, so I’m not searching for something I would only use once. I did have a Pino CS, but I just couldn’t get on with it and I did try].

I came across some information this afternoon that suggested that Nash Guitars once made a John Deacon tribute bass. Their web site makes no mention of it and I don’t even know what it looked like. Maybe it was a one off? I then had a moment of epiphany - a Limelight Custom Build.

So I rang Limelight today and had a chat about the aim of the build and I found myself being asked questions I couldn’t really answer, like what vintage JD’s Bass was, what it might have been finished as prior to being stripped, what saddles it had etc. There are pictures, but they’re not great and I can’t find specific details about this bass.

Surely the Basschat Collective must be able to assist.

Edited by hiram.k.hackenbacker
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  On 10/04/2019 at 19:10, lou24d53 said:

I hope you're going full on cartoon shirt and stone washed denims too...

Or you could go for the Wembley outfit with the yellow short shorts and the Hilda Ogden T-shirt...?! 🤔🤣

Expand  

Yep, pink Hawaiian shirt, stone washed denims and baby blue plectrums on order 😀

Edited by hiram.k.hackenbacker
  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now...

I’m no expert but my brain recalls.

It started as a 1962/63 Sunburst 

was stripped to natural 

was refinished to black, had gold hardware fitted and a black pickguard 

thats how it finished its life

I think there might have been 2 Sunburst ones and the one he preferred was the one which went through changes

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

John was, for most of his professional career, a Fender Precision bassist. He was given a 1965 sunburst model by the record company in 1972, and by late 1974 he had another one, which was made in 1968. The two basses are almost identical and they sound 99.99% alike. The only slight difference is on their logos: the 1965 model has a grey logo, the 1968 model has a black logo. John used both of them interchangeably for most of the 1970s, and then mostly the 1968 model from then on. Those basses underwent several changes on their finish: in summer 1975, John stripped off his 1965 model and left it natural, one year later he did the same with the 1968 model, and by the time the Magic tour began in June 1986 he had his 1968 bass refurbished and painted black.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  On 10/04/2019 at 19:23, AndyTravis said:

John was, for most of his professional career, a Fender Precision bassist. He was given a 1965 sunburst model by the record company in 1972, and by late 1974 he had another one, which was made in 1968. The two basses are almost identical and they sound 99.99% alike. The only slight difference is on their logos: the 1965 model has a grey logo, the 1968 model has a black logo. John used both of them interchangeably for most of the 1970s, and then mostly the 1968 model from then on. Those basses underwent several changes on their finish: in summer 1975, John stripped off his 1965 model and left it natural, one year later he did the same with the 1968 model, and by the time the Magic tour began in June 1986 he had his 1968 bass refurbished and painted black.

Expand  

Mmm. I need to try and see if I can identify what colour the logo is then. Would there be any difference in bridge/saddles/tuners etc between a ‘65 and a ‘68?

EDIT: Great piece of info by the way. Thank you 👍

Edited by hiram.k.hackenbacker
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  On 10/04/2019 at 19:28, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Mmm. I need to try and see if I can identify what colour the logo is then. Would there be any difference in bridge/saddles/tuners etc between a ‘65 and a ‘68?

EDIT: Great piece of info by the way. Thank you 👍

Expand  

You’re looking at minutiae...

if it’s a Fender logo in the centre of the headstock and the precision bass is small and underneath, it’s the 65 and will have spiral/threaded saddles and you’d want the 62/63 American vintage bridge.

if it’s the big “tv” logo where the Fender is under the e&a and the precision bass logo is big and goes across the remainder of the headstock, that’s the 68 and will have pre grooved saddles (I think) you’d get away with the Mexican standard bridge or 75 American vintage reissue bridge.

i will have a look and report back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  On 10/04/2019 at 19:23, AndyTravis said:

John was, for most of his professional career, a Fender Precision bassist. He was given a 1965 sunburst model by the record company in 1972, and by late 1974 he had another one, which was made in 1968. The two basses are almost identical and they sound 99.99% alike. The only slight difference is on their logos: the 1965 model has a grey logo, the 1968 model has a black logo. John used both of them interchangeably for most of the 1970s, and then mostly the 1968 model from then on. Those basses underwent several changes on their finish: in summer 1975, John stripped off his 1965 model and left it natural, one year later he did the same with the 1968 model, and by the time the Magic tour began in June 1986 he had his 1968 bass refurbished and painted black.

Expand  

Again, I know little about vintage Fender, but wouldn’t the earlier one be the black ‘spaghetti’ logo and the later one be a gold ‘transitional’ one possibly? Seems the above suggest the other way around.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  On 10/04/2019 at 19:41, AndyTravis said:

You’re looking at minutiae...

if it’s a Fender logo in the centre of the headstock and the precision bass is small and underneath, it’s the 65 and will have spiral/threaded saddles and you’d want the 62/63 American vintage bridge.

if it’s the big “tv” logo where the Fender is under the e&a and the precision bass logo is big and goes across the remainder of the headstock, that’s the 68 and will have pre grooved saddles (I think) you’d get away with the Mexican standard bridge or 75 American vintage reissue bridge.

i will have a look and report back.

Expand  

OK thank you. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  On 10/04/2019 at 20:00, HazBeen said:

Just so I get it right, you are going to have a bass built for 1 gig?

Love it :)

Expand  

Well, it’s more like I’m using the opportunity to get a Precision built that I will actually get along with. It will have Jazz C profile neck, but the rest will be all Precision 😀

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  On 10/04/2019 at 20:04, AndyTravis said:

I do try.

now.

find a 2nd gen highway 1 pbass. Sand it down, shell pickguard and a reissue bridge...sod it, limelight will be cheaper

Expand  

Having spoken with them, I do think a Limelight would be the better option. Don’t need the silverware to go with it and no custom paint job either, although I would expect a degree of relicing 😀

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...