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1959 Precision Bass' guts replacement

drums1977

drums1977

Mar 31, 2008
739
719
Malaga
#1
Hi mates,

I am the happy -and may I say proud- owner of a late 1959 Precision bass, one of the first P Basses "as we know it", meaning RW fingerboard, SB finish and tort. And it is 100% original down to the solder joints (and rarest period correct case). It also happens to be the best PBass I've played. My problem here is that I only dare to play it at home and not very often, because I am always aware of the risk of the electronic parts failing at some point, mainly pots or jack connector. The PUs are strong and even and everything works beautifully now.

SO, I have decided I would like to play it more often, and for that I have planned to replace all the guts, and put the originals somewhere safe. I thought of leaving the old PUs there, but then I realised I would have to ondo the PU solder joints, and I prefer not to. I am thinking Fralins for the PUs, since my US 44-64 has those and they nail the classic tone. I will get a couple of CTS 250 pots and a standard jack connector. My two main questions are:

1- What capacitor is more appropiate (I have read an orange 0.1 mF one would be the right replacement), and who sells those?

2- the black PU plastic "boxes" (excuse my English, but I don't know the real name of that part, but you know what I mean). As expected, the PG has shrank around it and its quite tight. Would you leave the original ones there and just replace the PU itself??

Maybe there is a PBass harness (whithout the PUs) I can by with all the parts and cloth wire already there, do you know a good store for that? I would appreciate anyone experience having done this before.

Thanks a lot for your help.
 
#3
I went "Wow", when you described your "rare" 100% original 59 P bass that you say sounds great. Then my heart sank when you said you wanted to throw that all away because some part of it might fail at some time.

I'd say please don't do this, because you're proposing to devalue (some might say ruin) your bass. With all new guts you'll have no guarantee that the sound of the "new" bass will be anything like as good as the old one.

This bass could play perfectly for the next 40 years, so if you really want an insurance policy take a backup bass.
 
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#5
No reason to believe anything will fail, and if it does, replace or repair any parts sympathetically to the original condition (e.g. replace pot innards instead of entire assembly, etc. )

Don't screw up that bass, and don't break any solder joints needlessly.

Your bass is probably worth over 10k andmolesting it to 'protect it' will easily knock off a chunk ov value for no real gain.
 
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#6
You know what? You are so bloody right. I just checked with the under-the-PG photos I have from when I bought the bass and I remembered it wrong. Back then the PU cavity and the control cavity were independent, meaning the PU cables and the ground cable would have to be unsoldered, and I won't do that. So I will still use it, as I do, only for light home playing and some recordings. I will keep using my US Lakkie for everything else, which by the way is every bit as good as the 59, except for the worn-off feel of the back of the 59 neck and the killer looks of the reliced SB. Thanks for opening my eyes!!
 
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#7
drums1977 said:
You know what? You are so bloody right. I just checked with the under-the-PG photos I have from when I bought the bass and I remembered it wrong. Back then the PU cavity and the control cavity were independent, meaning the PU cables and the ground cable would have to be unsoldered, and I won't do that. So I will still use it, as I do, only for light home playing and some recordings. I will keep using my US Lakkie for everything else, which by the way is every bit as good as the 59, except for the worn-off feel of the back of the 59 neck and the killer looks of the reliced SB. Thanks for opening my eyes!!
Click to expand...

My pleasure! Good choice.

I'd love to see some pictures of your '59, they and the late '58s are the holy grail vintage Ps as far as I'm concerned.
 
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#8
Please explain why you think that the electronics will suddenly fail on you mid gig. Pickups are just magnets wrapped in wire, no moving parts, pots and jacks can get scratchy but don't just quit working. I think you are way too worried about what might happen, just take a backup and you will be fine.
 
#9
Here She is. As I said, it is a late 59 (October according to the pencil date in the PU cavity), so one of the first RW fingerboard and tort as far as I know. Thanks again for the help.
$_57.JPG
 
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#10
Hopkins said:
Please explain why you think that the electronics will suddenly fail on you mid gig. Pickups are just magnets wrapped in wire, no moving parts, pots and jacks can get scratchy but don't just quit working. I think you are way too worried about what might happen, just take a backup and you will be fine.
Click to expand...

To be honest, my main concern is the Jack connector. I've had several old basses where everything is fine except the jack connector, that like you say were a bit scratchy. That part suffers a lot from everyday use. The one on this bass is perfect, no funny noises, etc, and I would be gutted if it started failing and I had to replace it.
 
#11
drums1977 said:
To be honest, my main concern is the Jack connector. I've had several old basses where everything is fine except the jack connector, that like you say were a bit scratchy. That part suffers a lot from everyday use. The one on this bass is perfect, no funny noises, etc, and I would be gutted if it started failing and I had to replace it.
Click to expand...

So you are more worried about wear and tear, not reliability. Fair enough, that's why you don't see many people driving their 70 Challenger as a daily driver.
 
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#12
Exactly, I know the bass is a tank and sounds insane. It will not let me down. My concern is losing a chunk of potential vintage value for something as "silly" as a broken jack connector. This bass is probably the only "valuable" thing my daughter will get from me!
 
#13
You can squirt some contact cleaner on the plug of your cord
and plug and unplug a few times to clean the part of the jack that makes contact.
That way, you don't have to disassemble anything and it cleans up any corrossion that may be be present.

Anything beyond that comes under the heading of
'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'.
 
#14
drums1977 said:
Hi mates,

I am the happy -and may I say proud- owner of a late 1959 Precision bass, one of the first P Basses "as we know it", meaning RW fingerboard, SB finish and tort. And it is 100% original down to the solder joints (and rarest period correct case). It also happens to be the best PBass I've played. My problem here is that I only dare to play it at home and not very often, because I am always aware of the risk of the electronic parts failing at some point, mainly pots or jack connector. The PUs are strong and even and everything works beautifully now.

SO, I have decided I would like to play it more often, and for that I have planned to replace all the guts, and put the originals somewhere safe. I thought of leaving the old PUs there, but then I realised I would have to ondo the PU solder joints, and I prefer not to. I am thinking Fralins for the PUs, since my US 44-64 has those and they nail the classic tone. I will get a couple of CTS 250 pots and a standard jack connector. My two main questions are:

1- What capacitor is more appropiate (I have read an orange 0.1 mF one would be the right replacement), and who sells those?

2- the black PU plastic "boxes" (excuse my English, but I don't know the real name of that part, but you know what I mean). As expected, the PG has shrank around it and its quite tight. Would you leave the original ones there and just replace the PU itself??

Maybe there is a PBass harness (whithout the PUs) I can by with all the parts and cloth wire already there, do you know a good store for that? I would appreciate anyone experience having done this before.

Thanks a lot for your help.
Click to expand...

Hello. Since you already got the correct advice about hacking this rare bass guitar (don't do it!), may I say only that I am more impressed that you are into Neu! than I am with your acquisition of that fine instrument. But congratulations on the old Precision. It is quite a thing. :D
 
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#19
What good is having a great bass if you don't play it? That bass didn't get to be in the condition it is in because nobody played it. In fact I'm always a little suspicious of older "mint" basses. They're mint because they didn't get played. They didn't get played because they didn't sound good or play well.
 
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#20
Some basses end up in perfect condition because they were brought by a guy who wanted a hobby and who then moved on to another interest and just didn't get around to selling it.

It doesn't follow at all that these basses didn't get played because they sound bad.
 
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