70's Precision - What were the good years?

[alexisonfire]

I'm thinking about starting to save for a nice vintage P bass.
What are peoples opinions on what the better years from the 70's are?

[bh2]

[quote name='alexisonfire' post='772147' date='Mar 11 2010, 09:37 PM']I'm thinking about starting to save for a nice vintage P bass.
What are peoples opinions on what the better years from the 70's are?[/quote]

The 60's.

[alexisonfire]

Having a quick look at the prices of the 60's, I'll be saving a for a little bit too long

[Clarky]

The rule with good years for Fenders is there are no rules! Every year produced good and 'not so good'. However it is generally thought that the first half of the 70s produced more desirable basses. From mi-70s onwards the choice of wood changed and the basses became heavier, in some cases absolute monstes (weighing as much as 12 pounds). The less popular three bolt neck was introduces for Jazzes around that time too, along with horrid plastic knobs. I have a 72 P and its light and a joy to play. I got lucky findinga fretless P from 76 that is also lovely, if slightly heavier. Wateroftyne, The Bass Doc and Beedster will be able to tell you a lot more than I have.

[crez5150]

'74 was good as that when Bar codes were introduced...... Packet of Wrigley's I think was the first.....

[Paul_C]

I had a '78 P that was very nice, wish I'd kept it, tbh.

[Cat Burrito]

[quote name='Clarky' post='772229' date='Mar 11 2010, 10:44 PM']The rule with good years for Fenders is there are no rules! Every year produced good and 'not so good'. However it is generally thought that the first half of the 70s produced more desirable basses. From mi-70s onwards the choice of wood changed and the basses became heavier, in some cases absolute monstes (weighing as much as 12 pounds). The less popular three bolt neck was introduces for Jazzes around that time too, along with horrid plastic knobs. I have a 72 P and its light and a joy to play. I got lucky findinga fretless P from 76 that is also lovely, if slightly heavier. Wateroftyne, The Bass Doc and Beedster will be able to tell you a lot more than I have.[/quote]

Well said.

As a point of interest 1976 is a transistional year for Fenders with the serial number moved & what with it being America's Bicentennial year I do wonder if they'll be worth more in a few years time. I hear a lot of good things about 1978 (mine is!) despite the worry with later years. Ultimately you have to take each bass on its own merits though.

[wateroftyne]

There's dogs and diamonds from all eras, but the dogs : diamonds ratio increases towards the later 70s.

I think P's were more consistent than J's in general.

[Vibrating G String]

What are the best years also changes in what year you ask. In the '80's 1966 through the '70's was utter crap and all the experts knew it. The MIJ basses were also the bottom of the heap. The basses haven't changed but the expert opinions have changed greatly.

I think you have to judge them as individuals and only use the year to find the features & look you prefer. The best "Fenders" I've ever owned were copies made by Tokai and Fernandes.

Edited March 12, 2010 by Vibrating G String

[bh2]

[quote name='Paul_C' post='772243' date='Mar 11 2010, 10:53 PM']I had a '78 P that was very nice, wish I'd kept it, tbh.

[/quote]

Nice looking P there Paul, the Rick doesn't look too shabby!

[alanbass1]

I agree with Clarky that there are no fixed rules as all years have good 'uns and bad 'uns. However, there are some things to note:

1. At the end of 1971 Fender changed the standard neck shape for precisions and used a slimmer profile, inbetween the 'old' typical neck shape and the jazz dimensions. Before then you could always order a slimmer neck but these are not common.

2. In 1973 Fender increased their production dramatically - from 40,000 instruments a year to 150,000 instruments a year. When such things happen there are trade off's in quality - materials (e.g. getting consistent high grade wood is more difficult the higher the quanity you are after). Also, an influx of less experienced builders/QC personnel and what was reported as a corporate desire to shift instruments all added up to more cases of 'bad' instruments getting onto the market. So, if you are buying blind (never recommended) you run a greater risk of ending up with a dog.

3. From mid '74 some cosmetic changes happened, such as putting the thumb rest above the pick-up, and not using tort' guards

4. Late '74 onwards the wood used got noticeably 'heavier' and it is less common to find a lighter instrument (8.5lb) and by '77 quite common to get bases weighing in at 10.5lb or more

Notwithstanding this, there are good and bad instruments in every year and the best advice is try before you buy

Edited March 12, 2010 by alanbass1

[Shaggy]

[quote name='Vibrating G String' post='772388' date='Mar 12 2010, 07:42 AM']What are the best years also changes in what year you ask. In the '80's 1966 through the '70's was utter crap and all the experts knew it. The MIJ basses were also the bottom of the heap. The basses haven't changed but the expert opinions have changed greatly.

I think you have to judge them as individuals and only use the year to find the features & look you prefer. The best "Fenders" I've ever owned were copies made by Tokai and Fernandes. [/quote]
Very true

When I was a spotty 16 year old *[i]coughs[/i]* years ago the local guitar shop had a late '60's Jazz in seafoam green on the wall, £200, the guy behind the counter thought it just "OK". 'course all I wanted then was a new Ibanez....

