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Testing my Fender knowledge on Craigslist...

#21
"Please, No dickering, no lowballers, and, again, please...if you want to critique Vintage Basses vs Classic Fenders from your chair, find an appropriate forum for that."

Looks like someone must have called him out on the value and the fact it had been refinished.
 
#23
Spinal Tapper said:
I don't think $1500 is TOO bad of a deal...but $1250 would be better...
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assuming everything seems to work OK and the neck's in good shape, what would be a "too good to pass up" deal on this?

I've never owned a P bass (or any Fender bass for that matter). Not sure this can be answered without an experienced P-nut actually playing it, but should this one do a good job of capturing the "essence" of the whole P bass thing? That's something I've been a little more interested in exploring lately.

Of course, if a decent new MIM (or even a carefully selected Squier) would suffice to introduce me to the "world of P", I'm fine taking a cheaper ticket and waiting on a nice P bass until I've learned a bit more. OTOH, if there's a price at which this would be easy to flip on the TB classifieds without losing much, maybe I should find out how badly he wants to sell this thing...
 
#25
relwof said:
assuming everything seems to work OK and the neck's in good shape, what would be a "too good to pass up" deal on this?

I've never owned a P bass (or any Fender bass for that matter). Not sure this can be answered without an experienced P-nut actually playing it, but should this one do a good job of capturing the "essence" of the whole P bass thing? That's something I've been a little more interested in exploring lately........................
Click to expand...

IMO, lightweight 1970 P's were a great representation of a p bass. the only thing that you'd have to remove is the EMG pickup and install a duncan spb1 in order to get it to sound like one.
 
#26
Man.... your own basses (most likely) sound better, play better, and most def. look better.... 'nuff said. My opinion is you could get it for way less ...


Im sure the "mods" would drive you crazy and you would end up making it real nice. I guess the question is do you want to put in the effort to 'restore' it. I have a 74 jazz (for sale here) and I only own fender jazzes... but I think the 74 jazz sound is a lot more from the pups and the placement than the wood (say that of early 60's), so if you could get it for way less (say 1300) Im sure you could work your magic and sell it for way more even on this site. The early 70's p that ive played (only a handful) were good but not to die for. Best of luck, let us know what you decide.
 
#27
johnk_10 said:
IMO, if the neck is perfectly straight with no truss rod issues, it's probably worth the $1500. however, it sure would be alot better deal if it had the stock pickup & pots. regardless, overall, i'll bet its a nice bass.
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Worth $1500 and easy to get $1500 back out of it are two different things. I have about $1500 wrapped up (total) in my Peavey Cirruses, but I'm not sure how quickly I could sell them without taking a hit - no problem in that case, because I have no intention of selling them.

While I am curious about the whole P bass thing, I really don't care if it says "Fender" on the headstock. So in case I decide I'm just not a P guy, or decide I am but want something else within that niche (maybe a Sadowsky or a G&L? or not... admittedly I'm in uncharted waters), I'd like to have a good shot at flipping this (or trading up) easily without losing much. OTOH, if I end up loving it, keeping it is not a problem. I just have other things I'd like to drop $1500 on if I don't.

So... any ideas on what price this would be likely to move easily on the TB classifieds? Or would I be better off looking at cheaper options for satiating my P curiosity?
 
#28
well, the fact that no one (including those that have read this thread on talkbass) has bought it yet for $1500 is probably the best answer about how quickly it would move. it's impossible for anyone to forecast how quickly, and for how much it would sell in the TB classifieds. especially being that the economy's pretty thin right now.

however, i do believe that you'd take alot smaller hit than you would on your other basses.
 
#29
johnk_10 said:
IMO, lightweight 1970 P's were a great representation of a p bass. the only thing that you'd have to remove is the EMG pickup and install a duncan spb1 in order to get it to sound like one.
Click to expand...

Ahh, thanks, that might be VERY relevant...

I'm not looking for a 100% perfect, stock Fender Precision tone, but I am looking for something that represents the "essence" of whatever it is that makes so many people love their P basses. Are those "upgraded" pickups still solidly in that camp, or is there some risk that they would make this sound / feel (to the extent that the tone impacts your playing) noticeably different than what most P lovers would consider a "real" P bass?


