Jamerson's first Fender was a black 1957 P-bass referred to as "Black Beauty":
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First Fender bass finished black?
- Thread starter KimDealWithIt
- Start date
As far as specific examples, I don't have any.
However, prior to the introduction of on-the-books "Custom Colors" in 1960, a retailer or end user could specially request any color that Fender's lacquer supplier could mix – which were mostly mixed from automotive paint codes. These were the true custom color years. Anything other than sunburst or blonde was exceptionally rare, but they were indeed ordered from time to time.
There is a famous factory black '55 Strat, played by Gene Vincent's guitarist Howard Reed. And, of course, the very early single and double pickup Esquires – which were the first Fender electric Spanish guitars, as opposed to lap guitars – were black as their standard color. They were painted with pigmented airplane dope (cellulose acetate butyrate) over 1 1/2" thick laminated pine bodies. It was decided that for aesthetic marketing purposes, and after receiving player feedback, that a thicker body with visible grain would feel and appear more high class. Thus the switch to modern style simulated limed furniture finish over ash happened; they named it Blonde.
However, prior to the introduction of on-the-books "Custom Colors" in 1960, a retailer or end user could specially request any color that Fender's lacquer supplier could mix – which were mostly mixed from automotive paint codes. These were the true custom color years. Anything other than sunburst or blonde was exceptionally rare, but they were indeed ordered from time to time.
There is a famous factory black '55 Strat, played by Gene Vincent's guitarist Howard Reed. And, of course, the very early single and double pickup Esquires – which were the first Fender electric Spanish guitars, as opposed to lap guitars – were black as their standard color. They were painted with pigmented airplane dope (cellulose acetate butyrate) over 1 1/2" thick laminated pine bodies. It was decided that for aesthetic marketing purposes, and after receiving player feedback, that a thicker body with visible grain would feel and appear more high class. Thus the switch to modern style simulated limed furniture finish over ash happened; they named it Blonde.
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This bass was refinshed when he bought it used from Chili Ruth
Maybe they used whatever they used for their sunburst finishes?
=> And of course Leo would haggle hard to have the cheapest price!
Details like that from the early Fender days make me smile!
It doesn't make a difference if the number is on top or on the bottom.
I' ve seen late 70s basses with their stickers! They make me sad!
Neckpockets full of stickers. Three or four identical ones (someone must have gone crazy)
+ one in the pup cavity and one on the pickguard.
Back on topic: It's always great to see that bassplayers even in the 50s, were cool enough to show up
to their gigs, with something that wasn't just standard.
Wise(b)ass
I'm glad to know it exhists in this condition, should be in a museum...
No, I was referring to a '57 Fiesta Red Telecaster guitar, not a bass. Not surprised to see that Red '56 P, though.
The Red '54 P bass I've alluded to in previous posts was shown to me by Randy Dritz in 1980 (I remembered his name 'cos I thought it sounded cool). He responded to an ad I ran in the Chicago Sun Times, for a '64 LPB P bass I was selling for $425. He offered a trade deal over the phone for what he was calling "a very special" '54 P bass. I said no to the trade, as I only wanted another old Jazz, and this time it had to be an L-series Custom Color w/matching headstock. He came to look at my '64 P anyway, and brought along his '54 to show me even though I said I had no interest in any '54 P.
I was glad he did because it was a head scratcher. He had a heavily worn red (like Dakota or Fullerton Red) P bass in the rattiest canvas POS gig bag ever. The finish looked totally original in every way, and its condition was commensurate with the age of the bass and the play wear everywhere else. The strange thing was that it had one body contour. As memory serves, it had the belly cut rear contour, but no front arm contour. That started a discussion as to the authenticity of both the old red finish and how the body came to have the rear contour, but no front arm contour. As he pointed out to me, that while a DIY arm contour would be fairly easy to do with a belt sander, a rear belly cut contour requires a different skill set and tools, and he was right. That fact alone seemed to indicate the bass and its old red paint were likely done at the factory.
But wait, there's more....Dritz then pulled out a description of the bass he had written up to show to Leo Fender at NAMM, along with the bass itself. According to Dritz, Leo confirmed that they had done special request finishes, including red ones. And that in '54 Fender was messing with the idea of adding body contours to the Precision ala the Strat, and that they may very well have released a few with a lone contour. Leo's signature was on the alleged affidavit.
By that point I became interested in a possible trade deal. But Dritz valued the red '54 at $750 which killed any chance of us making a trade. He didn't buy my '64 P bass either, but we both had an interesting and enjoyable encounter. Was the Red '54 legit? I think so, but I never saw or heard from Randy Dritz again, so...
I heard about the Howard Reed Strat, back in 1981. It is supposedly the first custom color Fender guitar, in black.
I had a black Jazz bass in 1978 that had a matching headstock. It was a 1971 I believe, but I sold it to a friend who really wanted it. I should've kept it, but so it goes. I never heard of or saw an earlier Fender bass in black or any other color although I can imagine some players ordering some wild colors for their bands. LOL
I had a black Jazz bass in 1978 that had a matching headstock. It was a 1971 I believe, but I sold it to a friend who really wanted it. I should've kept it, but so it goes. I never heard of or saw an earlier Fender bass in black or any other color although I can imagine some players ordering some wild colors for their bands. LOL
Now that’s a great story, and seems very in line with the way Leo & Co. were doing things circa ‘53-54-55, just trying things and not writing it all down.
Steve Soest had that one for years. Was then with one of the dealers in the Seattle area IIRC. Not surprised it has ended up at Well Strung!
Great story. Wild thinking about the prices/deals that could still be found in the days before everyone was online. I still kick myself over a '59 3 tone, gold guard, slab board with original case for $275... Bought the '61 original black with brown case and covers for $450. Lots of others. Couple shots from We buy Guitars on 48th St back in the day:
'68 Paisley for $350... asking price.
Nope. It was stolen in the early 60's. As were both of the replacements at different times.
Such a shame.
I wonder why he was constantly robbed of his instruments?
Very cool pic. Those were the days, alright. Old guitar hunting was great fun at one time, and actually affordable for anybody. I bet you and I could swap "amazing finds" and "ones that got away" stories for hours. Cherios.
