Hello, Just picked up an old p bass with a 12- 1952 body and a 12-1954 neck. The body is signed by Eddie, and the neck by Tadeo Gomez. The pots are mid 1952, and I am confident the pieces are original, and the bass is completely playable. On the neck on the lower left side of the heel and above the TG initial, there are two numbers stamped in light blue ink, they are 4 and 2. At first glance I thought it had to do with 1952 and 1954. But after reading that there had been some refits along the way, I thought I would ask if anyone had some insights on these numbers. There are no D marks on the body or the neck. It is a mystery. I would appreciate any thoughts on this.
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Blue numbers on an early p bass neck.
- Thread starter Rhuddy
- Start date
They are very small, and you need to zoom in on them. But, they are there! They are on the left hand side of the heel, just under the red line at mid-point. There are some other examples in Detlef's book.
My first question would be; why is there red paint transferred on the neck when the body is blonde?
This is the only sign of red paint on the bass. I do believe it was refinished at some point, but it was a solid job returned back to the original color. In my research, I have found no examples of a red bass being produced during the 51-54 period. Is that something from the factory? Who knows! Are the blue numbers tied to the fact that it is a split year bass? Was that an undercoating of some sort? All kinds of questions with no solid answers beyond the fact that it is a '52 body with a '54 neck. As they were moving to the second generation, maybe they were throwing all of the leftover parts into the mix and selling them as new to make room for the newer style basses or to fulfill orders. Maybe the blue numbers have some significance there.
That is the 42. I am wondering if there any others out there that might have gone unnoticed. And if so, what are they for? Is it the year of the pieces involved, or is it circumstantial?
