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NBD - 1976 Greco Precision Bass


umcoo

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I've been on a bit of a P bass kick lately, and wanted to pick something up that would give me that classic sound, but without breaking the bank.  I'm a sucker for older basses too, so when this 1976 Greco P bass copy came up for sale in Japan, I snatched it for the princely sum of £113.  Had to pay almost the same again to get it over here and through customs, but today I picked it up.    

Currently not getting any output, but the wiring is shot and I think it's more of a pots issue than a pickup issue.  A spray of contact cleaner made no difference.  Needs a good stripping down and cleaning, but should do me nicely!  Nice and light not sure on the body wood, but looks fantastic.  Everything's nicely aged too.

No idea what's going on with the 2 additional switches - once I've taken it apart I'll try and work it out.  Kill switch maybe?  They're obviously not original, but it would be cool to keep them and use them for something- open to suggestions!  I'll probably take my time getting this one back to working order, but that's all part of the fun.  Cheers all, here's some pics.... 

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8 minutes ago, Beedster said:

Great basses, good call. The two switches are DFA1 and DFA2. Sound guys use them, albeit mostly with guitarists and singers, it's unusual for them to be required by bassists

In that case, they're working exactly as they should! 😁

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2 minutes ago, umcoo said:

In that case, they're working exactly as they should! 😁

When the singer says "mate, can you do something about your tone?", you simply hit the "vocal enhance" switch (DFA1) and say "How's that?". S/he will love it. On the other hand when a guitarist say's you're too loud and s/he can't hear the nuances of their '57PUPs, you hit the "guitar enhance" switch (DFA2). S/he will also love it. I have a few such circuits in stock if anyone would like to buy one, they're lightweight and require no expertise to install, but don't come cheap. 

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4 hours ago, Beedster said:

When the singer says "mate, can you do something about your tone?", you simply hit the "vocal enhance" switch (DFA1) and say "How's that?". S/he will love it. On the other hand when a guitarist say's you're too loud and s/he can't hear the nuances of their '57PUPs, you hit the "guitar enhance" switch (DFA2). S/he will also love it. I have a few such circuits in stock if anyone would like to buy one, they're lightweight and require no expertise to install, but don't come cheap. 

Ooh I could do with one of each of those please. Do you also have any SFA switches in stock?

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What a beauty!!! Like you, I too have a 76 P - mine is a Matsumuko made Aria Pro II. It looks just the same. Ash and Maple. I've gutted and upgraded all of the electronics and hardware. 

The bit that astonished me is that I bought a new Fender USA pick guard and plopped it on my 42 year old 'copy' ... and the screw holes line up exactly! Hell, there are Fenders where that doesn't even happen ha ha ha!

I love the bass, but I do plan to treat it to a fret job and a new nut. Oh and it sounds oh so good. Yours will too, that I promise when it's all hooked up, congratulations!!!

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Even with the import duty & electrical problem, that's a bargain. Lovely example of vintage MIJ class, that's a Fujigen Gakki build, like Ibanez of the same era & MIJ Fenders & Squiers.

Since this is turning into a MIJ P copy love-in, here are my two:

Daion Performer, from around 1980-ish, made by Yamaki Gakki:

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Ibanez 2366B, Fujigen Gakki, from 1972-73 as far as I can work out:

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Both lovely basses - but I don't really play Precisions so I certainly don't need two!

Anyone want a very old, very, very rare Ibanez?

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Thanks all for the comments

@Bassassin I was hoping you would make an appearance! Thanks for the info, and lovely looking basses.

@dood Yours looks great too. Thanks for posting.  I am going to see if CTS pots fit and get some ordered this week hopefully so I can get it making some noise.

It's a really figured body and possibly Sen when I've googled it, so think it may be that.  Nice and lightweight, whatever it is.

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Stripped it all down today and cleaned up the pickguard and body.  I wet sanded the guard with 1200, 1500 then 2500 grit, then buffed it out.  It's a little matt, so I'm tempted to give it a quick shot of clear gloss, but that may take away from the aged look.

