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Vintage Fenders


Reggaebass

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50-70 years on from manufacture, there aren’t too many vintage basses of any merit that haven’t been refretted.

As time goes by, the number reduces further. 
If you intend to do more than look lovingly at your bass, it’s going to need a refret at some point or become an expensive ornament. All my vintage basses are refretted (I assume, I care so little, I don’t actually know)

The only vintage instrument I acquired with the original, very worn, frets in place is my 66 Tele. First thing I did was order vintage correct replacements from Fender CS, fitted without any planing of the fingerboard. The original frets are in the case, In the event that whoever my kids sell it to when I’m gone might be interested. I’m not.

I am fastidious about other aspects of originality, insofar as any vintage bass or guitar I have has first and foremost to Have the original finish and pickups, and be fully functional, so an irreparable switch or tuning machine would receive a period correct replacement.

 

I am immediately suspicious of mint original instruments, either that they are not authentic, or not good players. All mine are fairly grizzly, because they are good enough to have been regularly used.

 

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A further thought re refretting; If you continue to use your bass with low frets, wear on the fingerboard is greatly accelerated. At some point you are going to have to replace the frets. Don’t necessitate replacement of the fingerboard too.

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2 minutes ago, GuyR said:

A further thought re refretting; If you continue to use your bass with low frets, wear on the fingerboard is greatly accelerated. At some point you are going to have to replace the frets. Don’t necessitate replacement of the fingerboard too.

Thanks guy, something I’ll keep in mind 

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As an owner of a 1962 restored Jazz bass as time passes and instruments get older they will need some extra TLC and possible replacement parts i.e. pots frets bridge nut etc. even those that are locked away and never used.. it seems everyone wants a prestine condition vintage but few take the plunge and decide to actually buy one due to the cost of ownership

 

look around at antique furniture paintings vintage cars etc. most have had some restoration done at sometime

my bass at the time of writing this (2021) is 59 years old to be able to play it live / studio or otherwise it will need some work done they all will

the alternative is to lock it away in a case somewhere and never use it which isnt what I want

 

on reflection I prefer a restored used instrument ( all my basses and guitars are secondhand ) Im not afraid to take her out and play live if it gets a knock its not the end of the world it can be fixed / restored mended

I paid more for my car at present than the bass..the car is devaluing daily unlike the Jazz.. just my view guys yours will probably be different...

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Out of curiosity, do people have a "go to" place to look at for vintage fenders? I'm casually looking for a '73 at some point over the next year or two, so I'd like to get an idea what the market rate would be. I know it will vary based on a number of factors, but a rough guide is fine for now.

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4 hours ago, jimmyb625 said:

Out of curiosity, do people have a "go to" place to look at for vintage fenders? I'm casually looking for a '73 at some point over the next year or two, so I'd like to get an idea what the market rate would be. I know it will vary based on a number of factors, but a rough guide is fine for now.

Bass gallery usually has a decent number of early-mid 70s examples. Andy Baxter is worth a look too.

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Im always looking at  vintage sites and most of the basses advertised have been on for quite a while, there’s very few gone on recently, I’ve got an itch for an early 70s precision , there’s some nice ones in the US but the taxes make them expensive 

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14 hours ago, jimmyb625 said:

Out of curiosity, do people have a "go to" place to look at for vintage fenders? I'm casually looking for a '73 at some point over the next year or two, so I'd like to get an idea what the market rate would be. I know it will vary based on a number of factors, but a rough guide is fine for now.

There’s several sites mentioned in this thread. Wunjo currently have a ‘75 P bass in stock just under £3k.

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How do I just now find this topic? I have two vintage Fenders!

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This is my Jazz from May 1966. Neck is from January, pots from week 18. It's a refin, I had it refretted a few years back and I don't have the original case anymore. This bass is absolutely killer. The neck is crazy, the sound is brilliant and it has that typical 1966 "thump" on the E-string. I bought it partly because I loved Paul Turner's sound on the Abbey Road sessions with Jamiroquai, and he has a white '66 Jazz too. I met Paul a couple of years ago when he was introducing and promoting Stenback basses at Paul's Bass Matters here in NL, and while talking with him I mentioned this bass. He said "do you have it here?" and I did, and so did he! So we compared basses (I have an A profile neck, his is a B-neck) and absolutely agreed on that heavy "thump" on the E-string. One of the best basses I've ever played.

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This is my Precision from May 1971, also a refin and refret, but I have the original case to go with it. Currently strung with Labella flats. Very slim neck, great sound. Lovely P.

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16 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

Can someone point me to a decent source for decoding the neck numbers like this ,ie week, day, year, profile etc,  I use guitarhq but that seems to just give serial numbers, I’m mainly looking at 68-72 precision’s 

6F79D6FA-F6BC-49C0-9250-E799CEA03D79.jpeg

Isn’t that the 5th day 22/01/68

 

maybe? Always tricky:

 

https://www.vintageandrare.com/blog/serial-number-identification-and-decoding/

Edited by tegs07
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1 hour ago, tegs07 said:

Isn’t that the 5th day 22/01/68

 


no, it means it's a p bass neck from the 22nd week of 66


 

1 = Jaguar 1962-1965

2 = Stratocaster 1962-1965

3 = Telecaster

4 = Jazzmaster 1962-1965

5 = Precision Bass

6 = Bass VI

7 = Jazz Bass

8 = Musicmaster II, Mustang, Duo-Sonic II 1964-1965 22 fret 24" scale model

9 = Musicmaster II, Mustang, Duo-Sonic II 1964-1966 21 fret 22 1/4" scale Model. Also found on 1969 Swinger "Arrow/Musiclander" models.

10 = Coronado 1 and 2, and some 1966 Jazzmaster and Stratocaster necks

11 = Bass V

12 = Electric 12 and Maverick/Custom model

13 = Stratocaster 1966-1968, many 1966 Jazzmasters too

14 = Coronado 12

15 = Jaguar 1966-1972

16 = Musicmaster II, Mustang, Duo sonic II, and Bronco

17 = Mustang Bass and MusicMaster Bass

18 = Coronado Bass

19 = Jazzmaster and Coronado 2

22 = Stratocaster 1968-1972

23 = Telecaster Bass

27 = Villiager 12 

28 = Shenandoah 12

 

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