Help Refinish a 1961 Fender Precision Bass

[iiipopes]

It's Joe Lally from Fugazi I believe and yes it's JF they are recording Ataxia great record(s).

Anyways my taste says the less unique the better... not cuz standing out is bad it's just somehow these rare color instruments alot of them look corny idk

Um, did you pull my post over from your thread on your Harmony H22?

 

[Rick Penrose]

Can’t improve on perfect...leave it as is. There is a lot of history there.

 

[OhDee]

Um, did you pull my post over from your thread on your Harmony H22?

oops yeah sorry they updated the quoting thing didnt they as you can see I'm technophobic all around

 

[micguy]

I'd put a black 'guard on it, and rock it. The thing has history, it's one of a kind, and it looks pretty good to my eyes.

 

[facetsquared]

Sherwood green with a mint guard gets my vote.

 

[TheDialog]

Update:
Won this 60/61/62 slab board P neck on eBay. Needed some TLC. One of the best luthiers in the biz (Taras) worked his magic. All set to be paired with the body. Couldn't be more pumped.

See the before and after pics attached.

 

[TheDialog]

Couldn’t be more pumped with how this came out. Shout out to Taras at Garrett Park Music in Annapolis, MD.

Plays and sounds fantastic. Looks incredible.

Now, back to thinking about paint…

 

[kurpak]

Having owned and bought lots of early 60's p basses over the years here's my advice. Keep the original pickguard for sure. I probably wouldn't do a sunburst, even from Riggio, as those never look quite right compared to the originals + years of fading. Sunburst is the most common finish out there, since it's stripped you have a chance to do something else. Pick a period correct color from 61. Pick a color that is less popular, making it more unique.
I would NOT do oly white, black (common) or lake placid (blue and red tort yuck.) Probably not CAR either since no green guard and saturated red on red is too much.. red. Probably not fiesta red either, as that is a super popular refin color (although looks great with tort). Also not sonic or daphne blue, again red and blue. Not a fan of seafoam. That narrows down my list to:
Shoreline gold
Tahitian Coral (fiesta alternative)
Surf Green
Inca Silver
Burgundy Mist

Or just leave it as is, that grain is pretty sweet on there and matches the vibe of the frankenstein headstock repair. Stripped natural are super easy to sell because people can refinish to the exact color they want.
If this were "my" bass I'd probably do sherwood, heavy yellowed shoreline, tahitian, or burgundy. But don't do sherwood as I'm having a 1963 refinished in sherwood atm If you had a green nitrate guard this list would be totally different.

 

[friskinator]

If you don't care about it being period correct, this option is unique. Metallic purple. I'm a big fan of color options that you don't see often, and this would fit the bill.

 

[mikeswals]

I still have that set of original Klusons...

 

[Bass4ThePublic]

Faded shell pink by Joe Riggio, or Olympic White.