Fender Precision Bass, fake or genuine?

[Malak the Mad]

So you didn't bother even to remove that A string and put it correctly in a nut slot before taking photos.

Personally, I wouldn't touch those strings without heavy duty work-gloves…and a friggin' tetanus shot!

I thinks it's a 60's or 70's Japanese copy. It looks like the fingerboard has detached from the neck, so the neck is toast. It may be possible to get a replacement neck, but careful measuring would be needed to ensure it would fit. Most necks follow standard Fender dimensions, but some of the old copies are significantly different.

Sorry. Truly a fake. Not a bad looking body though. I would toss that tired neck, and purchase a Fender knockoff neck and a decent set of pickups d pots, put some flats on it and make it your own.

You just made the first Vikinger series 1!

Assuming the OP is actually interested in doing something with it, that's what I was thinking, too. Dump the neck and rusty hardware (possibly the electronics, as well), see if it can accept a workable, inexpensive replacement neck and build up from the body.

 

[grosseout99]

At a glance it looks like it might be a dirty mid-seventies Fender p bass with the knobs, tug bar, bridge, tuners neck plate and pick guard swapped out.

When I look again, I think only the poor neck MIGHT be authentic Fender. Strange truss rod cover at the head though. Maybe some shoddy truss rod mods were made and that's why the fingerboard is seperating? The neck looks oddly narrow though, especially for a p bass.

 

[Tassieviking]

I think I would buy it if the price was right.......just for the pleasure I would get to smash it. =)

 

[Merlo79]

I don't believe you. Plus, your story has no relevance to this thread. The bass in question is a broken piece of trash.

I'm not sure which part is not believable. Do you think only expensive brand name instruments can sound good? The second best Fender bass I've ever heard was a Squier. It's just kinda hit and miss with them.

The story was a reply to a silly claim that the bass does not sound good based on how it looks.
I also had a ridiculously destroyed short scale particleboard violently defretted unplayable piece of junk bass that sounded fn great.

 

[Double E]

I'm not sure which part is not believable. Do you think only expensive brand name instruments can sound good? The second best Fender bass I've ever heard was a Squier. It's just kinda hit and miss with them.

What is not believable to me is that you would hear the tone of a bass and think to yourself; "That just sounds too good to be a Fender." enough so, that you and your friend just had to take it to an expert for a professional opinion. That just does not make sense. It is lunacy that you would think such a thing... that Fender is simply incapable of making a good sounding instrument.

The story was a reply to a silly claim that the bass does not sound good based on how it looks.
I also had a ridiculously destroyed short scale particleboard violently defretted unplayable piece of junk bass that sounded fn great.

Your reply was to another person that made a very valid assessment about the bass that is the subject of this thread. This bass is in a sad state of repair... the fretboard is delaminating from the neck. God only knows what else is wrong with it. It is literally unplayable so how it sounds is not even relevant to the discussion. It is also quite obviously a cheaply made instrument no matter what label was covered up by the Fender decal, thus making it impractical to consider restoring.

Lastly, the quality of the sound that an instrument produces is mostly subjective. So your unplayable piece of junk may sound "fn great" to you but may sound like a piece of junk to someone else.

 

[RichterScale]

Assuming the OP is actually interested in doing something with it,

Assuming the OP was legitimately looking for help, I would have abandoned the thread too, based on the replies.
He would have gotten much better responses in the Luthier section.
Where the responses aren't from people looking down their nose and trying way too hard to make each other laugh by repeating the same joke 100 times.

 

[Double E]

Assuming the OP was legitimately looking for help, I would have abandoned the thread too, based on the replies.
He would have gotten much better responses in the Luthier section.
Where the responses aren't from people looking down their nose and trying way too hard to make each other laugh by repeating the same joke 100 times.

You are exaggerating. There are numerous posts that are honest and respectful. Most of the initial responses were simply statements of fact that the OP posted photos of a faked Fender bass.

Once the truth was well established, there was also some stupidity in here too…but most folks fully expect some shenanigans when posting to an internet message board.

 

[RichterScale]

I expect, enjoy and encourage shenanigans.
And I did notice the few sincere responses.
I guess a just picked up a weird vibe from it, as a whole. I have to train myself to not look at any threads with titles containing anything to do with Fender, P bass or "who invented X".
I get too distracted by all the crazy mixed in with people trying to talk.
Then again, maybe I'm nuts, because now that I've picked up on it,....I can't look away.

 

[panzerfaust]

strange pickguard......

 

[Merlo79]

enough so, that you and your friend just had to take it to an expert for a professional opinion. That just does not make sense.

I... what? It makes perfect sense. Obviously the instrument was visually similar to a Fender (to our untrained eyes) but didn't leave the impressions of one. The only reason my friend wanted to check was so that he doesn't pay the Fender market price for an instrument that doesn't hold the same price. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if it was 100% Fender but sounded like no other.
I have a Limelight Jazz Bass that looks like a normal Jazz Bass but sounds nothing like it. It looks normal, but when you try to play it all you can think is ***? This was the same situation.

It is lunacy that you would think such a thing... that Fender is simply incapable of making a good sounding instrument.

It's lunacy that you would try to rephrase what I said into something like that.

Lastly, the quality of the sound that an instrument produces is mostly subjective. So your unplayable piece of junk may sound "fn great" to you but may sound like a piece of junk to someone else.

Yes. What I'm talking about is just bringing the instrument to all the rehearsals of my X bands and seeing does it turn heads and elicits sparks in the eyes and comments or does everyone think "oh, it's just a bass".

What is not believable to me is that you would hear the tone of a bass and think to yourself; "That just sounds too good to be a Fender."

