Thoughts about getting a Fender 1979 P-Bass

[chris_b]

. . . . im thinking about getting a 1979 fender precision bass (black finish, maple neck, beautiful). Love P-Bass tone and the look of relic instruments.

I had a 68 Precision which sounded good at the time, but would probably lose out to many of the basses around today. The pickup was pretty characterless.

Unless you know exactly what this 70's bass sounds like I'd go for a more recent Precision bass. They have more consistency, could sound better, be cheaper and you could replace the pickup if the bass ticked all the boxes apart from tone.

 

[jj.833]

I have '77 jazz and when I was looking for it - ca 2000, central Europe - I traveled few towns for the very few offers that were there. Tested about 5 jazz basses. Some were better than others. The one I ended with was nice and in short time, I found it absolutely gorgeous. I play this bass for 20+ years now, never really had a better bass in my hands. All of the old basses were more inspirating than new Fenders, in my opinion this trend lasts till today.

All the old fenders I met had tendency to not be much tunable on E and A string above 12th fret, which actually never bothered me at all, as it can be dealt with. On the other hand, the old basses somehow inpire me to play an interesting note in case I don't have any special idea. I believe this is because of their faults - every tone is a bit different, every string sounds quite different too. I call this thing a character and lack it in many new instruments. New Fenders and Squiers sound much more equalized, every tone is the same, just lower or higher. I play jazz and improvise, and the feedback from the instrument itself is very welcome to me.

 

[Chickenwheels]

This might help. Or not.
Show your Fender CBS Era Bass

 

[Element Zero]

My birth year! By 7 days…

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

Hi, guys!

so, im thinking about getting a 1979 fender precision bass (black finish, maple neck, beautiful). Love P-Bass tone and the look of relic instruments.

but there are some things that im worried about since i have no experience with vintage precisions.

things that i worry: intonation and low action with no buzz.

I worry about these things because considering its a pretty old bass, seems like a crime to do anything that could loss its originality, like leveling the fingerboard or something like that.
Maybe would it be better to get something like a professional II? Is it better built?

thanks a lot for your time! Also, sorry if there is already a topic about that, i couldnt find it

1979 is surely not the best year for Fender; inexplicably, even the prices of Fender-made instruments belonging to that period have reached absurd peaks.
Honestly I wouldn't buy it even at half the price of a new American Professional II ..

 

[Jeff Hughes]

A few years ago a store I frequented had about four 70's Precisions for sale. Being a P lover, I tried all of the them out. My conclusion was they all were incredibly body heavy almost to the point of feeling unbalanced. The setups were all clangy and unresonant as if the neck pockets and necks didn't fit very tightly. But of course those were just a few examples.

 

[NYCBass]

I have a 77 and a 79 both of them playing and sounding great with medium low action. The only way you might do better then a 70's Precision is possibly with a 60's Precision in my opinion.

 

[Mark_70]

I'm another vote for "try before you buy." Been around the block enough times on that. I think a '79 P in good shape for the right price would be a good purchase, but so would an '89, '99, '09, '19, etc. When you pick up a P and it feels good in your hands, and you plug it in, and your face shines, and your hair starts to blow like Harry Potter picking up his wand for the first time, that's the right P to buy. IMO of course.

Agreed. I had a '74 Fender Jazz and it was probably one of the worst basses I've ever had - never mind the ridiculous weight.. My '22 Fender Jazz is better in every single way. Try before you buy - some oldies might be fantastic..
Regards
Mark

 

[ajkula66]

iirc the 78s have the goofy microtilt 3 bolts? maybe not though.

Jazz and Tele basses from that era were 3-bolt, but not Precision.

On topic...late '70s Fender of any kind is a *must* try before buying instrument. It may end up being perfectly serviceable, but not to your liking. Worn machines and sketchy QC at the time resulted in instruments that varied a lot more when compared to one another than it is the case today. This is coming from a guy whose first Fender was a brand new S9 P-Bass and really don't have any fond memories of it. Not all of them are as bad as that one was for sure. You may get lucky. Or not.

My $0.02 only...

Happy shopping.

 

[filmtex]

Hi, AGCurry! My worry about intonation is that I had a vintage musicmaster before and a hofner viola that were not able to tune the octaves and since I record a lot, that become quite a problem, and im worry that by any construction issue, that could happen with the P Bass too. am I worrying for nothing? x.x

I have six Precisions, from an original 1959 to a 2019 MIM and several in between and have never had a major intonation issue and have had that and string height adjustments easily done. I thnk buying from a reputable dealer, as you are doing, is your best move. Enjoy. Although those late 70's Fenders cover a wide range of quality, fit and service, their still pretty nice instruments.

