My P Bass Refurb

[MynameisMe]

I got this MIM P Bass for $ 200.00 on Craigslist. It had great action an aged lacquer neck and all original hardware. It was real dirty and had a funk about it.
It took three attempts with naptha, rubbing alcohol and Murphy's Oil Soap to get the funk off it.
It took taking all the hardware off and cleaning it several times.
I replaced the pickups with Fender Original P Bass pickups and a new pick guards. The pots were fine.
Here are the pics. Enjoy! Plays and sounds awesome!

 

[MynameisMe]

I was leaning towards a greener color of pickguard but I let my wife choose this color. I'm extremely happy with the way it turned out.

 

[Vinnie Boombatz]

Get some proper knobs.

 

[MynameisMe]

Get some proper knobs.

Those came with it. I was thinking the chrome small ones would look good. I haven’t ordered them yet.
Don’t like the vintage look? Lol.

 

[MynameisMe]

Get some proper knobs.

They do look like someone stole them off an old radio or something...

 

[Ghastly]

They do look like someone stole them off an old radio or something...

Well, they're strat knobs. It's a nice job you've done, but I agree with Vinnie, for the P bass look you need P bass knobs.

 

[Marko 1]

Good deal, and the elbow grease makes you appreciate it more. Nice bass.

 

[Maxdusty]

Congrats- under all that dirt and grime, it looks to be in great condition. It's one of the black label Fender basses, I believe this is a Traditional series (the other Black label Fender is the Squier series).
Funny thing too is that I had a P bass that same color and picked up two pickguards, one that my wife thought might look good on it, exactly what your wife picked - that's the pic on the right. I wanted a more vintage looking pickguard and picked a mint green one (in the middle pic). I switched them around a couple of times before settling for the mint green.

 

[BassmanM]

The pickguard looks killer! Congratulations.

You could change the knobs, but then again, those strat knobs match the body color quite nicely.

 

[4sight]

I like it!

Yeah, the "black label" Fenders came with Strat style knobs. They really were pinching the pennies back then. Nice basses though, the one I played had really ballsy sounding ceramic PUs in.

 

[MynameisMe]

Congrats- under all that dirt and grime, it looks to be in great condition. It's one of the black label Fender basses, I believe this is a Traditional series (the other Black label Fender is the Squier series).
Funny thing too is that I had a P bass that same color and picked up two pickguards, one that my wife thought might look good on it, exactly what your wife picked - that's the pic on the right. I wanted a more vintage looking pickguard and picked a mint green one (in the middle pic). I switched them around a couple of times before settling for the mint green.
View attachment 3307372

Now that’s funny! I was looking at the more greener than blue pickguard in the same type pattern. It was a little darker but she talked me into the other one so I went with it.
The mint looks more classic. The bass is a 96 model.

 

[MynameisMe]

The pickguard looks killer! Congratulations.

You could change the knobs, but then again, those strat knobs match the body color quite nicely.

I thought they matched too, but I had no idea they were strat knobs.

 

[bordinco90]

It looks really nice!

 

[BassmanM]

I thought they matched too, but I had no idea they were strat knobs.

On second thoughts, I'd leave them. Just like the pickguard, they give the bass a special touch.

 

[jd56hawk]

View attachment 3307205 View attachment 3307206 View attachment 3307208 View attachment 3307202 View attachment 3307203 View attachment 3307204 View attachment 3307205 View attachment 3307206 View attachment 3307208 I got this MIM P Bass for $ 200.00 on Craigslist. It had great action an aged lacquer neck and all original hardware. It was real dirty and had a funk about it.
It took three attempts with naptha, rubbing alcohol and Murphy's Oil Soap to get the funk off it.
It took taking all the hardware off and cleaning it several times.
I replaced the pickups with Fender Original P Bass pickups and a new pick guards. The pots were fine.
Here are the pics. Enjoy! Plays and sounds awesome!

Why go with white, black, tort, or gold when you can do something like this?
Dare to be different!

 

[Paulabass]

Strat knobs look good on a strat. Needs metal knobs.

 

[scuzzy]

enrage the TB collective and put Gibson speed knobs on that beast...

 

[BassmanM]

If you leave the strat knobs, cream pickup covers would be great too.

 

[McFarlin]

I would never think to add that pickguard to the white/rosewood combo, but it looks pretty cool. I agree that chrome knobs would look better.
Or, qparts has an awesome selection if you want to get crazy:
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[MCF]

View attachment 3307202 View attachment 3307203 View attachment 3307204 View attachment 3307205 View attachment 3307206 View attachment 3307208 View attachment 3307202 View attachment 3307203 View attachment 3307204 View attachment 3307205 View attachment 3307206 View attachment 3307208 I got this MIM P Bass for $ 200.00 on Craigslist. It had great action an aged lacquer neck and all original hardware. It was real dirty and had a funk about it.
It took three attempts with naptha, rubbing alcohol and Murphy's Oil Soap to get the funk off it.
It took taking all the hardware off and cleaning it several times.
I replaced the pickups with Fender Original P Bass pickups and a new pick guards. The pots were fine.
Here are the pics. Enjoy! Plays and sounds awesome!

Nice find! I love taking old guitars and basses apart and giving them a proper cleaning and setup. There’s something therapeutic and rewarding about doing it.