Potentially future 1969 Pbass. Help me date some components and the aftermarket bridge Pup!

That rosewood fretword looks too thick, no round laminated - I think it's glued on.


Should look like that:

The Official Fender Precision Bass Club (Part 8)

 

This bass should not have a slab fretboard at all. that ended during 62. The tuners and the string tree are correct.
But I have seen some tech wizards install replacement fretboards, and I bet that's what happened with this.

 

the 12th fret dots are definitely spread really far out

 

Those stock 69' split coil pickups though....

 

Definitely replaced fingerboard. Flatter than normal radius too. And THICK. The bridge saddles don't appear to be jacked all the way up to compensate, so I have to wonder if they deepened the neck pocket. If so, a stock neck replacement is a no-go without a 1/4" thick full-pocket shim. Weird.

 

Authenticate, authenticate, authenticate!!! Feel no shame at insisting that every detail be inspected and confirmed so that the true nature of the instrument is known before paying the asking price. If something is suspect, then walk away. It's better to have no vintage Fender than a fake one, or a partial fake one!

 

The body looks great (legit or otherwise!) but that neck seems real phoney- the headstock is so clean even if it has been locked up for years. The bridge piece looks aged but the tuners are spotless. The FB looks dodgy as well as per other comments.

 

I know a guy with a '65 P pickup he just ripped out of a refinished oly white P bass. Want to trade?

 

Do your homework. If you decide to take it, dump both pickups for a Bill Lawrence J45 and P46 set.

 

You didn't say, but I'm supposing it's priced like an average, old guitar. If so, buy it as a player if you like it, and do what you want with it. Remember, back then, Precision basses were routinely hot-rodded as they were common, not really special to most guys, and adding a Jazz pickup was the ticket back then, still is for some today.

This is a different situation than if it were a real, been under the bed for 30 years, all original vintage axe, which would of course come with a nosebleed asking price. Which would be justified if all the 'screw counters' and serious homework agree that it is indeed an all-original, untouched piece.

As always, there's a big difference between 'old' and true 'vintage'. If it was me, if it's solid, warts and all, and I liked it, I'd buy it. Maybe you can't re-sell it and take the proceeds to get a new Benz, but believe me, those 'lotto' guitars are hard to come by for most of us.

 

That red Jazz pickup is likely a Seymour Duncan, rather than a Bartolini. Cliff Burton used one in his Rick, so you could sell the pickup to some purist Cliff fan!

 

I need a picture of the back of the headstock, with the A-tuner removed. As things are standing now, the fretboard (shape, the spacing of the 12th fret dots, the material) does not add up, but the headstock does. Maybe someone planed the neck, and added a new fretboard to it.

 

Does it matter that 01/05/1969 is a Sunday?

 

If it's a good price and it sounds and plays good, grab it before someone else does!

 

5 is only the identification for Precision, 7 for Jazz.