IMO, the P-Bass is less like a dinosaur back from extinction than the "B-52 of basses" which is based on a ' 50s design but keeps on doing its job, decade after decade. The P-Bass has never been extinct as a mainstay of the music world.
Hmmm, I dunno about that.
I came up in the 80's, and there was nothing more "
uncool" then than an unmodded big ole P-bass. Fender barely survived back then. People either forget that, or didn't live it.
Fender came out with about a zillion modern unloved instruments that no one bought (and no one remembers), just to try to stay relevant.
For instance, I bought a mint NOS 1978 Precision for $200 in 1989; it couldn't be
given away. No one wanted it, and I didn't even feel "right" playing that big thing back in the era of Spectors and what-not. My friends looked at me funny when I
did play it. It was completely
not cool.
Things changed quickly and have completely turned around, but in the mid to late 80's, nothing was more unfashionable than a stock Fender Precision, especially if it had the covers on it. I remember seeing them in pawn shops for $100. Hell, I bought one for $60! Beat up, but $60 for a 1974 Precision. That's just the reality of the mid-late 80's and the Fender P. It wasn't truly extinct, but it was on its way until the course correction we have now.
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