But you're forgetting that uniqueness is a quality onto itself, assuming something is uniquely good and not uniquely bad, and Classical Fender designs have a certain sound that they never stray far from. Usually it's just a more vintage/modern variation of a similar tone. This is a sound we all know by heart, so it's not likely to surprise anyone. It can still be above/below what you expect but no one will say "wow, we've never sounded this good as a band" because they have, they've played with XY bass players that had a Fender sounding bass.

 

[Double E]

It's lunacy that you would try to rephrase what I said into something like that.

You may want to re-read what you posted.

No rephrasing necessary.

A friend of mine once found one that sounded too good to be true. I told him I am suspicious of any Fender sounding that good, so he took it to a luthier to ask. The luthier immediately told him it was a Fender copy. My friend was sad as that instrument sounded better than any Fender I've heard or owned, but it wasn't worth paying the original Fender price for it. (seller thought or "thought" it was a Fender as well)

 

[RichterScale]

Not picking sides, but I didn't read it as Fenders don't sound good. But, the bass in question sounded much different than a typical Fender (and better to the listener) than any he'd owned or played before. Which is subjective. But, I don't own a Fender, never have and have no attachment to the brand or sound. So, it didn't read as offensive to me.
I guess if you're a big fan of Fenders, that might sound like a dig.
I've owned and played a Ric 4003.
If someone said they were suspicious of one being a copy because it sounded different and better than any Ric they'd ever heard or played before,..... I don't think that would bother me a bit.

 

[Double E]

Not picking sides, but I didn't read it as Fenders don't sound good. But, the bass in question sounded much different than a typical Fender (and better to the listener) than any he'd owned or played before. Which is subjective. But, I don't own a Fender, never have and have no attachment to the brand or sound. So, it didn't read as offensive to me.
I guess if you're a big fan of Fenders, that might sound like a dig.
I've owned and played a Ric 4003.
If someone said they were suspicious of one being a copy because it sounded different and better than any Ric they'd ever heard or played before,..... I don't think that would bother me a bit.

Not worried about Fender's reputation here at all, insert any brand... I just don't buy into the story.

They were "suspicious of any Fender sounding so good" so they took it to a luthier?!? That is absurd.

Then, when they found out that this bass was a faked Fender, it was suddenly not worth buying even though it was apparently tonally superior to "any Fender" (in the listeners opinion). I guess it must not have been all that great.

Ultimately, I wholeheartedly agree with the point that an instrument doesn't need to be a popular brand to be worthwhile. So I guess we can all agree on that.

 

[RichterScale]

I guess I see your point. I still read a lot of stuff at face value and my BS meter only triggers for obvious (to me) stuff.

 

[5StringBlues]

Ain't nobody got time for that...

 

[Merlo79]

You may want to re-read what you posted.

Despite your tone, I did re-read it and in no part does it say

that Fender is simply incapable of making a good sounding instrument.

All my current instruments are either Fender or Fender-like, so as straw man arguments go, that one needs more effort.

They were "suspicious of any Fender sounding so good" so they took it to a luthier?!? That is absurd.

Say you come across a Fender Jazz in the ads. Looks fine, you plug it in to try it out. You solo the bridge pickup and you get the familiar sound of Gibson Thunderbird?? You'd think to yourself: "yep, nothing strange here. No chance this is just a Fender copy, given Fender is the most copied instrument in the world". I really can't think of nothing nice to say about that logic. We knew the luthier well and he was close, so it was a no brainer.

Then, when they found out that this bass was a faked Fender, it was suddenly not worth buying even though it was apparently tonally superior to "any Fender" (in the listeners opinion). I guess it must not have been all that great.

The standard of living in my country is low so buying an original Fender is akin to an American buying five of them at once. You must have a chance to resell the instrument if the need arises and in this case your only option would be
a) list it as a knock off instrument for the price of an expensive original (slim chance there)
or
b) continue lying it's an original Fender (and most people aren't that dishonest)

The sound thing is really not that difficult to understand. The sound quality of every instrument is subjective. A and B can be objectively equally desirable, yet B can be unique enough to suddenly warrant a lot of interest.
A buddy of mine had a black girlfriend once, in a country with so few black people you almost never see any, and she was turning heads left and right. If it was just a pretty girl it would be just like a good Fender. It's cool, but you've seen it and you know it. But when something makes you say "wait, what", and in a good way, it makes it more attractive than the alternative.

 

[mcrawfordmusic]

Not a Fender.

 

[Double E]

All my current instruments are either Fender or Fender-like, so as straw man arguments go, that one needs more effort.

Sorry, this is not a "strawman" argument. Your implication was very direct, again, you said that you were "suspicious of any Fender sounding so good".

I still think your original story was contrived and irrelevant to this thread and your follow up arguments have only reinforced my opinion.

 

[Merlo79]

Sorry, this is not a "strawman" argument. Your implication was very direct, again, you said that you were "suspicious of any Fender sounding so good".

Exactly. You turned "as good" into "any good at all".

I still think your original story was contrived and irrelevant to this thread and your follow up arguments have only reinforced my opinion.

It was relevant as a reply to the other person.
It was also relevant to the OP as a demonstration that even a cheap, fake instrument can be brought into shape and have a pleasing sound.
This whole thing where you came at me for not being a good enough storyteller or something (dunno, that part kinda baffles me) indeed wasn't relevant

 

[Double E]

Exactly. You turned "as good" into "any good at all".

This does not make sense.

It was relevant as a reply to the other person

No, it was not… they said it was safe to say that the bass in the OP didn't sound good which is factual because it is not even playable.

This whole thing where you came at me for not being a good enough storyteller or something (dunno, that part kinda baffles me) indeed wasn't relevant

I am not trying to be relevant to the thread. My comments are relevant to your post.