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NBD 1978 Fender Precision Bass

Congrats Mike. Great looking bass. I just got this one a few months ago. It's a '75 with an "A" Jazz width neck. Enjoy her, she's beautiful.

Hey brother good to hear from you I hope you're doing well wow that bass is stunning and I don't know about neck profiles but that's exactly what my neck feels like not a traditional P width at all was the A profile available in 78'?
 
WOW that is gorgeous! And in such nice shape, too. Love the sunburst + black and the stellar wood grain. I recently picked up a '77 in mocha, a very light one with a great-feeling neck. Personally, I love the sound of these '70s P basses, they have more of an edge to them than earlier years.

Hope you love it for years to come!

Thank you I looked at two mocha's love that color but they were heavily modded and out of my budget could you post a picture of your bass that looks sweet.
 
I noticed a large number of threads recently geared toward P basses so I looked around and noticed that I sold all of mine during my last bass purge so I went looking for a nice P bass even though one of the P bass models in my Line 6 Variax is really good I still wanted a P bass. I looked at the new AVRI's and although they are all beautiful sounding well made basses I wasn't ready to lay out that much coin on a new bass my recent purchase of a Warwick Thumb has got me a little gun shy. I've heard nothing but good things about the Road Worn 50's Precisions and I was about to pull the trigger when I decided to just take a look at Guitar Centers vintage P basses I saw this beauty and I liked that fact that I had three days to check it out to make sure it was authentic I had it shipped to my local store and the tech went over it again to check the dates she was made between Dec 1977 and Dec 1978 all of the electronics date to 77' everything else is 78' even the serial number sticker on the pickguard matches the headstock all original solder joints etc.


Condition:
The bass is in beautiful condition some very light scratches on the pickguard and a couple of small worn spots on the front. I love the brighter red in the burst and all of the metal is in great shape some of the chrome paint is missing in spots on the knobs so I bought some new ones from TB'er bassdude51(thanks again sir) I also ordered a new pickguard so I could put the original up I want to avoid that dreaded broken tip I see on many old P basses. The foam mute is there not sure if it's original? it's definitely not new.

Tone/Playability: I have a very bad habit of over gushing about new gear probably more than anyone else on this forum so I wanted to play the bass for awhile before I gave my review. The neck is just wonderful even the tech at GC couldn't put it down it's so comfortable and smooth I usually don't notice necks but this one really stands out. All of my P basses have had flats without fail but this bass came with some really great feeling and sounding mystery rounds? (red silk at the tuner end nothing at the ball end maybe GHS Boomers?) and I'm telling you if you are against putting rounds on your P bass you really are missing out on the full tonal range of these basses this thing can do everything from Motown to the Clash back to The Band Perry without breaking a sweat I'm officially a convert. And now the pictures. :)

Edit: Sorry about the pictures my nerve damage prevents me from taking great pictures I'll have to get a tripod.

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Just want you to know I'm sitting here at 1am switching out my gold guard for a 5 ply black with thumb rest on this after seeing yours and the perfect 3tsb. I hope you are happy with yourself little mister.
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Congrats, beaut of a bass!

agree with OP about taking the bass apart in GC to "look under the hood"... Thats a MUST when buying vintage or even expensive Fenders from GC. I do the same thing every time -- and yes, I have caught more than my fair share of "unadvertised surprises" as a result!

Anyway, congrats again!
 
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agree with OP about taking the bass apart in GC to "look under the hood"... Thats a MUST when buying vintage or even expensive Fenders from GC. I do the same thing every time -- and yes, I have caught more than my fair share of "unadvertised surprises" as a result!
Aw, c'mon! What fun is opening a present if you already know what's inside?;)
 
Congrats on the beautiful bass it doesn't look nearly as old as it isPretty darn classy indeed I'd like to say I'd like one just like it but I prefer fivers but it's still a beauty and sometimes its hard for me to admit I think another's bass is attractive because it may be misconstrued as jealousy and that I wish I had what you had which couldn't be further from the truth.

PS I never used to read your posts but I've learned the sporadic punctuation is like calisthenics for the brain.:smug:so now I don't mind it so much if any at all

Congrats!

I'm not jelly though don't think that
 
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I noticed a large number of threads recently geared toward P basses so I looked around and noticed that I sold all of mine during my last bass purge so I went looking for a nice P bass even though one of the P bass models in my Line 6 Variax is really good I still wanted a P bass. I looked at the new AVRI's and although they are all beautiful sounding well made basses I wasn't ready to lay out that much coin on a new bass my recent purchase of a Warwick Thumb has got me a little gun shy. I've heard nothing but good things about the Road Worn 50's Precisions and I was about to pull the trigger when I decided to just take a look at Guitar Centers vintage P basses I saw this beauty and I liked that fact that I had three days to check it out to make sure it was authentic I had it shipped to my local store and the tech went over it again to check the dates she was made between Dec 1977 and Dec 1978 all of the electronics date to 77' everything else is 78' even the serial number sticker on the pickguard matches the headstock all original solder joints etc.

Condition: The bass is in beautiful condition some very light scratches on the pickguard and a couple of small worn spots on the front. I love the brighter red in the burst and all of the metal is in great shape some of the chrome paint is missing in spots on the knobs so I bought some new ones from TB'er bassdude51(thanks again sir) I also ordered a new pickguard so I could put the original up I want to avoid that dreaded broken tip I see on many old P basses. The foam mute is there not sure if it's original? it's definitely not new.

Tone/Playability: I have a very bad habit of over gushing about new gear probably more than anyone else on this forum so I wanted to play the bass for awhile before I gave my review. The neck is just wonderful even the tech at GC couldn't put it down it's so comfortable and smooth I usually don't notice necks but this one really stands out. All of my P basses have had flats without fail but this bass came with some really great feeling and sounding mystery rounds? (red silk at the tuner end nothing at the ball end maybe GHS Boomers?) and I'm telling you if you are against putting rounds on your P bass you really are missing out on the full tonal range of these basses this thing can do everything from Motown to the Clash back to The Band Perry without breaking a sweat I'm officially a convert. And now the pictures. :)

Firstly, congrats. Beautiful Precision, even the bridge cover foam looks original.
Looks very clean and well cared for.
And, I will echo others, that is a nice looking 'burst.
Also I have to agree with you re: rounds vs. flats. Had flats on my P bass for years, recently switched to rounds, and the thing is like a cannon when needed, but can get mellow and friendly too (I still love flats, for sure, but this bass deserves to run free for a while.)

I wish you many hours of enjoyment. :D
 
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Congrats, beaut of a bass!

agree with OP about taking the bass apart in GC to "look under the hood"... Thats a MUST when buying vintage or even expensive Fenders from GC. I do the same thing every time -- and yes, I have caught more than my fair share of "unadvertised surprises" as a result!

Anyway, congrats again!

My tech told me that GC is very good about verifying its vintage instruments but the only GC I trust is mine so I wanted to make sure.
 
Yay!!! Beeeyoooteeeful. Is the pickup the original with the ceramic magnets? My '76 came loaded with one and it was the first thing to go. Just before the black guard was replaced with a torty. Roundwounds do bring out a different character compared to flats, you can really open up the sound. Good for you. Enjoy your new bass.
 
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Congrats on that beauty!

I also owned a late 70's 3TSB just like that (but with maple fretboard) that I bought in the late 70's.

I can't remember who I sold it to (early 80's) but I miss it. Seeing yours makes me miss it all over again :crying:

Oh well you can't keep 'em all, hang on to that one and enjoy.

Also, I recently tried Boomers on one of my P's and was very surprised at how good they sounded, just solid P tone.
 
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