Vintage Fenders

[SurroundedByManatees]

Okay:

 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2022 by SurroundedByManatees

[briansbrew]

My 72 P

 

[briansbrew]

4 minutes ago, SurroundedByManatees said:

Okay...

 

Very nice

[Reggaebass]

19 minutes ago, briansbrew said:

My 72 P

 

That’s lovely 👌

[msb]

My old 72 has a divot where my thumbnail wore into the wood.

[Belka]

18 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

Not sure the TV’s were particularly low-quality. QC issues were more apparent from about 75-on, I’d say..?

I've always found that the TV logo Fenders seemed to have worse QC than the '76-'83 'smaller' TV ones. The woodworking/fit is much rougher on the earlier-mid '70s ones. '77-'78 seemed to be when they started to improve QC, and to my ears they sound better (especially the Jazzes - the late '70s ones had a slightly higher output, similar in resistance to early '60s basses). I think the reason why people perceive the early '70s basses as better is a) they're closer chronologically to the pre-CBS period and b) the weight. They're certainly a lot heavier than the earlier ones. 

[wateroftyne]

54 minutes ago, Belka said:

I've always found that the TV logo Fenders seemed to have worse QC than the '76-'83 'smaller' TV ones. The woodworking/fit is much rougher on the earlier-mid '70s ones. '77-'78 seemed to be when they started to improve QC, and to my ears they sound better (especially the Jazzes - the late '70s ones had a slightly higher output, similar in resistance to early '60s basses). I think the reason why people perceive the early '70s basses as better is a) they're closer chronologically to the pre-CBS period and b) the weight. They're certainly a lot heavier than the earlier ones. 

Thanks for that. It doesn’t match my experience…

[bassbiscuits]

26 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

Thanks for that. It doesn’t match my experience…

Mine neither - I've got a 1970 TV logo P bass which weighs just 3.8kg, has lovely tight neck joint, slim B profile neck, no scrappy workmanship at all and sounds bright, loud and resonant. 

Edited September 15, 2022 by bassbiscuits

[Reggaebass]

1 hour ago, bassbiscuits said:

Mine neither - I've got a 1970 TV logo P bass which weighs just 3.8kg, has lovely tight neck joint, slim B profile neck, no scrappy workmanship at all and sounds bright, loud and resonant. 

Very nice 👌 

[Belka]

1 hour ago, wateroftyne said:

Thanks for that. It doesn’t match my experience…

 

1 hour ago, bassbiscuits said:

Mine neither - I've got a 1970 TV logo P bass which weighs just 3.8kg, has lovely tight neck joint, slim B profile neck, no scrappy workmanship at all and sounds bright, loud and resonant. 

Actually, the nicest sounding Precision I ever played was a '71. I was just pointing out that I think the later '70s Fenders are very much unfairly maligned on their QC issues when in reality, apart from their weight, there's nothing worse QC wise about them, and in my experience (of course others' will differ) the woodworking/fit has seemed marginally better. 

 

[miles'tone]

1 hour ago, bassbiscuits said:

Mine neither - I've got a 1970 TV logo P bass which weighs just 3.8kg, has lovely tight neck joint, slim B profile neck, no scrappy workmanship at all and sounds bright, loud and resonant. 

Sweet! I do love a thin line of red on my sunburts 👌

Nice weight too.

[miles'tone]

11 hours ago, msb said:

My old 72 has a divot where my thumbnail wore into the wood.

Reminds me of Norm's Rhythm Stick 🙂

[msb]

For years that was the only bass I owned , and it got a lot of play around the eastern circuit here. Went through three hard shell Fender cases getting tossed in and out of ratty old trucks and vans before I switched to well padded gig bags.

Looks like it went through the Boer War , but still plays wonderfully. It seemed that everybody played a Pbass in those days , and they all felt different. I had to put some nail polish on the bridge because otherwise the posts would fall. At the time most advised me to get a brass nut, Dimarzio pickups and a BadAss bridge but I left mine stock. Funny how all the basses from that period are all stock now because back in the day most that you’d see on stage were altered. And you had to route the bass for those early BadAss bridges. 

Now earlier in this thread I mentioned the tv logo basses were inconsistent , but I didn’t say bad. But if you played the dozen you might see in a music store they all felt different. It was around 74 when the really heavy ones started to appear , and many at the time believed they had greater sustain. They were often the first ones sold. 
Today I’m thankful mine is quite light. And despite being an old Pbass guy , these days I mostly play shortscales. It’s mostly retired , still feels wonderful when I do pick it up. 
At the time I thought it was all the bass I’d need and I missed a lot of opportunities to buy vintage basses that were going for a song.
I was an idiot.

Pre CBS basses we’re just called used , and we’re much cheaper than the new stuff.

 

[Muzz]

Was at a Jam Night last night, and the house bassist, a friend of mine, had brought his 77 Precision down. He passed it to me, and I braced for the boat anchor-weight, but blimey, if it was 8lbs I'd be surprised. And it played really, really well; I'd go so far as to say that it's the best Precision I've ever played (with the possible exception of a 63 I had a 5-minute go of about 30 years ago, but that's a hazy memory)...just goes to show there's good uns and bad uns of every year...