[Eight]

I started thinking about getting a 70s Fender-P... don't know why, and don't tell Bass-Doc that I said that...

But anyway, BassChat has cured me of this desire. The more I read, the more it seems impossible for a fool like me to buy a half decent one. Too many variables.

[The Bass Doc]

I heard that.

[Eight]

[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='773052' date='Mar 12 2010, 06:48 PM']I heard that. [/quote]
God damn that was fast!!!

Your ears must have been burning.

[alexisonfire]

I need to try some out, difficult considering you can't just walk into normal music shops an find these. Am I right in thinking there's a couple of shops in LDN where I'll vintage stuff?

[xilddx]

Like it has been said, no such thing as a good year. You'll have to play a bunch of them and see what you like best.

[Beedster]

You see very few 1970 Fenders on the market. Loads of '69s and '71s, very few 70's. Does this mean that they produced fewer, or that those they produced were very good and the owners won't sell.

Or did Fender simply not have any stamps for 1970

In support of the above, I owned a '79 that was lovely, a '73 that stank, and a '75 that was average. There are no firm rules.

C

[4-string-thing]

Mine's either a 77 or 78, I'm not sure which. I've owned it since 1979 and have no intention of selling it. Not sure if its a good one or not, cos I've never compared it to another one but it suits me fine.

Upon hearing it for the first time, the drummer in my last band declared it "The best sounding bass I've ever heard" But it was through a Markbass stack...

As has already been mentioned, you can't go by the year, just by sound, feel and looks. If it suits you, then it is the bass for you!

[basshead56]

I own two 78 Precisions and love them.
They really are lovely but the two couldn´t be more different from each other.
The first one I got was in showroom condition and weighs very little (for a late 70´s P)
The one I got just before Christmas is an absolute joy to play bar the fact it weighs nearly twice as much as the other. its in much poorer cosmetic condition though and had a pup mod.

I went through about 8 or 9 77/78´s before finding that one and there were wasn´t any real consistency there.
Some were rough, others weren´t.
I think the 70´s was a strange period for Precisions. Like any other decade in Fender producton (bar the current run, whch all seem fantastic), there are some gems and some turds!
I think finding a decent 70´s Jazz would be a much tougher job-the few good ones that turn up are usually way overpriced!
Take your time in deciding on one and a/b as many as you can to ensure you end up with the best bass you can get.

And I do agree that some of the best 70´s Fender Precisions weren´t made by Fender-Tokai´s from then are fantastic!

[Vibrating G String]

[quote name='Beedster' post='773169' date='Mar 12 2010, 01:15 PM']You see very few 1970 Fenders on the market. Loads of '69s and '71s, very few 70's. Does this mean that they produced fewer, or that those they produced were very good and the owners won't sell.

Or did Fender simply not have any stamps for 1970 [/quote]
From what I understand Fender stamped parts as they were made and never dated an instrument based on it's completion date. So if they made 10 months worth of necks in November 1969 we could see very few dated 1970 even if a ton of basses were finished in that year. Dating a Fender to an exact year isn't really possible.

Also they didn't clear out all the old wood and parts at Xmas and start fresh each New Years so I've always felt describing certain attributes to a single year or period is inaccurate.

Fender also never issued serials #'s consecutively so one mans 72 may have been made months after someone else's 73. I think you can only date the parts and any date on the instrument is just a good estimate. I've heard of up to a 2 year spread in parts dates in a single instrument.

I always recommend saving the money on the label and using it to have a top notch fret job and setup on one you like the looks and sound of.

[Vibrating G String]

[quote name='basshead56' post='773709' date='Mar 13 2010, 08:48 AM']I think the 70´s was a strange period for Precisions. Like any other decade in Fender producton (bar the current run, whch all seem fantastic), there are some gems and some turds![/quote]
It seems to be one of the more polarized Fender times, and now that the price of them is going up fast I think we'll hear more about how great they are

[hillbilly deluxe]

Because when they werent "vintage" they were crap,and nobody wanted them ? especially 70's Jazzes.

Edited March 14, 2010 by hillbilly deluxe

[BigRedX]

From my personal experience all the new Fenders I saw come into the local musical instrument shop where I helped out in 1978 and 79 were without fail rubbish. Many of them were so poorly assembled that they needed stripping down and completely rebuilding before they were fit for sale. I know of at least 2 that had the bridge relocated to compensate for the angle of the neck which slipped every time you tried to adjust the Micro-tilt mechanism. I wonder what all the fixes made at the shop by their guitar tech would have on the "originality" of these instruments, as this seems to be quite an essential requirement in the vintage Fender market...

[witterth]

I had a fender precision fretless just like clarkys, lateish 70s ( see his thread, so close it really could be the same one! ) it was good, but in '85 when I sold it, to fund a stingray I only got £250 for it. a rubbish price for the time.looking at todays price for the same kit, makes me feel a bit neausous!! at the time no one wanted to know.
Ahh well,
for what we cannot change..... eh?