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Post subject: 1975 Fretless P-Bass
Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 2:54 pm
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I purchased a fretless P-Bass here in NZ in 1975 S/N 599404. It had a 'made in Japan' sticker on it. Could this be correct?


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Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 3:46 pm
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I'll let someone else reply to this one since plenty of people has been asking about serial #s lately.

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Post subject: Serial Matches USA for 1974/1975
Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 6:43 pm
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Neil Hannan wrote:
I purchased a fretless P-Bass here in NZ in 1975 S/N 599404. It had a 'made in Japan' sticker on it. Could this be correct?


Welcome to the Precision Bass Forum Neil!

Before I try to answer this one, let me say that for everyone's benefit I am currently constructing a bass oriented informational website. Due to these recurring "WHAT YEAR IS MY...." questions, part of this website will be devoted to centrally cataloging information sources on dating and identifying Fender Basses. Fender.com has first-class resources and should be seen as the "OFFICIAL" site, but people can't always seem to find the material and wind up here with their inquiry. Plus now and then an oddball like a 1975 Japanese Precision shows up. I'm working on this new website in my spare time right now. Once it is completed I'll post a link to it in the Fender bass forums. Dating resources will only be a part of my new site's content. I anticipate it should be debuting by the end of 2008.

Now to address Neil's question! I would like to make sure I understood you to state that in 1975 you personally purchased a brand new Fender P-bass with a "sticker" that said "Made In Japan."

Here is THE OFFICIAL FENDER JAPAN dating list. Just because it isn't on this list doesn't mean it didn't happen. It just means it isn't a legitimate authorized Fender product:
http://www.fender.com/support/japanese_instruments.php

Here is an "unofficial" page which is dedicated to Stratocasters, but the numbering scheme is identical and as you can see there is nothing until 1982:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/john.blackman4/serial.htm

Fender guitars were not "officially" produced in Japan until 1982, or just about two years prior to the collapse of production at Fullerton and the initiation of mass production of all Fender instruments in Japan until the Ensenada plant and then the Corona plant were up and running.

It is very important to note the fact that no Fender instruments were made in Japan prior to 1982 does not preclude some knockoffs being produced by a rogue shop or in some cases by a full blown counterfeit mass production operation. The larger counterfeit operations were in overdrive during the American involvement in the Vietnam War. They were busy recreating approximations of a Fender, Gibson and other world famous US instruments and amps for "GI JOE." For example in the Philippines there was a large operation making visually very close copies of practically Fender's entire line including amps all labeled with "FINDER" in a script that looked exactly like the "FENDER" script. The temptation to buy a knockoff Jaguar guitar or Precision Bass at a fantastic price was irresistible to US soldiers looking for bargains to use during their hitch or to bring home as a memento.

Over the past few years a resurgence in counterfeiting has taken off, care should be taken when buying guitars from unknown sources.

Now it seems that your bass serial given, 599404, would exactly fit the Fender USA numbering scheme from a USA made instrument produced between 1974 and 1975 as you can verify here:
[url]http://www.fender.com/support/usa_instruments.php[list]

Therefore if it was a STICKER on your bass, then someone may have put it there for a deceptive purpose which I can not fathom. Or it isn't a genuine Fender. Most "Made In Japan" and "Crafted in Japan" Fender instruments are not marked with peel and press stickers.

I've also seen people take a Tokai 70's production Jazz bass remove the Tokai decal and put a Fender headstock decal on it. I believe Tokai did sticker some guitars but most often the country of origin is identified by an engraved neckplate. Since I've see this with Jazz basses it is not impossible that the same was done with a Precision copy.

No official Fenders were made in Japan until 1982. Since that time Fender guitars have been made by no less that four different Japanese manufacturers.

For further analysis of your 1975 Precision Bass, please post high resolution closeups of the headstock, back of the headstock, frets, fretboard, pickup, knobs, pickguard, serial number, bridge, and anything else would be helpful. Also helpful would be to photos of the electronics. If Made in America you could tell easily by removing the neck and checking for hallmarks or checking the pots and capacitor.

Regards,
Dave


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Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 8:36 pm
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I have a '75 fretless Precision. I purchased it new back in the olden days. The serial number on mine is close to yours, indicating the proper time period. However, mine is, without a doubt, made in the USA!


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Post subject: 1975 fretless P-Bass
Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2008 9:47 pm
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Thank you for your replies. The Bass in undoubtedly genuine and I'm now sure it was made in USA. The 'made in Japan' sticker was an importer trick I would say - probably to avoid paying to much duty


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