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Fender pre-CBS Club: pics mandatory!
- Thread starter Mastermold
- Start date
That is a very very very beautiful JB ! Congrats
The guitar broker has some really inflated prices IMO.
Some I can see but those pre-CBS fenders are priced really high.
Some I can see but those pre-CBS fenders are priced really high.
definitely a "premium" price - it's more what I'd expect an original (non-cracked) '60 Jazz to be offered for.
My '60 J-Bass has that off the E tuner. If properly addressed, it's not an issue, however, it should make the bass "more affordable"
Yeah asking too much for that one unless the collector market has jumped substantially since I last checked. If it was a custom color I would still say they are asking too much.
Probably the same you'd sell your Jazz for.
Id price it at $17k high - $14k low.
It's a wonderful piece, so much like yours.
The tuner crack wouldn’t worry me - if repaired properly it should be stable. My 1962 Blond Jazz has it as well. Not an issue functionally. You see them quite a lot for those years as the headstocks were very thin.
I've always wondered what is the "proper" way to repair the dreaded e-tuner crack? Is there some type of glue that you wick down into the crack? I have a beautiful 1968 Telecaster bass with the e-tuner crack, much smaller / less noticeable than the the 1960 P in question. I was always told to leave it alone. I do remember a guy who used to repair them and make them 100% invisible, but when I reached out to him he said he didn't do that anymore because he thought it was unethical... I am not sure I agree with him. As I recall he was amazing at refinishing just a small area that blended seamlessly. The e-tuner crack does worry me.... mostly about resale value.
I bought a 1963 P about 2 years ago for about $8500. I bought a 1954 P (in amazing condition, one owner, blonde, contoured, original case and bill of sale from 1955) - the starting price was 24K we settled on 15K. I think a 1960 P (w/o e-tuner crack) is somewhere around 12K - 17K.
In all my nearly 4 decades playing Fender basses, from vintage to new, I've never experienced a tuner crack. I've seen many examples but never had one of my own.
I've owned about a dozen pre-cbs basses, none had the e-tuner crack. But, my 1968 Telecaster bass has a tiny one... it's still one of my favorites and it records better than almost anything.
My ‘61 P-bass has had one since I acquired it late ‘90’s. AFAIK it may have already been there for 30 years then. It never goes anywhere or affects anything at all.
Haven’t posted a photo recently so here’s one from Saturday:
I guess I would call this a public service announcement. I was in Nashville this past week and stopped by Gruhn’s while I was there and they had a 1959 Precision that was really good, great feeling wide/flat neck. If you’re in the market for something like this you should check it out. I didn’t plug it in but it felt really nice in my hands and seemed well played so I’m betting it sounds great too. There’s better photos on their website but I snapped one with my phone:
That’s the refin & relic’d Eagles bass? They’ve had that for awhile.
Did you stop into other shops, and if so did you see or try any other vintage P basses… maybe ones not listed online?
So, yes, apparently this was Timothy B. Schmit's bass. I didn't realize it at the time (the hang tag didn't say) but it's described on the website:
Fender Precision Bass 1959 | Gruhn Guitars
Didn't see any other pre-CBS P-basses at Gruhn or at Carter's (also went there), but both has some nice 70's Precisions and there was a Harmony at Carter's that I liked a lot. FYI the two Jazz basses you see next to the '59 in my photo are Custom Shop Relics, Gruhn had lots of Custom Shop basses including some really nice '51 reissues that were really well done.
