Sad you had to part with the two CS Ps, glad you found something with a 50-year old history.View attachment 562432 And so....it has become mine.
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1966 Precision Bass
- Thread starter BearCave
- Start date
scott petito
Supporting Member
For what it's worth, a 1966 Fender Precision Bass was my very first bass guitar. Originally Candy Apple Red, with ash body and rosewood fretboard, it had been expertly refinished to a natural finish with red tort pickguard, by Del Langejans of Del's Guitar Gallery in Holland, Michigan.
I bought it for $300...in 1976. It was a real player - I could get almost any kind of sound on it, merely by changing strings, and/or adjusting settings and/or technique. I've never had another instrument quite like it.
Yes, I wish I still owned it.
MM
Michael...I got my 66 at Dels also. It was probably 91-92. Believe it or not I only paid a couple of hundred more than you did. Over the years I did pretty well there; a 65 CAR Jazz, for $1300, a 64 refin Jazz for $800, a 72 refin Jazz for $200. Good times!
I used the '66 at band rehearsal last night. WOW! The pickup is still very strong. I couldn't get over how "even" the tone and volume was no matter where I played on the neck. The bass is very light (8 lbs. 4oz.) and the strings just ring on and resonate for days on this thing. My CS Pino Palladino was my number one bass....I think the '66 has just surpassed it.
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You are probably an exception, but I do agree that all collectables have swings in their markets cause some by ecnomic conditions and others by political or social issues. Chinese antiques are hot now because China has had an expanding economy and many Chinese are trying to buy back items they feel should be in China. I really don't see musical instruments and cars as apples and oranges. My point is they are items whose value is supported by small (on a global scale) group that have a specific interest.
An antique table, for example, will have an appeal acroos a broad spectrum, cars have a smaller appeal because there are fewer people who are interested in them, and musical instument ahve even a smaller market place than the others. It is also a framented market. The person looking to by a stradivarius will likely have no interest in an 1951 original Percision. And my statement regarding the deminishing market is not really my own. Could I remember where I heard it, I would quote it.
Not intending to start an argument with you. You do have some very valid points and I would like for you to be right.
Congrats on the '66!
Ha! It's the only way I can get a good pic in that room without a lot of lighting glare, lol!
Thanks!
Thanks!
I have a '66. Yes, it's technically Fender post-CBS, but the word I got was they hadn't really changed their manufacturing technique yet (or their building materials).
Every instrument is different (and not ALL pre-CBS Fenders are great players), but I doubt that in general, there is much of a difference between pre-CBS and "just-after" post-CBS Fenders. I also think that sometimes the only thing that makes a pre-CBS Fender great is simply the fact that the wood is just OLD, has mellowed and dried out.
I also believe in that the spirit & energy of everybody who played that bass lives in the instrument. Which is why new instruments sound new...
I'd be curious to know the year when post-CBS Fender REALLY started going downhill in earnest.
Every instrument is different (and not ALL pre-CBS Fenders are great players), but I doubt that in general, there is much of a difference between pre-CBS and "just-after" post-CBS Fenders. I also think that sometimes the only thing that makes a pre-CBS Fender great is simply the fact that the wood is just OLD, has mellowed and dried out.
I also believe in that the spirit & energy of everybody who played that bass lives in the instrument. Which is why new instruments sound new...
I'd be curious to know the year when post-CBS Fender REALLY started going downhill in earnest.
1966 is one of my favorite years for P-Basses. It was one of Fenders biggest years for production in the 60's. ( Number of Basses made )
So much so, Fender produced very few 1967 basses. Because there were so many 1966 left over.
I played a 66-White-Tort-Guard-Maple Cap for years. Traded it for a 66-Jazz in a moment of weakness. ( Bad move on my part )
So much so, Fender produced very few 1967 basses. Because there were so many 1966 left over.
I played a 66-White-Tort-Guard-Maple Cap for years. Traded it for a 66-Jazz in a moment of weakness. ( Bad move on my part )
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,589
- 221,974
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
After owning/playing mine, I feel this way every time I play it.
That's kind of how I felt last night playing my '66 for the first time. I could only imagine the stories this bass could tell. It was an original owner bass....the guy that the music store bought it from, bought it new in 1966 and all of that wear and tear came from almost 50 years worth of it being his number one axe. I'd love to meet the guy and hear his stories of gigging that bass through the years.
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,589
- 221,974
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
Thanks JIO. BTW, I just read through your "Sleuthing a vintage P's history" thread. Very fascinating stuff, and your '66 is just absolutely gorgeous!
- Jun 30, 2010
- 49,589
- 221,974
- Disclosures
- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
As players we all love playing and the more you play the deeper you go into the world of personal expression through our instruments. Basses like these, players instruments, have been played by players for their entire life, and now you will continue to play it. Someday it will be passed to someone after you and hopefully it will continue to be played. In the larger world of classical instruments, our 40-50-60 year old basses are mere infants so I hate to hear when they are under glass as objects rather than being played.
There's no way to prove a bass like yours is anything more than just an old 'thing', a collection of old parts connected to old wood. A (deep) player can make any instrument sound amazing because it's the player that you hear over the instrument. But I bet if you talk to anyone in that position (for me a cat like Bobby Vega comes to mind) they will concede that playing an 'optimal' instrument (whatever that may be) allows them to voice their expression more directly, or even inspires their playing. So if this bass inspires your evolvement with music and through that helps make you a better player… needless to say it's worth every penny and be thankful you are at a place in your life to be able to afford such a (wonderful) luxury.
In closing, I don't mean to glorify this or any one year or brand of instrument - it's more knowing by playing a bass that it is 'that' bass or just another really nice instrument, of which there are many to be sure. There is a difference whether it can be proved or not.
Give the store your contact info, and ask them to put the original owner in touch with you.
I've been in contact with the store, but the only thing they've told me is that it was an original owner bass, however they are not sure if he is someone local. That's all the info they gave to me.
