SHOW YOUR DISTRESSED FINISHES!

[JIO]

Do you have more information about the thin walnut finish from the 70's ?
I have a Walnut P from 74 and never heard about it.

Only know it was introduced then and appeared of all Fender guitars and basses as an optional color/finish. I don't recall ever seeing a Tele-bass in 'mocha', but it wouldn't surprise me if it also got that finish. It's called 'walnut' because that's the stain colour, over ash and alder. Not sure if "mocha" was a Fender invention or just what people started calling it. Stains are thin to allow the wood grain to show through and surprisingly for '70s CBS/Fender it didn't seem to have a thick poly clear-coat over the stain.

 

[God's Favorite Bass]

Only know it was introduced then and appeared of all Fender guitars and basses as an optional color/finish. I don't recall ever seeing a Tele-bass in 'mocha', but it wouldn't surprise me if it also got that finish. It's called 'walnut' because that's the stain colour, over ash and alder. Not sure if "mocha" was a Fender invention or just what people started calling it. Stains are thin to allow the wood grain to show through and surprisingly for '70s CBS/Fender it didn't seem to have a thick poly clear-coat over the stain.

They did a mocha Telebass, I had one. Got it on the cheap because some knucklehead stripped the face. Just the face mind you.. Got it at Dave's and I refinished it Torino red w/ white 3 ply. I still had my house/booth at the time. It had the big decal. Super cool bass.

 

[JIO]

They did a mocha Telebass, I had one. Got it on the cheap because some knucklehead stripped the face. Just the face mind you.. Got it at Dave's and I refinished it Torino red w/ white 3 ply. I still had my house/booth at the time. It had the big decal. Super cool bass.

I figured they did one - just have never seen an example.

 

[Eneade]

Only know it was introduced then and appeared of all Fender guitars and basses as an optional color/finish. I don't recall ever seeing a Tele-bass in 'mocha', but it wouldn't surprise me if it also got that finish. It's called 'walnut' because that's the stain colour, over ash and alder. Not sure if "mocha" was a Fender invention or just what people started calling it. Stains are thin to allow the wood grain to show through and surprisingly for '70s CBS/Fender it didn't seem to have a thick poly clear-coat over the stain.

Thanks
Here is mine. The lacquer has cracked, the guy I got it from told me the bass was nitro cellulose. At the time I did not believe it being a 74 Fender, but it may be a thin poly...

BS6A9702 by Eneade, sur Flickr

BS6A9710 by Eneade, sur Flickr

BS6A9707 by Eneade, sur Flickr

And on this picture, it's hard to see but there is some crazing on the headstock

Fender 74 & 75 headstocks by Eneade, sur Flickr

 

[Dynacord]

Thanks
Here is mine. The lacquer has cracked, the guy I got it from told me the bass was nitro cellulose. At the time I did not believe it being a 74 Fender, but it may be a thin poly...

View attachment 4336024BS6A9702 by Eneade, sur Flickr

View attachment 4336025BS6A9710 by Eneade, sur Flickr

View attachment 4336026BS6A9707 by Eneade, sur Flickr

And on this picture, it's hard to see but there is some crazing on the headstock

View attachment 4336027Fender 74 & 75 headstocks by Eneade, sur Flickr

Yeah, that widely spaced checking looks much more like what I'd expect with some poly finishes - particularly if thin - vs nitro. Of course, there can always be exceptions.

 

[God's Favorite Bass]

I figured they did one - just have never seen an example.

Oh, it was a poor example LOL.

 

[JIO]

CAD '64 J currently on eBay (no affiliation) $$$$

 

[JIO]

Thanks
Here is mine. The lacquer has cracked, the guy I got it from told me the bass was nitro cellulose. At the time I did not believe it being a 74 Fender, but it may be a thin poly...

View attachment 4336024BS6A9702 by Eneade, sur Flickr

View attachment 4336025BS6A9710 by Eneade, sur Flickr

View attachment 4336026BS6A9707 by Eneade, sur Flickr

And on this picture, it's hard to see but there is some crazing on the headstock

View attachment 4336027Fender 74 & 75 headstocks by Eneade, sur Flickr

Sweet P

 

[God's Favorite Bass]

CAD '64 J currently on eBay (no affiliation) $$$$

View attachment 4351808 View attachment 4351809 View attachment 4351810

Boy howdy that hot!

 

[JIO]

Boy howdy that hot!

I've never been a big CAR fan - I mean, I like it ok but just not in an unholy way. When I was playing in my high-school 'combo', my bass was in the shop and we had a gig at our school auditorium. From the same shop, I rented a CAR J just like that one (w/matching hs) - probably was around the same year (early/mid '60s) as it was one of their used basses. I remember taking the covers off (it had both) because they were in the way.

