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Post subject: Need advice for an all original 66 P Bass
Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 7:01 pm
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https://reverb.com/item/125130-fender-p ... 6-sunburst

I'm going tomorrow to look at this bass (less than an hour away).

Assuming the frets look minimally worn, and the neck is straight with some play left on the truss rod, I'm thinking of grabbing it. I'm hoping to get it for around the 4k dollar mark.

This will be my first P bass - does anything look fishy, and does 4k (ish) sound fair for the bass?

Thanks!

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Post subject: Re: Need advice for an all original 66 P Bass
Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 8:11 am
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$4450 is just below full value, but basses are not selling at full value right now, at least in SW Florida. I would try to negotiate a lower price, but paying $4450 wouldn't kill you.

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Post subject: Re: Need advice for an all original 66 P Bass
Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 8:19 am
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We agreed on 4k even! I may offer him extra 100 just to give me 24 hours to have my local shop look at it. Thanks for your reply! I'm literally on my way there now.

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Post subject: Re: Need advice for an all original 66 P Bass
Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 4:04 pm
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So I drove about an hour and 20 min to Oneonta with 4k in new bills, and met the owner in a Walmart parking lot. It felt just like an exchange you see in the movies. I even flashed my lights to be cool. He was a totally honest guy, and the bass certainly proved that. The flats on the bass had to be 20 years old, and the new flats he threw in the case had to be same age. I looked at the neck and it looked pretty straight, but definitely looked like the truss rod needed to be tightened. We took off the neck in the parking lot, I it seemed as though the truss rod nut had never been touched, just like he said. I ended up turning it probably 3/4 in total, and it seemed to be just fine!

I ended up paying the cash, plus an extra 100 just to allow me 24 hours to bring it to my local shop. I told him if they found anything drastic, I'd delver the bass and he could keep the 100.

I scrubbed the fret board, oiled it, put new strings on, and am having a few difficulties with the low E string sounding funny. Perhaps it's an old string - I'm on my way to the shop now. I don't want to get too excited yet, but I think it may be a keeper.

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Post subject: Re: Need advice for an all original 66 P Bass
Posted: Thu May 29, 2014 12:57 pm
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That's a real clean '66 P-bass.

I hope you have a lot of fun playing it.

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Post subject: Re: Need advice for an all original 66 P Bass
Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2014 8:58 am
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Agree that is one clean '66. Curiously the tuners(from what I can see in the pics) are not the typical "lollipop" style found on '66 Fenders. I personally am not a fan of lollipop style anyway.

Just wondering how you (OP) made out with that E string. Old strings like that can act very strange so I think a fresh set would make a big improvement.


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Post subject: Re: Need advice for an all original 66 P Bass
Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2014 4:31 pm
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Sorry for the late response - although the stings I put on were brand new, they had to very old. Once I took it to the local shop, one of the guys there was a P-bass fan and he put a new set of flats, helped with a basic set up, and the bass totally woke up. In fact, it really plays amazing.

I just added some muting foam to the bridge cover and I love it even more.

It's amazing how bad strings really can go bad!

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Post subject: Re: Need advice for an all original 66 P Bass
Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 5:39 pm
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Quote:
Agree that is one clean '66. Curiously the tuners(from what I can see in the pics) are not the typical "lollipop" style found on '66 Fenders. I personally am not a fan of lollipop style anyway.


Most '66 Precision basses don't have the "Lollipop" tuners since they were reserved for the higher line Jazz basses. Lollipop tuners were a new feature in 66 and back then new was considered better so the more expensive bass got the " better" tunres.

After Fender decided to redesign the tuners again in 67-68, they started dumping the Lollipops on any bass on which they would fit - so that's when you see more of them on the Precision basses.

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