1977 fretless precision

[vic_6]

hey, i have a chance at this vintage fretless p. the guy is selling it for around $535. the thing is, it's been refinished and the finger board has been replaced. but man, does it look and sound beautiful! it's p/up has been replaced by a dimarzio split coil that's cream colored. i dunno what model though.

i dont exactly have that much money right now and well, i dont think i'd pay that much. so i offered him my ibanez AEB10 acoustic bass, my yamaha BN4F with j p/ups plus $90 and my ibanez PD-7.

i really like it and i'll probably push thru with the trade since i dont exactly use those basses and effect. i just wanted to see what you guys thought. cuz i think it is quite steep a price especially since the fingerboard has been replaced.

anyway, thanks in advance.

vic

 

[AGCurry]

Well, I'd say a replacement fingerboard is better than one that's in bad shape. If you've played it and liked it, that's really what matters, isn't it? It's not a great price, but it's not a bad price either.

 

[iriegnome]

THe money price is not to bad. I think I paid $550 for my 78' refinished P fretless. Crappy refin and a couple of hacks on the neck. But a Fretless Maple board P is not easy to come by. Offering him all of your other basses is kind of overboard. Maybe one or at the most 2. You would be better off selling a couple of them on E-bay or here on TB to raise some money

 

[vic_6]

agcurry: yeah. that's true. just thinking about the possibility of resale value fluctuating. but the new board is actually pretty darn nice.

iriegnome: oh, it's not maple. im a rosewood kinda guy. the restoration job is actually fantastic! oh, and if you didnt notice, im not from the US. i just placed the amount in dollars so you guys dont have to do any computations. oh, and im not offering all my basses for it. i still have 4 others. those were just the basses i dont use.

 

[JPJ]

If you like the bass for it's playability and tone, then go for it. It' not like you're breaking the bank at that price. You could probably get a used or Made in Korea bass that would sound and play just as well or better at that price, but then you wouldn't have an old P-bass...you'd have a new bass made overseas.

If you're thinking that you're getting a great deal on a "vintage" bass, then I would reconsider the purchase. The fretless P-bass was one of the biggest blunders that Fender ever made. Going with a maple board on a fretless was the first ill-advised choice they made, and chosing the P-bass model to go fretless with over the Jazz was the other critical mistake. Of course, the quality of Fender basses varied greatly in the '70, and all of these criteria help to contribute to the relative unpopular status of these basses...there just isn't much interest in the fretless P-bass...especially from vintage collectors, etc.

Nevertheless, if you like it, if it plays and sound good, and it you get some enjoyment out of it, then it might be worth picking up.