Pee restored

astro · Post by **astro** » Fri Apr 23, 2010 5:39 pm

I decided to restore my late 75/early 76 Precision bass. I had bought it in a pawn shop ten years ago for $700 Canadian (at the time that was about $450 US dollars), and it was a bit of a basket case, the bridge was wrecked, the OG pickup and electronics long gone and replaced with a weird cream coloured pickup that sounded like a fart, and a shattered non-original "tortoise shell" pickguard that was so crappy looking, it made Squier tort look like the finest vintage guards that money can buy. Light as a feather and comfortable to play, I bought it and got rid of my ultra cheap and crappy Harmony P bass copy.

I had fixed it up with a fancy Schaller roller bridge, an active EMG pickup, and a really nice nitro tort guard. It stayed that way for a decade and served me well, but I got sick of changing batteries and decided I wanted to revert to a passive pickup. So I decided to try and return the bass to what it was like when it was all original.

I nearly shat myself when I saw what vintage parts were selling for on ebay ($50 for a fucking potentiometer!?) so I decided to use reissue parts from Fender. The pickguard is a WD one, since Fender doesn't sell any with the 70's screw hole pattern. The electronics are not Fender branded, but they're CTS/Switchcraft, so same thing. I couldn't find a vintage looking cap, so I just used a modern Sprague Orange Drop. The bridge is the same one Fender uses on the AVRI '75 Jazz Bass RI, looks identical to the original. I had planned to put in the "'62 Vintage" p bass pickup from Fender, but since nobody on earth seems to have it in stock, I instead put in a new Fender pickup as used on the American Deluxe Precision bass. This ended up being for the best, since it has plastic coated wires and non-staggered pole pieces, therefore looking a lot more like the OG '70s pickup than the '62 pickup would have. I even nerded out and put in a brass shielding plate underneath the pickup. I didn't buy the ashtray covers, since they just get in the way while playing.

I was originally restoring it to sell it but now I'm not sure... plus I have no idea what it's worth. Yesterday I checked Ebay's completed listings, but p-basses in similar condition from the mid seventies have sold at prices ranging from $600 to $2100. Anyone have any ideas what the market rate would be for this one? I love this bass but I'm so happy with my Mustang bass that this one doesn't get as much play time anymore, so I don't think I can justify keeping it.

I forgot to take a "before" pic, so here is an "after" pic:

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Fri Apr 23, 2010 6:00 pm

Oh thats tasty looking. Sweet job

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Fri Apr 23, 2010 6:10 pm

I'd say with all of the parts replaced you're looking at $800 max. Because when you replace the bridge and pickguard and electronics you're looking at $500 to get it back to all vintage. It is stupid because it will sound better then it did in the 70s and it will play just like a vintage bass.

that said, I'll give you $600 for it.

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Fri Apr 23, 2010 6:19 pm

Yeah, that thing is DOPE.
It is shockingly light in comparison to other mid 70's Precisions I've handled.

Regarding pricing, you might want to take it over to Kitt's Music in the east end, give them the schpiel about the modifications and ask them how much they would sell it for. I just discovered that store recently and was extremely impressed with the staff's competence level. From my limited vantage point, it seemed everything in the store was extremely fairly priced, too. I saw no unreal batshit-crazy deal on either side of the scale which in my opinion, lends them a lot of credibility.

astro · Post by **astro** » Fri Apr 23, 2010 6:21 pm

portugalwillie wrote:I'd say with all of the parts replaced you're looking at $800 max. Because when you replace the bridge and pickguard and electronics you're looking at $500 to get it back to all vintage. It is stupid because it will sound better then it did in the 70s and it will play just like a vintage bass.

that said, I'll give you $600 for it.

Well, the one that sold on ebay for $600 was a refin with even more switched parts... so I don't think it's worth that little! I probably shouldn't have included it in the price range that I found, since mine has the OG finish.

The other basses with original finished but non original pickguard and pickups were selling anywhere from $1000 to $2100, that's still a pretty wide range, considering they were all from the mid 70's and were in pretty much the same physical condition.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Fri Apr 23, 2010 6:24 pm

that's effin' lovely. i'd totally jizz on that (then wipe it off guiltily with my sleeve).

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Fri Apr 23, 2010 6:26 pm

I don't know. I'm pretty active on talkbass.com and I've seen some all original p basses sell for as little as 1,200. And actually, a lot are listed at that and never sell. With vintage basses, it is hard to say. But no doubt, $600 would a great price for that price and I think a realistic price is $800. I was only half serious when I threw that out there.

and my understanding of the bass is the only things that are really original is the body, neck, tuners, and neck plate right? I could ask talk and see what they think?

damienblair17 · Post by **damienblair17** » Fri Apr 23, 2010 6:30 pm

That's a really nice looking P. Great job restoring it.

