Side by Side 2002 & Mystery 70's Precision

[P. Aaron]

What are friends for? They're for saying things like: "I don't play it much, you can borrow it!" Which is what my longtime friend said about this mystery 70's Precision shown here w/my 2002 MIA Standard.

He purchased it a a local MI guitar show in '97 for $300.00. Looked just like it did; an obvious re-paint, Bart pickups, strange roller bridge, replaced tuners, missing neckplate. Perhaps some of you that know Fender can help.

[P. Aaron]

The neck looks legit. It appears to have been sanded & refinished almost everywhere but the peghead and fretboard. There's some checking on the headstock and the tuners have been replaced.


Note the tuners holes(1 bad phone-camera-pic):



The necks appear to be the same length, and after playing both for a few weeks now, it's very easy to play either. Both have many virtues.

[P. Aaron]

The 'body' remains a mystery. There's few identifying marks left but here's what there is:
The Pocket:

Control cavity:

the body:

Body contours:

[P. Aaron]

Like I posted already; the neck seems legit. Any ideas on age would be welcome. The number on the heel appears to be: 103 3514

[timbledum]

Curious!

[P. Aaron]

Both basses surprisingly weighed in at 8.4 pounds. When I brought the 70's mystery home, I had to tweak the truss rod and saddles to get the buzzing out of it. It was nice to discover that I was able to get it quite playable. The frets are decent.

The white one has Rotosounds, and the 2002 has DR Nickle Low Riders which I prefer. Tone-wise they're the same but different. They both possess growl and punch. The 2002 just delivers it with more finesse, the 70's is more a punch-growl that takes a lighter touch. The 70's 'P' has more body-string-vibe. Both are great basses, but I still like the 2002 for overall feel.

Another thing I found interesting; the white one is a total re-do, with bridge, PU's, paint, electrics, etc., and being decades apart, they are more alike than they are different.




They sound great through the LH1000 w/ the LDS cabs. Pure Precision joy!

Any thoughts on the relative age of the mystery bass would be appreciated.

[Paul M]

Originally Posted by P. Aaron

Like I posted already; the neck seems legit. Any ideas on age would be welcome. The number on the heel appears to be: 103 3514

This number will give you the exact week in which the neck was made.

My P-Bass neck has an extra zero at the beginning of the code.

01 means it is a Precision Bass neck
03 is probably referring to the maple fretboard (I know that 01 meant rosewood)
35 is the 35th week of the the year
1 is the year, meaning 1971
4 is the day of the week, meaning Thursday

So if I count correctly, that would mean the neck was made on Thursday, September 2, 1971.

[P. Aaron]

Originally Posted by Paul M

This number will give you the exact week in which the neck was made.

My P-Bass neck has an extra zero at the beginning of the code.

01 means it is a Precision Bass neck
03 is probably referring to the maple fretboard (I know that 01 meant rosewood)
35 is the 35th week of the the year
1 is the year, meaning 1971
4 is the day of the week, meaning Thursday

So if I count correctly, that would mean the neck was made on Thursday, September 2, 1971.

Wow! Thanks. I wish the body had more clues.

[Paul M]

Here's the web page that explains various way of dating Fender instruments.

http://home.provide.net/~cfh/fender.html

It says that the code format on your neck started in 1972 but your actual code shows it was in use in late 1971.