Is it still the same Antigua Precision?

[Frenchy-Lefty]

Is it still the same 1980 Antigua that has been for sale for the past 5 years (starting at $10K) and that someone recently bought for $2,300? (last price we saw when it was still sold by a US buyer). Now it is in UK and someone is trying to flip it. Good luck at this price!
What do you think?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1980-FENDER-PRE ... 2a2364a631

[moejoe]

Both Serial Numbers say: S846069.

As the pictures are different, I would say it's really the same bass and the new seller didn't just use some "Antigua-PBass" pictures offered on the internet

[Frenchy-Lefty]

Be ready to see it on EBay for a few more years...

[gravesbass]

Sorry, but I think that's the "fugliest" Fender finish era I have ever seen. Never been a fan of Antigue basses. Amazing that Fender is offering that finish again.

This is my opinion tho.

http://guitarz.blogspot.com/2011/11/sou ... ss-in.html

[fivebass52]

Not my favorite finish at all.... looks like it was painted with pea soup....

[Addison]

Fair warning on this bass:

As a die hard lover of fugly finishes, I actually owned that bass for about 5 days and promptly returned it to Olivia's Vintage, where I purchased it from.

http://oliviasvintageguitars.com/bass/guitars/1690/

Before I bought it, I interrogated them and they answered every question exactly how I wanted to hear it... I made sure to ask them several times about the neck, to which they assured me was perfect.

When it showed up, it had a set of 20 year old insanely light gauge set of like 35-95 roundwound strings on it and ZERO tension on the truss rod... NONE. It was ready to fall out.

Those late 70's one-piece maple necks are rigid as hell as it is, so needless to say, the neck had a severe backbow and was unplayable even after I threw a heavier set of flats on it and kept all the tension off the truss rod... I gave it a couple of days, hoping the neck would bounce back but it didn't. Not even close.

It sounded fantastic and had a ton of potential... and I got some quotes to have it repaired, but it was too expensive for me to pay for in addition to the $2200 I paid for the bass. Olivia's said they had a guy who would fix it for them and didn't seem willing to chip in for the repairs, so I returned it to them.

In all fairness, Olivia's was incredibly cool about the return... they were apologetic and said that their "setup guy" must have missed something. They also said that the bass would be repaired before it was resold. I have no idea if that was done or not, but I have no reason to believe otherwise.

It really sucked... I've always wanted to have a maple Antigua... it was funky looking and sounded amazing. Since there aren't many out there, it definitely had a cool factor that not many other 70's basses have.

Oh well... maybe I'll find another one someday.

[Carmine]

I stand with Addison on this- LOVE the Antigua finish, always have, always will, I'm keeping mine. Don't wanna see it? Too late, you already looked didn't you? So take that, Antigua haters!

Addison, too bad about the neck. Seems Antiguas are almost always maple boards, so I always liked that this one has a rosewood board.

[Matt R.]

Yeah, I love Antigua. Nice bass Carmine

[gravesbass]

Nice bass Carmine.. I like the rosewood board on that antigua a lot.

<the hater>

[Matt R.]

Chris, you said rigid.

[Frenchy-Lefty]

I love this Antigua finish but it really had grew in me. Carmine's bass is da bomb! Picture yourself showing up on stage with that one...

[Lefty007]

I love me some antigua, too. Too bad about the neck. Sadly, that's the case with so many older Fender (or any brand, for that matter). People leave them in a closet for 20 years with a bad setup = neck ruined.

[Carmine]

...People leave them in a closet for 20 years with a bad setup = neck ruined.

Amen to that. There's a long waiting list of so many otherwise good vintage Precisions and Jazzes out there with bad necks on them waiting for a neck transplant. That's why everytime somebody puts a good vintage Fender neck up for sale, it goes for almost as much as a whole bass...

Picture yourself showing up on stage with that one...

I'd love to play it live on stage, but one downside to the Antigua finish I will acknowledge: it does NOT relic well IMO. A beat up Antigua with a bunch of chips out of the finish = fugly indeed. I'm always paranoid about it getting dinged, or the paint on the pickguard getting chipped, so I never take it out of the house or studio.

[iome]

Nice, i'd love that bass with a black pickguard...dont why...

[fivebass52]

Carmine, I have to say that your picture makes the Antigua finish look a helluva lot better than the pics that were in the eBay ad... I've gone from being an Antigua "hater", to an Antigua "tolerator"...

[pjmuck]

Carmine, I have to say that your picture makes the Antigua finish look a helluva lot better than the pics that were in the eBay ad... I've gone from being an Antigua "hater", to an Antigua "tolerator"...

For me, it all comes down to the shade of Antiqua. Silverish = cool, Snot green = I think I'm gonna hurl.

[Addison]

Chris, you said rigid.

I love this Antigua finish but it really had grew in me.

Nice, i'd love that bass with a black pickguard...dont why...

Antigua pickguards are really just painted B/W/B pickguards, so you do see a number of them with black pickguards. The pickguards usually weren't prepped for the paint process very well, so the paint would chip off pretty easily... lots of people got sick of it and just scraped the rest of it off.

Here's a pic of just such an example:

For me, it all comes down to the shade of Antiqua. Silverish = cool, Snot green = I think I'm gonna hurl.

That's the difference between "Kept in an airtight case with no exposure to sunlight" and "This bass has seen many an outdoor gig and some smokey-ass shithole bars in its day."

[Frenchy-Lefty]

I think Addison woke up this morning in a particularly jolly mood and I must say it made me laugh...

[Matt R.]

Chris that was funny as shit.