Fender parts P bass, unidentified parts

jackduran · #1 11-23-2010, 11:01 AM

Just been given this Precision bass by the synth player in my band, who is selling off a lot of his old gear to buy his fiancee a nice camera. This is his "posh" P-bass, which he says he bought for ~£700 years ago. Apparently, it's a '70s body (not sure which year exactly) and a custom neck. I'm not sure if it's either, so I thought I'd post a few (bad) pictures on here to get some help.

I thought it was black when I got it, but in certain light it looks either green, red/brown or purple! The wood grain can be seen if you look closely. I don't think the neck is original as it has reverse gear tuning pegs, with no Fender markings. The neck plate features no serial number, just the 'F'.

Sound-wise it seems fine- not a P Bass expert by any means, but it gets me very close to the Derek Forbes (Simple Minds) tone especially through my CEB-3.

Not had a chance to take the neck off yet to have a look, but from the pictures only, does this look like a '70s Fender to you? Any info would be much appreciated!

Cheers!

KingRazor · #2 11-23-2010, 11:04 AM

That's a real beauty right there.

A-Step-Towards · #3 11-23-2010, 11:06 AM

That neck is not 70's fender for sure.He just gave it to you? take a good pic of the body routes under pickguard , bridge and i could tell if it was fender or not.

Sifl · #4 11-23-2010, 11:07 AM

I like the finish!

johnk_10 · #5 11-23-2010, 11:12 AM

the body looks like genuine fender to me. the neck has a hole for the truss rod adjuster behind the nut on the headstock, so who knows what it really is?

they didn't use the reverse tuners on 70's necks, but none of the reverse tuners have 'fender' stamped in them (IMO, they're probably gotohs).

the pickup is also not original as it has larger pole pieces (like a duncan 1/4lb'r. the knobs and the tug bar are also not genuine fender parts.

jackduran · #6 11-23-2010, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by A-Step-Towards

That neck is not 70's fender for sure.He just gave it to you? take a good pic of the body routes under pickguard , bridge and i could tell if it was fender or not.

He's given it to me to try out for now, but he wants £250 from me which isn't much (he's knocked the price down for me as I'm a friend!). When I get home I'll get a screwdriver and try and take a picture of under the PG for you. Cheers!

jackduran · #7 11-23-2010, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnk_10

the body looks like genuine fender to me. the neck has a hole for the truss rod adjuster behind the nut on the headstock, so who knows what it really is?

they didn't use the reverse tuners on 70's necks, but none of the reverse tuners have 'fender' stamped in them (IMO, they're probably gotohs).

the pickup is also not original as it has larger pole pieces (like a duncan 1/4lb'r. the knobs and the tug bar are also not genuine fender parts.

Cheers for the info. That's given me a much clearer idea. It really is a parts bass if that's the case!

jackduran · #8 11-23-2010, 03:42 PM

I've just unscrewed the pickguard and had a look at the pots/wiring. Stamped on the pots is 'Made In Japan', and some numbers I can't make out as they're covered in solder. I've tried to take a decent pic of the wiring but I've only got my Macbook webcam, which doesn't exactly make it easy! I'll attach a general picture of the cavity though. Doubt it'll give us any clues.

Apologies for my reflection in the finish!

johnk_10 · #9 11-23-2010, 03:47 PM

the bridge (w/7 mounting screws) and body are not fender either. i've never seen that type of control route in a genuine fender bass.

and somehow the bass has magically turned into a left handed one?

jackduran · #10 11-23-2010, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnk_10

the bridge (w/7 mounting screws) and body are not fender either. i've never seen that type of control route in a genuine fender bass.

and somehow the bass has magically turned into a left handed one?

Sorry about that, forgot to flip the image before posting. For some reason, the webcam on my laptop takes images as a mirror image.

I'm glad that picture has shed some more light. It seems a little suspect that my synth player originally spent £700 on it, believing it was a 70s Fender with a replacement neck. He bought it in his local music dealer too, where he's a regular. Not sure how long ago he bought it though.

johnk_10 · #11 11-23-2010, 04:14 PM

IMO, what you have there is a $150-$200 (in US dollars max) japanese or Korean copy of a p bass, with a fender neck plate and fake decal with good machine heads on it.

BTW, the string retainer on the headstock is also not a fender part, so the only part on that bass that IS fender is the neck plate.

5string5fingers · #12 11-23-2010, 04:41 PM

looking at the headstock,the shape reminds me of a tokai.

coreyfyfe · #13 11-23-2010, 05:28 PM

I like the contour body sticker on the P bass too. Someone went all out making this.

jackduran · #14 11-23-2010, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnk_10

IMO, what you have there is a $150-$200 (in US dollars max) japanese or Korean copy of a p bass, with a fender neck plate and fake decal with good machine heads on it.

BTW, the string retainer on the headstock is also not a fender part, so the only part on that bass that IS fender is the neck plate.

Interesting. I was never in doubt about the neck, as it's an obvious decal and the parts seem very un-Fenderish, but I'm really disappointed the body doesn't seem to be the real deal. It's a nice sounding bass but needs a lot of TLC to bring it up to scratch. If it were a real Fender, I'd have made the effort to spruce it up a bit but as it's not (and I'm on a strict/severe budget!) I'm not sure my heart would be in it. I'm sure other players know what I mean.

(I'm aware that could be construed as me being a gear snob!)

Jack

panama · #15 11-23-2010, 05:44 PM

Uh..I think your buddy needs to take it back to the shop where he is a regular and ask for an explanation as to why they charged him $1100 USD for a $200 bass.

Bongolation · #16 11-23-2010, 05:45 PM

Agreed, massive fake job.

Pass, totally.

jackduran · #17 11-23-2010, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by panama

Uh..I think your buddy needs to take it back to the shop where he is a regular and ask for an explanation as to why they charged him $1100 USD for a $200 bass.

I agree, just need to break it to him. I haven't paid for it yet thankfully, I just have it on a 'try before you buy' deal. I think I'll pass on it.

KingRazor · #18 11-23-2010, 05:54 PM

If it plays good and sounds good I'd take it. But if it wasn't even worth $300 new I doubt I'd spend more than $200 for it.

jackduran · #19 11-23-2010, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingRazor

If it plays good and sounds good I'd take it. But if it wasn't even worth $300 new I doubt I'd spend more than $200 for it.

That's what's holding me back. I bought a lovely Musicman SUB 5 off him recently for the same price (£250), which is a pretty good deal, especially as I needed a backup to my US SR4.

I don't want to spend more/equal than what this P bass is worth. If he knocked the price down, I'd take it, but seeing as he spent a lot of money on it then the best bet might be to pass on it and ask him to either keep it or sell it on to another customer as a Fender copy. I thought it was a real Fender, hence my eagerness to snap it up.

panama · #20 11-23-2010, 06:13 PM

I wouldn't expect to get my money back, but if they value his business they'll do something to make it up to him.