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Hen's teeth! 1966 Slab bodied Precision rears its head...


wateroftyne
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[quote name='Doctor J' post='1043590' date='Dec 1 2010, 11:44 AM']Eight and a half grand doesn't get you an E string that isn't practically hanging off the side of the neck?

I'll pass, thanks.[/quote]

Move the camera to the left a bit and it will miraculously all become central.


One of the reasons Entwhistle liked these so much was to do with the additional 'growl' of the pickups and tone controls. The famous 'Frankenstein' was so popular with him for that reason.

I'd love to have this bass. If I had that sort of money for a bass I'd consider it, must be loads of history attached (assuming it is actually original).

Sign of the times that Fender would make a re-issue of what was a re-issue in the first place.

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[quote name='4 Strings' post='1044454' date='Dec 1 2010, 10:52 PM']Move the camera to the left a bit and it will miraculously all become central.[/quote]
Indeed, but given that the photo is taken pretty much face on, it still won't centre the strings over the neck in any real sense, just in a photograph and it still doesn't make it worth eight and a half grand.


In my opinion, of course :)

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I'm not going to lie, I never actually knew what "slab body" meant. I thought it had something to do with the cut of the body but after seeing this, I would love to try out one.

Saying that, I do prefer my SH Signature P Bass as I love bodies to be contoured on the front and back to compensate for my *huh-hmm* "chef's stomach" shall we say haha!

Really beautiful bass though, I agree with whoever said it needs a black pickguard

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[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='1044043' date='Dec 1 2010, 05:07 PM']I can safely say the electronics were fairly well standard - 250K pots for volume and tone, 0.05 capacitor. I've checked my records and found the pickup was slightly hotter at around 11.5K so there might be something in that.

John Entwhistle's mention of the 'blue veins' showing through has prompted me to think back to the wood used for the body - mine was stripped down at one stage and I remember seeing a green/purply area in the grain which leads me to think that tulip wood (also called magnolia) may have been used. The bass was quite light for a slab so this may have been a conscious decision by Fender to keep the weight down compared to using ash.[/quote]


now that is interesting..... so (slightly) hotter pickup, veneered maple fretboard (truss rod put in from front???) and tulip wood.......

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I bought the Barry Matthews book on the 66 Slab bodied Fender Precisions

[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fender-Bass-Britain-Slab-Bodied-Precision/dp/1438946627/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1291248149&sr=1-10"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fender-Bass-Britai...149&sr=1-10[/url] (for those who don't know)

but financially it stops there.

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[quote name='bumnote' post='1043762' date='Dec 1 2010, 01:45 PM']I hate you :)

Theres another few hours wasted as I follow the links to artistes and their records

currently watching Ace Kefford and his slab body with the move and I can hear the grass grow[/quote]

Excellent video! The tone he gets from the '66 in question is to die for.

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[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='1043846' date='Dec 1 2010, 02:37 PM']But oh the sound......my opinion as to why they sounded so different was more to do with the neck construction - maple on maple (no skunk stripe) but the fingerboard was 'rolled' as in almost a veneer on to the already cambered neck. The result was a very 'springy' sound - not that it lacked bass tone, but the top end would cut through with a clank that was remiscent of a Rick in full flight. I kind of proved the neck was the main contributor by swapping it onto my '62 Jazz bass for a while and, sure enough, the 'springy' sound tranferred to that bass too.[/quote]

I'll tell you what that is a perfect description of the tone that my PRS has and that is a maple on maple (no skunk), rolled edges etc etc and it has that 'exact' spring to the sound and it has the uncanny knack of sounding like a cross between a MM and a Ric, especially if you solo the neck pup. You must have a try of this PRS some time Howie and see if it is the same tone that you describe.

[quote name='LukeFRC' post='1044526' date='Dec 2 2010, 12:16 AM']anyone use tulip wood much for bodies?[/quote]

Oddly enough our very own Bass Doc produced a Tulip wood bodied Longhorn bass for Mark 'Marcus' (no not Mr Miller) and though Mark sold it on to another local mental bassist up here (Kevbucket), Kev rates it MASSIVELY and plays it in preference to his MM Cutlass or a brace of other fantastic quality basses that he owns. Something to be said for Tulip wood maybe!

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[quote name='warwickhunt' post='1045356' date='Dec 2 2010, 05:06 PM']You must have a try of this PRS some time Howie and see if it is the same tone that you describe.[/quote]

Thanks, I'd like to try that PRS of yours sometime - don't worry too much about the cost - I charge quite a reasonable fee for hiring out my fingers on someone else's bass. :)

As i' 'appens, guys and gals, I've got three more tulip wood body blanks left over from a batch I got a while back from my good friend Jim Cairnes.........might just have to make myself a Precision out of one of them.

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[quote name='warwickhunt' post='1045356' date='Dec 2 2010, 05:06 PM']Oddly enough our very own Bass Doc produced a Tulip wood bodied Longhorn bass for Mark 'Marcus' (no not Mr Miller) and though Mark sold it on to another local mental bassist up here (Kevbucket), Kev rates it MASSIVELY and plays it in preference to his MM Cutlass or a brace of other fantastic quality basses that he owns. Something to be said for Tulip wood maybe![/quote]

Was that a Longhorn as in Danelectro longhorn?

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[quote name='warwickhunt' post='1045388' date='Dec 2 2010, 05:42 PM']No, the Fender Longhorn 'Boner' basses.[/quote]


Ta

Ive a fancy for a long scale properly made dano longhorn. I had a short horn in the 60s as my first bass. I fancied a longhorn but couldnt find one, trawled up and down Denmark Street, turned my nose up at SH precisions and Jazzes going for £50-£70. What an idiot.

I finally bought a longhorn re issue a couple of years ago but it was not for me

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Must say that I quite like it. Old vintage Fenders seem to a law unto themselves when it comes to price, so I don't really get the 'wow its far too expensive, and it looks ugly' argument. Its as much a piece of musical history as it is a musical instrument. If I had the money I probably would buy it. If I would was looking for a great playing and sounding bass within a certain budget, I would look elsewhere. I do love maple boards on P-basses.

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[quote name='EssentialTension' post='1046397' date='Dec 3 2010, 02:39 PM']1967, at the Marquee, Entwistle plays a slab Precision. See it clearly at 1.27:

[/quote]

Not a great sound on that occasion IMO.

That has a good chance to be the Slab I bought - sold by Cassmusic of Eastbourne and actually advertised in Melody Maker as ex-JE. £165.00 if I remember correctly.

Interesting to note Mr. Townsend expressing his frustration at not being able to play the guitar very well.

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[quote name='The Bass Doc' post='1046499' date='Dec 3 2010, 04:15 PM']Wiki notes the similarity, but no.[/quote]

Just been looking more, it isn't what we'd call a poplar (with all the branches pointing up), but some unrelated tree that Americans call a poplar or tulip poplar, even though it is neither a tulip or a poplar. There are guitars made of poplar apparently, but none made of tulips.

[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liriodendron"]American one[/url]

[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poplar"]Rest of the world.[/url]

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