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Vintage Fenders


Reggaebass

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10 hours ago, Belka said:

Its 'original' white pickguard is also clearly not original  - from the neck pocket it looks like sunburst so would have been tort on there originally. 

Yeah, the clear/non-painted headstock supports the sunburst. Though there were some very rare exceptions, if it were a custom colour in 65 it'd have a matching headstock.

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It could well be a '66 by the way.

 

In the ad they say all necks we're having binding from January '66 and on. On production level this could be true, but can't be used for exact dating. I've owned a bass with pots dating to week 12/66 with a '65 unbound neck. And that is not unusual, I've seen them a quite a few times being on '66 basses. Apparently there was a stash of '65 necks that made it well into '66.

Looking at the lollipop tuners, I'd be tempted to take this as an indication that this bass has been finished in '66, as that has been a feature the mentioned '66 basses w/ '65 necks had in common.

 

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11 hours ago, SurroundedByManatees said:

It could well be a '66 by the way.

 

In the ad they say all necks we're having binding from January '66 and on. On production level this could be true, but can't be used for exact dating. I've owned a bass with pots dating to week 12/66 with a '65 unbound neck. And that is not unusual, I've seen them a quite a few times being on '66 basses. Apparently there was a stash of '65 necks that made it well into '66.

Looking at the lollipop tuners, I'd be tempted to take this as an indication that this bass has been finished in '66, as that has been a feature the mentioned '66 basses w/ '65 necks had in common.

 

I’ve a ‘66 Jazz (on the left in the pic) that’s similar to what you’ve described. Hardware etc. from ‘66, with a ‘65 (October) neck…

 

 

IMG_0363.jpeg

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10 minutes ago, Old Man Riva said:

I’ve a ‘66 Jazz (on the left in the pic) that’s similar to what you’ve described. Hardware etc. from ‘66, with a ‘65 (October) neck…

 

 

IMG_0363.jpeg

Very nice, and that B15 looks great, I imagine they sound superb through that 

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1 hour ago, Reggaebass said:

Very nice, and that B15 looks great, I imagine they sound superb through that 

Yes, the B-15 sounds great. It’s one of the reissues they did in around 2010 (I think). The inputs have a 1964 voicing and a 1966 voicing - the ‘66 has a bigger output, and has more of a treble bias. Really nice for the tic-tac plectrum sound, but I prefer the warmer ‘64 channel myself.

 

I was having a late night browse for gear on the internet and by chance stumbled across a used one that had just come in at Guitar Guitar (of all places). I phoned them first thing in the morning and they had it shipped to the closest store at the time in Epsom. I had a Mini at the time, and the Ampeg weighs an absolute ton, so trying to get the bloody thing into the car whilst half the shop stood watching was fun, to say the least!

 

Anyway, it was well worth the effort!

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3 hours ago, Old Man Riva said:

I’ve a ‘66 Jazz (on the left in the pic) that’s similar to what you’ve described. Hardware etc. from ‘66, with a ‘65 (October) neck…

 

 

IMG_0363.jpeg

I like your taste.

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So I popped down to Bass Bros yesterday and came away with a 79 Fender P bass. 

 

It's a bit of a mutt, with a non-original scratchplate and a nice Lindy Fralin pickup. In addition, I've swapped out the bridge for an old Badass 2 and put on heavier gauge strings. As you can see, it has been stripped, but thankfully they did a much better job than I did when I stripped a 77 P bass years ago! It plays nicely, but I think that it could do with a touch more relief in the neck, which I hate doing myself on old Fenders so it might be going to a tech for a pro setup as soon as I get a chance. 

 

Not exactly one for the purists, but it has the feel and vibe of an old Fender, sounds great and as a bonus is reasonably light compared to my old 78 Precision. 

 

20240718_143020.thumb.jpg.eddaf29596ca9c869bd08cd05098b9c4.jpg20240718_143125.thumb.jpg.08ff288f9c9bd429fd77b958adf206ab.jpg

 

 

Edited by peteb
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7 minutes ago, peteb said:

exactly one for the purists, but it has the feel and vibe of an old Fender, sounds great

Very nice pete, congrats, if it sounds and feels good then that’s all that matters, very cool 👌 

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32 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

 

Very nice pete, congrats, if it sounds and feels good then that’s all that matters, very cool 👌 

 

Thanks. Personally, I could never justify dropping more than a couple of grand on a Fender (this one was a bit less than that), but I still like the feel and sound of old Precisions. 

 

I've never had a Fender that I haven't modded myself (one exception - a 2015 Am Std Jazz in sunburst that I currently use for a Led Zep tribute and probably won't keep once that band finishes), so I've been keeping an eye out for a non all original 70s P bass that isn't too expensive. Hopefully when I get this set up properly, it should be a nice bass and get a fair bit of use.  

