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Fender Precision from 60s and 70s: years to avoid?

pfonck334

pfonck334

May 14, 2014
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#1
Hello
I am considering buying a vintage PB and my budget so far allows me to have a look of the ones between 1968 to end of Seventies. ideally, I would be looking for one of my birth year (1969) but I am not 100% sure.
I was wondering in the period 1968-1977 if some years are considered better than others, or if some years are better to avoid
(sorry for my English, not my native language)
 
#3
Ive seen good basses and bass basses in every year, Buy the bass, not the year. ALSO - know the diff between a bad bass vs. a bass that needs love. Ive bought MANY a bad bass, changed the strings and did a proper set up and level and the bass was great... BTW - Whats your budget (in USD).. Im sure we have suggestions..

ALSO - See my old article in Premier Guitar Magazine - I had one on this very topic..
 
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#4
I would love to read your article , do you have a link for it.
I have right now two old stingrays (1990 and 1991) and really would like to fin the PB I am talking about. Here in Europe, for a 1969 Fender PB, you can have it for around 3000 Euros (around 4100 US $). This is rally the maxium I could put on it that 's why I am also looking for PBs from teh 70s which yuo can find in France from anywhere between 1300 2500 Euros (1800 $ to 3500)
 
#5
I think you should find a real nice '69 P bass, plenty of good ones that year. Things get dicey starting around '74 and gets worse through the decade. Not to say there are not some good ones. Things to look out for are sloppy neck pockets, humps/S curves in the neck and weight. Some of the Ash body basses can be ridiculously heavy.
 
#8
godofthunder59 said:
I think you should find a real nice '69 P bass, plenty of good ones that year. Things get dicey starting around '74 and gets worse through the decade. Not to say there are not some good ones. Things to look out for are sloppy neck pockets, humps/S curves in the neck and weight. Some of the Ash body basses can be ridiculously heavy.
Click to expand...
Sorry but I think it's not true. I really think it's not year related what so ever, except for Pre CBS basses, which also some good and some bad actually, albeit that they have higher value because of the Fender history. Also for some 'unique' year(s) when some P-basses might has it's unique spec etc. I have found many of after 74 P-Bass that are really good too and vice versa. Really, try before buy is the key.
And also, Ash body P-Basses doesn't have to be heavier than Alder.
And lighter P-Bass doesn't always mean better bass.
 
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#9
bluesdogblues said:
Sorry but I think it's not true. I really think it's not year related what so ever, except for Pre CBS basses, which also some good and some bad actually, albeit that they have higher value because of the Fender history. Also for some 'unique' year(s) when some P-basses might has it's unique spec etc. I have found many of after 74 P-Bass that are really good too and vice versa. Really, try before buy is the key.
And also, Ash body P-Basses doesn't have to be heavier than Alder.
And lighter P-Bass doesn't always mean better bass.
Click to expand...
I started in music retail in 1976. I have had thousands of basses in my hands and have owned hundreds. The stuff Fender was shipping was by and large abysmal by '76. Customers were bypassing Fender for brands like Ibanez, Aria,Peavey, Hamer, B.C. Rich. Even Gibson's G series and Ripper were of much better quality than Fender. I am not saying all 70's Fenders are dogs but many were and it did only get worse till they retooled in I think '80. At the moment I own 6 70's Fenders all have their flaws, poor wood selection (whether it be scares, poor wood matching, bad finishes, sloppy neck pockets, heavy etc.) The one thing in common they have are good necks, the main reason I picked them. With any vintage instrument try before you buy is always best.
 
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#11
I would say that the middle 70's was the lowest point in Fender manufacture. I have a '76! That said you will still get good uns, so trying the basses is important. I would have thought a '68 or '69 would have better collectability/value than a 70's bass. That said, there have been a lot of folk say that their early 70's basses are really good.

Finally, technically, 1970 is in the 60's. So IMHO '68-'70 would be the years I would head for all things considered.

Davo
 
#14
It's a bass-by-bass thing. I've got a buddy with one of the nicest EVER P-Basses that is an all original '74. I had a problem with the weight of the mid-to-late 70's basses, but not their tone. If you luck out on a tight neck pocket bass of moderate weight it will likely be sweet.
 
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#15
Definitely a bass by bass thing. I have 4 basses between 69 and 75- two Teles (one of each type), a P Bass and a Jazz.
All good necks, all play well and sound like they should. The Teles are the heaviest- understandable because they are slabs, the P Bass (73) is about 8.5 lbs without covers and the Jazz (75- 3 bolt) is just under 8 lbs without covers.
I missed out a 68 P Bass a while back that was a beauty.
Looked at quite a few to settle on these ones.
Another option to look at could be the early 80s Fullerton RIs- generally good basses. I have an 82 57 RI that is just wonderful and has been getting more gig time lately than my trusty old 73 P.
 
#16
based on my experience, such as it is...

Any P-bass (or Fender instrument at all) from 1975 to 1980 is good to avoid. I would actually to back to '74, but I've seen some '74s that play/feel more like older basses (Fender is notorious for using "last year's stock" for instruments).
 
#18
veebass said:
^ Yes I would generally have not been interested in the 75 Jazz I have for that reason, but it is so light and plays so well, I couldn't go past it.
That's why I say bass by bass.
Click to expand...

Well, it certainly was true that up until about 20 years ago, Fenders were wildly inconsistent - some were dandy, some were firewood. I was just responding the OP's basic question based on what I've played.
 
#19
There are some 'common (technical) criteria' of course, but pass that criteria, actually to say which one a (fender p) bass is best could be almost very subjective personal preference.
As my first bass and still is my main bass and almost 90% of my work as a bassist for 30 years is the same 'my 78 P-Bass', naturally I'd use her as my benchmark point to compare other (fender P) Bass(es). And I'm lucky that (for me at least) mine is very very good one, and is the best (at least for me).
In years of my experience as a professional musician and bassist, there were countless times of me compare her to other P-Basses. Including all the nice P-Bass made in what some people here said as the 'golden year' for the P-Basses. Including some Pre-CBS P-basses. While many of them are good. Some of them are not. Small amount of them are 'crap'. And that were 'No Matter what it's year of production'. That's why I stand to my opinion in my post above that I quoted below:

bluesdogblues said:
I really think it's not year related what so ever, except for Pre CBS basses, which also some good and some bad actually, albeit that they have higher value because of the Fender history. Also for some 'unique' year(s) when some P-basses might has it's unique spec etc. I have found many of after 74 P-Bass that are really good too and vice versa. Really, try before buy is the key.
And also, Ash body P-Basses doesn't have to be heavier than Alder.
And lighter P-Bass doesn't always mean better bass.
Click to expand...

But like I also said, in the end it's a personal preference. Chose whatever you like.

Roger and Out.
 
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