 

[JIO]

Thanks
Here is mine. The lacquer has cracked, the guy I got it from told me the bass was nitro cellulose. At the time I did not believe it being a 74 Fender, but it may be a thin poly...

View attachment 4336024BS6A9702 by Eneade, sur Flickr

View attachment 4336025BS6A9710 by Eneade, sur Flickr

View attachment 4336026BS6A9707 by Eneade, sur Flickr

And on this picture, it's hard to see but there is some crazing on the headstock

View attachment 4336027Fender 74 & 75 headstocks by Eneade, sur Flickr

It's poly, not lacquer. See post #4754 - Burns of London with similar (poly) checking.

View attachment 4215270

 

[JIO]

Late '60's ('66-68) NR T-bird (on eBay- no affiliation) Lacquer checking. Someone moved the bridge posts so it would correctly intone. You'd think that by the 2nd generation that Gibson would have addressed that issue...

 

[Dynacord]

CAD '64 J currently on eBay (no affiliation) $$$$

View attachment 4351808 View attachment 4351809 View attachment 4351810

Nice. I had a similar L-series '65 with a couple odd transitional details (I probably posted earlier in this thread, not sure). It was from the time when Fender transitioned from the silver metallic basecoat (over the white primer) in favor of gold and this one had both - could see all the layers: wood, yellow dye, white primer, silver, gold, trans red, clear. Seen a couple other CAR Fenders which did the same since. Headstock was just silver, trans red, clear. Also had a green guard which would have been a stray then (when people talk about "leftover" pre-CBS parts it's usually total BS but this was an actual exception).

Really good bass and did a lot of gigs with it. Sold it to Chris Solberg (great, great Bay Area bass player - was with Eddie Money when he was big in the 70's and then 7 or 8 years with Santana, recorded a lot of the Chris Isaak albums and he and Prairie Prince 'ghosted' the bass and drums on a lot of records). Recently saw that it is now in the UK.

 

[Dynacord]

Late '60's ('66-68) NR T-bird (on eBay- no affiliation) Lacquer checking. Someone moved the bridge posts so it would correctly intone. You'd think that by the 2nd generation that Gibson would have addressed that issue...

I've mentioned before that I had the '64 reverse t-bird that Tiran Porter used in the Doobie Bros. He and his tech (Mark Brown) dealt with the intonation issue by putting a Fender bridge on (on top of a black plastic spacer). Pity as it was otherwise stock (though the pickups were swapped with chrome ones from a late 60's bird as they were hotter), original finish and no repairs (unbroken headstock).

I kind of wonder if flats might have intonated better on the original bridges (?) I've never tested it as I've always used rounds on t-birds.

 

[Dynacord]

Not a bass but a '63 with some pretty extreme wear:

 

[JIO]

I've mentioned before that I had the '64 reverse t-bird that Tiran Porter used in the Doobie Bros. He and his tech (Mark Brown) dealt with the intonation issue by putting a Fender bridge on (on top of a black plastic spacer). Pity as it was otherwise stock (though the pickups were swapped with chrome ones from a late 60's bird as they were hotter), original finish and no repairs (unbroken headstock).

I kind of wonder if flats might have intonated better on the original bridges (?) I've never tested it as I've always used rounds on t-birds.

Me neither - (never strung my bird w/flats) - I kinda doubt it, it was one of those details that slipped through the cracks with Gibson. My nut was mis-slotted from the factory and I didn't realize it to much later. I cut a brass one for it with correct spacing.

Distressed nut?

 

[Dynacord]

Me neither - (never strung my bird w/flats) - I kinda doubt it, it was one of those details that slipped through the cracks with Gibson. My nut was mis-slotted from the factory and I didn't realize it to much later. I cut a brass one for it with correct spacing.

Check out the retrofit bridge on my Embassy. It was on it already when the previous owner bought the bass in the late 70's by his recollection:

Of course I've seen others since, starting with Scott Dasson's 'Badbird' (which is far better made) but interesting seeing a 'prehistoric' example.

 

[JIO]

Check out the retrofit bridge on my Embassy. It was on it already when the previous owner bought the bass in the late 70's by his recollection:

View attachment 4354594

Of course I've seen others since, starting with Scott Dasson's 'Badbird' (which is far better made) but interesting seeing a 'prehistoric' example.

There's some ingenuity!

 

[JIO]

random selection from the net -

 

[God's Favorite Bass]

That's some hubba hubba right there.