This is from Geddy’s BBB of B.
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First Fender bass finished black?
- Thread starter KimDealWithIt
- Start date
The decals on the black ones in that era were unique in that they only had the Fender logo in gold - no other text - often called "clipped logos". They were also positioned further forward than the regular decals (the Custom Shop still gets this wrong).
Charcoal Frost (which can sometimes look - greenish - black in photos) still had the full decal:
Hi Dynacord
That green one is pure dynamite!
Yep!
from the article i linked to:
quotes:
The mention “available in a DuPont Ducco color of the player’s choice at an additional 5% cost” first showed up in spec sheets for the Stratocaster and Precision Bass circa ’56, but customer requests for non-standard finishes actually go back to the early ’50s.
It’s difficult to identify precisely which colors were used on Fender instruments before 1960, partly because of the sheer number of automotive paint shades available at the time, but also because of the effect of aging on these colors.
end quotes
Funny detail about black:
quotes:
NOTES: #1 The Olympic White color listed by Cadillac in 1957 ...
#2 The DuPont code for Black listed by Fender in its charts (1711-X) is inadequate because it does not match any automotive black paint! There are several DuPont black paints for GM cars which Fender could have used in the 1950s: #99 in 1954 (Corvette), #2817-L in1958 (Cadillac) or #88-L in 1958 (Corvette), but it’s impossible to say for sure which paint Fender actually used at the time.
#3 The name Fiesta Red was given to...
end quotes
Several years ago I saw an early 60s Jazz on sale that was black.
The colour had bleached to a really fugly greenish tone.
=> could be the reason why we don't see a lot of black finishes on very old basses.
greetings
Wise
Wise
Yea, I guess black is black and they could have just used whatever was available (?)
Agree on the green one - yowsa - white with gold hardware is pretty cool, too... They clearly got creative on some of those mid 50's P's. I've seen one in red and a friend has a '56 P in a metallic copper color similar to what Denelectro used.
On fugly, about 30 years ago I went to see a '64 Lake Placid Blue Jazz. Drove a good way to see it and it had come from Louisiana and looked like it had spent decades in a shed in a swamp - the clear was so yellowed that the whole thing looked nearly black, all the chrome was rusted through and blistered/flaking and the neck was bowed beyond hope. Pity. Passed... Don't know if the electronics worked at all but don't see how they could have.
1967 Monterey Pop Festival footage of Canned Heat, Larry Taylor on bass..........had a black P Bass and it was a non-contoured slab body. Extremely rare!
:32 seconds into the video, this slab P can be seen.
:32 seconds into the video, this slab P can be seen.
Super cool. I wonder if that wasn't a variation on the '66 blonde slab body/maple necks they did for the UK market (as used by Entwistle)?... That could be one of one if so. Supposedly only 25 of the UK ones were made.
I believe the switch to 3 knob config happened sometime early 3rd Qtr ‘62. My bass is SEP 62.
My bass came out of a pawn shop in Flint MI. I bought it from the fellow who picked it up there for $275 in 1987. The bridge pickup windings were open circuit, the frets had been removed, and the body was stripped. The headstock Finnish was (and is) still there. Bryan Galloup at the Guitar Hospital in Big Rapids did the nitro refin on the body, and refretted the fingerboard. I didn’t have the string mutes and didn’t bother reinstalling any.
I spent about 7 hours under a microscope, finding and soldering the broken winding in the bridge pickup; which worked properly for another 8 years before failing again. I spent another 12 hours under the microscope without being able to locate the fault. Finally sent the bobbin off to Lindy Fralin for a rewind; which works, but has different impedance characteristics than the original.
Around 1994-ish, there was a slab board example with black / black on the market for $12k, IIRC. WAAAAY out of my price range at the time. Might have been Norm’s that was selling it. FWIW
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The Stack knob was already phased out mid 61. 62 would be incorrect, and Fender's reissue is wrong.
the only person to procure a 62 with a stack knob setup is Bill Bolton.
the only person to procure a 62 with a stack knob setup is Bill Bolton.
I've not seen stability issues but some were clear coated and some were not so that can effect them aging differently.
Mid '61. I've seen quite a few later '61 3 knobs. A dealer friend had a 3 knob with a march '61 neck date but that was an outlier and unusually early.
Probably 20 years ago now, I'd read that his bass was one of those slab 66 P's.
In the late 70's a friend bought a '57 hardtail Strat with a lotta play wear, it was black. At the time we thought Fender custom colors weren't available 'til 1960. Hence, the assumption was that the body may have been refin'd in the remote past, which would have explained the finish checking and general wear. Years later we realized it was most likely a special order original finish.
To me the more interesting aspect of that Strat was its serial # which was an appropriate -1XXX...but the number was located at the bottom of the plate, like the bottom numbers sometimes (but not often) found on 1960-61 Fender neck plates. Just another little enigmatic detail reinforcing the old addage..."never say never with Fender". It's the anomolies that make vintage Fender history interesting to this day. And they are out there.
Aside; I still would like to know if anyone else remembers the 3-tone burst, rosewood, tort, "no date" '59 P bass that was listed on ebay circa 2002-03.....with a matching 3-tone bursted headstock. I can't be the only one who does...anyone?
Excellent. Sept '62 fits for early matching headstock. I bought a black matching headstock slab board '62 J from Norm in the early 90's - but was a factory refin like the CAR stack he also had. But that (the black) was only in the $3-$3.5K range at that time.
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Nice
Super clean
Original……..
C-R-A-Z-Y !!!!!
Goodness those basses are nice, I’m kind of jealous………….
Missed that one. The no date necks were usually late '59/early '60 so rosewood fits (this is one of the few errors on Clay's excellent vintage guitar site, where he says early '59). Many years ago saw a "rainbow sparkle" (I think 4 color burst) early 60's P and it had a similarly bursted headstock (maybe 3 color). I love, love, love the original metal flake jobs but this was way fugly no matter how rare it was...
Have also seen 50's neckplates with the serial number stamped at the bottom rather than the top. Fender...
That's why I did a custom gold logo on my Japanese Geddy when I had the headstock painted black (along with other modifications). I like the look of it:
of course black was more or less always around-
what would be really wild would be to hunt down the lowest known serial number/production date, black fender bass. or guitar even, does not really matter. an interesting thought.
i know my first bass was a fender and it's black... so.. idk does that count for anything? guess not.
what would be really wild would be to hunt down the lowest known serial number/production date, black fender bass. or guitar even, does not really matter. an interesting thought.
i know my first bass was a fender and it's black... so.. idk does that count for anything? guess not.
