The 1st ever made Precision Bass

[SwansonEricJohn]

Picked up the John Entwistle book. Amazing. Just amazing. Highly recommended. Bass porn of the highest degree. Plenty of guitars, too!

 

[One Drop]

If it helps take the sting out of the story of #001 (no pun intended), there is nothing to indicate they were produced in the order their serial numbers indicate. It isn't known which was the first one, from what I understand.

 

[Mastermold]

Oh that is just sad!

It really is.

 

[chuck norriss]

There's a book on Entwistle's collection (Bass Culture: The John Entwistle Guitar Collection). I think I remember it said he had one of the first few. It may have also said that the really early ones had issues with finish longevity and crackled quite badly after a little while, just like Entwistle's. If most were destroyed, that could be why.

Also, early ones were given to Shifte (or Shifty) Henry and Bill Black.

I've been playing with the strap on the wrong shoulder all this time.

 

[Loel]

Found it! LOL!
This is actully Leo holding 58 P..

 

[lowjoe1]

I love this thread, one of the most interesting I've seen in a while!

 

[Sean Cargill]

There's a book on Entwistle's collection (Bass Culture: The John Entwistle Guitar Collection). I think I remember it said he had one of the first few. It may have also said that the really early ones had issues with finish longevity and crackled quite badly after a little while, just like Entwistle's. If most were destroyed, that could be why.

Also, early ones were given to Shifte (or Shifty) Henry and Bill Black.

And leave us not forget it was Shifty Henry in Jailhouse Rock (the song), who said to Bugs, "no one's looking, now's a chance to make a break."

 

[Bflat]

This is the first bass to leave the Fender factory, 0017 made in September 1951. Leo handed this bass to Arlis Mcginnis and said " here take this bass and show it to all your friends, you can use it more than I can" . Arlis is still alive and well and told me that story. here is a youtube of this bass. . It still lives although edges are rounded and the original finish is gone.

 

[ukulelelab]

and sorry slightly out of context here is George Gruhn with the first Fender Strat (sold in May 2014 for $250k):

 

[micguy]

The first P bass ever made was kept in a vault under ideal conditons until a couple of years ago, when it was taken out, relic'ed, and sold off as a Roadworn.

 

[bobyoung53]

Jailhouse Rock was the first recorded song with an electric bass.

And it was detuned to E-flat

 

[Glazenn]

The Stratosphere acquired it from the original owner's heirdoom and sold the pieces...

 

[manimal]

Does anybody know what happened to the first ever Precision Bass made by Fender in 1951? Or where is it kept now?

Lashing Guitars made 3 copies some years ago and one turned up for sale, caused a big fuss several years ago. There were some early "strat" protos done too and one (copy) was in the mags at the time as legit. Personally I wouldnt touch such things without 8 miles of paper/photo/ownership provenance. Like the new first "burst" les paul found. Only provenance is the same guys that always seem to find these things say its real. You just have to trust them .. again. Like when they found the black LP Jr's and priced them 3x what a JR sells for.

 

[Harold Holt]

This has been a brilliant post with much great information and shared ideas. I was lucky enough to buy a one owner 52 P a few years ago from the family of a lady country bassist. I gather it sat in a wardrobe since she retired in the late 50's. It came with the original red leatherette carry case still containing her picks and spare strings. I still can't believe I own this piece of history, its like having a Rembrandt in the house. Oh, and the Detlef Schmidt book Precision Basses 1951 - 54 is an absolute joy to flick through for any fan of these early P basses. Highly recommended.

 

[Kirk Bryant]

Holy Mackerel Harold, that might possibly be the cleanest early 50's Precision on the planet if, as you say, that's the original finish. It looks dam near new! It must have been babied for the few short years it was played if she retired in the 50's. You are the caretaker of a serious piece of music history. Please post more close ups of the bass and I'd love to see some good pics of the bag. The only bag I've ever seen was beat to crap and filthy dirty brown. I love the RED leather bag idea. I want one. I was the proud owner of a 57' for 40 years.

 

[Harold Holt]

Holy Mackerel Harold, that might possibly be the cleanest early 50's Precision on the planet if, as you say, that's the original finish. It looks dam near new! It must have been babied for the few short years it was played if she retired in the 50's. You are the caretaker of a serious piece of music history. Please post more close ups of the bass and I'd love to see some good pics of the bag. The only bag I've ever seen was beat to crap and filthy dirty brown. I love the RED leather bag idea. I want one. I was the proud owner of a 57' for 40 years.

Hi Kirk, yeah luckily for me she is completely untouched and 100% factory original. The bags themselves are relatively rare in working condition I've been told. Heh, and I was using it to drag my old Tele bass around in. I'm a tad more respectful now. Did your '57 have the anodised scatch plate? Love the look of those esp. in white. I'll post some pics of the gig bag plus an image of the old strings in the pocket. Cheers

 

[Kirk Bryant]

Hey Harold thanks for the bag pics. Don't want to derail this great old thread. My 57' was a singlecoil sunburst with white pg. I was digging the strings. It looks like you left the 50's strings on it, that in itself is some heavy vintage goodness. I'd love to see some more closeup shots of the the body, neck, tuners etc. I remember reading this thread when it was new and I just reread the whole thing just to soak in the history, I'm a sucker for that stuff. And for the record your bass is off the chart cool and the lack of wear is almost unbelievable if not for buying it from the original owner.
My 57' was pristine when I bought it in 67' (from the owner of the music store I worked at who knew the original owner) but I played the crap out of it for 40 years.

 

[Root 5]

I believe John Entwhistle owned the first production Precision. I believe he also owned the first UK Precision, the one with square shoulders.

 

[OllyW]

I believe John Entwhistle owned the first production Precision. I believe he also owned the first UK Precision, the one with square shoulders.

Jet Harris from The Shadows had one of the very first Precisions to land in the UK and inspired the young John Entwistle to build his own homemade copy.

In 1959 London, 20-year-old Terence “Jet” Harris—so nicknamed for his sprinting prowess at secondary school—had just joined Cliff Richard’s backing group, the Drifters (soon to be renamed the Shadows), when his Framus bass guitar was accidentally destroyed; an importer then gave him one of England’s first Precision basses. In the same city that year, 14-year-old John Entwistle, undaunted by the scarcity of good bass guitars in the U.K., built his own crude homemade instrument based on photos of Precisions (“I wanted a Fender, but they just weren’t available,” Entwistle told Guitar Player magazine in 1974. “I think Jet Harris was the only person who had one then.”).

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[two fingers]

Prototypes are notoriously bad - that's one reason companies destroy them.

Not only "bad", but hacked all to pieces to try different pickup placement, control plates, etc.