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54 Precision Attic Find
- Thread starter Tim Rinkerman
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- precision bass
I traded my then new 70 right handed Precision to a friend for this 68 lefty...I then proceeded to strip, refinish, cut,modify,defret...and pretty much disrespect it till one day the cats knocked it over and broke the headstock off. It had been refinished 4 times, had the back cut open to fit a control cavity cover on the back..( I had glued on a walnut pick guard..)the pickguard was removed in another attempt to make it worse, and got shelved again..so picture a p-bass body with a "handle hole" where the pots and jack go..very weak. The lower bout broke into 3 pieces through neglect, and the body and its 3 pieces were filed away in the "someday" department..fast forward 30 years..I had seen the body from time to time, but I thought I had lost the 3 broken pieces till one day in the bottom of a forgotten storage bin, I found them. Determined to make it whole again, I glued the pieces back together to see how much was usable. I then machined off a section of the back to include the control area, and fit a new piece of alder to solidify the lower bout again. If you look close you can see the seam in the back view..as much as anything, I wanted to try doing a sunburst finish...this is the result...a little heavy on the black, but came out pretty nice. Thank you, Stewart Mac for the finishing supplies!
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You are doing this bass justice. Subscribed, to see the end result.
You are doing this bass justice. Subscribed, to see the end result.
That '68 Precision pickup could probably fetch enough to largely fund this rehab.
If you know anybody who wants it, or would trade it for an authentic pick up for the 54, PM me..otherwise, its going in my 68 Precision!
Restoring faith in humanity one coat of lacquer at a time 
Ha! Well, it's easy to find someone with a '68 when you're a guy with a '68...
That's kismet right there!
Wonderful! Subbed.
This is obviously not the place for a merit discussion on pickups, but it's good to know that there are a few builders out there focusing on accurate reproductions of period pickups. I have a feeling I know what will end up going into that.
This is obviously not the place for a merit discussion on pickups, but it's good to know that there are a few builders out there focusing on accurate reproductions of period pickups. I have a feeling I know what will end up going into that.
I’ll be shouted down but I think an opaque colour would be best so as to cover up the non matching grain of the repair. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen pictures of opaque custom colour p basses from that era for namm shows etc. In the usual auto colours.
I’ve seen people asking $500+ for split coil pickups from the 60’s so they are valuable. As to finding a genuine single coil from the 50’s , that’s going to be a tall and expensive order I think.
I’ve seen people asking $500+ for split coil pickups from the 60’s so they are valuable. As to finding a genuine single coil from the 50’s , that’s going to be a tall and expensive order I think.
I am so sub'd. I have a pal who played electric guitar in the 60's and owned a lot of gear. He insists the common wisdom at that time was that Fender instruments were not high quality at all and were not respected. If so, it may not be surprising that someone tore open your bass to shove a dual coil precision pickup in it. My pal would say, what did it matter, it was only a Fender.
You got me wondering....
If Fender was considered kinda sub par in the 60's.....What basses were considered to be the creme de la creme?...