 

Edited by peteb
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17 hours ago, peteb said:

So I popped down to Bass Bros yesterday and came away with a 79 Fender P bass. 

 

It's a bit of a mutt, with a non-original scratchplate and a nice Lindy Fralin pickup. In addition, I've swapped out the bridge with an old Badass 2 and put on heavier gauge strings. As you can see, it has been stripped, but thankfully they did a much better job than I did when I stripped a 77 P bass years ago! It plays nicely, but I think that it could do with a touch more relief in the neck, which I hate doing myself on old Fenders so it might be going to a tech for a pro setup as soon as I get a chance. 

 

Not exactly one for the purists, but it has the feel and vibe of an old Fender, sounds great and as a bonus is reasonably light compared to my old 78 Precision. 

 

20240718_143020.thumb.jpg.eddaf29596ca9c869bd08cd05098b9c4.jpg20240718_143125.thumb.jpg.08ff288f9c9bd429fd77b958adf206ab.jpg

 

 


I thought the point of BassBros was that it would be setup perfectly for you?

 

Lovely bass.

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1 hour ago, Burns-bass said:


I thought the point of BassBros was that it would be setup perfectly for you?

 

Lovely bass.

 

Yes, they do and when I bought a bass off them before it had a very good setup (they asked me exactly how I wanted it setup, what strings I wanted, etc).

 

The trouble this time was I was very non-committal about buying the bass until I had actually played it (70s Fender and all that) and I was principally going down to get them to sell a Warwick Streamer for me on commission (or to part-ex if I bought the Fender). I was happy with the bass as soon as I picked it up, so part-ex'd the Streamer. I did consider asking Will to set-up the Fender with the new bridge, but it was a bit of a faff to get him to send it to me and it's rather a long trip for me to pick it up, so I decided to do it myself. 

 

I've been mucking around with it and I've got it more or less about right, although it might go to Jon Shuker at some point when I've got a bit more time. But you are right, Bassbros do normally include a setup with each purchase. 

 

Edited by peteb
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1 hour ago, Burns-bass said:


I thought the point of BassBros was that it would be setup perfectly for you?

 

Definitely wasn’t my experience, the bass hadn’t even been checked and had multiple issues. 
 

Just saying as it’s worth checking with them, despite the website marketing. 

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3 hours ago, Chiliwailer said:

Definitely wasn’t my experience, the bass hadn’t even been checked and had multiple issues. 
 

Just saying as it’s worth checking with them, despite the website marketing. 


That’s a real shame. I’m sorry to hear that.

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45 minutes ago, OliverBlackman said:

I didn’t think the bold colours of the 60s were available on 70s Fenders but this P bass has the telling signs of an original finish from what I can tell. It’d be rarer than the price suggests if it is.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/MJqB5vRSTVkCzvgz/?

Won’t let me see it, I don’t have fb 

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1 hour ago, Reggaebass said:

Won’t let me see it, I don’t have fb 

Same here. I really don’t like Facebook and hate that there seems to be an expectation that everyone in the world has Facebook. It’s a bit like Americans who don’t realise that a whole world exists beyond its borders. 

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1 hour ago, Reggaebass said:

Won’t let me see it, I don’t have fb 

Ah dam. It won’t let me copy the photos, so hopefully someone more tech savvy than me will know another way to share. Don’t think it’s listed anywhere else but it’s only just been listed so might end up on eBay at some point.

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55 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

Perhaps someone could put up a few pics, I’m curious now 😁

Managed to screenshot them. The first photo made me think definitely a refinish but the cavities are in keeping with Fender and the body colour under the pickguard has yellowed correctly.

 

IMG_4138.thumb.png.20bfa1f76b0a67e011cf3641d81c30b7.pngIMG_4139.thumb.png.2421a6df4a41acfc9334efa27c09b551.pngIMG_4140.thumb.png.d6dd997d58cb7e4bd6b01943389564b2.pngIMG_4141.thumb.png.a78b3f74a0d7ac8b4b65eeb95641dd61.png

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12 minutes ago, OliverBlackman said:

Managed to screenshot them. The first photo made me think definitely a refinish but the cavities are in keeping with Fender and the body colour under the pickguard has yellowed correctly.

 

IMG_4138.thumb.png.20bfa1f76b0a67e011cf3641d81c30b7.pngIMG_4139.thumb.png.2421a6df4a41acfc9334efa27c09b551.pngIMG_4140.thumb.png.d6dd997d58cb7e4bd6b01943389564b2.pngIMG_4141.thumb.png.a78b3f74a0d7ac8b4b65eeb95641dd61.png

Looks genuine to me. Does FB indicate what year in the 70's it was made? I think custom colours have been available most eras, at a cost of course.

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