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Post subject: How can I tell if my customized P Bass is authentic
Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 9:39 pm
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I purchased a customized P Bass and took the neck off and the body has two stamps on it. One stamp says, "Aug 29 PAN" and the other stamps says, "05 82 59" or "Q5 82 59" The O and Q are hard to decipher. Either way, I could have a letter or two wrong but basically that's it. The body has been refinished but in the neck socket where the original paint still shows it looks like the old Alder bodies with the dark sunburst. The neck is licensed Warmoth flamed maple. All the hardware looks like the 50's Fender P Basses. Just wondering if there is any way to say if this is a gem or not. P. S. Any way to post photos here. I would like to post pics of the bass. Clue me on that if its' possible.


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Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 1:51 pm
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Joined: Fri Mar 21, 2008 11:00 am
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Location: In the pocket north of Washington D.C.
IF you have a customized bass with after market parts what part to you want to certify as authenticFender? the body? We need pictures and even then it would be a stretch to really know what we are looking at.

You can read the FAQ to learn how to post pictures, but you first have to host the pictures on a public image server like Photobucket.com
Then use the Img button above you text window to post the proper tag for a message board.

good luck

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If thine enemy wrong thee, buy each of his children a drum.


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Post subject: August 1979....maybe.
Posted: Sat Aug 01, 2009 9:45 am
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Location: Albemarle, NC
Gem? Sorry no. The aftermarket replacement neck puts it in the parts bass class.

I know you are excited about the "59" in the neck pocket stamp. Don't be. Through March of 1962 the only date codes were on the neck paddle (butt) and in the pickup cavity and they were exclusively hand written in pencil except for about the first half of the 1959 model year when there was no date code at all.

We can very safely assume that since it has a stamp and not a hand written pencil date that it is post 1962.

Since there is no serial number on the neck plate, so long as it is the original neck plate, we can also safely assume it is post 1976 since 1976 was the year the serial number moved to the headstock decal. I should point out however that serialized neck plates have been scavenged in recent years for sale on eBay and other channels.

Fender switched to neck pocket stickers instead of stamps in 1980 so it is also possible to assume that it was made prior to 1980 since it has ink stamps.

These assumptions lead me to speculate that if it is actually a Fender body, which I am not saying since I haven’t seen it, that it might have been made sometime between 1976 and 1979. The last digit in your stamp which you read as 9 might indicate it is a 1979 model. The next to last digit in your stamp, the “5” is the Fender code used for Precision Bass for many years.

Still, I'd sort of like to know the pot codes. If the pots are original you can date them, but that isn't as accurate as the serial number which was probably lost on the original neck. Fender bought a huge quantity of pots in 1966, so basses from about 4 different model years will date to 1966 by pot codes. Basically the pot date tells you that it could not possibly have been made earlier than the pot date, but this is a valid assumption only so long as the pots are original. You can decode pot codes yourself. First 3 numbers are makers ID code, next two numbers are year, last two are week.
“1378812” Decodes 137 = CTS ID, 88 = 1988, 12 = 12th week of that year.
“304-6237” Decodes 304 = Stackpole ID, 62 =1962, 37 = 37th week of that year.

If I had to make a guess, I’d say based on the information provided that this body was made in August 1979.

"AUG" obviously represents August but the remainder of the key to authenticating and deciphering the neck pocket codes relates to the original instrument serial which was probably on the neck. "PAN" is probably the initials of the person who signed off on the body. I don't know who PAN represents, but someone else here might.


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