Bass mods in 1963

[haimesy]

8 hours ago, police squad said:

it's actually only the guitarist who is original but the current bass player, Frank Allen did join them early on

The new singer has been there 35 years now

 I saw them a couple of years ago, they were fabulous

My first Pro band was with the current singer Spencer James in London 

[tauzero]

I'm not convinced they're mods at all. None of them are wearing parkas.

[Alanko]

Maybe a way of styling out headstock damage. Notice there is no visible headstock decal. That or he played with a pushy guitarist with a Telecaster who insisted on the matching showband look.

 

Another mystery bass is a P Bass played briefly by Chris Hillman of the Byrds:

 

 

I wager there is the remains of a split Fender headstock under a new veneer, plus extra wood to make up a 2 x 2 headstock. The bass has never surfaced, so pure guesswork on my part.

 

[Jono Bolton]

On 01/05/2025 at 17:47, Hellzero said:

Indeed, but the idea of Leo Fender was not really moding, but fixing an instrument by changing the problematic part with another faster than fast and not spending time on repair: a typical moto from the post war society and the consumerism.

In this scenario though, the 51-style neck would have a squared off heel rather than a rounded one like the later Precisions, so would have required a fair bit of work to make them fit. It's a rosewood fingerboard too, so the more likely scenario is a reshaped headstock IMO

[Jono Bolton]

Double post

Edited May 3 by Jono Bolton

[MrFingers]

On 02/05/2025 at 20:59, Alanko said:

Another mystery bass is a P Bass played briefly by Chris Hillman of the Byrds

Chris Hillman was (and is) originally a mandolin player, and prior to joining the Byrds he never even picked up a bass (hence his rather melodic style: he approached it as a very big mandolin with very thick strings). That bass was loaned to him to mime in a TV appearance, he thinks it was a Fender body with a homemade neck, and it was absolutely atrocious. He later used a sunburst P-bass with transition logo on Monterey, which was then stripped and stained in brown, and used furher in the Burrito Bro's.

 

As for that '63 P-bass, it has a rosewood fretboard, so I'd suspect that someone took a hacksaw to the headstock, and reshaped it. Also because a true <57 P-neck had the square heel just like the Telecaster, which doesn't fit in the curved neck pocket. Hence you can install a curved neck in a square pocket, but not the other way around.

[Jackroadkill]

The most important question is surely not "is that a mod?", but "is that mod any good for metal?".

[Doc rock]

On 01/05/2025 at 02:30, KK Jale said:

I think that's the guy out of Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas. 
 

 

I believe that's Ray Jones bass player for the Dakotas from (Nov 1961 - July 1964). I think that's a standard black P bass with the bottom of the headstock hiding behind Ray's suit jacket. I say that because in those days they didn't make early Precision basses with rosewood finger boards just maple with the early small headstock shape. After looking at some of the other photos I've changed my mind, that DOES look like a mod! 

Edited May 5 by Doc rock
correction

[Alanko]

The same bass, prior to the reshape and with the decal intact?

 

Looks like a black pickguard, but presumably it is dark tortoiseshell.

 

 

colour photo. Post chop, looks like a boggo Sunburst P Bass.
 

Edited May 5 by Alanko

[Hellzero]

Some of us have been fooled by that jacket (including me), but the bass presented in the original post is fully stock. 😉

[Alanko]

 

I don't think it is even a Telecaster headstock profile, but something even thinner and slinkier. The bassist also looks 15 here. I did way worse things to guitars when I was a teenager!

[ezbass]

Perhaps it was to cure neck dive, whilst trying to keep some sort of Fender aesthetic?

[Hellzero]

So, jacket or not jacket, that is the question...

[Steve Browning]

Personally, as originally, I believe the jacket is fastened and it does not cover the headstock. 

[Grahambythesea]

There are photos and videos on YouTube with the headstock in tact and modded. Then he has a white P bass and then switches to a natural finish Gibson EB2. 

[tauzero]

Could it just be that the headstock has been banged very hard on something which has sheered a section off along the grain?

[Grahambythesea]

On 09/05/2025 at 16:17, tauzero said:

Could it just be that the headstock has been banged very hard on something which has sheered a section off along the grain?

I think you’re right. I had a 76 Precision which had an accident and took off part of the front part of the headstock. It split along the grain and was easily stuck back. But supposing this happened on a tour ( the schedules back then were torturous) no opportunity to get it to a luthier or even get to a shop for some wood glue. May also explain why he switched to the Gibson bass or that might have just been following the fashion for semis in the 60s.