Help identify what is original on this 70's P-bass

[Grin and Tonic]

I picked up a P-bass today. Supposedly 1975. The serial checks out.

This is my first P, and I am just not familiar with the instruments, so any help would be greatly appreciated!

Obviously the bridge isn't original. I was told that these are the original pickups, but I find that to be suspect, as they don't look like what I have seen on the interwebs. They have been installed with some hard glue/resin. Should that be foam?

In any case, based on the pics, please tell me what sort of abomination I've got here! (or not, as the case may be).

I forgot to take pics before I took it apart!

Thanks!

 

[J-Bass RMR]

what sort of abomination I've got here

No abomination - just a "typical" modded 70s w/Badass & Dimarzio Pickup.

If the price is right....
How does it play, how does it sound?

 

[60bass]

Pickup has been changed. Pots also appear to have been changed as those are split shaft pots. Stock pots on a P bass are solid shaft. Neck and tuners look original as does the body. Also AFAIK that brass shielding plate under the pickup might not be native to a 70's CBS era bass. So it may have had an earlier year pickup in it at one time.

The badass bridge is also obviously not original but it is/was a popular upgrade. The truss rod nut on the neck heel appears to be sunk in pretty far. That IMO would be a cause for concern. Usually those nuts don't get sunken in that far unless someone has had to crank the truss rod to try and straighten a badly bowed neck, or a neck that required very frequent adjustments. If you haven't already tried it, you need to make sure it turns easily in both directions. It could possibly be at the end of the threads on the rod and actually crushed into the wood of the neck heel. A issue with some older Fender basses with heel adjust truss rods but one that any competent Luthier can make right again.

 

[stefanb]

Yeah you're 90% of the way there and everything checks out....dimarzio model P pickups and a bad-ass bridge, pretty common changes.

 

[HaphAsSard]

Hey, it's a P bass: *nothing* is original about it! (I'll see myself out.)

 

[Grin and Tonic]

Thanks for the input so far!

I am happy to hear that it's mostly intact. For sure, it is playable, and I am really digging the P sound.

The truss rod nut turns easily in both directions, so that's a relief (no pun intended). When I get around to tuning her up, I will remove the nut and see if there is any crushed/punky wood by the nut that needs attention.

Given that this is a mid-70's specimen, what are the chances that nitrocellulose was used as the finish?

 

[Killing Floor]

Clean it up and rock it.

 

[mikeswals]

None of the electronics is original. As mentioned the DiMarzio's, but those split shaft pots are replacement junk and need to be solid shafts for those knobs to install correctly.
Body looks good, neck looks right, might be a refret since the frets look pretty large.

 

[J Wilson]

Yep. See in the 70's, we didn't have Squiers to update, so we updated those Fenders. At least they didn't get one of those thick brass bridges, the BA's and those DMZ's were one of the hop-up recipes, and you told yourself how much better you sounded.

 

[Grin and Tonic]

Clean it up and rock it.

THAT is the plan!!

Though, the cleanup may prove to be more than a spit-shine. It seems that the neck has been sanded - both the back and the fingerboard. You can see that it has been "pore-filled" with a dead skin, dirt, and sweat slurry.

I am debating the best way to spruce this bit up. I could clean with some smelly solvent (Naphtha perhaps), remove the frets, sand if needed, re-fret, and refinish. That is certainly a bit of work.

Or, I could try to clean it up with said solvent and apply an oil. Though, I would wager that there is still factory finish in the pores, and don't know how oil will get along with that.

Or, I could go a different direction, based on some new ideas graciously provided by TB.

 

[elgranluis]

Given that this is a mid-70's specimen, what are the chances that nitrocellulose was used as the finish?

no chance , really. Some early 70s instruments had a nitro clear coat , but that was for some custom colors.

you bass appears to be a factory natural finish.

 

[Lownote38]

What's original? The neck, tuners, neck plate and the body. It looks like the body has been stripped, though. Everything else looks replaced (bridge, pickups and harness.)

 

[oren]

Those old DiMarzios can be really nice sounding pickups. I had them on my 78 P for many years before I put the original back in. Enjoy your bass!

 

[MotorCityMinion]

Thanks for the input so far!

I am happy to hear that it's mostly intact. For sure, it is playable, and I am really digging the P sound.

The truss rod nut turns easily in both directions, so that's a relief (no pun intended). When I get around to tuning her up, I will remove the nut and see if there is any crushed/punky wood by the nut that needs attention.

Given that this is a mid-70's specimen, what are the chances that nitrocellulose was used as the finish?

It's not mostly intact. Pick-ups, bridge, pots, the refin. Hell it may even have a brass nut. BTW, don't touch the existing nut unless it's BROKE. There's nothing to see and you'll only make it worse. As it's too far away from original, IMO, leave it alone. Get some concert jerseys from the 70's and rock out.

 

[deff]

^^^ I guess there isn't a picture of the nut, so who knows, but why do you think it's a refin? It looks like a 75 natural series Pbass. I think most of the later 70's Fender stuff was done with natural finishes. I had a strat as a kid, looked just like that. The finish and obvious aging looks pretty correct.

My 70's pbass has almost all of those changes to it. Frankly I like the Dimarzios a lot. I agree, leave it alone.

 

[micguy]

Those are original pickups allright - they look the same as they did the day they left DiMarzio's factory.

So, you have a Fender neck and tuners, a body that's been stripped and clear coated, a Dimarzio pickup and a Badass bridge. It screams 70's mod job. And it's probably darn heavy. Oh, and the neck had to be shimmed (3 shims!!) - typical that Fender can't make that design work (especially with 70's parts) without a bandaid here and there.

It's not a 70's closet queen - it's the prototypical 70's Fender, showing all the typical things people did to their basses in that era.

 

[micguy]

^^^ I guess there isn't a picture of the nut, so who knows, but why do you think it's a refin?

Fender made a few natural basses here and there, but they did it with ash bodies with interesting grain. There are far more "bland" bodies that were painted at the factory, then stripped to bare wood by their owners - that has the hallmarks of one of those. My avatar is a 70's Fender that I did some work on for a client - 70's, bland looking wood, stripped to bare and clear coated. Stripping your bass to "natural" was a rite of passage in the 70's - "natural" finish from that era is almost always a DIY mod.

 

[Stewie]

The Badass bridge tends to need a shim because it is so much thicker than the bent steel bridge. Not Fender’s fault. You can buy special washers to bring the truss nut out where it belongs. The amount of stress on the 3/8ish bit of wood tends to compress it. The pots are probably scratchy anyway, why not replace them with new CTS ones with solid shafts. The mods are cool and era correct. Nice bass. Don’t ever part with it.

 

[stefanb]

It's not a refin. It still has the white gunky polishing powder in the cavities from the factory and factory marking under the pickups.

 

[msb]

Does it have a brass nut?