The body came out really nice with just a simple rub with Virtuoso cleaner and polish and the grain really pops.

 I disconnected all the wiring and pickups too.  One of the switches wasn't even connected to anything.  Getting a reading on the DC resistance for the pickups which is good news.  The wires were spliced and held together with tape though, which might explain my lack of output.  I'm just going to wire it up with new pots as a standard P bass, and keep the switches in for the aesthetic.  

Next job is cleaning up the frets...

Here's a few pics...

Pre-cleaning     

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This reminds me of my first bass from 1993 or so! Unfortunately, it was a dog - heavier than a Trace Elliot amp, with what appeared to be a ply-like neck!  It was a 1969 Kay. Terrible. 

Yours looks great though!  I’m getting all sentimental now - might go looking for a looky likey...

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Looks like you got a good buy there umcoo.
I have something of a liking for those old, MIJ 70's / early 80's basses
Just wondering whether the pots are actually duff - or whether it's just a bodge job with the wiring of those switches
 

I think a complete new wiring loom would be a good idea - but definitely keep the original pickup - see if it's working, and see how it sounds
A while back, I put a new neck on an old MIJ 70's / 80's bass (i couldn't tell what brand it was - someone had removed the logo on the old, broken neck)
Anyhow, the wiring needed a tweak, the pots needed cleaning - but the pickup sounded superb.... wish I'd kept it now
Good luck with this restoration project :)

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Just a quick update on this.

I've dismantled all the wiring.  The pots are shot, but the pickups are reading just fine, so that's good news.  I think I'm going to go with Alpha pots as they will fit the existing holes.  I'll use the original cap as well.

I shot some clear gloss on the pickguard, but it's a bit orange peely, so I might sand it back...maybe just get a new guard for it, but unsure for now.  There's a headless pickup screw I need to sort too.   

This evening, I taped off the frets and just gave them a once over with some steel wool to get the crud off, then a quick rub with Autosol metal polish.  They're looking really good.  Need to order the parts soon so I can get it back into action. 

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Very nice project. Looks really good.

Sen wood sounds amazing in my 82 Ibanez Roadster, a bit heavy but sounds great.

I think you are going to be really pleased with the bass once you are finished restoring it. All the work will make it even more special. Lovely basses these 70s 80s japanese ones. 

My two ones:

 

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On 10/07/2018 at 22:49, dood said:

Here’s mine!

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See you could come over to me to try out the QSC, and bring this for me to have a drool over.. you could compare and contrast to my 74 Fender P, or the 64.. or even some of my partscasters which have a bit of this vibe going on!!

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On 14/07/2018 at 23:37, Bridgehouse said:

See you could come over to me to try out the QSC, and bring this for me to have a drool over.. you could compare and contrast to my 74 Fender P, or the 64.. or even some of my partscasters which have a bit of this vibe going on!!

We’ll get in trouble for continuing that conversation lol lol... but in short, yes all of those things :)

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi folks,

Need some help with wiring up the pickups.  They've come with additional wire spliced onto then and it's a pretty poor job.  I'm going to de-solder and attach new cloth wiring.

My question is: how do I know which lead is hot, which is ground, and which two to connect together?  I had a quick search but nothing obvious jumping out.  I'm totally new to P-Bass wiring, so forgive me!

Thanks all

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25 minutes ago, umcoo said:

This is what I'm working with...

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Hi! I'm going to assume that the coloured wire is considered 'hot'. Ok, referring to left coil and right coil as pictured (they are going to be both the same so not really important UNLESS the pole pieces on the front side of the pickup halves are different heights. Which I am assuming they are not)

Take left hand coil and solder the black wire to the coloured wire of right side coil. That is all you need to do for the pickups, save for wrapping some tape around those bare solder joints.

You will then have a free coloured end and a free black end. Coloured will be hot, the other, well, self explanatory. The back you'll be able to solder to ground, the coloured will go to the 'hot' on the volume pot. Now, given which way you are holding the pot or what diagram you are looking at my description could get confusing so I will see if I can find a diagram for you!

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