Could a fender expert take a look at this auction for me?

it's $750, something must be horribly wrong

 

Wouldn't a bass of that year have the 3-screw neck pocket, rather than 4?

 

HI

No. Precisions never went to the 3 bolt micro tilt. Always 4 bolt. Look ok to me. Would have to get my hands on it but the logo seems period correct from the pics supplied.

Rob

 

Only on the jazz bass, not a precision.

 

Uh no not necessarily. It starts at $750 and has a reserve.

 

Looks legit, just has a Seymour Duncan pickup.

 

Nope. 4 screws. I'd be interested in seeing a pic of the body with the PG and bridge removed.

 

my mistake , i glanced and immediately thought it was the BUY IT NOW price.

 

That would rule if it was

 

It would be gone if it was.

 

Well, no Precisions had a three bolt neck. Only the Jazzes and Teles. But, that doesn't appear to be the original finish. Too dull, or matte. Plus if the original pickguard was indeed tortoise, then this bass was originally Sunburst or White. No Naturals that I'm aware of came with Tort guards new. It also looks like alder, as opposed to the bolder ash grain used on most if not all Naturals. Just my 2 cents. Pics of the pickup and control routes along with the neck pocket would be mandatory for me. If it is a refin, that plus the pickup issue would keep me from spending $1800 for sure. Maybe half that.

 

It doesn't look right. I had a 75 Fender P for a long time. In fact, it was my first bass. The headstock doesn't look quite right, neither does the body. The little truss rod insert should be brown, not really pale like it looks in the pictures. Here's my old one for comparison.

 

Concure: That's a bass that has been stripped, which was VERY common back then... And while it hurts the collectible value, the SD pickup is likely an improvement over the original anyway...

To buy this bass for more than $500, I'd have to see the neck stamp, the body stamp and the pots.

OH - And nice catch by EagleMoon on the truss cover... Remember, there were a TON of fake Fender's being made in the '70s...

 

Looks like the back of the body was sanded-finish is way too even

 

Here are a few shots for reference of my 100% original 1974 P. +1 on the body being stripped. My neck doesn't have the skunk stripe either. It isn't worth $1800 without original case, PU and neither cover. $1200 MAX IMO. Likely less than $1000 without seeing the puts/neck pocket, etc.

 

I have a natural finish 1974 Pbass I bought new in 1974.
I think the bass in question is a refin for the following reasons:
* Gloss looks wrong; dull and doesn't look like factory applied polyurethane
* While the grain patterns were not book matched, I've never seen one that is THAT bad; grain pattern is all over the place; most were 3 piece body but there were some 2 piece units out there
* A natural finish bass from this year came with a white pickgaurd and not the tort gaurd as claimed
* What's with those stripes on the headstock; looks like a possible attempt at making the bass look older by spraying some tinting lacquer over the orginal finish

BTW, I have 2 70's P basses and 2 70's J basses and none of them have any kind of striping there and all have a much more even gloss level no matter how beat up they are; it does look a lot like my 60 P that is an obvious refinish (natural wasn't offered then)

Wouldn't touch this one with a barge pole without confirmation of neck stamp, date code on pots, and at least a photo of the neck slot and area under the pickgaurd

 

Alder was not used as a natural finish, even Fender knew that and used ash as natural. That one has an alder body, and no way do I believe it's the original finish.

 

I'm not an expert, but I have to concur that there is a refin. Something about that bass makes my tail tingle, in a bad way. I think it's the smooth back and weird three piece body, I wouldn't put it past fender, but it looks off. I think also the body pix with the splash/stain behind the pickup is a weird thing to not wash off before photos so is that in the finish?

If' it's an original body it wasn't meant to be natural.