What would you do? (Vintage P-bass decision)

[Marcray]

So, when I was 19 I went to Denmark Street with the proceeds of my first record company check to buy what I always wanted.  An old Precision.  I found what was described on the tag as a refinished 1964 Fender precision bass.  It was what I always wanted, Olympic white, rosewood fingerboard, tort pickguard, it had a wonderfully worn smooth neck, and it sounded right.  
 

I’m now 52, and that bass has played on every record I’ve ever done, and accompanied me to almost every gig.  It now has some issues, so it’s now in the hands of a very knowledgeable and experienced tech that I’ve gotten to know over the past few years.  Our intention is to do what needs to be done, after all, that bass has been around a while. 

I’ve never so much as removed a screw on the bass so we had a couple of surprises.  Firstly it had a neck date of 5 AUG 62, secondly the pickup was split between a treble side of 62, and a bass side 65.  Strangely, the tech said that although it could’ve been a repair done at any date before I owned it, the solder joints looked factory quality.  He had other reasons for this theory, but it’s too long to go into.  We shall never know.  The pots had been replaced, with much less impressive soldering, and the Jack was original.  She is going to get a refret, new pots, new wiring, all original spec. We may have the pickups rewound depending on how she sounds when she is reassembled. 

 

But here’s the question.  I always knew it was a refinish, but what the tech discovered between my scratches and scrapes, and the neck pocket seeing the light, was that it was originally a factory Sea Foam Green, over an Original Sunburst.  The Olympic white that I bought is wonderful, has all my bangs and scrapes, the remains of an “11” sticker that Natasha Schneider handed to me herself, even a little blood, but the idea of slowly and carefully taking her back to her factory appearance has me intrigued.  We’re worried that the motivation of the original owner to paint it white may have been that the green may have had some other issues, a bad hippy paint job, or some oxidized stickers, something strange like that.  And worst case is that we find something awful and simply refinish it again.  But is the aging that I have done more appropriate to keep?  
 

So factory “restoration” or personal restoration?  What would you do?  

 

BTW, none of this is financially motivated, I was aware that the bass was value compromised on the day I bought it.  Interested to know what others would do... thanks. 
 

 

[hooky_lowdown]

Fender were well known to use mix and match parts, bodies, necks etc, from all different years. It's not uncommon to have a genuine 60s fender bass with a 63 neck and 67 body, with 66 pickups. This went on through the 70s as well. So having miss matched parts is totally normal.

In the 70s many people refinished fender basses, remember they weren't as expensive back then as old ones are now.

Refinishing the bass will lower its value, the more original it is the more value. Refretting won't affect the value, may add if anything. I'd keep your bass as original as possible, blood and all. It all adds to it's authenticity. 😎

[Happy Jack]

If the look & feel of the bass are a direct result of decades of you playing it ... leave it alone!

If you do nothing now, then you retain the option to something later. If you do a refin now then that history is destroyed, and you can never get it back.

[pete.young]

10 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

If the look & feel of the bass are a direct result of decades of you playing it ... leave it alone!

If you do nothing now, then you retain the option to something later. If you do a refin now then that history is destroyed, and you can never get it back.

This.

[ahpook]

If you fiddle with it, you'll break it.

 

 

[Doctor J]

Leave it be. It’s your bass as it is. “Restoring” it would be like erasing part of your story with it and it just becomes another old Fender. 
 

Right now there is no other bass quite like it on this planet. It’s entirely unique. Why would you sacrifice that to regress to factory-level anonymity?

Edited September 30, 2020 by Doctor J

[ash]

Leave it alone! It’s got the honourable marks of time - mostly your time so keep the history. Post a picture of it too 😊

[Marcray]

51 minutes ago, Doctor J said:

Leave it be. It’s your bass as it is. “Restoring” it would be like erasing part of your story with it and it just becomes another old Fender. 
 

Right now there is no other bass quite like it on this planet. It’s entirely unique. Why would you sacrifice that to regress to factory-level anonymity?

That’s almost word for word what the tech said to me.  Adding to that the fact that I’m not going to sell it, so one day the kids will open the case and it will be “Dad’s bass”.  The one in most of the photos and videos etc...

