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NBD! '71 Precision
- Thread starter wateroftyne
- Start date
that ax looks good and sounds good, OP, and from your video, i'd guess that it feels great to play it, too! congratulations on your new instrument! 
Where do you find these wonderful toys? 
I Have a telecaster bass with an August 71 date stamp. Waaaaay more modified (by me) than your P.
I Have a telecaster bass with an August 71 date stamp. Waaaaay more modified (by me) than your P.
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......
Okay, you got me. I surrender. You and @wateroftyne had me laughing so hard I almost fell out of my chair. Literally.
I suppose if I really wanted to be a brat I could start a thread on Popular Song Lyrics rendered into Geordie. Of course only a select few could participate in this.
One thing I have not seen mentioned in this thread. Being a '71, OP's bass is not that far out from Leo's departure from CBS Fender. IIRC he did not leave until into 1969, so by 1971 he still should have had some residual influence on quality control. I don't think the "bad 70s Fender knock" was applicable at that time but only became relevant years after.
I have a formerly black 1971 A neck P, horribly modified by a previous owner (and compounded by me), and that is the best Fender I have owned and arguably the best of any I have encountered. Purchased by me in 1986 as a pawn shop prize.
I have a formerly black 1971 A neck P, horribly modified by a previous owner (and compounded by me), and that is the best Fender I have owned and arguably the best of any I have encountered. Purchased by me in 1986 as a pawn shop prize.
There's definitely something in that. I've owned quite a few early 70s Fenders, and there's something special about them.
Awesome! I have a 71 P as well. It’s also super light! I’ve had it since the 80’s and I’ll die with it.
Enjoy yours!
Enjoy yours!
Wow, this would be not only a birth year bass but even a birth month bass for me! Good catch, @wateroftyne !
Funny - my Mendel didn't come with any extra holes in the pickguard. Wonder when that changed...
Since you asked so nicely
Yes! That’s the sound. I have a very similar vintage Precision and I love how when you dig in you get that edgy mid range bite. It comes out more with round wounds but is still there with flats. I bought mine in 1973 and still have it.
Exactly. Mine is solid as a rock and earned me a living for many years. Bought used in ‘73, it still plays and sounds great.
The digit doesn’t represent the day of the month actually. 5 means the neck is for a Precision, 3 is for Telecasters and Esquires, 7 for jazz basses, 22 for strats etc. But then again with Fender being Fender in those days there are a lot of exceptions to this rule as well.
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Thank you for helping me understand why I preferred the rounds over flats in this clip
I’m keeping the rounds on for now, but as soon as the gigs start up she’s back to flats
Yep. I get the impression it's become a shibboleth that gets uttered reverently to "open doors" to all the "cool cats" who are "in the know". Around the mid-90s, a decade and a half after I bought my apparently shite P-bass, the discerning guitar cognoscenti on Usenet were decreeing that all post-65 and pre-85 Fenders be the Devil's Business. I guess the factory didn't get that memo from the future the day they put mine together, which had been solid as a rock for 43 years!
