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Vintage(ish) Fretless Fender Precision FS/FT


Beedster
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I've mentioned these in a few threads and PMs recently and, as I've had several PMs over the weekend, thought I'd go public so to speak. I'm on a mobile broadband connection so apologies for the lack of reply to PMs in question (the PM page takes about 5 minutes to load). Pics will follow this evening with any luck if I can get to a faster connection.

First up is a bitsa Jazz as follows:

Early 90's Fender USA neck and tuners (rosewood board)
Mid 90s Fender MIJ body (black)
70's Fender PUP and bridge covers
Recent after-market dark tort pickguard
Fender bridge (no idea of year)
Lindy Fralin split coil J-PUPs
J-Retro 3 band pre-amp (not installed at present hence not in pics)

This bass is punchy as hell and really looks the part. I put it together as a fretted bass to match my '73 fretless (which also has a J-Retro) but Marcus did a bad thing last week and stuck his Sadowsky UV70 in may way and you can probably guess the rest. The body is far from boutique condition-wise but the rest is in good nick and it's functionally bang-on. The PUPs and J-Retro alone would cost you close to £400 so although it probably seems a lot of cash for a bitsa, the bits in question are quality. In short we're talking a good, versatile and pretty stunning looking workhorse bass. To restate, the body has seen some action and has dinks, screw holes, odd marks and signs of emotional stress everywhere. I took out the J-Retro to sell seperately but realised that I don't have anything to replace it with for this bass so the bass is sold as is and you will need to either install the J-Retro yourself (not all that difficult TBH) or wait until I've had my tech do it.

[attachment=26711:Jazz_for_sale.jpg][attachment=26721:Jazz_for_sale2.jpg]

£550. No trades (unless it's a Markbass combo), no offers, sorry.

Second up is a fretless Precision that I carelessly mentioned in Clarky's post last week and have been regretting it ever since. It's lovely, and the tone and sustain are pretty impressive, but I've kinda decided since installing the J-Retro in my fretless Jazz that I have to work at getting all the sounds I need from the one bass rather than jumping between the two, so after much thought, the Precision's going.

'77 factory fretless unlined rosewood neck & original tuners. Board is in very good condition suggesting it's either not been played much or has been played by a very gentle kinda guy playing very quietly and using light gauge flats. It's a very nice neck indeed.
Mid 90's Fender MIJ Oly White body
Fender bridge (no idea of year)
'78 Fender Precision PUP (and a good 'un at that)
Non-original electrics
Black pickguard

Currently strung with TIs it does a great Jazzy upright impression. Strung with rounds it's a classic punchy 70's Precision with a little something extra.

[attachment=26712:Precision_for_sale.jpg][attachment=26722:Precisio...or_sale2.jpg]

£600. No trades (unless it's a Markbass combo), and no offers, sorry. Three guys kinda have first dibs on this at present but you know how these things usually go :)

Lastly, thought I'd mention it here as well as in Amp/Cabs, is a Markbass Traveller 102P 8ohm in a bespoke cover. Bloody light and bloody loud. The last soundguy who I worked with seemed to have trouble coming to terms with how such a smal box was making so much noise! Despite it's size and rating, it's famously solid tone-wise also. Can't remember what I paid for it but they go for £375ish on the bay so how about £325? NOW SOLD

[attachment=26719:Markbass_for_sale.jpg] [attachment=26720:Markbass_for_sale2.jpg]

I'll ebay all of the above on Saturday if they don't go here as I need the cash! I'll trade/PX any for a small Markbass combo (not a Jeff Berlin which is a little too big to carry).

Any of the above can be collected from Canterbury or I can meet in the Milton Keynes area. I might even travel a little further if you're a face I know!

Edited by Beedster
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Couple of PMs regarding the fretless neck, the Fralins and the J-Retro. As neither bass is original I would probably split (I'd probably do better out of it financially TBH), I'll wait a while to see if people want the basses as is first
Chris

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Precision no longer sold 'cos the pending bit was going to be a little too protracted. Now withdrawn as it's simply too nice to sell for that sort of money :)

Jazz will have standard (passive) electronics installed this weekend (hopefully) and can be had for £475. Given the PUPs in this and the quality of the neck, that's a steal.

J-Retro can be had for £85 posted

Chris

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[quote name='Beedster' post='510229' date='Jun 10 2009, 02:55 PM']Precision no longer sold 'cos the pending bit was going to be a little too protracted. Now withdrawn as it's simply too nice to sell for that sort of money :)

Jazz will have standard (passive) electronics installed this weekend (hopefully) and can be had for £475. Given the PUPs in this and the quality of the neck, that's a steal.

