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NBD American Vintage II 1960 Precision

Wannabass

Wannabass

Supporting Member
Oct 17, 2005
371
1,251
Eastern Upstate New York
#1
Actually it's been about a month now but with life happening finally getting to do a quick report.
I had been looking for a 62 AVRI precision for a number 1 as info here shows it would feel close to my 66.
I've had a chance to try out a lot of different basses and settled on the Precision that feels best to me.
I used my JSNB short scale for a while but it just felted cramped to me. Beautiful instrument and sounded great but every time I broke out the 66 it just felt right.
I stopped in to Parkway having some appointments in the area and tried this vintage 2. It was used but has everything included and looks mint and very well made. Looks like a 1 piece body?
So after stopping in a few more times I decided to trade in the JS for it. Made a deal and came home with it.
My intentions were to get something a bit more beat up but I guess I'll have to do that myself. The negatives for me are the side marker dots, cannot see them and figured I could replace them and its a little over 9lbs. I figure Gotoh resolite tuners would help get it closer to the 8lb 8oz of the 66.
I'll probably put stickers on the side dots for now but really tempted to drill out the old and install Luminlay. Finish is so nice though.. Kind of like the darker fretboard markers but I still need the side reference.
I put LaBella 760FS on it and it is still a lot brighter that the 66. Going to take some technique improvement to tame it but it does sound great. The other noticeable difference is the knobs on the on the vintage 2 are tight. 60 years of use on the 66 and just kind of get a little hesitant picking it up every day.
So pictures
original_d77502d3-6b5c-4de8-8e87-b74e743eb3fc_PXL_20251215_162125710.jpg
original_58c1b5f6-d45e-427d-a0ed-ee1c9f93db2c_PXL_20251215_162220690 (1).jpg
original_d0f7f5e1-c740-4818-bd37-1d95426d2404_PXL_20251215_162141821.jpg
original_10a92cda-6344-46e2-9cca-5dc65403d6f3_PXL_20251215_162234899.jpg
PXL_20251215_162333722.jpg
PXL_20251215_162452453.jpg

Still gonna gas for the 62 AVRI but the pressure is off :)
 
Last edited:
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#4
Love them both. 😍 The side-by-side is a cool depiction. Thank you!

And yeah, those side dots are a PITA. The Rosewood is so thin, and they position the dots half way into the maple neck, making them nearly invisible.

The luminae stuff is just OK. It's better than nothing. White dots with a black ring would be better. I wonder if anyone makes that material. 🤔 Or even a half white half black dot. Anyway, first world problems.

I got frustrated and just put blue nail polish dots below the white dots, in the maple, on my Rosewood neck P. 🙃

EBMM does a nice job with a thicker fretboard and larger dots fully inside the Rosewood.
 
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#6
Goatrope said:
Love them both. 😍 The side-by-side is a cool depiction. Thank you!

And yeah, those side dots are a PITA. The Rosewood is so thin, and they position the dots half way into the maple neck, making them nearly invisible.

The luminae stuff is just OK. It's better than nothing. White dots with a black ring would be better. I wonder if anyone makes that material. 🤔 Or even a half white half black dot. Anyway, first world problems.

I got frustrated and just put blue nail polish dots below the white dots, in the maple, on my Rosewood neck P. 🙃

EBMM does a nice job with a thicker fretboard and larger dots fully inside the Rosewood.
Click to expand...
Check out Luminlay side dots. They can be found on Amazon for around $24. There is drilling involved but not too hard. If I can do it, anybody can do it. I just installed some last weekend on a P bass and going to do it on my Vintera P this weekend.
 
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#11
socknroll1 said:
Congrats on 2 lovely P-Basses. I am also an upstater and Parkway shopper. Best wishes.
Click to expand...
Thanks! The JS didn't last too long on their wall.
I really liked their old basement bass area in the old days. I bought a few basses there over the years and sold a few for cash locally never taking a loss. Always been good to me for an eternal rank amateur.
 
