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

#101
zacmac said:
The most important changes to me personally are neck profile and width prefrences. Around 67-68' Fender switched from C width 1-3/4" wide thin necks to B width 1-5/8" narrow chunky necks and most of the 68-72'ish P's I have played had thicker necks with the B width which I personally prefer and I think you would also transitioning from a stingray.

My 63' P is wide as hell and really thin with tiny frets which took me a while to and my 71' is in my eyes much more comfortable to play being chunkier, narrower and having the jumbo frets that fender went to in the late 60's.

Tone wise, people dog CBS era Fenders for inconsistency but all of the 68-75' P's that I have played really felt and sounded the same to me and they all really shine with Rotosound 66's. The 65-67' P's with nitro, wide necks and grey bottoms have a different sound and really shine with flats to my ears. The 59-64's are an entirely different animal tone wise. Big and balsy with the up front in your face P tone that you hear on great records. The quality is better IMHO but that being said, I play my 71' as much as I play my 63' and they are both great basses, ones just worth much more due to the rarity.
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thank you for this great information about necks. I am indeed very used to my stingray neck (and thtas also why I have difficlties with Jazz Basses). So concerning this neck, you would advise a 68-72?
 
#102
Have you found one, the 69 P-Bass? please tell us if you've already bought one.

If you haven't, here what I found in gbase,..(only three basses, one have no pic).. - in the spirit of sharing info and beautiful pics of beautiful basses :D

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Wish you luck
 
#104
Just my own observations. Although I agree you can't necessarily assign specific qualities to specific years with regards to old Fenders, if you play enough of them you will see trends. I've been doing that for over forty years, playing every literally hundreds of these and owning a bunch too. I have some favorite years because I've noticed a lot of basses I like in those particular years.

Anyway, '69 is one of those years for me. I've played a ton of Fenders from that year that seemed to have something special, and I currently own a '69 Jazz that is one of the best basses I've ever owned. No guarantee that every '69 is great of course, but you could do worse than to focus your search on basses from that year, imo.

/rick
 
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#106
I bought my first P bass new in 1971 and it was a heavy clunky bass with a big neck. I don't know how many later 70's P basses I've seen with mismatched neck-bridge alignment in other words the strings are crowding one side or the other of the neck. I'm not sure if this is from as some have said sloppy neck pockets (I suspect) or just the bridge being sloppily put on in the wrong place but anytime I see a 70's P bass I expect to something out of place with the bass because that has been my experience. 70's Fenders got a lousy rep in the 70's not in the past few decades, they were known as the bass to avoid ESPECIALLY back then, in fact I was amazed to see the prices starting to go up on them and them being sold as "vintage" Fenders because they had had such a BAD name when new.
And as others have said this is all my opinion except for the fact that they had a terrible reputation when new back then, that is a fact as most old timers around here would probably attest to except they wouldn't want to get flamed as I'm sure I will, haha! That being said will I avoid a 70's Fender? No especially early 70's basses but the later in that decade the more I will really look the bass over.
And finally I have played some mid 60's Fenders that were real dogs also so it really does come down to bass by bass.
 
#107
bobyoung53 said:
I bought my first P bass new in 1971 and it was a heavy clunky bass with a big neck. I don't know how many later 70's P basses I've seen with mismatched neck-bridge alignment in other words the strings are crowding one side or the other of the neck. I'm not sure if this is from as some have said sloppy neck pockets (I suspect) or just the bridge being sloppily put on in the wrong place but anytime I see a 70's P bass I expect to something out of place with the bass because that has been my experience. 70's Fenders got a lousy rep in the 70's not in the past few decades, they were known as the bass to avoid ESPECIALLY back then, in fact I was amazed to see the prices starting to go up on them and them being sold as "vintage" Fenders because they had had such a BAD name when new.
And as others have said this is all my opinion except for the fact that they had a terrible reputation when new back then, that is a fact as most old timers around here would probably attest to except they wouldn't want to get flamed as I'm sure I will, haha! That being said will I avoid a 70's Fender? No especially early 70's basses but the later in that decade the more I will really look the bass over.
And finally I have played some mid 60's Fenders that were real dogs also so it really does come down to bass by bass.
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Are you sure you didn't buy my '77 J bass? It had all of those problems and more!
 
#109
bobyoung53 said:
I bought my first P bass new in 1971 and it was a heavy clunky bass with a big neck. I don't know how many later 70's P basses I've seen with mismatched neck-bridge alignment in other words the strings are crowding one side or the other of the neck. I'm not sure if this is from as some have said sloppy neck pockets (I suspect) or just the bridge being sloppily put on in the wrong place but anytime I see a 70's P bass I expect to something out of place with the bass because that has been my experience. 70's Fenders got a lousy rep in the 70's not in the past few decades, they were known as the bass to avoid ESPECIALLY back then, in fact I was amazed to see the prices starting to go up on them and them being sold as "vintage" Fenders because they had had such a BAD name when new.
And as others have said this is all my opinion except for the fact that they had a terrible reputation when new back then, that is a fact as most old timers around here would probably attest to except they wouldn't want to get flamed as I'm sure I will, haha! That being said will I avoid a 70's Fender? No especially early 70's basses but the later in that decade the more I will really look the bass over.
And finally I have played some mid 60's Fenders that were real dogs also so it really does come down to bass by bass.
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That is the absolute truth. However I'd also add that the early '70s were already starting to show the issues that plagued the later ones such as the expanded neck pocket, and don't forget the longer G string intonation screw due to the misplaced bridges (later relocated properly). The longer screw was a simple solution to an issue that was an indication of the laxness creeping in. I'd check them out very carefully. Though I've found the chances to be slim, if a good one is found it can only be as good and any P bass made before those issues arose and after those issues were resolved. Hence my advice to look at less expensive recent used alternatives. Don't be afraid to get flamed, the truth from those of us who were actually there, cognizant of the issues and are willing to speak the truth about those issues is necessary to help those without that experience to see through the "vintage" veil so they can approach a possible purchase with open eyes and ears.

I've gone through many basses from the era in question and my recently traded '73P was in excellent condition with few dings and a pretty decent neck pocket. It had the mislocated bridge and extended G string intonation screw and both covers. However, it sounded weak, no matter what I did with strings, setup, or pickup adjustment it never really sounded right. Hopefully it works out for the person who bought from the dealer I traded it to.
 
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