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Fri Apr 23, 2010 6:32 pm

I also forgot to mention that the bass does look AWESOME!

sunburst w/ black is the only combo I like with sunburst. Gorgeous bass.

astro · Post by **astro** » Fri Apr 23, 2010 6:52 pm

portugalwillie wrote:I don't know. I'm pretty active on talkbass.com and I've seen some all original p basses sell for as little as 1,200. And actually, a lot are listed at that and never sell. With vintage basses, it is hard to say. But no doubt, $600 would a great price for that price and I think a realistic price is $800. I was only half serious when I threw that out there.

and my understanding of the bass is the only things that are really original is the body, neck, tuners, and neck plate right? I could ask talk and see what they think?

True, selling vintage gear, especially on ebay, is always a bit of crap shoot. I was just surprised by the huge range in prices. These were all auctions from the past 3 months (I think that's how far back completed auction searches go), so it's not like the economy has changed drastically in that time. Looking at online vintage sellers is pointless, because they all inflate the prices by at least %300! Plus Fender P basses are probably the most common bass in the world, so that certainly isn't going to make the value go up. If you could ask on Talkbass, I would appreciate it. I'm not looking to make a profit, but I wouldn't mind getting back what I paid for it plus the cost of the replacement parts if that's possible. If it's not, I'll just keep it for another ten years and see what the market is like then

Here's what's original:
Neck
Body
all original finish
Tuners and their screws
pickguard screws (plus I have the screws for the ashtrays)
Neck screws, neck plate and the plastic "spacer" that goes between the plate and the body
pickup mounting screws
string retainer and its screw

Non original parts:
Pickguard (from WD)
jack (switchcraft), pots(CTS), cap (Sprague orange drop), wires
pickup (from Fender American Deluxe p bass)
brass shielding plate (Fender)
pickup mounting foam (Fender. Yeah I should probably have gone to Home Depot for this one

)
knobs (Fender)
strap pegs and their screws (Fender "vintage reissue")
bridge and it's mounting screws (AVRI '75 Fender Jazz Bass)
Thumbrest and its screws (Fender)

I'm not sure about the nut. It's brass, and it was on it when I bought it. I've heard some people say Fender offered brass nuts as an option, others say that's not true. I have no idea.

I don't have the OG case, nor any ashtrays. The finish is worn, like a "relic" except that it's real. The serial number is in the 650xxx range, which I believe makes it a very early 1976, just before they switched to having the serial number on the headstock. Could be late 1975. The green neck stamp is smudged, I can't decipher what it says.

Thanks for your help, portugalwille. I appreciate it!

eurotrashed · Post by **eurotrashed** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 12:39 am

I didn't realize how low 70s prices are on P-bass. Are they as hit or miss as other 70s Fenders?

Billy3000 · Post by **Billy3000** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 4:34 am

That is a beautiful bass! Like you said though, the price range on these 70's p basses is huge. Most non-original ones that I've seen though have sold for no more than about $900. If I had that much right now, I would totally pay about that much.

bassintom · Post by **bassintom** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:02 am

I had a 75 Pbass I bought in 1979 for $250.00. Parted it out on e-bay and made about $1300.00 on it. They're worth more in pieces.

Billy3000 · Post by **Billy3000** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 4:04 pm

bassintom wrote:I had a 75 Pbass I bought in 1979 for $250.00. Parted it out on e-bay and made about $1300.00 on it. They're worth more in pieces.

yea but is it worth losing your soul for parting out a perfectly good vintage instrument?

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 4:23 pm

Parting out vintage basses is only going to make the price of vintage instruments go up.

theshadowofseattle · Post by **theshadowofseattle** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 4:27 pm

portugalwillie wrote:Parting out vintage basses is only going to make the price of vintage instruments go up.

Which is a good thing!

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 4:50 pm

haha. Not for those that don't own any but want to!

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 5:04 pm

yeah but who cares about those losers LEL

astro · Post by **astro** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:32 pm

bassintom wrote:I had a 75 Pbass I bought in 1979 for $250.00. Parted it out on e-bay and made about $1300.00 on it. They're worth more in pieces.

I wouldn't have the heart to part her out, I think instruments should be played and if I sell it, it will be in one piece. Besides, I just spent money to add new parts to it, so parting it out would be silly.

eurotrashed wrote:I didn't realize how low 70s prices are on P-bass. Are they as hit or miss as other 70s Fenders?

A lot of people talk about 70's Fenders having QC problems, but I've owned several 70's Fenders and I've never had a bad one. Maybe I just got lucky? I wonder how much of this belief is "Eww, CBS cooties!". I know CBS Fender cheapened some of the materials and made some comical design decisions to save money, but I think the vast majority of the 70's guitars they made are probably decent.

Billy3000 · Post by **Billy3000** » Tue Apr 27, 2010 2:55 am

Yea I think the preconceived notions about CBS fenders are starting to go away... it seems like 70's fenders aren't so frowned upon anymore. I also have liked every 70's Fender that I've played. I've played a couple mid 70's p basses that didn't sound so good, but those are usually the more beat up ones and they're probably shot. But most that I've played have sounded amazing.

I own two 70's Fenders actually. My '78 musicmaster bass, and my '71 Bronco. I love both of them. The Bronco is refin'd and the neck needs a refret so I have a jag-stang neck on it right now.