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Post subject: Please help me date My P-Bass!
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 12:27 pm
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I'm having a little difficulty in determining the age of my P-Bass. I have a couple of questions about serial numbers that I hope you can help me with. The neckplate shows a serial number of 395836 which would suggest a manufacturing year of 1959 but the neck has 0103 4723 which would suggest a year of 1972. If this is correct, could it be possible that Fender assembled the guitar with such a wide date range? I think that I must not be evaluating the information correctly or perhaps some who previously owned it put the neck on at a latter date. Also on the neck where the plate would be attached there is a round stamp that says, "insp" and an "18" above it. Inside, at the top of the circle there are other letters that I cannot see because it is partialy obscured by the letter T written by a black marker. Below the stamp there is another of a man's name, Herb G. The only markings on the body is the serial number.
Thanks very much for your help........John


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Post subject: 1973
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 2:01 pm
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The serial number 395836 is from the year 1973.


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Post subject: P-Bass date
Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 2:51 pm
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Thanks, I knew I had something wrong........


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Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2009 7:18 pm
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MANDOLIN BROS N.Y.C. GET THEM THE NUMBER IF, THE BASS WAS MADE ON THIS PLANET THEY CAN TELL YOU!!!!!!


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Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2009 11:11 am
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Actually JR, so can I. If that is a correct reading of the serial and the neck stamping code here is what I get.

The neck serial means shipped between July 1, 1973 and June 30, 1974.

The neck though was actually made on Wednesday, November 22, 1972 by Herb Gastelum. This was the day before Thanksgiving. (BTW, the "72" you are seeing in the neck stamping code are individual digits representing two different things and are not related to each other, the "7" actually goes with the "4" and not with the "2" so it is just a happy accident you got that part right. If the bass had been made the next week you would have thought it was an "82" neck!)

Since 1966 Mr. Gastelum has been employed almost continually by Fender except for the brief period when production shifted from Fullerton to Corona and all Fender production was in Japan. He is a legendary figure in Fender CBS & Post CBS history. To me he ranks right up there with Abigail Ybarra who has been winding Fender pickups since 1956.

Herb Gastelum would become a Fender Master Builder moving to the Custom Shop side in 1993 and is still there at last report, which was earlier this year.


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