Remind me never to loan you a guitar
Yeah like that would ever happen.
Or like I would ever lay a guitar on my driveway.
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1955 Fender Precision Bass
- Thread starter Clark W
- Start date
Yeah like that would ever happen.
Or like I would ever lay a guitar on my driveway.
I was a little worried about not having the original bridge with that vintage bass, not being original and all. Wondering why anyone would tear up a vintage piece like that :Ol
Then I looked over in the corner and saw this...
YupIn this thread on the first page go down to post #7 and you'll see a 1958 P bass with that weird bridge on it. Clark posted his older thread with the '64 in it because his had the same bridge on his '64 when he first bought it, I know nothing about that bass and I'm totally confused now!
Adding J pickups to P basses was fairly common during the 70's. Most ideas Fender gets are from us modding their basses.
1955 Fender Precision Bass
Sorry to keep posting it. Every time I say I'm not going to post it again, the subject matter seems to cry out for it!
Sorry to keep posting it. Every time I say I'm not going to post it again, the subject matter seems to cry out for it!
I've posted my SVT's about 50 times, your bass and my amps are always crowd pleasers
.
Reference?
I myself have never seen bridge like that from the Fender factory.
1955 Fender Precision Bass
Yes, I was talking about the '58. It seems it's an aftermarket bridge, a Dimarzio.
Then again if someone can afford a $25,000 bass they can probably afford $149 for shipping as well.
True, but...
1) If I'm spending 25 grand I'd expect something for my business. How many of us have spent a grand on a bass and tried to get at least a soft bag for free to go with it?
2) I would hope whoever paid for shipping would spend more than $149 to ship a $25,000 bass. Last time I shipped an instrument, several years ago, UPS charged $2 for every $100 in insurance. Just based on that rate the insurance to cover it would cost $500 before any actual shipping costs were added to the bill.
1) I've never spent that much on anything other than a vehicle so I don't know how it works for smaller items like this. I wouldn't really expect anything extra other than what I paid for. It kind of seems like a reverse tip...but that's just Herrick.
2) I was wondering how much the insurance cost the seller. Damn $500??? Makes sense though. And I'm sure that was worked into the sale price.
No common carrier will insure a musical instrument for $25K. When shipping something of this value, alternatives must be used and they are not inexpensive.
If I were spending $25K - or even 1/5 of that amount - I would be bringing the item in question back home myself.
Actually UPS will do it, up to $50,000 on any individual package, and up to $100,000 on a pallet. And up to $70,000 on certain domestic items in a single package for those who need more than 50 grand in insurance. Subject to terms and conditions of course. They are definitely going to want certain packing criteria to be met. They did for me when I shipped a 30+ year old 12 string. Matter of fact they packed it right there at a UPS location for me, for a fee of course. The buyer said it arrived without so much as a scuff on the box.
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I'd be curious to see the fine print. FedEx won't insure a vintage instrument for more than a grand and USPS maxes out at $2.5K I believe.
Regardless, with this type of (highly theoretical) investment, I'd have to have my eye on it while it travels.
Well in my instance, it was a matter of misspent youth. The saddles on my 1958, would shift and loosen, especially with Labella and Fender Flat Wounds that were
the most common strings when I originally bought the bass. When the Badass Bridge came around I had my dad install one but it looked awful. So my only option was to have the area under the bridge filled and repaired. I added the Dimarzio several years later.
At 25 grand, it would be in a case and then bubble wrapped until it was big enough to fill up a casket, and then strapped down inside an SUV with the rear seats removed and me driving. And I would have escorts front and rear of me just like a wide load going down the highway
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I screwed up the dates in two places in my post. I thought ‘55 was the first year of contoured body as the one in this thread clearly has by appearance and description. I didn’t know any ‘54s had contours. The slabs aren’t comfortable to me. I had a ‘73 Tele bass for a while that was a slab body. Not for me.
As for the coloration, I have to agree light blond / natural finishes usually get darker with age, at least light spruce tops on acoustic guitars get darker. Seems darker colors tend to get lighter, such as burgundy mist turning to a weird pastel orchid looking color.
The earliest Fender P-bass I’ve ever seen or touched was serial number 0402 (or possibly 0204, it was 20 something years ago) at Fly By Night music in Neosho, MO. Dave Crocker owned the store, the bass, and dozens of different models of pre ‘65 Fender instruments. Dave thought the bass was possibly a late ‘51, but more likely a ‘52. The bass Dave had was blond with a black pickguard. It wasn’t nearly as pristine as the ‘55 in this thread. It did not have the bridge or pickup covers on the bass and it was lighter colored where both covers made contact with the body, but the ‘55 in this tread is still light where the covers touched the finish, so that contact must protect the finish from contaminates.
