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Did 1976 Fretless Ps come with thru-body stringing?

GretschWretch

GretschWretch

Supporting Member
Dec 27, 2013
12,449
25,120
East Central Alabama
#1
I ask because last year or maybe the year before I bought what was claimed to be one, which seller claimed he had used to record. Once I got the bass I knew either he was Superman or he was blowing smoke, because both the action and dead spots were miserable. The neck had that vintage patina which probably is what persuaded me to buy the bass, but the ski jump around "frets" 15 -17 and the overdress right at the nut make a comfortable set-up almost unobtainable. It's no biggie; I've already got a toasted Pacific Rim neck to replace the one that came with the bass.

The body is a 'burst with lots of genuine playwear, another big selling point for me, but once I removed the pickguard I discovered more than thirty tiny screwholes drilled into the body, which I also can live with. On Fourth of July gigs I can stick lighted sparklers in the screwholes.

But the body has thru-body stringing, and a very very recent search of Google Images shows no 76 P fretlesses with holes in the back of the body. So I'm just wondering if the whole auction was fraud, and what I've got is really just a parts bass. I'm not asking for sympathy and I'm not bitching and moaning; I just want to know what sort of critter I've got.
 
#8
PapaBearBass said:
I’m not an expert but I don’t think I’ve ever seen any Fenders from that era with thru-body stringing. My hunch is you have a Franken-bass. Independent of that, how does it sound?
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It's loaded with EMG Selects, which to me offers a deeper, more powerful sound than the standard Fender P pickups. The Fender neck has a skunk stripe with a maple 'board and a heel truss rod adjust. No stamps or other markings on the heel. Serial number (on headstock face) is 7649969.
 
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#9
MIMike said:
The original P-Basses had string thru up to the second edition of the model in 57, then they started it again in the mis-90’s (95-97, but I don’t recall exactly). Other than the Tele Bass in the late 60’s, there may have been a couple others, but no P’s in the 70’s.
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I will pop the aftermarket neck off tomorrow and see what the heel tells me. Like I said, I'm not bummed. The bass is 'burst with playwear and enough mischief already done to it that it will never be more than player grade. And it postal scales at just over 8.1 pounds.

I've got a '69 defretted P and a 1971, both of which look like they somehow survived the battle of Verdun, so I'm not concerned about not having a "real" Fender if this one turns out to be bogus.
 
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#10
I had a ‘70 factory fretless P for a while (poor quality pic below). I bought it at a pawn shop the same week I made a deal on the Martin and the ‘98 USA Jazz Active Deluxe (with string thru body BTW) pictured with it. It was my first fretless P, the other Fender was my first 5 string and the Martin was my first ABG. They have all moved on, but were all outstanding versions of their kind.

IMG_0161.jpeg
 
#11
MIMike said:
I had a ‘70 factory fretless P for a while (poor quality pic below). I bought it at a pawn shop the same week I made a deal on the Martin and the ‘98 USA Jazz Active Deluxe (with string thru body BTW) pictured with it. It was my first fretless P, the other Fender was my first 5 string and the Martin was my first ABG. They have all moved on, but were all outstanding versions of their kind.

View attachment 7231405
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Love the fretless, but that dark sunburst and thick cutaway horns make it looks like it weighs a ton.
 
#14
GretschWretch said:

Did 1976 Fretless Ps come with thru-body stringing?​

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To answer the question more specifically;
From 1957 - 1994, all Fender 4-saddle bridges were single-function / top-load, and were the bent-plate variety (except for hi-mass variations in the 80s).

It wasn't until the American Standard Series in '94 that they produced a dual function / string -through 4-saddle bridge.
 
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#16
#17
Wood and Wire said:
I'm no expert, but I would imagine a Roadworn would have a large route between the control cavity, and the pickup cavity - as well as a coin sized CNC hole, and probably stamped "Roadworn" hidden beneath the pickguard.
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Right you are, and both my 1969 and 1971 Ps have the smaller control route. Just adds to the mystery of what that body is.
 
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#19
Ric Vice said:
If I recall correctly the 1951-1955 Fender precisions had those string ferules to pass the body, once you hit the re-design in 1957 they were gone
It seems that drilling four holes all the way though the body would occasionally have unfortunate results.
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But the pickup route is for the split P, which pretty much disqualifies 1951 thru 1955. Both the neck heel and the neck pocket are devoid of any markings whatsoever, which is counter to Fender's practice. Maybe I've just got a mongrel body, with the old-style control route?
 
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