NBD: 1965/1966 CAR Precision

[lesclaypoolsob]

Picked this up recently. Tuners are late 60s or early 70s replacements and there's an ugly body route under the pickguard for a pickup mod. Pickguard is also a replacement but still looks older. Neck stamp is 65 and pots are early 66. I dig the padauk (?) board and overall wear. Needs some fretwork but sounds and feels nice!

 

[J-Bass RMR]

Nice!
as I say; tell me what an "ugly body route" sounds like? A: Affordable!

 

[Bob_Ross]

Back of that neck looks gorgeous! Bet it feels wonderful.

Padauk seems like an odd choice for a Fender fingerboard; are you sure it’s not just a lovely color of rosewood?

 

[lesclaypoolsob]

Back of that neck looks gorgeous! Bet it feels wonderful.

Padauk seems like an odd choice for a Fender fingerboard; are you sure it’s not just a lovely color of rosewood?

According to George Gruhn, Leo experimented with padauk board in '65 and made very few P and J basses with it. I've seen some other alleged examples from the same batch - same month and year.

 

[Metal Sombreros]

Amazing P bass absolutely perfect!

 

[Mastermold]

According to George Gruhn, Leo experimented with padauk board in '65 and made very few P and J basses with it. I've seen some other alleged examples from the same batch - same month and year.

Well, in 1965 it would not have been Leo anymore, would’ve been CBS Fender. Looks great regardless of whose idea it was! Congrats on the new bass!

 

[lesclaypoolsob]

Well, in 1965 it would not have been Leo anymore, would’ve been CBS Fender. Looks great regardless of whose idea it was! Congrats on the new bass!

I believe Leo was still in a consultant role. In any case, I can't prove it's padauk and anyone with inside knowledge is probably long gone sadly. Thank you!

 

[cataract]

Man this thing looks cozy. Congrats!

 

[Symphony2040]

Beautiful wear on that! Congrats

 

[TomB]

Very nice! Did the later 65 / early 66 P’s sport lollipops or was that just a Jazz feature?

 

[erratick]

Can you get a better shot of the fretboard? Kind of looks like rosewood.

I've always seen padauk more reddish, but it does darken over time. I've also only seen a couple instruments with padauk.

 

[erratick]

Very nice! Did the later 65 / early 66 P’s sport lollipops or was that just a Jazz feature?

They are replacement tuners according to the OP.

However, some 66-68 P basses in the CBS era got what they got though as parts were used up- so I guess it's possible. Primarily Jazz basses and Tele basses 66 or so got lolipops.

Pretty thorough discussion here:

Thread 'Why did Fender introduce and discontinue the lollipop tuners?'

Feb 21, 2013

I have a Fender Jazz from '66, which has the gorgeous lollipop tuners. THen I wondered: why did Fender introduce those in the first place, and why did they discontinue them relatively quick? Were they too expensive to build? Did basses with lollipops not sell that well?

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[lesclaypoolsob]

Can you get a better shot of the fretboard? Kind of looks like rosewood.

I've always seen padauk more reddish, but it does darken over time. I've also only seen a couple instruments with padauk.

The grain or texture reminds me more of mahogany which is why I thought padauk.

 

[JIO]

Very nice! Did the later 65 / early 66 P’s sport lollipops or was that just a Jazz feature?

A few P-basses ended up with pops as did late '65 J's. The Paisley P's & J's also sported them.

 

[skycruiser]

Really nice but your photos give me a feeling of claustrophobia!

 

[Mr.Fingers]

Very nice! Did the later 65 / early 66 P’s sport lollipops or was that just a Jazz feature?

They were reserved for the Jazz, but if there was low stock of the Kluson 546's, the lollipops went on the P. Towards the end of 1967, when Fender was gearing up to go from the lollipop towards to CBS cloverleaf tuner, you could see any tuner being used on the P-bass. Seeing some Coronado/Mustang tuners (they are smaller lollipops) is not a rarity then.

 

[JIO]

They were reserved for the Jazz, but if there was low stock of the Kluson 546's, the lollipops went on the P. Towards the end of 1967, when Fender was gearing up to go from the lollipop towards to CBS cloverleaf tuner, you could see any tuner being used on the P-bass. Seeing some Coronado/Mustang tuners (they are smaller lollipops) is not a rarity then.

Yes, smaller plates/shorter stems. Many years ago I installed a set of '66 Mustang tuners on a Tele-bass style neck and had to shave down the top edge to accommodate them.

 

[J-Bass RMR]

1966 Fender Jazz Bass Sunburst Padauk Fretboard Binding + Dots w/ Case

 

[5StringBlues]

Hummada

 

[Bass4ThePublic]

According to George Gruhn, Leo experimented with padauk board in '65 and made very few P and J basses with it. I've seen some other alleged examples from the same batch - same month and year.

My Jun65 Jazz bass has paduak. Seen it from June to August 65.

Took this pic after yearly maintenance and fretboard oil. It’s paduak.