Very reluctantly, I am offering my refinished 1965 Fender Precision bass for sale. It weighs 8.5 pounds and is in wonderful condition.
To the best of my knowledge, the bass is original except for the following items: Thumb rest, pickup covers (ashtrays), and decal. The 'hootenany button' has been removed and the hole plugged.
As noted, the bass has been re-finished. When I purchased the bass it had long been stripped and oiled and the neck stained. I took the bass to be refinished at Lay's Guitar in Akron, Ohio, one of the premier re-finishing shops in the country. They did an astonishing job. Dan Shin and I examined the remaining finish in the neck and electronics pockets and decided it was originally lake placid blue. It was re-sprayed with nitrocellulose lacquer of that color and Dan even 'shadowed' the pickguard and neck plate as can be seen in some of the photos. The finish is not 'reliced' and photographs do not do it justice. Lay's re-finished the neck as well, removing the stain to reveal some very nice birds-eye in the grain. A period incorrect decal was removed and a correct one re-applied. The frets were also dressed when the neck was re-done and are in excellent condition.
All the dates correspond to late 1965 and the serial number is appropriate for that date. The neck date is October 1965, and the pot codes are '4265'. The pickups are marked '11-2-65' in pencil. It would appear that the wiring is original and the joints seem unbroken. As I noted the bass was stripped when I purchased it. Seeing the condition of the wiring, I asked Lay's to re-fin the bass with the wiring harness intact.
I do not have the original case. It will ship with a (very cool) non-original, non-Fender fitted hard-shell case.
The bass plays great. The neck is very comfortable. It's not too wide and not a baseball bat at all. It is in great shape and plays fine with the 3/32 inch action it is set up with right now. The tone is great, middy and smooth with the real P-bass vibe. The pickup is still quite strong and has a lot of output. It is strung with a new set of Chromes.
I would like to get $3,500 for the bass, packed, insured, and shipped anywhere in the continental US. I'll be happy to ship overseas, but we will have to work out the cost. Sadly, I cannot accept any trades. I am selling this bass to raise funds to help buy my son a new car. His caught on fire last week and is a total (uninsured) loss. Happily, it was the middle of the night and no one was injured. But, since he needs a car to commute to college, Dad is on the hook.
The bass is in Cleveland if you are in the neighborhood and want to stop by and try it out. The photos should give a good idea of the condition, but as I mentioned do not do justice to the color or, of course, the feel. There are lots of high resolution photos linked and I can offer more if you need them. Some are a bit yellow, as I took some photos indoors when I was disassembling the bass for some detail shots. The brighter photos are more representative of the true colors.
PM me or e-mail to russ (at) standbyscrew (dot) com if you are interested or have any questions.
Teaser pic:
Link to album of photos:
Lots o'pix
Cheers,
Russ