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#12
Wannabass said:
Actually it's been about a month now but with life happening finally getting to do a quick report.
I had been looking for a 62 AVRI precision for a number 1 as info here shows it would feel close to my 66.
I've had a chance to try out a lot of different basses and settled on the Precision that feels best to me.
I used my JSNB short scale for a while but it just felted cramped to me. Beautiful instrument and sounded great but every time I broke out the 66 it just felt right.
I stopped in to Parkway having some appointments in the area and tried this vintage 2. It was used but has everything included and looks mint and very well made. Looks like a 1 piece body?
So after stopping in a few more times I decided to trade in the JS for it. Made a deal and came home with it.
My intentions were to get something a bit more beat up but I guess I'll have to do that myself. The negatives for me are the side marker dots, cannot see them and figured I could replace them and its a little over 9lbs. I figure Gotoh resolite tuners would help get it closer to the 8lb 8oz of the 66.
I'll probably put stickers on the side dots for now but really tempted to drill out the old and install Luminlay. Finish is so nice though.. Kind of like the darker fretboard markers but I still need the side reference.
I put LaBella 760FS on it and it is still a lot brighter that the 66. Going to take some technique improvement to tame it but it does sound great. The other noticeable difference is the knobs on the on the vintage 2 are tight. 60 years of use on the 66 and just kind of get a little hesitant picking it up every day.
So pictures
View attachment 7391336View attachment 7391337View attachment 7391338View attachment 7391340View attachment 7391341View attachment 7391342
Still gonna gas for the 62 AVRI but the pressure is off :)
Click to expand...
I've been eye-balling that bass too. I'd like to find a real 1960, but a really nice one would be to hard to justify, i.e my wife would kill me.
 
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#17
Made a couple modifications for the two things that bothered me the most.
Gotoh resolite reverse tuners shaved off some weight. I reused the original bushings as the new ones were very loose in the holes and shimming them seemed like a bad idea.
I haven't been brave enough to drill out the side marker dots yet. Got a leather hole punch and had some aluminum tape that sticks extremely well so punched out some dots and stuck them on. Strange bonus I can feel a slight bump for reference..
So for now it's done and very happy with it!
PXL_20260113_175120951 (1).jpg
original_572a0991-6ae6-49b5-939b-9e79a8fb0640_PXL_20260120_154540089 (1).jpg
PXL_20260122_175003971 (1).jpg
original_8020b5a3-58fa-4ed6-8f29-6a08bed5f889_PXL_20260201_155911605.jpg
 
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#20
Wannabass said:
Actually it's been about a month now but with life happening finally getting to do a quick report.
I had been looking for a 62 AVRI precision for a number 1 as info here shows it would feel close to my 66.
I've had a chance to try out a lot of different basses and settled on the Precision that feels best to me.
I used my JSNB short scale for a while but it just felted cramped to me. Beautiful instrument and sounded great but every time I broke out the 66 it just felt right.
I stopped in to Parkway having some appointments in the area and tried this vintage 2. It was used but has everything included and looks mint and very well made. Looks like a 1 piece body?
So after stopping in a few more times I decided to trade in the JS for it. Made a deal and came home with it.
My intentions were to get something a bit more beat up but I guess I'll have to do that myself. The negatives for me are the side marker dots, cannot see them and figured I could replace them and its a little over 9lbs. I figure Gotoh resolite tuners would help get it closer to the 8lb 8oz of the 66.
I'll probably put stickers on the side dots for now but really tempted to drill out the old and install Luminlay. Finish is so nice though.. Kind of like the darker fretboard markers but I still need the side reference.
I put LaBella 760FS on it and it is still a lot brighter that the 66. Going to take some technique improvement to tame it but it does sound great. The other noticeable difference is the knobs on the on the vintage 2 are tight. 60 years of use on the 66 and just kind of get a little hesitant picking it up every day.
So pictures
View attachment 7391336View attachment 7391337View attachment 7391338View attachment 7391340View attachment 7391341View attachment 7391342
Still gonna gas for the 62 AVRI but the pressure is off :)
Click to expand...

Are the necks a lot different in thickness back to front or is that just a trick of the photo angle?
 
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