[bassbiscuits]

36 minutes ago, Muzz said:

...just goes to show there's good uns and bad uns of every year...

Exactly. That's the truth of it.

 

I remember when I bought mine there was another identical one next to it but it was an absolute plank to play. Good and bad basses out there regardless of age, pedigree or any other perceived indicators of quality.

[AntLockyer]

Best I ever played was a black 1974 P, amazing thick neck, a sound like no other P I've played, growly/burpy amazingness. It weighed more than the sun and I sadly passed on it.

[walshy]

I have a lot of vintage Fenders myself and had even more through my hands over the years and without doubt the late 60’s early 70’s are my favourites. They just sound and play well, every one of them. Late 70’s aren’t in the same league imo. 
 

Pic of my sexy, well gigged 72 for you voyeurs 😂

[Old Man Riva]

9 hours ago, bassbiscuits said:

Mine neither - I've got a 1970 TV logo P bass which weighs just 3.8kg, has lovely tight neck joint, slim B profile neck, no scrappy workmanship at all and sounds bright, loud and resonant. 

Lovely, that.

 

I had a 1970 Precision that had a lovely shallow neck (a B width nut, but slimmer front to back).

 

One of the few basses I properly regret moving on… 

[OliverBlackman]

4 hours ago, walshy said:

I have a lot of vintage Fenders myself and had even more through my hands over the years and without doubt the late 60’s early 70’s are my favourites. They just sound and play well, every one of them. Late 70’s aren’t in the same league imo. 
 

Pic of my sexy, well gigged 72 for you voyeurs 😂

Totally agree with P basses. A 1967 was my favourite. Although very different, the best J basses I’ve played were a 62 and a 78 for both sound and feel.

[Muzz]

Just to confirm the 'good uns and bad uns from every year' thing, I bought a 78 Jazz once, which was the heaviest (11 1/2lbs, anyone?) and dullest bass I ever played. It was in great nick, original case, etc, so it was more of an artifact than a musical instrument...it's probably on someone's wall somewhere, I can't imagine anyone actually gigging it...

[Belka]

13 hours ago, OliverBlackman said:

Totally agree with P basses. A 1967 was my favourite. Although very different, the best J basses I’ve played were a 62 and a 78 for both sound and feel.

Totally agree. The TV logo Jazz basses generally have low output and produce a more hollow, woody, thumpy tone. They sound good with flats and a pick, and to be fair some people might prefer that tone. The early '60s and late '70s basses have seemed to me a lot fuller sounding and alive though.

Of course there are exceptions, there are some TV logo Jazzes that sound a lot fuller and some lifeless pre-CBS and late '70s ones. 

Just my observations/opinions, YMMV etc.

[Misdee]

My favourite era for P Basses is the late 60's/ early 70's, primarily because of the neck profiles. I don't enjoy playing basses with a 1.75 nut width, so the pre -CBS Precisions are not really my cup of tea. An A or B width nut is much better for me.

 

I certainly think a good Fender from my preferred late 60s/early 70's era sounds just as good as the Pre-CBS examples. (To be honest, I think a lot of the modern Fenders sound just as good as the old basses. But that's a whole other discussion/ heated argument 😄)

 

  I don't own any old Fenders nowadays but I have had far too many over the years to be romantic about them. I think you can find gems ( and duds) from every era, and what constitutes a gem(or a dud) depends to a great extent on the tastes and expectations of the player. I wouldn't pay the going rate for a vintage Fender bass nowadays because to me it's Rolls Royce money for an old Ford Capri instrument, but others may have a different view. 

[tredders]

I've gone through quite a few Fenders over the years, and here's what's left now:

 

73 Precision sunburst & rosewood (probably the best Precision I've ever played)

75 Precision black & maple

75 Telecaster bass custard

77 Telecaster bass black

 

The Precisions are both all original.  Both Tele basses have been refinished.

 

Edited September 16, 2022 by tredders

[Reggaebass]

31 minutes ago, tredders said:

I've gone through quite a few Fenders over the years, and here's what's left now:

 

73 Precision sunburst & rosewood (probably the best Precision I've ever played)

75 Precision black & maple

75 Telecaster bass custard

77 Telecaster bass black

 

The Precisions are both all original.  Both Tele basses have been refinished.

 

The 73 precision looks lovely 👌

[Clarky]

Here's a heavily modded '66 Precision on Reverb, whereby the mods were likely carried out in the 1970s (ie  vintage themselves!) Will be overly tinkered with for most people's tastes (and certainly for the collector) but in my opinion it looks quite cool and I would guess it's a great player's bass.

 

https://reverb.com/item/58282987-fender-66-precision-bass-with-rosewood-fretboard-vintage-70s-mods

 

 

Edited September 16, 2022 by Clarky