For sale is my vintage Fender bass in excellent condition. Black body, white pick guard with maple neck. I bought this Precision from the original owner in 1979 when I was in high school. The condition is great. After a short feeble attempt at learning to play, I gave it up and this instrument has spent nearly all of the last 30+ years in the closet.
I just took it to a guitar store that deals in vintage instruments for new strings and setup. The tech reported everything is working properly. I don’t have an amp anymore, so I’m relying on his report.
Black finish is kind of rare for this era but shows off like it’s new. Very little play wear to the body and neck. Original chrome pieces included but no screws.
I’m not comfortable removing the neck, so I haven’t. As far as dating the instrument, I’m pretty sure it’s a 1975. Serial number on large F neckplate. Thumbrest is in correct position, and decal is appropriate. It’s possible that it’s a ’76 based on one serial number guide I read, but based on Reverb’s dating guide, this is a 1975 Fender.
https://reverb.com/news/how-to-date-a-fender#Fseries1965-1976The serial number is 650000 which fits the range for 1975 Fender Precisions in Reverb’s guide: 580000 to 690000. The even numbered “650000” serial number is pretty cool. I have no idea if it’s significant.
The body is in excellent condition without any wear through. There’s a small scratch on the top front near the top strap button, and a white scuff on the bottom edge. Small hairlines at the screw holes for the bridge cover. Slight hazing to the gloss black finish above the thumb rest and around the rear strap button along with some minor scuffs. There’s some rust on the rear strap button and screw. I have not tried to polish anything out. I’m erring on the side of nitpicking and opting to leave everything as it is.
The white pick guard show some very slight yellowing but is still very clean and bright with no breaks or splits. It has a band of black running around the edge (two white layers sandwiching a black layer). Some of the screws show wear.
Condition of the maple neck is exceptional - straight and flat with little to no wear. It has black painted dots. Skunkstripe runs up the back. Headstock has Fender decal without the model name. This is an unusual feature, but I understand it’s consistent with ’75 lefty P Basses. There is a very small round dimple below the A string near the base of the neck. This could be from the manufacturing process, a finish defect, or perhaps a fill but looks to be original to the guitar. The pots and the nut was changed in the 90s, but apart from that it’s untouched.
The case is original and in good shape. There is staining on on the right side of the red inner lining. The reinforced edge stitching is starting to lift on the bottom right corner. On the front there are two round stickers original to when I purchased the bass and date from the mid seventies: one is a Paul McCartney Venus and Mars album sicker, the other a Cobra Whirlwind Music cable sticker. I love these stickers and never took them off. Venus and Mars seemed like the perfect sticker for this bass -both of them made in ’75.
UPDATE:
I’ve received a few questions and wanted to update with the following info and a few additional photos.
Pickups: gray bottoms with the original copper colored shielding plate and original black rubber spacers. One pickup is stamped in black ink “83175”. I believe this indicates it was made 8/31/1975. The other is also stamped in black ink but it’s smeared and illegible. They appear to be identical in color, markings and composition. Wires and solders look untouched. Both have smear of green ink.
Pots: As mentioned above, they were replaced during the 90s. Volume pot reads “CTS 500K” and “R1379…” the rest of the numbers are under solder. Tone pot has a piece of black material over the back obscuring most of the markings except “250K-A”. Jack looks original with “SWITCHCRAFT” inscribed around the bottom. I’m told the wires look to be the original fender wires.
Knobs: Original chrome knobs
Body: Original black finish without any added routing. As mentioned above, the finish is really nice for a 43 year old bass. Some dulling, small dings, small scratches, but no wear through. Finish is original and has not been sanded, waxed or refinished in any way.
Neck: Original finish and frets. Beautiful overall. Frets are solid showing only light wear. No grooves or depressions I can see. Nothing sharp or protruding from the sides of the neck. Height looks uniform. Not sure how you measure that, but height is about the thickness of a dime or slightly less. The decal is unusual but indeed original. Unlike the right handed version, the left handed version of this era only has a small “Fender” logo without “Precision Bass” on the headstock. Personally, I like it better this way.
Thumbrest: Original black thumbrest in original position
Pickguard: No splits. Original. On back it has "8" written in pencil and "15" written in green marker (which looks like the same color as the green marks on the backs of the pickups - not sure if they're related)
Tuners: Original
String Tree: Original
Weight: According to my bathroom scale it’s 9.5 pounds
Case: Someone commented that it’s a right handed case, which I never really noticed before. It's original to the instrument and not a replacement.
Chrome covers: Original and included. They're not currently attached because I don't have the screws for them.
