1976 Fender P-Bass

[PunkRockBassist]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-76-USA- ... 20bca7600c

[bigevilrobot]

It's so bland looking

[PunkRockBassist]

yeah it is but i kinda like it kinda wish he would have kept the chrome pickguard and badass bridge on though either way iam a sucker for 70's p-bass

[PunkRockBassist]

also looks like someone put set of dimarzio pups in it no mention of it though

[leftybassatl]

What's the group's take on this bass? I know nothing about Fender basses but I want a '76 (birth year)...is this a fair deal? What is not original to this bass in your opinions?

[danomite64]

The seller says he put it back to original for that year, but he blew it. I think the pickguard should be b/w/b, I know the knobs should be chrome barrel knobs, and judging from the Strat knobs that are on it, I'm sure the original solid shaft pots have been replaced. So, a gouged up neck heel, non-original pickguard, wiring, pickup, bridge, nut and knobs, and missing pickup/bridge covers are what's wrong with it. I don't think the neck plate is original, either. I think it was supposed to have a black plastic pad under it, too.

[Lefty007]

Knobs, nut and pickup are not original. The joint of the lower body pieces has a very dark color. Could be that the bass has been exposed to either a lot of dirt or humidity, or both? No way of saying unless seeing it in person. It could be just a natural streak in the wood. There is a lot of wear at the fretboard end, and even a gouge on the side, like they were forcing the neck in that body. The pickguard is not original, there are no holes for the thumbrest in it, and there seem to be extra holes underneath which indicates they didn't (or couldn't) align the holes of the old picguard. I don't see an "F" in the neck plate; there should be one. I could be that all those things were changed before the current owner bought it, so it doesn't necessarily look like a dishonest seller.

Read flag is how deep the truss rod nut is in. It looks like they try tried to correct a bow and the truss rod is maxed out. If the action is fine and the neck is straight you would be okay, otherwise it looks like you won't be getting further straightening from that rod. A tech "could" possibly fix such issue with nuts and other techniques, but anybody interested should ask the seller if the neck is straight with the strings tuned to pitch.

If the neck is okay, I value this bass at $1200 max. Even though it's a '76, it's not original, and it's in pretty rough shape. And by the seller's description, it probably weighs a ton.

[andrew]

I wonder if this isn't a Fender neck stuck on an older non-Fender P copy?

Something about the body is making me question it being an actual Fender body.

[bigevilrobot]

Another red flag to go along side the heavily recessed truss rod...
Look at the butt of the neck, and there are heavy scrapes and dents.

And looking at the grain of the body and color of the clear coat, I'm not sure if it was originally a natural finish.


I'd avoid this for that price($1700), half that price, I'd think about it.

[PunkRockBassist]

yeah i sent him an offer of $700 just to see what would happen he delcined and said "not even close"

[andrew]

yeah i sent him an offer of $700 just to see what would happen he delcined and said "not even close"

You should ask him how he's arriving at his price.

I'm far from an expert on vintage basses but one thing is the lower horn body cut where it meets the neck seems to have the pre-CBS blockier angle cut, which I don't think you'd find on a 70's body (it's not on my '73). Am I imagining that? Not to say I think it's a pre-CBS body, more I suspect it's a company that made Fender copies based off of a pre-'65 instrument.

[danomite64]

I don't know....that dark streak on the back of the body is consistent with a few of the '70's Fenders I've had, and there's that little tooling mark on the lower horn that makes me think (think? hell, I'm sure) that it's real. I've got some pics of a '75 Precision here that have the same neck pocket route; I'm not sure the late-70's sloppy route ever happened on the lefties.

[PunkRockBassist]

Sent him a message asking what would he realistically take for bass and i listed all the reasons why he should come down on the price like the electronics being replaced and the original neckplate is gone so there is no "real" way to tell the true serial number and the non original bridge pickguard and knobs and this is what he had to say.

"Your list of non-original items on my bass is not correct. As far as I know, the electronics and pickups are original. There is a pic of the serial number?

I've had several experts look at it over the years and none of them has told me it was worth less than my buy it now price...I'm just trying to get a fair price quickly so I can buy a small scale.

Don't want to go back and forth about it though...sounds like it's not what you are looking for"

now where do these people get these "experts"

[andrew]

I'd just write him back and point out that it's easy to verify the non original parts and many of us have. Really you're helping him by pointing out the non original parts if he's an honest seller. Sounds like he doesn't want to hear it so he wouldn't be worth dealing with anyway.

[PunkRockBassist]

Very True Andrew (hey that rhymes )

[bigevilrobot]

Price just dropped by $200

[Psycho Ward]

I've never seen a neck pocket that tight on a 70's bass, something doesn't smell right.

[Frenchy-Lefty]

My guess: a Fender neck with non-Fender body...

[PunkRockBassist]

IT'S BACK!!!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-76-USA- ... ddad04e#sf

[Stingray5]

Down to $1100 now. PRB suddenly your $700 offer isn't so far off