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Post subject: Can You help me with identify this bass?
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 3:30 am
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Hello,

I found a fender precision bass but i can't identify it. Can somebody seen something like this before? Is this real fender usa or just a copy?
Image

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Image

I can't find information about this serial number. Thanks for reply in advance.


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Post subject: Re: Can You help me with identify this bass?
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 11:45 am
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Probably going to have to get Brotherdave involved in this one. I've been playing Fender equipment since 1963 and I have never come across that exact configuration before. The serial number does not show up on Fender's database OR on the Guitar Dater Project site, as shown.

It could possibly be that someone in "Indonesia" took a Fender style neck and mated it to one of their own bodies, however we'll wait to see what Dave has to say. There is lots of profit to be made with Fender knock-offs.


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Post subject: Re: Can You help me with identify this bass?
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 3:03 pm
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it looks like a copy usually s serial numbers were from the 70s and that font wsnt really used but i only know a good ammount im no professional


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Post subject: Re: Can You help me with identify this bass?
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 5:19 pm
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It's a fake PJ.


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Post subject: Re: Can You help me with identify this bass?
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 6:44 pm
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Agree that the other posters are correct that the decal formatting and fonts are wrong.

There were two serial formats used in '76, which is the year the serial moved from the neckplate to headstock locations in the middle of the calendar year. This headstock decal attempts to spoof the one with a headstock serial beginning with "S6."

This decal is a "reproduction" which is a nice way of saying counterfeit or fake. On the one pictured by the O.P. "Made in USA" is not only in the wrong font but also in the wrong location being too far toward the G string tuner and should be closer to the D tuner in the inward scoop in the peghead. Often on these the very bottom of the "MADE IN USA" barely made it onto the headstock at all due the scoop. Also the serial on the decal is one digit shy of fitting the serial format for an "S6" serial instrument and therefore is bogus. Also on the real decals the word "SERIAL" was over the word "NUMBER" instead of next to is as "SERIAL NUMBER" in the O.P.'s photo.

The Fender logo here is solid black which is correct on '76 to '79 P-Basses with the serial on the headstock. If the serial was on the neckplate then there should be patent numbers on the headstock instead of a serial and the FENDER logo should be black outlined in gold.

In 1976 "Made In USA" only appeared on the headstocks with the headstock serial. Patent numbers only appeared on headstock decals of instruments with neckplate serials.

1976 neckplate serials are all numerical and the headstock serials that year which started "S6" had five additional digits after the "S6" and this one has four additional digits instead of five.

The white pickup covers are strictly a late CBS era thing seen starting in 1980 until CBS Fullerton stopped regular production. There was no PJ setup in 1976 except on modified instruments.

There are no chromed bridge cover screw holes nor chromed pickup cover screw holes visible. Both should be present on a 1976 Fender instrument.

There should also be a "Thumbrest" or at least two mounting holes for the screws for the rest on the E String side of the pickguard.

While a fake headstock decal, modified pickup/control configuration, lack of chrome cover screw holes, lack of finger rest holes and white pickup covers make the entire instrument suspect, it is still an interesting looking instrument. It is not collectible nor very valuable. It is at the very best a highly modified Fender and at the worst either a parts bass or an outright fake. To tell more would require better photos or to see it in person before saying it is a total fake. It certainly is not original and is a suspected fake until proven otherwise. However people do refinish necks sometimes and this might have been the best decal they could wrangle. Replacing the pickguard would obscure some of the original holes that should be there but aren't. However that doesn't explain the missing bridge cover screw holes.

Here is what the correct "S6" through "S9" decal format should look like:

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Post subject: Re: Can You help me with identify this bass?
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 6:50 pm
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Bridge is wrong also. This is a Japanese bridge.


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Post subject: Re: Can You help me with identify this bass?
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 11:16 pm
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Pickups are DiMarzios.

The master tone knob is a dome type while the two pickup volumes had a flat-top kind of knurled knob.


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Post subject: Re: Can You help me with identify this bass?
Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 8:21 pm
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Fakes are unfortunately out there & as a matter of fact this past fall (October/November) U.S. Customs seized a Counterfeit shipment of Fender's & Gibson's at Chicago's O'Hare Airport......


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Post subject: Re: Can You help me with identify this bass?
Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 8:48 pm
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James Coderre wrote:
Fakes are unfortunately out there & as a matter of fact this past fall (October/November) U.S. Customs seized a Counterfeit shipment of Fender's & Gibson's at Chicago's O'Hare Airport......


Actually U.S. Customs intercepts them all the time. It isn't like cargo containers of them, but they are being shipped in individually all the time. Fakes have also being intercepted spoofing Martin and Taylor brands too.


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Post subject: Re: Can You help me with identify this bass?
Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 10:38 pm
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brotherdave wrote:
Actually U.S. Customs intercepts them all the time. It isn't like cargo containers of them, but they are being shipped in individually all the time. Fakes have also being intercepted spoofing Martin and Taylor brands too.


it's very maddening!!!..... :x


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Post subject: Re: Can You help me with identify this bass?
Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 6:51 am
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Definitely a Mongrel, Is there any way under the law of your home country to report the seller for misrepresentation ??


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Post subject: Re: Can You help me with identify this bass?
Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 8:43 am
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And it is not just newer basses. Attempts are made to reproduce and age to represent vintage pieces worth thousands. Most of the time a person shelling out the really big bucks would have it professionally authenticated prior to completing the transaction - but that is not always true!

It was maybe four or five years ago (? help me with year, I am time challenged) that a "celebrity" collector purchased Jack Bruce's EB-3 for a ridiculous amount of money. Wasn't even a Gibson, let alone owned or played by Jack Bruce.

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Post subject: Re: Can You help me with identify this bass?
Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2013 6:06 am
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Just a thought, but since the original poster joined FF on March 14, posted the first message in this string that same hour and hasn't been back since, let's let him read what has been presented thus far and comment before we all waste time and more research on this thread. :?:

"P-L"


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Post subject: Re: Can You help me with identify this bass?
Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2013 9:06 am
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PaducahLuke wrote:
Just a thought, but since the original poster joined FF on March 14, posted the first message in this string that same hour and hasn't been back since, let's let him read what has been presented thus far and comment before we all waste time and more research on this thread. :?:

"P-L"


Good point,....... I never realized that the poster has never responded to our comments.. :?


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Post subject: Re: Can You help me with identify this bass?
Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 2:39 pm
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It's a counterfit. Look at the cheesy $@! bridge.


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