My 1960 Fender Precision got refinished. Feels almost like NBD

A handful of folks have seen my acquisition and then quest to get repaired to working order a '60 P that got sold, in terrible shape, to a MusicGoRound in the Atlanta area. I wish I'd taken pics of when I first saw it! Cheap black paint on the tuners & pup covers, a really amateur-hour clearcoat "finish", chewed frets, no decal, and a totally wrecked truss rod nut.

After investing time and money into both cleaning it up and getting it to stage-ready condition, I had it looking thus:



The obnoxiously awesome chickenhead knobs and rather crappy but usable pickguard were aftermarket, as were the flathead screws in place everywhere. Electronics-wise, I've got the original stuff but put a fresh harness and an incredible-sounding Curtis Novak PB-V in.

Well, my stepfather, Michael Ellis, lead singer and guitarist of the Radio Ramblers and 20-year dj of WRFG Atlanta's Good Morning Blues Progam, who trucked me up to Nashville twice in getting the bass refretted, and who was a giant of a man in character and passion for music, passed away in February. Shortly after, I decided to take the last planned step for the bass that he'd helped get to working shape.

So I found Holland Musical Instruments in Acworth, GA via a bassist friend. Jonathan took the bass, and after consulting and deciding on the direction, he got to work.

Three months later....



It had already been refinished a good three or four times, by our estimate. Gruhn Guitars and Jonathan both verified the bass's authenticity, and the choice of the refinish job was to both be a little outlandish while just partially restoring the instrument and also reflecting its age....so there's a light relic done along with the aged sonic blue.

Personally, and my opinion is the one I'm listening to... I wish my stepfather had gotten to see the restored instrument. He got to hear it, as I gigged the dogsnot out of it with him when he was still playing, so that means a lot, but I think it's now exactly how I want it. Aged, quirky, modded a bit, but still holding to its original character.

 

Thanks! & yeah, that J bridge cover was on it when I bought it; I didn't even know it had that wear till I cleaned it up. It's part of the bass's mysterious story!

Thanks! I wondered about that and will ask Jonathan. He may have had limited sources on the decal, but may also be willing to replace it. It's on top of the finish, which I understand is accurate to the times, so maybe it's not impossible to get a period-correct one in place?

Hey, we're all individuals and in a different year, I'd go a different route. This one is very, very connected to the story of how I found it and where I played it, so it's become unique to me. And also haha: thankya! Also, for discussion's sake, what would you have done?

Thank you! Thus far, I'm looking at it and finding nothing I'd do differently (aside from maybe a more period-correct decal per above haha)

Thankya! It's been gigged once already and is a hit with some older ladies at a brewery in north Georgia lol... and it just feels great to hold. I'm finna play the living crap out of it in good health!

 

Olympic White was very very high on the short list. The sonic blue & headstock job were both "life is short" decisions, and every time I look at the bass I get excited about the very thought of wielding it, so I know I did right by me haha... but honestly, I sorta kinda a bit wished my guy aged and kept the existing screws, as they had a ton of character! Authenticity to me is, first and foremost, honesty, and that goes for both a "period-accurate" refinish and also acknowledging change over time. He did great by highlighting the dings that were already on the body, so not at all trying to erase the age of the thing.

All that notwithstanding, my luthier's process is just another step in the bass's story. What comes next is entirely up to me.