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'71 Fender Precision questions: is it a real deal?

T

Taz_60

Jan 25, 2009
21
0
Paris, France
#1
Hello everyone.

Look at this:

4945772610_8d3af6a534_z.png

Invalid Link Removed par Taz_60

Do you think this is an original 1971 Fender Precision body (it's refinished in natural)? I'm asking because I thought this kind of routing appeared later in the fender production...

Also: The pickup is a "gray bottom" one, stamped "8511". Does it seem original?

FYI: I'm planning to buy it... Original 71neck, custom order (at the time) slab rosewood board... 1300 euros in France (1650$!).

The seller seems to be honest, but he is not the original owner (he bought it in this condition twenty years ago).

Thanks!
 
#3
That body rout is late 73 or later. Bridge looks wrong and volume pot looks wrong. I can't read the codes but the insulator looks like the newer yellow plastic while the tone pot looks like then brownish fiberboard insulator. Cap looks correct and pickup code is correct for 71. Could use some better pics though.
 
#14
Immediately upon laying eyes on this slab, I noticed a blatant throw-off: there is no truss rod routing cavity in the body. Correct me if I'm wrong, but many '71 models have truss rod adjusters at the bottom of the neck. The ones that didn't were some of the the fretless models, which had no visible truss rod cavity (maybe even no TR?). Fender didn't introduce TR holes in the headstock until late '80s-early '90s (I have an '86 with it at the bottom and a '92 with it at the HS). And if you look closely at the neck, you can notice the truss rod visible, halfway covered by the pocket, which means the neck may be authentic, but the body is probably a replacement.
In addition, the routing looks a little modern, and don't get me started on how new and shiny the bridge and pots are. That wiring is not 1971 technology, IMO, and the wood is in pristine condition. I'd say it's a scam.
I am not an expert, so you might wanna do some research on this, but that's what I think.
 
#16
No! that is not a 71 body.

The big wiring rout channel that goes between the pickup and control cavities didn't happen until late 73.

71 would be solid wood of course, with a small hole drilled under the surface between the two cavities like what you see on fu22ba55's picture.
 
#18
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#19
trayner1 said:
Immediately upon laying eyes on this slab, I noticed a blatant throw-off: there is no truss rod routing cavity in the body. Correct me if I'm wrong, but many '71 models have truss rod adjusters at the bottom of the neck. The ones that didn't were some of the the fretless models, which had no visible truss rod cavity (maybe even no TR?). Fender didn't introduce TR holes in the headstock until late '80s-early '90s (I have an '86 with it at the bottom and a '92 with it at the HS). And if you look closely at the neck, you can notice the truss rod visible, halfway covered by the pocket, which means the neck may be authentic, but the body is probably a replacement.
Click to expand...

wrong. the bodies had no truss rod routing at the neck adjustment area and all fretless necks had a truss rod.

trayner1 said:
............. IMO, and the wood is in pristine condition. I'd say it's a scam.
Click to expand...

the body has been stripped and refinished (poorly) and it appears to be an original '73 body.

but since the seller is claiming it's a '71 and the neck looks dubious, i'd stay away from the bass. BTW, the pickguard is also NOT original, since fender never had that shape for the shielding tape in the control area.
 
#20
trayner1 said:
Immediately upon laying eyes on this slab, I noticed a blatant throw-off: there is no truss rod routing cavity in the body. Correct me if I'm wrong, but many '71 models have truss rod adjusters at the bottom of the neck.
Click to expand...

There are plenty of things wrong with the bass that make it too sketchy to be a legit '71, but like JohnK says, no truss rod route is not one of the things.

My '71 has no truss rod route, and my TR adjustment screw is at the heel. Maybe that's why I never do neck adjustments on my '71.
 

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