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Post subject: Fender Precision Bass 1976 - fake or real?
Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 2:32 am
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Hello!
Help me, please, to identify my fender 1976 precision bass.

I guess the neck is original , but I am not sure about body... I think it was refinished, and what's why it has no mounting holes for "ashtray" bridge cover now.

So please help me to identify the body and other parts. I guess all golden hardware on the bass are not original.

I am also worried about additional cuts in the body ...

The body stamp is the 1/2 inch diameter circle with the initials F?R over a 30. I cannot decipher the middle initial. I think it is a B, H or R.
The neck stamp reads D103 4163.
The pickups are greenbacks stamped 111275 and 161275. They make 10.9 ohms on the meter.
The pots are # 1377451-032367.


In generally my question is: Is the body original fender pb1976 body, and what happened to this bass?

(Sorry for my English)

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Post subject: Re: Fender Precision Bass 1976 - fake or real?
Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 7:48 pm
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Dude,
I bought a brand new 1976 in 1976, and your bass looks nothing like it at all.

Your photos are really bad, so I can't tell much from them.

If you were going to buy it, I would run the other way.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Precision Bass 1976 - fake or real?
Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 9:02 pm
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The neck code you read as "D103 4163" is probably 01034163. In order the code tells us the following.
01=Precision Bass
03=Rosewood fingerboard with skunk stripe
41=41st week of the year
6 =1976
3 = Wednesday
That means it was stamped as passing inspection Wednesday October 13, 1976.

The serial on the headstock, 7649501 with the bold 76 decodes to 1976/1977 model year.

The pot code 1377451 actually decodes as a CTS pot made the next to last week (week 51) of 1974.

The pot code on the other pot, 032367 I can't figure out. Fender has used CTS pots starting code sequence 137 and Stackpole pots starting code sequence 304. I have no idea what that other pot code means.

The gold hardware appears to be off a P-Bass Special, such as the Walnut Special in '82. Not original to a 76 P-Bass. It is good hardware, made for Fender by Schaller.

The pickguard I'm not sure about, but it is aluminum and it might actually be a genuine 57/58 guard. Could be a repro but most repros are plastic. This looks very interesting.

I'm thinking the body is closer to a 1979 to 1983 than a 1976. Notice in the pocket some surface wood has been chiseled or scraped away to obliterate stampings. I say 79 to 83 because the round routing hole on the top just below the neck pocket which is hidden under the pickguard about the size of a nickle along with the extension routing in the control cavity which extends upwards to another pair of routing circles didn't appear until at least 2 or 3 years after the neck was made. I've seen bodies routed exactly like this from 1979/1980 and 1981. There was not extra routing added. That is how they looked 79/80/81 etc. The body might have been refinished but no routing has been added.

The cap is original to a 76.

So it seems that you have what you suspected. I too think it is a parts bass. But all the parts look to be real Fender USA CBS era and maybe the pickguard is pre-CBS.

P.S. Next time you post photos here, please resize them to a manageable size first. No wider than 900 pixels seems to work. Or post a link to high resolution photos hosted elsewhere such as on photobucket. While the resolution is good, it was difficult to examine these photos because they are so wide it is like trying to watch a Panavision film through a porthole. Thanks.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Precision Bass 1976 - fake or real?
Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 10:18 pm
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brotherdave wrote:
The neck code you read as "D103 4163" is probably 01034163. In order the code tells us the following.
01=Precision Bass
03=Rosewood fingerboard with skunk stripe
41=41st week of the year
6 =1976
3 = Wednesday
That means it was stamped as passing inspection Wednesday October 13, 1976.

The serial on the headstock, 7649501 with the bold 76 decodes to 1976/1977 model year.

The pot code 1377451 actually decodes as a CTS pot made the next to last week (week 51) of 1974.

The pot code on the other pot, 032367 I can't figure out. Fender has used CTS pots starting code sequence 137 and Stackpole pots starting code sequence 304. I have no idea what that other pot code means.

The gold hardware appears to be off a P-Bass Special, such as the Walnut Special in '82. Not original to a 76 P-Bass. It is good hardware, made for Fender by Schaller.

The pickguard I'm not sure about, but it is aluminum and it might actually be a genuine 57/58 guard. Could be a repro but most repros are plastic. This looks very interesting.

I'm thinking the body is closer to a 1979 to 1983 than a 1976. Notice in the pocket some surface wood has been chiseled or scraped away to obliterate stampings. I say 79 to 83 because the round routing hole on the top just below the neck pocket which is hidden under the pickguard about the size of a nickle along with the extension routing in the control cavity which extends upwards to another pair of routing circles didn't appear until at least 2 or 3 years after the neck was made. I've seen bodies routed exactly like this from 1979/1980 and 1981. There was not extra routing added. That is how they looked 79/80/81 etc. The body might have been refinished but no routing has been added.

The cap is original to a 76.

