Show your Fender CBS Era Bass

[A-Step-Towards]

I see so many threads on Pre-Cbs and even a club so here is a place for the era thats been shunned by some. CBS owned Fender from Early 1965 until 1985.Here are mine, excuse the guitar but I have to show it as well.

I am not into club numbers so if someone wants numbers they need to hand them out.

My current CBS Fenders in photos

Thats a'76 black P, '78 Walnut, a '76 musicmaster all original except refinish and a heavily modded '79 P bass.

My past CBS Fenders,
I also have had a 1976 walnut, a 1974 natural P, 1976 Stratocaster, a few 1970's musicmasters, a 1978 Fender Mustang bass and a 1975 Fender Jazz.

 

[headband]

My '66 and '69 Jazz basses next to my Nordy.

 

[GIBrat51]

Here's my '78 P-Bass. My first bass. Don't need or want another Fender anything; this one works just fine. Had to have it refinished in '90 (had to; long story), and replaced the original pickguard - which, of course, I still have. It's an A-spec neck, too.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

Aaah, this thread makes me miss my '72 and '73 J Basses.

 

[JIO]

'66 P - "magic bass"

 

[GBassNorth]

Here she is... My 1968 Fender Precision Bass in excellent and all original condition, faded to a glorious vanilla color.

I always get a kick out of the preCBS focus. I read some historical information on Fender a few years back that noted the Fender company had built up quite an inventory of bodies, necks, parts and pieces prior to the CBS purchase and that CBS didn't completely blow through that inventory until about 1970. So take heart, some of those CBS era basses have the same good mojo in some of their bits and pieces as the pre CBS stuff.

 

[AngelDust]

My precious

Link Removed

 

[FFTT]

There's a good chance some of your components are still pre-CBS, like the pots.

Recently someone was restoring a '69 Tele Bass and going over it, the pot codes we 1963.

At least you've got Brazilian Rosewood in the finger board.

'66 P - "magic bass"

 

[JIO]

There's a good chance some of your components are still pre-CBS, like the pots.

Recently someone was restoring a '69 Tele Bass and going over it, the pot codes we 1963.

At least you've got Brazilian Rosewood in the finger board.

Everything on it checks out from '66, but I've heard those stories. It's why I like this transition year because pretty much it's made the same as the year before! I have learned however that in mid-'66 they started installing med-jumbo frets - so that is a difference.

 

[The Bass Clef]

There's a good chance some of your components are still pre-CBS, like the pots.

Recently someone was restoring a '69 Tele Bass and going over it, the pot codes we 1963.

At least you've got Brazilian Rosewood in the finger board.

'63 pots in a '69 is too far of a stretch for me to believe they are original. It's possible but very unlikely IMO, because every '69 Fender I've ever seen has '66-69 pots (guitar or bass). More likely that they were replaced with "used pots" (that happened to be '63s) sometime in the '70s before they were collectable.

 

[FFTT]

I'm pretty sure they bid out those pots by the thousands and just kept using them till they got down to reserve stock.

Now pickups, were different, Fender went Machine wound in 1965 .

'63 pots in a '69 is too far of a stretch for me to believe they are original. It's possible but very unlikely IMO, because every '69 Fender I've ever seen has '66-69 pots (guitar or bass). More likely that they were replaced with "used pots" (that happened to be '63s) sometime in the '70s before they were collectable.

 

[The Bass Clef]

I'm pretty sure they bid out those pots by the thousands and just kept using them till they got down to reserve stock.

Now pickups, were different, Fender went Machine wound in 1965 .

They did buy them by the 1000s, but you'd think there would be other examples out there of '69s with '63 pots. Maybe there is, but I've seen the guts of a lot of late '60s Fenders and I've never seen a 6 year spread like that WITH original solder joints. Like I said, it is possible, but much easier for me to believe they were replaced.

 

[FFTT]

I understand. I thought it was mighty lucky, but the bass looked like a Nashville Flood victim before he rescued it.
Hard to tell if it was all original, but appeared to be.

They did buy them by the 1000s, but you'd think there would be other examples out there of '69s with '63 pots. Maybe there is, but I've seen the guts of a lot of late '60s Fenders and I've never seen a 6 year spread like that WITH original solder joints. Like I said, it is possible, but much easier for me to believe they were replaced.

 

[The Bass Clef]

I understand. I thought it was mighty lucky, but the bass looked like a Nashville Flood victim before he rescued it.
Hard to tell if it was all original, but appeared to be.

I think I know what bass you're talking about!

 

[FFTT]

I think I know what bass you're talking about!

The one over at Gearslutz.

 

[Mastermold]

What? I thread for CBS Fenders!? Those usurpers?! Blasphemy!

 

[The Bass Clef]

The one over at Gearslutz.

Yup!

 

[The Bass Clef]

What? I thread for CBS Fenders!? Those usurpers?! Blasphemy!

LOL! Blasphemers be damned!!

 

[A-Step-Towards]

What? I thread for CBS Fenders!? Those usurpers?! Blasphemy!

Yep , I am starting rumors about pixie dust being mixed in with the paint during the CBS years to further increase values.

 

[JIO]

Yep , I am starting rumors about pixie dust being mixed in with the paint during the CBS years to further increase values.

...left over pre-CBS pixie-dust for maybe the first few years, but then they switched to funk-juice in the 70's.