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Vintage Fenders


Reggaebass

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just can't beat posting up my favourite bass.

I bought this in Denmark St in 1990, advertised as late 60s. £450. So I traded a Shure SM58 wireless and my Aria SBR-150 and fifty quid.

The serial number suggests approx 1975 which until recently I acknowledged.

Then, whilst on a forum (here or TB) there was a thread about the bridge being in the wrong place (approx 71-73 IIRC) and the screw on the G string being extra long to compensate. So I looked at the original bridge (now on a bitsa) and there it was, the long screw. Then I looked at the original pickup (that went open circuit many moons ago) and there was 73 on it. So I'm going with '73. It's light too

Pots were changed before a recording session in the 90s, they weren't even soldered in properly. I've no idea if they were original anyway.

Under the bridge is a little of the sunburst but this has been painted by hand I reckon, long long before I bought it.

This, for me, is the finest sounding and playing P bass. Everyone who plays it says the same, what a great bass, even those that aren't keen on p basses.

I had a '62 at the same time. I bought it about '89/'90. I sold it a few years later as the '73 was just hands down better.

Fender P bass 1975 003.JPG

Fender P bass 1975 005.JPG

Fender P bass 1975 006.JPG

Fender P bass 1975 008.JPG

Fender P bass 1975 011.JPG

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  • 3 weeks later...

I’m a jazz man myself but I’ve been watching quite a few videos on vintage fenders , and the sound of the precision’s is superb, a P with a jazz neck would be great, I missed out on one last year.  I like the tones on this jazz 🙂

 

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23 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

I love a vintage jazz, I’ve been looking for the right one for quite a while now, would you have any pics of yours 🙂

Funny you should mention it... I got a ‘78 about a year ago, absolutely loved it but it’s needed work doing to the neck due to a truss rod issue so it’s been with the legend that is Jon Shuker for the past month or so. In the meantime I’ve bought a ‘74. They’re both sunburst with maple fingerboards, I did this deliberately so i’ve got no excuse to keep both! Anyway i’m picking it up from Jon tomorrow and will take some pics of the matching pair. 

Here’s the ‘78: currently speculatively on eBay, once it’s back home and i’m happy with it I’ll be advertising it elsewhere too.

It’s had a refret at Jon’s and the fingerboard has been refinished too so it looks stunning.3A3497BE-999C-4F73-91B6-BD0E0B417538.thumb.jpeg.396213d27790395ba8733cd973f7bbfd.jpeg1D506B65-5BFB-4661-A7AB-FCBAAB11AC1A.thumb.jpeg.8ac2c86d74cc0bd381c4477e0d5b34ab.jpegFB53841C-3EC8-4FDD-B580-C7F60CC009A4.thumb.jpeg.149f3b991b782d14e3b8f55c5fcc7dfd.jpeg

Edited by mowf
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43 minutes ago, mowf said:

Funny you should mention it... I got a ‘78 about a year ago, absolutely loved it but it’s needed work doing to the neck due to a truss rod issue so it’s been with the legend that is Jon Shuker for the past month or so. In the meantime I’ve bought a ‘74. They’re both sunburst with maple fingerboards, I did this deliberately so i’ve got no excuse to keep both! Anyway i’m picking it up from Jon tomorrow and will take some pics of the matching pair. 

Here’s the ‘78: currently speculatively on eBay, once it’s back home and i’m happy with it I’ll be advertising it elsewhere too.

It’s had a refret at Jon’s and the fingerboard has been refinished too so it looks stunning.3A3497BE-999C-4F73-91B6-BD0E0B417538.thumb.jpeg.396213d27790395ba8733cd973f7bbfd.jpeg1D506B65-5BFB-4661-A7AB-FCBAAB11AC1A.thumb.jpeg.8ac2c86d74cc0bd381c4477e0d5b34ab.jpegFB53841C-3EC8-4FDD-B580-C7F60CC009A4.thumb.jpeg.149f3b991b782d14e3b8f55c5fcc7dfd.jpeg

That looks great and you’re not far from me! Sadly no bass funds at this time of year. 

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On 27/10/2020 at 17:39, OliverBlackman said:

He said ‘62 was the best year for his fenders and now it’s all I can think about 😂

I've seen a lot of enthusiasm for the tone of rosewood slab board Fenders, which is most/all basses made in and up to 1962.

Apparently the fretboard is thicker and that makes them sound better.

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6 hours ago, chris_b said:

I've seen a lot of enthusiasm for the tone of rosewood slab board Fenders, which is most/all basses made in and up to 1962.

Apparently the fretboard is thicker and that makes them sound better.

Chris May told me Overwater use a ‘62 neck as a template for their 4 string jazz necks and the shape is perfect. Mine has a slab of ebony instead of rosewood though. 

Many years ago I played a ‘63 (or maybe it was a ‘61) stack knob jazz at New Kings Road Guitars in order to compare it to one of the Fullerton reissues they were selling. The differences were immediately night and day and for me justified the price difference. Not sure if it was slab or not but it was a fantastic sound. 

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1 hour ago, OliverBlackman said:

Many years ago I played a ‘63 (or maybe it was a ‘61) stack knob jazz at New Kings Road Guitars in order to compare it to one of the Fullerton reissues they were selling. The differences were immediately night and day and for me justified the price difference. Not sure if it was slab or not but it was a fantastic sound.

This is a bit of info from guitar world , apparently the slab board was to give more bass because of the increased depth , @onehandclapping Has a very nice 62 slab jazz , maybe he could tell us more about them 🙂

With all Fender models, the early ’60s brought the “slab board” fretboard, as opposed to the “veneer board,” which was introduced in mid 1962. The slab board was a thick piece of rosewood that joined the neck on a flat plane; the veneer board was thinner and joined the neck on a curved plane. Clay fretboard dots were standard until the middle of 1964

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1 hour ago, OliverBlackman said:

New Kings Road Guitars

I went there a few years ago one Saturday with a friend, he bought a 1968 precision, and they also had an all original 65 jazz with the original case for sale which I played and really liked , but as usual I dithered about buying it, I finally came to my senses on the Wednesday and called them to buy it and it was sold 😞

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10 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

This is a bit of info from guitar world , apparently the slab board was to give more bass because of the increased depth , @onehandclapping Has a very nice 62 slab jazz , maybe he could tell us more about them 🙂

With all Fender models, the early ’60s brought the “slab board” fretboard, as opposed to the “veneer board,” which was introduced in mid 1962. The slab board was a thick piece of rosewood that joined the neck on a flat plane; the veneer board was thinner and joined the neck on a curved plane. Clay fretboard dots were standard until the middle of 1964

The 62 slab here is a little darker/bassier than veneer board.An original stacker sounds very different to a vvt and it would  not be my pick.A reissue stacker compared to an original does not have the capacitors in that to my ear throttle the sound.The 62 here has a bigger neck than my 63 and 64 which are very similar,the 63 being my favourite.I did play another 62 slab vvt the other day and the neck was awesome being quite small like my 63...hope this helps😀

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