 

[GreyBeard]

Are you buying as a player or an investment? If a player, do the least you can to get it where it needs to be. If an investment, the less you do the better.

 

[micguy]

70's Fenders are (by Fender's admission) not their best instruments. The prices that they fetch are more a product of nostalgia than they are of quality. If you're looking for a good musical instrument, there are better ways to go about getting one.

Can 70's Fenders be decent instruments? Sure, but they often need a bit (sometimes a lot) of work to get them to that state. If 70's Fender doesn't play well, I wouldn't buy it. If a 70's Fender that you already own doesn't play well, I would get it fixed. Actually, I would fix it myself, but not everyone has that option.

 

[fishdreams]

I love 70ties P basses. That said, to me they are like old timers: requires more upkeep, may have some quirks (ski jumps being very common on Fenders old and new) and you just gotta deal with it if you are going to make it your daily driver

There is also that no fender ever was or is built for super low action.

Not saying it is impossible, but with Fender, try before you buy

 

[Laurent]

Most posts here are right on: try before you buy, variable quality, often very heavy (not sure this was mentioned).
Also often expensive for what these basses are, we thing of them as vintage but this might not be warranted.

Due to the very thick poly finish, weight and somewhat aggressive sounding pickups, some have a tone which is sometime referred to as the "London Calling tone" see Clash album. They sound compressed and aggressive. Some people love that tone and it has its applications.

 

[wncBass]

I would probably choose a newer p bass over a 79 that I couldn't play before buying. You can get a nice used American standard or pro for around a grand so quite a bit cheaper as well.

 

[Paul New]

I had a 68 Precision which sounded good at the time, but would probably lose out to many of the basses around today. The pickup was pretty characterless.

Unless you know exactly what this 70's bass sounds like I'd go for a more recent Precision bass. They have more consistency, could sound better, be cheaper and you could replace the pickup if the bass ticked all the boxes apart from tone.

Hmm. My 68 is pretty amazing. Which goes to show, you have to try an instrument. There is certainly no reason to pay a premium for a 79 Fender unless you've played it and love it.

Has that already been said?

 

[capnjagg]

often very heavy (not sure this was mentioned).

My goodness, yes! This reminds me, I once picked up (as in tried) a late '70s Strat that was being sold at my local Guitar Center, and it was a boat anchor! Easily at least 12 pounds, for sure heavier than the 11 pound T-40 I owned at the time. I've heard of vintage Les Pauls being heavy, but for a Stratocaster, I was very caught off guard.

 

[Mrtoodamnsabre]

Hmm. My 68 is pretty amazing. Which goes to show, you have to try an instrument. There is certainly no reason to pay a premium for a 79 Fender unless you've played it and love it.

Has that already been said?

yeah in my mind I don't see any reason a 79 fender p bass should be more valuable than a 86 or a 92 or a 96. Everything about it is going to mostly be the same as any fender older than 20 years. The things that are desirable about old basses, aged wood, older more mellow pickups are gonna be in a 90s or 80s fender with the big difference being that in the 80s and 90s fender was hard at work trying to save their reputation after the late 70s! Unless I'm wrong and they were hand winding pickups in the 70s still

 

[Pdaddy1978]

As a guy who's everyday, all-the-time, forever bass is a 78P.... I'll just say this.
I'm usually one of the chief apologists around here regarding 70s Fenders. Because of my affection for my own, and others I have played, I believe the trash talk they receive is greatly overstated.
But..... If there was something that would give me pause about buying one, it would be price. Unless your getting a very,very good deal on one, the prices of old-but-not-really-vintage basses has gotten pretty crazy.
Considering how much new bass, with warranty you could get would give me pause.
Other than that, use your money to make you happy.

 

[Rhynobass]

Hello, guys!
Quick update:
I got the oportunity to try the bass in a quick trip i made. I tested a lot of basses, but none of them compared to the 79 P Bass. Was probably one of the best basses i ever played, really confortable, not too heavy, killer sound, low action. I had tried a lot of precisions in my life, mexicans and american mades, but that one was by far the best. Was really surprised because after all I read here, I was ready to not be impressed and was planning to play it just for curiosity. So i ended up picking it up and am really happy about it.
But as you all said, its totally something that need to be tried before buy, cause i played other old instruments there that werent that nice.
So, thanks again for all your help and advice!