Re: 1976 Fender P-Bass
Posted: October 21st, 2011, 12:37 pm
Man. Looks like a hunk o shit. And yeah that guy is nuts to think it's original. The tuners seem decent though.
I'm guessing it is a real Fender body. take a look at the back side about an inch or so away from the neck plate near the lower cut away - see that dark spot? that's end grain on a wooden dowel plug and is a remnant from an alignment pin hole used during construction of the body. there's a similar dowel plug on the back of the neck (where the old Fender basses had an additional strap button) I don't remember seeing these on Boogie Bodies, Warmoth, or Mighty Mite bodies, but they were on Fenders, MusicMans (or would that be MusicMen?), and even the early G&L L-1000 basses. I guess Leo left his fingerprints in more places than one, eh?
if the trussrod is bottomed out (but not warped!), there's good potential it can be remedied with the addition of a couple washers. if the trussrod nut (and not the trussrod itself) is stripped, that has good potential to be fixed as well. if the trussrod nut is stripped, odds are a new stock replacement nut will not resolve the issue beyond a few adjustments since the trussrod threads have probably sustained a little rounding damage.
all the best,
R