And my apologies for such a basic (yet hopefully focused) line of inquiry - I've been playing bass for thirty years but as far as I can remember, I had never even played (much less owned) a P bass (or any Fender bass) until about a month ago. That was a Squier Precision I bought for a friend because I busted the truss rod nut on her cheap P bass knock-off. Just playing (and listening to) that Squier was enough to get me thinking about trying a P bass for myself.
 
#30
relwof said:
Ahh, thanks, that might be VERY relevant...

I'm not looking for a 100% perfect, stock Fender Precision tone, but I am looking for something that represents the "essence" of whatever it is that makes so many people love their P basses. Are those "upgraded" pickups still solidly in that camp, or is there some risk that they would make this sound / feel (to the extent that the tone impacts your playing) noticeably different than what most P lovers would consider a "real" P bass?........................
Click to expand...

IMO, while EMGs can be nice pickups in the right bass, since they're active, they're about as far away from a vintage passive p bass pickup as you can get. and since they run on a 9V battery (under the pickguard), i'd definitely ask for a pic of the body with the guard removed, to make sure that noone routed it to fit the battery. it isn't necessary on a p since you can get a 9V to fit under there, but when installing EMG's, alot of people routed them for a battery anyway, and if that one's been routed, it'll reduce its value by quite abit (on top of not having its original finish).

hope this helps................

best,
johnk
 
#31
johnk_10 said:
well, the fact that no one (including those that have read this thread on talkbass) has bought it yet for $1500 is probably the best answer about how quickly it would move. it's impossible for anyone to forecast how quickly, and for how much it would sell in the TB classifieds. especially being that the economy's pretty thin right now.

however, i do believe that you'd take alot smaller hit than you would on your other basses.
Click to expand...

Well, AFAIK it's only listed locally on craigslist in Charleston, and nobody on TB would have known that it's been dropped to $1500 until today, so maybe someone will snap it up yet...

My problem is I know practically nothing about P basses, which certainly includes the average selling prices for vintage (modified) Fenders. If I could be confident it would sell on TB easily at, say, $1300, it would potentially be worth risking $200 to give this thing a spin - IF it would provide me with a solid "P" experience. But how can I know if it's a good example of that P bass "essence" without someone more experienced in that area checking it out? Short of that, it seems mostly original, in which case it should do well in that area, right? Being refinished really shouldn't matter, but what about those pickups? If it doesn't have the stock bridge, would that also potentially reduce the "P-ishness"?

And while I'm freely admitting my ignorance, I might as well toss in one last question : how significant is the amp's role in capturing a classic P-bass vibe? Should a TC RH-450 into a pair of Bergantino 1-12s be a happy match?

Oh, and thanks for the help!
 
#32
johnk_10 said:
IMO, while EMGs can be nice pickups in the right bass, since they're active, they're about as far away from a vintage passive p bass pickup as you can get. and since they run on a 9V battery (under the pickguard), i'd definitely ask for a pic of the body with the guard removed, to make sure that noone routed it to fit the battery. it isn't necessary on a p since you can get a 9V to fit under there, but when installing EMG's, alot of people routed them for a battery anyway, and if that one's been routed, it'll reduce its value by quite abit (on top of not having its original finish).

hope this helps................

best,
johnk
Click to expand...

Yeah, thanks, that does help. Sounds like those pickups would at least partially defeat the purpose for me. Assuming I know my way around schematics and soldering irons, and wouldn't need exact originals but I wanted to get it back to a "traditional P" setup, what kind of parts would I need? New pickups, pots, caps, ???

(FWIW, except for my Wav4 EUB, it's been over twenty years since I've regularly played a passive bass or a four string)

Although really I guess it comes down to the whole chicken and egg thing. Maybe I should wait until I can find a local (around Charleston SC) P-bass guru to check out potential candidates before I buy anything (well, P-basses at least). Or find one from a reputable TBer P-nut. But I suppose it can't hurt to give the guy a call (famous last words...), maybe I'll check it out if it's still around this weekend.
 
#34
Spinal Tapper said:
If you could get it for $1000, I think that'd be a slammin deal. Doubt the seller will let it go for that much though.
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Yeah, I think I'd go for that easily. Not sure if I want to offer that though, unless I've already decided that's the most I'd pay, as the seller looks to be a bit testy about the price. Might offer him $1200 though, especially if I could get someone local to ascertain it's P-ishness...

Spinal Tapper said:
If the neck's straight and the truss rod doesn't look hacked up, that is...
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I don't know about P-specific stuff, but THAT I can (and definitely would) check without help :D.
 

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