Another '51 P-bass unearthed!

[jamro217]

YAY!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Jim Carr]

Weight?


Just kidding....
What a great find! Congratulations and thank you for sharing it with us.

 

[57pbass]

What you need to do now is route out the body and install a nice Nordy dual coil in that bass. LOL

 

[humbucker79]

Magnificent. Now you just have to change the pickup, the bridge, the tuners and the frets to make it playable.

Normally I would be the first person to change whatever on an instrument to make it more playable. I've even modded the heck out of my 1979 Ric, and added a J pickup to my first P-bass. This one however, will stay the way it is with the worn frets and all. It intonates great and plays better than I would have expected. You gotta like big necks though, it's a monster.

 

[humbucker79]

Fantastic. Would love to hear how it sounds (hint hint)!

I will upload a sound clip when I can spend some time with logic, I'm a rube when it comes to recording.

 

[humbucker79]

What you need to do now is route out the body and install a nice Nordy dual coil in that bass. LOL

I was thinking of adding one of these too:

 

[Obese Chess]

Unbelievable find. Congratulations!

 

[humbucker79]

I’m jealous. That stuff never happens to me. Enjoy your special find in good health.

I do have the advantage of working in a well known vintage instrument shop, but it's still insanely lucky. In my 17 years working there and restoring hundreds of old Fenders, I've never even seen a real slab P-bass come through.

 

[humbucker79]

Amazing, congrats, and thank you for sharing! I'm curious how the back of the neck looks and feels.

There is a picture of the back of the neck at the bottom of the gallery I posted. It feels great, very large but comfy carve. A really deep C shape, rather than a U or D in my opinion

 

[DaDo625]

I do have the advantage of working in a well known vintage instrument shop, but it's still insanely lucky. In my 17 years working there and restoring hundreds of old Fenders, I've never even seen a real slab P-bass come through.

What's that line? "Sit by the river long enough...."

We are all happy for your fortune...and glad that this amazing bass is in good hands...
And will soon be doing what it was made to do.

 

[57pbass]

I was thinking of adding one of these too:
View attachment 3840967

Not unless it has whammy bar...

 

[punchdrunk]

That belongs in the Smithsonian. Period.

 

[klejst]

.........

 

[humbucker79]

Here is a picture of Joel, the previous owner of this bass. If you look carefully, the G tuner portion of the peghead is visible under his elbow. Picture is a flyer from 1966.

This is the only photo his daughter could find of him with the bass.

 

[stringthrough]

Belongs in a museum

 

[Pet Sounds]

Congratulations on scoring such a remarkable instrument! And with the original chrome covers!

 

[Vinny_G]

That belongs in the Smithsonian. Period.

Belongs in a museum

 

[james condino]

17 Years of working with Frank Ford! 1000 times more priceless than an old bass....

 

[humbucker79]

17 Years of working with Frank Ford! 1000 times more priceless than an old bass....

You said it James! Frank continues to inspire and amaze me on an almost daily basis. Sometimes I forget how lucky I have been.

 

[humbucker79]

View attachment 3841051

But then no one could hear it.