For Trade 1968 Fender Telecaster Bass — certainly one of a kind! Trades? Video added

Let me start by saying: I absolutely love this bass, and I'm hardly expecting anything to come of posting it here because I'll be picky, but I wouldn't mind trading it (+ cash if needed) for another vintage P or J bass, Mustang Bass, or possibly a Hofner 500/1, Gibson EB-2D, or something else. Open to guitars too. Vintage only please! Shoot your shot before I decide to keep it forever and ever and be buried with it in a viking funeral!

Mint condition, completely all original '68 Tele Bass! Just kidding. Notice anything a little unusual? At some point in its past, the original pickup must have failed, and someone routed it for a really interesting humbucker setup — it's actually two Fralin hum-canceling '51 P Bass pickups under the Gibson EB pickup cover. The 3-way switch on the control panel chooses between either one individually or together in parallel. What's that? You wish you could put the pickups together in series for a high output humbucker? YOU CAN! Lift up the push/pull volume knob and it immediately switches to both pickups in series, no matter what the 3-way switch is set to. Then to get even weirder/more versatile, if you lift the tone knob, it turns the volume knob into a second tone control, with slightly different frequencies than the actual tone knob. Two tone controls. You can use them together to reaaaaaally tailor your tone for just the right thump-to-growl ratio. I've never seen anything else like it. Custom machined aluminum pickup surround ring, which weighs almost nothing. And the Fralin pickups sound absolutely huge and have a really pleasing top end, all with none of the hum of the original. You can get the single coil sweet spot sound, a little thumpier in the neck position (barely different, but you can tell), funky hi-fi in parallel, or pull up on the knob and get a big growly humbucker boost.

Big fat neck, TI Jazz Flats, balanced and not heavy at all original finish everywhere. Replacement bridge (I just put brass saddles on it that add a little presence to my ears; the original chrome ones you see in some pics are included). Original tuners/frets/everything on the neck. I have a white pickguard that came with it and was cut to fit the humbucker/control plate situation; no idea if it's the original pickguard or not. I don't think it is. (It isn’t.) Looks great, but I prefer the Dusty Hill no pickguard look on this baby. Those tan lines are hottttttt.

I love funky weird vintage stuff like this. So much character. If you have something else in the vintage world that's vibey and you like the cut of this Tele Bass's jib, shoot me a PM. Not for sale, just seeing what else is out there. You never know. Other players grade 60s Fenders could definitely do the trick, but try me with whatever vintage stuff ya got before I come to my senses and keep this badass slab of tone meat forever!




The three amigos.

 

Me too, bud. Me too.

 

Aha! That’s what was throwing me off about it!

 

My favorite of the bunch. So glad I grabbed it from you way back when!

 

USDA certified thump steak.

 

Once you get your first bite of slabby joe, and that tangy tone sauce gets all over your face… you start craving it every day. More slabby joes, more slabby joes… insatiable.

 

I’m sure it rocks! I’ve had EB-0s before and found I just really need a bridge pickup with them personally. Appreciate the offer!

 

Thanks for the kind words! Really hard to say, there's nothing else like it. I will say that the better trade offers I've gotten (Fender Custom Shop, et al) have been in the $3500 range. Some awesome stuff, but I'm looking to keep it vintage!

 

Last bump! Gotten some real cool offers, but I think this is probably a keeper