J-Retro can be had for £85 posted

Chris[/quote]

Can I tempt you with my minimark again? I wouldn't mind the black Jazz.... or the fretless come to think of it...

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[quote name='Jesso' post='510290' date='Jun 10 2009, 03:45 PM']Can I tempt you with my minimark again? I wouldn't mind the black Jazz.... or the fretless come to think of it...[/quote]

Thanks for the reply Jesso. I would be very interested but I've had a couple of bad experiences with amps in the post (most famously on BC a couple of months back), so would only really be interested if I could meet up and do the trade which, looking at your signature, seems really unlikely unless you fancy a very long drive :)
Sorry mate

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[quote name='Beedster' post='510229' date='Jun 10 2009, 02:55 PM']Precision no longer sold 'cos the pending bit was going to be a little too protracted. Now withdrawn as it's simply too nice to sell for that sort of money :)

Chris[/quote]

This is my fault, I couldn't collect and pay for a couple or so weeks because of my own stupidity forgetting a prior appointment and generally extremely busy at the moment. Chris' response is perfectly fair and he's been an absolute gent.

Please accept my sincere apologies, Chris.

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[quote name='silddx' post='510480' date='Jun 10 2009, 06:23 PM']This is my fault, I couldn't collect and pay for a couple or so weeks because of my own stupidity forgetting a prior appointment and generally extremely busy at the moment. Chris' response is perfectly fair and he's been an absolute gent.

Please accept my sincere apologies, Chris.[/quote]

Hi Nigel, it really isn't a problem. As I said above, I responded to Clarkey's thread last week and then received a few PMs about it so it seemed easiest to list it here. I needed some cash to buy some other gear, and on that basis would happily have gone though with our deal. However, as always happens when you sel a bass you've had a while, as soon as we signed on the dotted line so to speak I started to get cold feet! Much as I want a one-stop fretless solution, this bass strung with a set of La Bella Deep Talkers can do a sound my Jazz Bass could never do. OK, that one sound is the only thing it can do, but it does it very well and it does it 'honestly', that is, it's passive!
Having seen your recent thread it looks like you've a pretty lovely fretless as it is!
As I said, if I decide to sell it in the future I'll PM you first.
Chris

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[quote name='Beedster' post='510854' date='Jun 11 2009, 08:01 AM']Much as I want a one-stop fretless solution, this bass strung with a set of La Bella Deep Talkers can do a sound my Jazz Bass could never do. OK, that one sound is the only thing it can do, but it does it very well and it does it 'honestly', that is, it's passive![/quote]
You've pretty much nailed why I like my '79 P (fretted, labella flats) so I can sympathise. Your fretless appealed to me for similar reasons.

Andy

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[quote name='BigBeatNut' post='510866' date='Jun 11 2009, 08:49 AM']You've pretty much nailed why I like my '79 P (fretted, labella flats) so I can sympathise. Your fretless appealed to me for similar reasons.

Andy[/quote]

There's something about a 70's Precision with La Bella flats isn't there :)

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[quote name='Beedster' post='512492' date='Jun 12 2009, 10:32 PM']Last chance, how about £450, no covers, but with the Badass & Fralins?
Cracking bass for the cash......[/quote]
Beed. just out of interest how good are the LF's..I hear great things.....

B..

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[quote name='bubinga5' post='512595' date='Jun 13 2009, 05:28 AM']Beed. just out of interest how good are the LF's..I hear great things.....

B..[/quote]

Hi mate, well, I haven't used them a lot, but they're very punchy, and very clean (although that's probably as much a function of amplification I guess). They certainly were a step up from the stock Fender USA PUPs that I originally had in this bass, a whole lot more clarity and definition and noticibly more bottom end, made the Fenders sound a bit mushy, middy and weak.


[quote name='devinebass' post='513432' date='Jun 14 2009, 05:11 PM']Hey man, could you tell me the weight in lbs.
Cheers.
Scott[/quote]

Hi Scott
I don't have any scales here I'm afraid. It's not heavy but neither is it ultra-light. I've never been worried by weight so it's not something I notice when i buy a bass (unless it's my old 1978 ray which weighed about 5 stone). Sorry, if I can borrow some scales I'll let you know
Chris

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[quote name='bubinga5' post='512595' date='Jun 13 2009, 05:28 AM']Beed. just out of interest how good are the LF's..I hear great things.....

B..[/quote]
I've not used their bass pickups, but if it helps I've used their P90 guitar models.. seriously nice pickups! :)
Sounds like this would be a very nice bass for somebody out there..

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