***SOLD***
Reality bites. And so does the IRS.
I need cash. Rather than selling a bunch of really nice, but less valuable basses, I'm just going to put up my one or two most valuable.
This is a 1966 Fender Precision in Shoreline Gold nitrocellulose lacquer, alder body with a rosewood board and parchment pickguard. The neck heel is stamped 5MAY66C (so, the nut width is 1.75").
The weight is just under 8 1/2 pounds.
Strings are T-I Jazz Flats.
Truss rod is in good shape with plenty of adjustment left. Frets are in great shape. I'm thinking it must have had Flats for just about its whole life. The back of the neck is very nicely worn and feels awesome, so it has definitely been played.
This bass has THE P bass sound you've been looking for!
It comes with an old Fender hardshell case, but I don't believe it's the original. I think it's from the early 70s. It's in good shape.
Also included are the original pickup and bridge covers, which, as far as I can tell, have never been installed. I don't know if these originally came with screws for installing them, but I don't have them, if they did.
All this can be yours for $3600, shipped via FedEx Ground to the Continental U.S..
Plenty more pictures (including some from before it was restored and some from during the restoration process) here:
http://s227.photobucket.com/user/stuartv/library/Fender 1966 Precision
The back story is, I bought this bass from Elderly Instruments. Pictures from Elderly (where you can see the hardshell case plus the bass as I got it, including the neck heel and electronics) are here:
http://s227.photobucket.com/user/stuartv/library/66 Fender Precision
The body had been refinished years ago and was (to my eyes) ugly. Uglier than it looks in those pictures, for sure. And it had had a J pickup added in the bridge position. Fortunately, the pickup and related extra pot and wiring were just added. The original pots, pickup, knobs, wiring, etc. were all left alone and still there.
And the tuners had been replaced with Grover Titans. But, to my great surprise and happiness, the original tuners were in a box, in the case. And they were complete, even with the original mounting screws. The only thing missing was one washer that goes on the back of the tuners.
So, I sent the whole thing to John Kallas (johnk_10 on here). He refinished the body using the same materials and techniques that Fender was using in 1966. He completely stripped the body. He machined plugs out of the same kind of wood as the body (Alder) and filled the J pickup route and also the extra routing that was done under the pickguard to allow for the 3rd control pot. Then he sealed the whole body with Fullerplast before painting with this beautiful Shoreline Gold nitrocellulose lacquer. The finish work is incredible. Unfortunately (?), the nitro is very thin and there was no way to avoid, if you hold it up to just the right angle in the light, you can see a faint outline of the old J pickup route in the paint.
John also removed the added wiring and pot leaving all the original electronics intact and unmolested. He reliced a new washer to replace the one that was missing and reinstalled the original tuners. I can't even tell now which one is the replacement versus the 3 original ones. And he installed a new Fender parchment pickguard.
The thread with the restoration story is here:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/66-precision-restoration-project-744456/
So, it is all original EXCEPT the following:
body paint
pickguard
one washer on the back of one of the tuners
strap buttons (are now Dunlop Straploks)
piece of matched wood installed to fill where a J bridge pickup had been added
Reality bites. And so does the IRS.
I need cash. Rather than selling a bunch of really nice, but less valuable basses, I'm just going to put up my one or two most valuable. This is a 1966 Fender Precision in Shoreline Gold nitrocellulose lacquer, alder body with a rosewood board and parchment pickguard. The neck heel is stamped 5MAY66C (so, the nut width is 1.75").
The weight is just under 8 1/2 pounds.
Strings are T-I Jazz Flats.
Truss rod is in good shape with plenty of adjustment left. Frets are in great shape. I'm thinking it must have had Flats for just about its whole life. The back of the neck is very nicely worn and feels awesome, so it has definitely been played.
This bass has THE P bass sound you've been looking for!
It comes with an old Fender hardshell case, but I don't believe it's the original. I think it's from the early 70s. It's in good shape.
Also included are the original pickup and bridge covers, which, as far as I can tell, have never been installed. I don't know if these originally came with screws for installing them, but I don't have them, if they did.
All this can be yours for $3600, shipped via FedEx Ground to the Continental U.S..
Plenty more pictures (including some from before it was restored and some from during the restoration process) here:
http://s227.photobucket.com/user/stuartv/library/Fender 1966 Precision
The back story is, I bought this bass from Elderly Instruments. Pictures from Elderly (where you can see the hardshell case plus the bass as I got it, including the neck heel and electronics) are here:
http://s227.photobucket.com/user/stuartv/library/66 Fender Precision
The body had been refinished years ago and was (to my eyes) ugly. Uglier than it looks in those pictures, for sure. And it had had a J pickup added in the bridge position. Fortunately, the pickup and related extra pot and wiring were just added. The original pots, pickup, knobs, wiring, etc. were all left alone and still there.
And the tuners had been replaced with Grover Titans. But, to my great surprise and happiness, the original tuners were in a box, in the case. And they were complete, even with the original mounting screws. The only thing missing was one washer that goes on the back of the tuners.
So, I sent the whole thing to John Kallas (johnk_10 on here). He refinished the body using the same materials and techniques that Fender was using in 1966. He completely stripped the body. He machined plugs out of the same kind of wood as the body (Alder) and filled the J pickup route and also the extra routing that was done under the pickguard to allow for the 3rd control pot. Then he sealed the whole body with Fullerplast before painting with this beautiful Shoreline Gold nitrocellulose lacquer. The finish work is incredible. Unfortunately (?), the nitro is very thin and there was no way to avoid, if you hold it up to just the right angle in the light, you can see a faint outline of the old J pickup route in the paint.
John also removed the added wiring and pot leaving all the original electronics intact and unmolested. He reliced a new washer to replace the one that was missing and reinstalled the original tuners. I can't even tell now which one is the replacement versus the 3 original ones. And he installed a new Fender parchment pickguard.
The thread with the restoration story is here:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/66-precision-restoration-project-744456/
So, it is all original EXCEPT the following:
body paint
pickguard
one washer on the back of one of the tuners
strap buttons (are now Dunlop Straploks)
piece of matched wood installed to fill where a J bridge pickup had been added
