Tell me about my bass

I have an old Precision bass, '66 or '67 according to the Fender site. I got it in about 1972. I have two questions: What's up with this little pickguard/control panel? The bass has holes on the body like it originally had a full size pickguard. But the little pickguard/control panel is shaped like a factory part. Question 1.5 - any reason a regular full size pickguard wouldn't fit?
Question 2: Could this bass have been originally brown? It is a good brown paint job, but the brown has worn through in a few places and it seems to be black underneath.

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p174/leong3/100_0079.jpg


http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p174/leong3/100_0071.jpg

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p174/leong3/100_0075.jpg

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p174/leong3/100_0072.jpg

Somebody must've "personalized" it. No reason at all that I can see why a regular pickguard wouldn't work. Heck, you might even want to strip off that brown paint...

Cheers, Tim

Or maybe put a another color on top; I wouldn't do it if the brown were original.

Mr. Grizzard,

I believe the bass is unplayable and that the brown paint is radioactive.

Please, I urge you--for the safety of you and your loved ones--send me this instrument immediately and save yourself.






Seriously, though. I love it. It would be hard to tell without seeing it closer, but here's what I think:

Control plate is homemade--probably cut from the original pickguard. I did this once on an old Precision copy I used to have, though mine was trimmed a little more. I used a table saw and a sander to shape mine.

Paint job is likewise homemade. Maybe even rattlecanned. I suspect the person who did this simply painted over the original (black) paint OR they stripped the original paint and used a black primer under the brown.

Does it seem like there's a topcoat over the brown paint? Nitro or poly finished...glossy maybe? Does the black paint underneath seem thick and glossy at all?

It seems to me (I'm not an expert, but I've played bass over 25 years and have owned, played, and worked on more than my share of classic vintage Fenders) that this must be the case.

Otherwise, it's gotta be a super-rare one-off custom shop job, which is perfectly possible I suppose.

I do not believe Fender has used black as a primer very often. I could be wrong about this, but I think they use white most of the time.

Also, I do not think this is a color that Fender ever officially offered. There is a similar brown called "Sahara Taupe" (I'll check to make sure I'm right on the name) that they used on a short-lived series called "International Colors" but that was in the 1980s I'm fairly certain.

I imagine someone more knowledgeable than I will come along to scold me for giving you bad information somewhere, but I think I've been pretty spot on.

Love to hear more about this bass!

Oh, and please give my regards to Austin. That's my birthplace and I still have friends and family there.

PS-- by the way, sorry to ramble on, but I wouldn't just "put another color on top."

If you can ascertain that the brown is a refinish and not an original custom (or rare) paint job and want to repaint it, I highly, highly recommend stripping it completely to bare wood and prepping the body for a whole new paint job.

You can do this in your garage or yard with some simple stripping compound, a bunch of multiple grit sandpaper and a few $3-6 aerosol cans. And it's a blast.

PS-- er, just noticed Q# 1.5

A- Any Fender replacement P-bass pickguard should work fine, but there have been a few variations in number of holes, etc. from time to time. And there are more variations in aftermarket replacements. You might have to drill a few holes here and there if it doesn't all line up the same way. An actual Fender licensed product is more likely to be a good fit.

If it's not broken don't fix it, but a nice tortoise guard
should fit. Nice lookin' bass,a keeper. LB

Thanks all. I think maybe since I have had it for so many years with its brown paint job, I should just keep it that way and put a new pickguard on it. I could not figure out how to embed a photo from this site (maybe copy protected), but here are me and the bass with the Butch Hancock Band, long ago:



http://www.flickr.com/photos/estabrook/tags/butchhancock/

I think a complete black guard would look great over the brown as is. A toritise shell guard might look good too.

From the pics it looks more "copper".

Nice photo, Leon--we never would have recognized you! And the bass is pretty sweet, too!

Leon, those pictures with Butch are awesome!!!

I'd probably put a black pickguard on the bass...

Cheers, Tim

Definitely not the original color.

If this is a 13 hole pattern, Fender makes a standard or a '62 vintage guard. The '62 has 4 extra holes, 2 for the finger rest, which I see you still have, and 2 for metal pickup cover/handrest.

The Fender brand ones usually line up well with the holes, without having to redrill or do sanding and fitting around the neck/body joint. The Allparts ones don't fit well, in my experience.

Definitely not the original color.

If this is a 13 hole pattern, Fender makes a standard or a '62 vintage guard. The '62 has 4 extra holes, 2 for the finger rest, which I see you still have, and 2 for metal pickup cover/handrest.

The Fender brand ones usually line up well with the holes, without having to redrill or do sanding and fitting around the neck/body joint. The Allparts ones don't fit well, in my experience.

Since I don't use the finger rest maybe I'll get a current model. Thanks for the advice about Allparts v. Fender.

This thread sparked my curiousity. I thought it was the one (pictured) but as you can see it's not. Goes to show you that some people do have customized pickguards. The guy in the picture is Peter Hodgson from Ontario, Canada. I can tell you that it's a real Fender bass, but not much more other than it's a 60's Precision and the sunburst finish was sanded off.

http://www.johnmars.com/images/HPIM1099.jpg

here's that bass about 40 years earlier... http://www.rhinoceros-group.com/img/chtv1.jpg