A few weeks ago, I posted a thread looking for a pickup for my 73 P bass, as the original is long gone. Who'd have thunk it that the pickup we all pulled out of our 1970's basses and replaced with a hotter pickup, that 1957 Chevy that we cut the wheel wells with a torch to fit fat tires or those old Levis with the 28" waist and ripped knees would not be worth a kings ransom some day? I remember back in the 1970's when people would take a chisel and gladly hack into the body of a 1962 P bass to put a J pickup in......sheesh. I bet if I had bought all the 1960s P's and J's with the crappy worn out finishes back then, they would have been worth more than Microsoft or Apple stock?
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Who'da thunk it
- Thread starter Willie5String
- Start date
Back then they were just old basses and thought of as such.
My first Fender P bass was a mid to early '60's bass bought in the early 70's. $175 for it.
I was allowed a layaway on it for 5 months. Gladly traded it 6 years later for the easier to play Gibson SG. Both would be very valuable today as would be my first car, 1956 Ford 2 door wagon.which cost me $25 in 1968.
No regrets just surprised now. Glad we can't see into the future as nothing would be valuable now.
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I try to forget (1977) about the distress and trauma of taking a 66 Fender PB and adding DiMarzio JPB pickups , Baddass bridge , Fathead Headstock plate and stripping natural finish . To top it all off , I took my Univox PB and decided to do a "Geddy/Oval" on the thing and ended up never getting the bass back.......and the Luthier died .
Thats why if I dont like how it sounds stock its not staying. My completely stock 91 thunderbird should be very valuable by the time I die
I can only imagine how much my '72 Ford Maverick would be worth now. 
But seriously...
I had a Dimarzio P pickup put in my first bass, the '74 Mustang that I still have hanging on the wall. During the pandemic, and after realizing what old Mustangs were selling for these days, I decided to restore it to original condition. Given that I haven't wanted to play it at all for more than 40 years (after I got my first G&L L-1000) I was thinking that maybe I'd sell it to someone who would actually play it. Based on everything I'd read here; I strung it up with LaBella flats thinking that would enhance its appeal. I've probably played it less than 5 minutes since that restoration. Short scales aren't my thing (at least not yet) and flats are even less my thing.
Still amazed that I could likely sell it for several times what I paid for it in '78. I may hold out 'til they get north of $5K.
But seriously...
I had a Dimarzio P pickup put in my first bass, the '74 Mustang that I still have hanging on the wall. During the pandemic, and after realizing what old Mustangs were selling for these days, I decided to restore it to original condition. Given that I haven't wanted to play it at all for more than 40 years (after I got my first G&L L-1000) I was thinking that maybe I'd sell it to someone who would actually play it. Based on everything I'd read here; I strung it up with LaBella flats thinking that would enhance its appeal. I've probably played it less than 5 minutes since that restoration. Short scales aren't my thing (at least not yet) and flats are even less my thing.
Still amazed that I could likely sell it for several times what I paid for it in '78. I may hold out 'til they get north of $5K.
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True story:
When my dad was in his early 20s, he moved and left a '55 Chevy 2-door sitting in the driveway because it didn't run. Literally moved off and left it, because "It was just a '55 Chevy, they were everywhere."
When my dad was in his early 20s, he moved and left a '55 Chevy 2-door sitting in the driveway because it didn't run. Literally moved off and left it, because "It was just a '55 Chevy, they were everywhere."
In 1975, I bought a '64 P bass for $200. In the course of a year, I refinished that bass 3 times. I built a two band, James tonestack preamp, and not owning a router, didn't do a very clean job enlarging the control cavity to make room for the preamp and battery. I replaced the cracking tort pickguard with a single ply black guard, and added white piping around the edge to cover up the bad chisel/spade bit work I did. As soon as the Dimarzio P pickup came out, I replaced the original pickup, which had a weak D/G coil and buzzed. I also did my first fret job, replacing the original frets that were chewed up from the Rotosound roundwounds I used.
That bass was great, although I sold it to my best friend in 1983...who lived in Nashville. A few months later it was stolen when his apartment was broken into.
I "butchered" that bass, and killed the vintage value. But to this day, I'm thrilled I did it. The skunk that stole it deserved it.
That bass was great, although I sold it to my best friend in 1983...who lived in Nashville. A few months later it was stolen when his apartment was broken into.
I "butchered" that bass, and killed the vintage value. But to this day, I'm thrilled I did it. The skunk that stole it deserved it.
Jazzdogg
Less barking, more wagging!
When I replaced the stock p'ups in my '73 P-bass (bought new), I never looked back because I didn't like the way they sounded after I'd played it for ten years, and it's highly doubtful that I would somehow like them today. They were too treble-centric and thin sounding for my taste, whether my bass was strung with rounds or flats. I never even thought of keeping the old p'ups.
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Someone mentioned that James Jamerson played a relatively "new" P bass that he purchased in 1962, and today everyone wants a 1962 P bass. Back then, it was just a Fender bass - no "1962" mystique about it at all.
I started playing for pay back in 1967 or so. Everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, who bought a Fender bass chiseled it, stripped it, whatever, just to make it "their" bass. Pickups were the first to go. No one thought about resale value, and even today I never consider resale value when purchasing an instrument.
I started playing for pay back in 1967 or so. Everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, who bought a Fender bass chiseled it, stripped it, whatever, just to make it "their" bass. Pickups were the first to go. No one thought about resale value, and even today I never consider resale value when purchasing an instrument.
I am guilty of this crime. Swapped everything on a 67 EBO to try to get it to sound that I wanted. didn't even think about keeping the original parts at all. (hangs head in shame)
That is probably why all original models fetch such a price, "EVERYONE" contributed to their scarcity!
Although a very unpopular opinion, these pickups were changed because at the time the musicians using the tools wanted a different sound. Honestly, some of the pickups are far inferior to some of the pickups being created today at more less then half the price of the vintage. For me I would rather have a great sounding tool that I will use and enjoy the sound vs something original that I feel like is sonically inferior to what I can achieve otherwise.
I haven't cut up a bass like that, but my first amp was a silver '70s Bassman 10 that i ruined. After playing it a while i was tired of the weight so i cut up the cabinet to make a separate head and a 2x10 cab. No memory of what happened to the other 2 speakers. 3-4 moves later i left the (by this time fairly broken) head in an apartment storage space and only regretted it much later.
Back in the 80's I replaced the pickup on my 73 P with a SDQP, put in a Bad Ass II bridge and a brass nut. It was what everyone did back then. Not really sure if it is better or worse but I still have it and it plays and sounds great and I still have the original pickup and bridge.
My 4001 received a new bridge in '75 because the original was junk. It received new tuners around '95 because the originals wore out. It's been refretted twice. These are all changes that "hurt" the "value," but kept the thing in top playing condition. I'm OK with that. I won't be selling it.
I had a 73 p bass that I bought new. I wanted to put a J pickup on it and had to buy a pair of DiMarzios. My brother in law (who has an L series p bass) said why not use them both? So thats what we did. Had three on/off micro switches. I used the original and the back j together. Didnt like the sound of the neck j pickup. Had a great sound.
If you' re looking for a pickup for a 73 P, I'd suggest any P pickup that Fender currently sells - there are that look like the original one from your bass from the outside. If you look at the specs, they are very similar pickups - a few more windings on this one, a few less on that one. The sloppy QC in the 70's on Fenders means that any of those might plausibly be the same as the original one on your bass.
Invalid Link RemovedI can only imagine how much my '72 Ford Maverick would be worth now.
