Belka

https://reverb.com/uk/item/91466142-fender-precision-1972-olympic-white-a-neck-profile-uk-export-custom-order-exc-condition-original-dealer-hsc-free-worldwide-shipping?bk=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJqdGkiOiIwOGYwNjliNy0zMzhhLTRjMDEtYTVjMi03YjdkYWJlOTQ0OTUiLCJpYXQiOjE3NTQ5MjcyMDIsInVzZXJfaWQiOiIiLCJzZXNzaW9uX2lkIjoiM2JiNjc4ODktOGYxYy00MWRkLWJjMGQtNGRlNWIzMjhkNmU5IiwiY29va2llX2lkIjoiMjNmYmE3Y2MtZjA4MC00ZDBmLWFhNzItOWYzOTI5MWQ3NjJlIiwicHJvZHVjdF9pZCI6IjkxNDY2MTQyIiwic291cmNlIjoiTk9ORSJ9.v1PB7-nx1xPxrMjhATKUy0-xs0GiviLIyNmsurRq8KY What do you all reckon of this? Personally after wading through the florid AI assisted text, and looking at the pictures, I think whoever is selling this is a very naughty boy/girl. It's obviously a '72 neck bolted to a '74 body, and even then I would have questions about that 'genuine' Fender pickguard, as well as the cloth wiring, which I thought had changed to plastic by 1969.

It looks like the very worst attempt at a 'custom colour over another colour' I've ever seen. And the fretboard looks filthy. Personally, there's no way I could own that without refinishing it, even if it's just back to natural. At that price, once you factor in the £500 for stripping/refinishing and a good setup, you're looking at around £1800-2000 all in. You see decent condition original 77-81 Precisions for those kind of prices all the the time now at places like Bass Bros, so not really worth it.

It looks mostly genuine, but I'd agree with Hellzero in really not liking the look of all the cracks on the bass; all over the body, and that one on the headstock/neck too. It's probably not about to fall apart, but that body has had some mistreatment over the years. It is very cheap for a '64 but for that money I'd much rather get a late '60s CBS in good condition.

Individual string bridges - I can understand their use on fanned fret basses, but they just look wrong when the frets aren't fanned. And even the most skilled luthier can't seem to make them line up properly:

It's funny, listening to the original track, I would also presume fretless StingRay, but isolated it sounds more like a fretted two pickup bass (the Alembic he used around that time perhaps). The high levels of compression and (I presume solid state rather than tube) distortion really kill the tonal nuances of whatever bass it is, but it still sounds great in the final mix. I also have to say, if it is fretless, his intonation is really quite good.

I would agree with this from my experience and what a lot of other people have said - I think the re-issues that came the closest to the originals were probably the 2013-2017 AVRI line. I'm sure these are good basses but the pricing on them at the moments feels extremely speculative, especially when you can get decent late'60s/early '70s models for less money.

The end of 1965 for Jazz basses, the very beginning of 1968 for P basses.

Quick update - so yesterday the neck arrived from Musikraft. Very happy with it - the quality seems very good and it feels very comfortable. I was stung for around £60 import duty however. I am thinking I agree with those who posted here that it would be a shame to cover up the nice grain of the ash, so I am planning to probably do it in a cherry burst.

Personally from my experience I would not necessarily agree with those talking about the benefits of much thicker strings. They tend to sound thunderous when playing the open B, but the further up the neck you get, the more unusable/hollow/warbly/out of tune they become. You can get great sounding Bs at 118/120. Scale length is part of the equation, and given equal materials a 35" scale and above will give a tighter B, but by no means do you need a longer scale to get a good, tight sound, and some manufacturers these days can get great sounding Bs out of 32/33" scale basses. I find it very much comes down to the actual manufacturers. I would agree that exposed core/tapered strings tend to sound good: the old LaBella slappers and Deep Talkin' roundwounds had much better B strings than their current offerings. Dunlop nickels (the Super Brights and especially the standards) have a very good B despite being low tension. Overwater have started doing strings and their B strings sound great. One more thing - I've also had a great low B sound when using roundcore strings (especially Fodera nickels and the sadly discontinued LaBella Deep Talkin' rounds) - could just be coincidence though.

The first two definitely sound more StingRay. The other two sound more like a P bass I would say. None of them sound like a Jazz to my ears.

It actually all looks ok, apart from the fact it's not a 1967. 1967 would have had the smaller transition logo and either lollipops or the older reverse gear tuners. Most likely 1968 at the earliest.

It all looks right but I'm not 100% sure on the bridge - Wouldn't 1972 still have the longer G string saddle? The holes for the grub screws look a little small too - like they might have an allen key rather than screwdriver adjustment. Could well be a replacement bridge.

I dealt with Andy recently - sold two basses through him and bought one. I have no complaints - communication was good, payment was prompt with no chasing required (he actually had to chase me for my bank details) and his place really is a treasure trove of great basses. He does have some expensive items - people say if you're going there to be prepared to spend a lot of money , but that is down to a lot of his stock being very rare/valuable. His prices, in my opinion, are fair for a vintage dealer and more or less comparable with Bass Bros and Bass Direct - it's the Gallery, ATB and Vintage Bass Room who tend to price their items a tad more unrealistically.

I saw Rod Stewart at Ashton Gate in Bristol a couple of years ago. The bassist was using a vintage sunburst P bass. You couldn't hear it at all. I saw Donny Benet this Saturday. Again, P bass. the mix was better but his bass was noticeably less audible than when I saw him previously using a PJ F Bass. The snare and Bass drum were incredibly loud - judging by how softly the drummer was playing he seemed to be aware of it too. The best sounding gig I've seen recently was Mike Stern with Hadrien Feraud on bass and Dennis Chambers on drums. Hadrien and Mike just went through their amps with no IEMS - great sound - everything was crystal clear. Of course I'm aware how such a set-up wouldn't work on a bigger stage.

This might be a bit tangential but I have noticed from attending gigs over the last few years that P basses really tend to disappear in modern mixes (I'm talking decent sized gigs with a professional PA/soundman, not how bad your own P bass sounds down the Dog and Duck before anyone takes offence). I don't think this is a fault of the P bass but of the way everything is mixed these days (all subs/bass drum, very little midrange). The whole reason the P sits in a recorded mix so well is due to its low midrange presence, and when these frequencies are not given enough prominence the sound turns to mud. Of course, while we should aim our ire at the soundmen or spectators who actually think that kind of mix sounds good, an easier solution would be to use a bass with a bridge pickup. Even with a rubbish mix you're more likely to hear some of the bass come through.