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FENDER PRECISION 1978 pickups: HELP!!

Global Citizen

Global Citizen

May 6, 2010
288
131
CANADA
#1
Hello world,
I have two pickups on my fender precision 1978 and I need to check if they are from the same year (or what year they are). Serial numbers on the back of them read: 125659 and 191289... does that mean that they're not from the same year? Any info would be much appreciated.


:help:
 
#6
Those don't even look like 70's era stamp numbers to me.

Your pickups should be gray colored on the bottom with dark ink stampings, and the last two digits would indicate the year the pickup was made.
Probably replacement pickups.
 
#7
That's the bottom of my 78 P PU.

3129536176_aeb81b1f35_b.jpg


Serial nº is almost vanished by the foam gunk.

But this is how a late 70s Fender should look like.
 
#9
so yeah...my camera sucks...BUT the pickups look the same and I have a feeling that the second to last number on both is 8...either 89 (hopefully not) or 80 (perhaps). What do 80's precision pickups look like? I hope they are late 70s though.:smug:
 

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#11
really? I'm not sure which 70s pickups I heard before but they sounded ballsy and bright. I don't know which year they were exactly...essentially, I would need to have one of these recoiled (60$ job) and I want to know if its worth it. Obviously for resale value its better to have original pickups even if they are a tad rusty.
 
#12
Rewinding an old PU, even with a great guy doesn't mean you'll get exactly what you want.

If you want to preserve the resale value of your bass I'd recommend to stick with them. Otherwise find a nice replacement and keep the old one.

For that money you could get a Duncan SPB-1 or a Quarter Pound.

There are many boutique or mass produced PUs that sound great.
 
#13
DiegoRR said:
What do 80's precision pickups look like? I hope they are late 70s though.:smug:
Click to expand...

1980 pickups look just like 70's and late 60's pickups. CBS used those gray bottoms until 1984.
It could very well be a 1980 bass, hopefully you aren't using the serial number on the headstock to date the bass since S8 serials were used up into 82, so it's highly possible.
 
#14
DiegoRR said:
really? I'm not sure which 70s pickups I heard before but they sounded ballsy and bright. I don't know which year they were exactly...essentially, I would need to have one of these recoiled (60$ job) and I want to know if its worth it. Obviously for resale value its better to have original pickups even if they are a tad rusty.
Click to expand...
yeah, of all pickups by all makers, it seems like the P-bass pickup didn't change all that much from the late '50s right up until the molded plastic bobbins of the '90s.

maybe you'll get lucky and it's just the wire lead that's gone south and isn't connected with the coil wire anymore, in which case re-flowing the solder joints (perhaps carefully scraping the insulation away from a bit of coil wire right at the joint) might just rescue it.
 
#15
depalm said:
Late 70s Fender pickups sounds really bad. Loose bottom, harsh highs… Wish you got better luck.
Click to expand...

My stock 78 P-Bass tonewise, blows a 63 P-Bass I once owned into the weeds. My 78 offers a boat load of P-Bass goodness that my 63 seemed to lack. I have no harsh highs or a loose sounding bottom end. I'd hardly classify all late 70's Fender P-Bass pickups as sounding bad. I tend to judge every instrument on it's own merits, no matter the year it was made. I also play guitar, and I've come across some great sounding vintage Les Pauls and Strat's, etc, as well as some tonal turds all made within the same year or so. I ain't saying the 70's were a glorious decade for Fender because it wasn't. Yet, not everything they made during the 70's sucked either.
 
#16
Caca de Kick said:
1980 pickups look just like 70's and late 60's pickups. CBS used those gray bottoms until 1984.
It could very well be a 1980 bass, hopefully you aren't using the serial number on the headstock to date the bass since S8 serials were used up into 82, so it's highly possible.
Click to expand...

Really??? I know the first digits on the serial number won't tell you much but the whole sequence should give you the year no? Mine is S883107 and the guy at fender told me it was 1978...The pickups might not be from the same year though but I might just have one of them recoiled.

I appreciate all the responses guys :smug:
 

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