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1969 Fender P: realistic market value?

the art guy

the art guy

Jun 19, 2008
2,033
66
Iowa
www.aarontinder.com
#1
I know how to search here and elsewhere to see what asking prices are on basses (dealer prices and ebay aren't very helpful), but I wonder if anyone might have input on what this vintage P would ACTUALLY sell for on the open market (without me posting it for sale, because I'm not yet sure I want to do that).

Details: All parts are original except the pickguard and maybe a pot. It's been professionally refinished in Firemist Gold nitro. There was apparently some routing under the guard prior to the refin, but it was repaired so well you wouldn't notice it now. Original HSC, which isn't in very good condition. Thoughts on price? If anyone wants to provide input privately, feel free to PM also.

69P.jpg


69headstock.jpg
 
#4
What the hay, I'll take a SWAG at it....I'd guess around $1500. Would be worth a lot more original to most guys, but I like one in nice condition even if it's a refin....

My personal choice wouldn't have been that color, I'd have made it a burst unless that is the original color.
 
#9
Really nice looking bass there! I'll say $1000-$1200. $1500 would probably be tops of what I would pay for something like that, and only if it was too good to put down.

Just for comparisons sake, my 1973 Precision is all original minus the case, has some wear, and cost me $1700.
 
#11
$1,200-$1,500 seems about right. Look at it this way. The neck and tuners are probably worth somwhere around $500, the body is probably worth about $400, the remaining hardware and electronics about $200 and the non-original parts and refin about $300 parts and labor. Case, as is, $100.

Unfortunately, the bridge and PU covers seem to be missing; there's another $150-$250.

In any case, if this were an original '69 in tobaccoburst, it would probably be about $3,000-$3,200 or so. The refin cuts it in half (nice though it is) and the non-original parts knock off a few hundred. Either way, you end up in the $1,200-$1,500 ballpark. To actually get that would depend on having the right buyer at the right time.
 
#12
the art guy said:
I know how to search here and elsewhere to see what asking prices are on basses (dealer prices and ebay aren't very helpful)
Click to expand...


Not to be negative, but I find eBay to be very helpful. Completely different than gbase, if you look at closed auctions, that's how much somebody paid for the item.

Refinned late 60s Fenders are not sold every day, however.
 
#14
Whelp...Routed, non-original pickguard, that neck (at least the face of the headstock looks to be refinished too), the paint job, while nice isn't a correct refin either (no nitro in 69, would have been poly). I wouldn't go more than $1500, and that might be much. I'd want to see the neck finish, the neck heel, the rout under the pickguard, the bottoms of the pickups and the pots before I got near touching it.

The Precisions between 68-73 are all of the same features/quality. In good shape they seem to go between 1700-2500 depending on condition. Usually ones pre-70 get a slight premium for being '60s'...
 
#16
BurningSkies said:
Whelp...Routed, non-original pickguard, that neck (at least the face of the headstock looks to be refinished too, the paint job, while nice isn't a correct refin either (no nitro in 69, would have been poly). I wouldn't go more than $1500, and that might be much. I'd want to see the neck finish, the neck heel, the rout under the pickguard, the bottoms of the pickups and the pots before I got near touching it.

The Precisions between 68-73 are all of the same features/quality. In good shape they seem to go between 1700-2500 depending on condition. Usually ones pre-70 get a slight premium for being '60s'...
Click to expand...

Thanks - helpful input. And obviously if I were to sell it I'd provide evidence of all those things (though the neck stamp is correct and the neck isn't refinished, for what it's worth).
 
#17
the art guy said:
Thanks - helpful input. And obviously if I were to sell it I'd provide evidence of all those things (though the neck stamp is correct and the neck isn't refinished, for what it's worth).
Click to expand...

Really? With the headstock face so pale and those tuners so worn? The only part of the bass that would have been nitro was the face of the headstock (because of the decal), and I have a 73 that's got less wear and tear and it has some tanning/yellowing and light checking. It definitely sets of some warning bells in my mind.
 
#18
BurningSkies said:
Really? With the headstock face so pale and those tuners so worn? The only part of the bass that would have been nitro was the face of the headstock (because of the decal), and I have a 73 that's got less wear and tear and it has some tanning/yellowing and light checking. It definitely sets of some warning bells in my mind.
Click to expand...

It's a fair point - and I suppose it could have been refinned a long time ago, but honestly that photo is a little bleached out too. It looks darker in real life.
 
#19
BurningSkies said:
...............at least the face of the headstock looks to be refinished too)...............

can't bee 100% sure, but from the pic, the headstock's finish looks original to me. i can even see a chip in the poly.


the paint job, while nice isn't a correct refin either (no nitro in 69, would have been poly).................
Click to expand...

even though '67/'68 was technically the last year of nitro, i worked on a TB'ers '69 jazz bass and it was nitro, so anything could happen during the transition.

IMO, the OP's bass is easily worth $1500 if the neck finish,pickups and bridge are original. IMO, it's value also depends on how bad the previous routing was.
 
#20
johnk_10 said:
even though '67/'68 was technically the last year of nitro, i worked on a TB'ers '69 jazz bass and it was nitro, so anything could happen during the transition.

IMO, the OP's bass is easily worth $1500 if the neck finish,pickups and bridge are original. IMO, it's value also depends on how bad the previous routing was.
Click to expand...

Yes, but how many of the 68/69 Fenders you've held have been nitro? One out of... ;)
 

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