Old Man Riva Posted May 12, 2018 Share Posted May 12, 2018 Does anybody know when Fender added the plastic trim to the metal neck-plates on their basses? I thought this was a mid-70s+ thing but I saw a late 60s P-bass recently which had a neck-plate with a black plastic surround, which led me to ponder for way too long on when they introduced them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuyR Posted May 12, 2018 Share Posted May 12, 2018 In Black & Molinaro's excellent "the Fender Bass - An Illustrated History" it says "The black cushion under the plate is found throughout the 1970s and some of the 1980s" not very precise but hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Riva Posted May 12, 2018 Author Share Posted May 12, 2018 2 hours ago, GuyR said: In Black & Molinaro's excellent "the Fender Bass - An Illustrated History" it says "The black cushion under the plate is found throughout the 1970s and some of the 1980s" not very precise but hope that helps. Thank you, sir, really helpful. I can only think the neck-plate I saw on a ‘68 P-bass was a replacement done at some point during the time you reference above. Which then makes me ponder why a neck-plate would need replacing... Fenders; so many questions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therealting Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 9 hours ago, Old Man Riva said: I can only think the neck-plate I saw on a ‘68 P-bass was a replacement done at some point during the time you reference above. Which then makes me ponder why a neck-plate would need replacing... Fenders; so many questions! Perhaps the owner at the time thought it would protect the wood or something. Not all owners are vintage minded - the previous owner of my 64 Precision had the body replaced with a plywood one and also had a REALLY bad refret done (some of the higher frets were done with two separate pieces of wire...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Riva Posted May 13, 2018 Author Share Posted May 13, 2018 2 hours ago, therealting said: Perhaps the owner at the time thought it would protect the wood or something. Not all owners are vintage minded - the previous owner of my 64 Precision had the body replaced with a plywood one and also had a REALLY bad refret done (some of the higher frets were done with two separate pieces of wire...) That’s a possibility. A guy I knew many moons ago used to make a plastic cut out to screw on the back of his basses to protect the finish - essentially they covered pretty much all of the back of the body to protect them from his belt, buttons etc. when playing. Did it on both of his Fenders, a Precision and a Jazz. Didn’t occur to him that he was devaluing the basses. Why would it? Even back then (and doing it for the right reasons) it did seem a little extreme, mind. It also looked horrible! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 Could be... you mostly see the black cushion on plates with the large 'F' logo stamp and this first appeared in mid-1965 - with the serial number located between the two top screws. This was the way of things until late in 1976 when the serial number was moved to the headstock. The black cushion remained until the early 80s. As usual with Fender, no dates can be absolute... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuyR Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 12 hours ago, Old Man Riva said: Thank you, sir, really helpful. I can only think the neck-plate I saw on a ‘68 P-bass was a replacement done at some point during the time you reference above. Which then makes me ponder why a neck-plate would need replacing... Fenders; so many questions! I had a look on Andy Baxter's inventory, where he very helpfully retains lots of detail photos of many of the basses that have passed through his hands. As far as I could see on my rather small phone screen, his 69 and 70 precisions did not appear to have the cushion. Of course that doesn't mean they never had them. I don't think they improve the look of a bass, or the performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuyR Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 Having looked at a dozen or so, the cushion wasn't present on any precision pre 1973, based on the sample on Andy Baxters site. how sad is that?🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 4 minutes ago, GuyR said: ...how sad is that? What, that they didn't have the cushion, or that you looked at loads of basses..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuyR Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 On reflection, neither seems too bad, particularly the latter🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickeyboro Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 My 71 Pre is cushinless... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jezzaboy Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 9 hours ago, Old Man Riva said: That’s a possibility. A guy I knew many moons ago used to make a plastic cut out to screw on the back of his basses to protect the finish - essentially they covered pretty much all of the back of the body to protect them from his belt, buttons etc. when playing. Did it on both of his Fenders, a Precision and a Jazz. Didn’t occur to him that he was devaluing the basses. Why would it? Even back then (and doing it for the right reasons) it did seem a little extreme, mind. It also looked horrible! Fender used to make a plastic protector type thing that covered the back of the guitar to stop buckle rash. It had some adhesive on it and was stuck all around the edge of the body. I have seen them on some vintage Strats. Terrible looking thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Riva Posted May 13, 2018 Author Share Posted May 13, 2018 Thanks all, really helpful. If I didn’t have to work for a living I reckon I’d set myself up as a Fender detective - solving the ongoing riddles created by Leo & co. Either that or be a “full-time dreamer”... Anyway, for anyone interested in Fender(s) I got this today, which is really well worth a look... Informative, and some great pictures. https://www.amazon.co.uk/fender-golden-age/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Afender the golden age Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick's Fine '52 Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 Earliest consistent use of the cushion I've seen is '74. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbiscuits Posted May 15, 2018 Share Posted May 15, 2018 Yeah my '70 P doesn't have the black cushion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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