So it seems that you have what you suspected. I too think it is a parts bass. But all the parts look to be real Fender USA CBS era and maybe the pickguard is pre-CBS.

P.S. Next time you post photos here, please resize them to a manageable size first. No wider than 900 pixels seems to work. Or post a link to high resolution photos hosted elsewhere such as on photobucket. While the resolution is good, it was difficult to examine these photos because they are so wide it is like trying to watch a Panavision film through a porthole. Thanks.



Thank you a lot! What about pickups?


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Post subject: Re: Fender Precision Bass 1976 - fake or real?
Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 10:59 pm
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Location: Albemarle, NC
Would have to inspect in person to tell if the pickups are original wind or not. If the solder joints look original they might be correct for the neck but I have to wonder why someone changed the body and the pickguard.

So basically you came here for a free authentication? Nobody who knows anything about them is gonna say that is a '76 Fender bass. It is a parts bass. It is what it is. I can't authenticate the knobs or strap buttons either.

The pickup codes you give decode as follows:

111275 and 161275 = Both the north and south bobbins were made between March 17th and 21st of 1975, BUT BY DIFFERENT PEOPLE. ((Twilight Zone Theme music up))


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Post subject: Re: Fender Precision Bass 1976 - fake or real?
Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 11:26 pm
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Also should point out that the cap was used from about 1956 till the early 80's. Not just that one year. But if everything else clocked to 76, which it doesn't, it wouldn't be out of place in a '76.

I'm sort of suspecting you have a 76 neck on a 79/83 body with early 80's hardware, 74 electronics and a 57/58 pickguard. All genuine Fender except for that one pot code.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Precision Bass 1976 - fake or real?
Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 12:31 am
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thank you very much again!


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Post subject: Re: Fender Precision Bass 1976 - fake or real?
Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2012 12:54 pm
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I concur that it is very hard to pin an exact date on bass that has had a lot of its original parts replaced.
A real 1976 Precision bass has enough characteristics among its original parts to sort of scream its vintage. It is quite obvious to the trained eye that your bass is a combination of 77- 82 parts.
The pickup(s) do seem to be a 1976-77 pickup bobbins but there is no way to tell if they are not rewound and the foam on the brass plate has been replaced with crap foam that will dry rot. You should replace it with foam weather stripping like the original stuff used by Fender. It is available at Sears as Window weather stripping.
The anodized pickguard is the type Fender puts on the 1957 Vintage reissue bass. The problem is that they didn't start making the Vintage Reissue '57 until 1982 and the replacement alum. guards were not available as parts until sometime after 1982.
I can reassure you that your pickguard is not from an original 1957-59 bass because, if it were, it would have much more wear on it and be coated with a layer of lacquer.
The bass does have the bridge, tuners and string retainer of a Precision Special, which again was not available until 1982.
I think the body is newer than 1976 because I think the extra routings are evidence of early CNC manufacturing which Fender started doing around 1980.
So- you either have a gutted P-bass Special body, refinned black, or a black 80's Pbass body with a 1976-77 neck and a replaced pickguard or a 1976-77 Precision bass body and neck with key parts swapped for P-Bass Special parts. Its hard to tell

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Last edited by BCbassman on Thu Sep 20, 2012 10:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Precision Bass 1976 - fake or real?
Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2012 5:21 pm
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...as posted elsewhere recently...the Circle in the neck pocket "FRR30" is an inspection stamp. (Fender Rogers Rhodes---30= the inspector's i.d.). Obviously no help in dating it, but does show that the body was likely an original....same thing with the neck signatures.
+1 to what everyone else posted.

Cheers,
rob

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Post subject: Re: Fender Precision Bass 1976 - fake or real?
Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 4:36 pm
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Hello and greetings to all - I came across this topic on this forum and found it intriguing and decided to join the forum and the conversation.

On the topic of '76 P basses - I am currently interested in buying one from a gentlemen who posted an ad online. Unfortunately I know hardly anything about vintage Fender instruments and I'd be shooting in the dark trying to identify it and authenticate all the parts, so any input or information would be hugely appreciated!!

The guy gave me the SN 607887, which would make it a 76 but other than that I don't know what else to check out...it is supposedly an original sunburst but then was refinished - here's a photo attached. One strange thing is that the headstock is the same natural wood finish as the body, which doesn't check with the typical style of maple neck, rosewood fingerboard.

Again, any advice or input would be appreciated - thanks!!!
[img]file:///Users/mpeworks/Downloads/76%20Fender%20P%20bass[/img]


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Post subject: Re: Fender Precision Bass 1976 - fake or real?
Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2012 6:02 pm
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Location: In the pocket north of Washington D.C.
brigbybass- Your picture cannot be veiwed. You may want to start another thread on this subject with some good pictures of the bass you are considering.

It is impossible to evaluate a bass without good pictures. A seller can describe anything.

good luck.

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