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Post subject: Could you please help ID my bass?
Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 5:41 pm
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Hobbyist
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Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 5:10 pm
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Hi, I'm a beginner bass player and I recently decided to try to identify a bass that I bought many years ago (I was a beginner back then, stopped playing for years, and recently decided to play again, that's why I'm still a beginner). It says that it is a Precision, and according to the Guitar Dater Project website, it was made between 1973 - 1974. But when I do a Google image search of Precisions made then, it doesn't look like any of them.

I guess my question is if my bass is fake, or if the previous owner(s) made a lot of after-market modifications.

Any help that you can give me is greatly appreciated.

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Post subject: Re: Could you please help ID my bass?
Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 6:28 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2012 12:39 pm
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I wish I had an answer for you.all I can say is its a beautiful looking Bass..I looked at several pics of precision Basses around that era and I couldnt find a one with those color pickups but the pros are going to have a much better answer to your questions and I too can not wait till they post. Either way I hope it sounds as nice as it looks!

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Post subject: Re: Could you please help ID my bass?
Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2012 9:07 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:08 pm
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It looks like somebody installed A Leo Quan bridge, but in the wrong spot. It'll be easy to fix with the original holes being there.

They did do a pretty good job with filing the slots of the bridge.

I don't know much about the Dimarzio company, but it looks like cream covers hiding a different brand of pickups.

I like it.


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Post subject: Re: Could you please help ID my bass?
Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2012 5:20 am
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Rock Star
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Location: Albemarle, NC
Lots of mods to this instrument. Aftermarket Leo Quan Badword bridge, added a Jazz pickup, moved jack to lower bout, required additional pot which is in the original pickguard jack hole, three way Switchcraft pickup selector switch, 80's Dimarzio looking pickups and deluxe ultralight Schaller tuners.

The only things left original that I see are the neck, nut, string retainer, possibly frets, the body and possibly pickguard.

So you have a player class P-Bass that has had pretty much everything thrown at it but active electronics (and I'm not sure it didn't) and a refinish. Natural was a finish option that year so I can not say this is not the original finish.

Should be a dandy player. Adding the Jazz pickup, putting the required additional pot in the original jack location and moving the jack to the lower bout was an extremely popular player mod popularized by T-Bone Wolk of NBC-TV's "Saturday Night Live" orchestra and then by other influential players of the early 80's. Usually this was done without the 3-way switch though, so yours is more highly modified than most were. About every P-player that saw Tom "T-Bone" Wolk play on SNL or with Hall & Oates at least thought about doing that mod. While there has never been a "T-Bone Wolk" artist series bass as such, T-Bone is so largely responsible for the popularity of the P/J pickup configuration that every P/J bass in a way is a "T-Bone Wolk" model.


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Post subject: Re: Could you please help ID my bass?
Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2012 7:59 am
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Rock Star
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Location: Linningrad
Nice Hot Rod! How does it sound?

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Post subject: Re: Could you please help ID my bass?
Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2012 8:57 pm
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Professional Musician
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those pickups almost look like quarter pounders with other covers on them. The tuners are not from the 70's or at least 72 to 76.


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Post subject: Re: Could you please help ID my bass?
Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2012 10:13 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:08 pm
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Somebody did a pretty darn good job with routing that J pickup.


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Post subject: Re: Could you please help ID my bass?
Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2012 11:09 pm
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Roadie
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Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2009 4:30 pm
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Looks like a helluva player.


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Post subject: Re: Could you please help ID my bass?
Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 10:30 am
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Joined: Fri Mar 21, 2008 11:00 am
Posts: 1226
Location: In the pocket north of Washington D.C.
I agree That this looks like a mid 70's Precision with and original natural finish and the pickups replaced with an added Jazz bass pickup and strat switch. The pickguard is not original to the bass since it is not laminated. Fender only used laminated plastic for their pickguards in the 70's. Do you have a serial number on the F plate behind the neck?

I don't think that the pickups are Dimarzios since they would have the hex shaft pole pieces instead of solid poles. The BA bridge is cool,if you like it, but you could return this bass to a more original state by replacing the main pickup and pickguard, replace the bridge and the tuners with Fender hardware appropriate to the 70's and your bass would look more like a '75 Precision with added Jazz Bass PU.

I would probably play it as is and have fun with it.
Take care.


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