 

I guess it’s curiosity that sneaks into it.  Always knowing it was a refinish I did wonder for years what it was originally.  The green did poke through in various places that I’d dinged it, but that seemed unlikely to me.  But again today in the workshop both me and the tech caught ourselves looking at it saying “boy, I bet this was pretty the day it was first taken out of the case” 😂😂.  So we get a little introspective about what is best.  I feel that my history is more appropriate.  If one of my kids want to “make it there’s” then they have my blessing. 

[Beedster]

21 minutes ago, Marcray said:

Adding to that the fact that I’m not going to sell it, so one day the kids will open the case and it will be “Dad’s bass”.  The one in most of the photos and videos etc...

Wonderful reason to leave it as is, really made me smile. Thanks

[jezzaboy]

Fender used to spray over sunburst if they needed a custom colour bass. If I remember right, Mark Agnesi said that if you wanted a customer colour in the 60`s, you paid 10% extra to get it done. I wonder what colour all those fiesta red strat`s were that were refinished in the UK during the Shadows hey day. Sunburst?

I think it would be cool if you were thinking about refinishing the bass to colour match the green colour.

Edited September 30, 2020 by jezzaboy

[bassbiscuits]

I’d love to see a pic of this bass. I’m intrigued. 

[GuyR]

I would do the minimum to make it A1 functional again. Refret, no problem whatsoever. New pots, fine if the originals no longer serve their purpose.The fact that the potential may be there for a future owner to expose a rare foam green finish will already make it more commercially attractive without you having to take the chance of doing it yourself. 

Balance the risks and potential rewards; how pleased would you be if the foam green is able to be made presentable? How disappointed will you be if you take back the refin to find the green is not viable and your history of ownership has been irrevocably erased?

No choice if it were mine. I'd leave it. And foam green is my absolute favourite custom colour.

one other question; What colour is the guard? If it is white, that would make it more likely the green is original.

Edited April 16, 2021 by GuyR

[Geek99]

I think they painted colours over bursts that went wrong too. 
 

I’d totally leave it unmolested if I were in your shoes, if you change it you’ll lose the magic, like a puppy replacing an old much-loved dog

Edited September 30, 2020 by Geek99

[PaulThePlug]

You got what ya wanted all those years ago... a white one for a reason... let it rest with speculation, and a bit of the unknown for good measure...

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 8, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Marcray]

A couple of people asked for pics, these are as recent as I have, the blurrier one was taken around the time when I first got her. 

[Doctor J]

Yeah, don't go messing around, there. That's bang on 🙂

[Owen]

It works. Don't fix it. 

[Reggaebass]

If that was mine I wouldn’t change anything , that’s aged perfectly 🙂

[Beedster]

48 minutes ago, Jus Lukin said:

I'm going to go with the consensus, too.

It sounds like you have a great bass with a strong history, especially if it is shown in photos and videos over all that time. Fresh frets and electronics can become a practical necessity, but the look is what it is. Refinishing or excavating the original colour won't bring out something more genuine- the life the bass has lived is the most authentic thing. I'd celebrate that!

There's no small irony, as well, that there is a market in basses which look as though they have lived a life in the hands of the owner, but are simulations. And here are talking about taking a bass which has lived hard and making it seem original, although that would also be a simulation!

Yep, whether Fender or whoever put on the current finish, it's how it's worn over the years that provides the magic

[Happy Jack]

Mind you, I'd be very tempted to put some knobs on that. 

[Marcray]

6 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

Mind you, I'd be very tempted to put some knobs on that. 

Yeah the pots have been replaced, all the wiring has been replaced, new knobs are in place.  After the refret it will be assembled and we’ll see what we have.  The cause of the issues I was having may have been the state of the wiring but we’re not ruling out the pickups for a rewind. 

[Useless amateur]

That bass as it is has your musical life history. It has all the personality you have put in to it with every scratch dent ding and worn paint. As it stands now it is your bass, if you refinish it it loses all the blood sweat and tears that it has absorbed from you over the years. 
Please don’t lose all this and keep it as is after the necessary repairs. Whatever you end up doing let’s have some pictures when it is finished
 

Cheers

Jon

[Dan Dare]

I'm going to disagree with the majority here. It's not a museum exhibit and it's not in original condition. It's a mass-produced instrument and it's your property. Do whatever you want with it and enjoy it.

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 8, 2022 by Jus Lukin