1959 Precision Bass(es) conundrum

[bcbassman]

If these are real 59's then there will not be a date on the necks if original to the bodies..
The un re-fretted neck will have very tiny fret wire, like mandolin size fret wire because that is what Fender used then.
The date will be under the pickup. I would pick the un-altered neck because it is closer to original.
Good luck with your choice.

 

[shufflebass123]

This one looks in great shape:
1959 Fender P Bass | Norman's Rare Guitars | Reverb

Way overpriced. The vintage guitar price guide has these topping out at $12K. Also, that's not a '59, even if Norm says or thinks it is. Fender stopped doing maple fingerboards after 1958 and did not resume until the 70's.

 

[40Hz]

If the market (that is, Norman's) says it is worth something, and a book, published at a static point in the past, says it's worth less, wouldn't the market be the authority here? I mean, if you took this book to a seller who *knew* they could get $15k for an instrument, but you were insisting it was only worth $10k and showing them this book to validate it, wouldn't they just tell you to take a hike, and happily get their $15k elsewhere?

A bass’s asset value is precisely zero until someone buys it. Once someone buys it it’s asset value is precisely the amount someone paid for it. Insurance companies look at asset value when writing a policy to cover losses, not an object’s worth.

Asset value has nothing to do with worth. “Worth” is purely a subjective and often arbitrary valuation of something’s degree of desirability. It’s sometimes confused with asset value. But the terms are only loosely connected.

 

[james condino]

Depending upon who you are asking and who is getting paid to validate the bass, approximately 10-30% of the "vintage" Fenders are forgeries, fakes, or inaccurate representation. Be very careful handing over your hard earned $$$$ without proper documentation and paperwork and remember that advertised prices rarely represent true selling prices.....

 

[FenderP]

I voted 1 because no pics and also because a played bass of that age isn’t devalued with frets or a nut or a pot any more than replacing strings.
Since no pics I also vote dropping in an EMG pickup and all new black Hipshot hardware just to poke the TB bear. That would be a funny thread.

When I got the mutt 63/66 (long since sold), I played an all original 60s matching body/neck with a bad black refin and 70s P pickups dropped in. In hindsight I should have bought that one as I prefer a 70s sound and the neck on that was better.

 

[Killing Floor]

Y’all know all this shows everyone has different ideas about basses. That’s cool. Get what makes you want to play.

 

[arbiterusa]

Bass 1.

 

[elgranluis]

WHAAAATTTTTTTTTT????????????

Drop the unicorns and fairy dust mythology. There was nothing resembling a "workshop"; Fender was definitely a factory in 1959!

All I see in the video is a workshop, what am I missing ?

 

[Ric Vice]

If these are real 59's then there will not be a date on the necks if original to the bodies..
The un re-fretted neck will have very tiny fret wire, like mandolin size fret wire because that is what Fender used then.
The date will be under the pickup. I would pick the un-altered neck because it is closer to original.
Good luck with your choice.

A very important point. For me the neck radius, shape, and fret wire on my 1959 all contribute to the beautiful sound and playability of the 1957 through 1959 Precision’s, even the Fender reissues don’t sound or feel like the original hand capped necks. Just my take. Are the necks on new reissues cut on a computerized router?

 

[bassdude51]

Both are the same price? One is probably 100% original except for fret replacement and nut. The other is not 100% original. Since it is not 100% because of a possible neck replacement, it should be lower in price and value.

Thing is, you don't really know for sure if it is a replacement neck. You suspect that it is.

Necks are dated but bodies are not dated. So, both necks are dated '59 but you don't know about the body on the suspected bass. It could be from another year other than 1959.

Buy #1.

 

[Groove Doctor]

If he rang you to say he’s sold one of the basses to someone else.... which bass would make you cry?

 

[shufflebass123]

Both are the same price? One is probably 100% original except for fret replacement and nut. The other is not 100% original. Since it is not 100% because of a possible neck replacement, it should be lower in price and value.

Thing is, you don't really know for sure if it is a replacement neck. You suspect that it is.

Necks are dated but bodies are not dated. So, both necks are dated '59 but you don't know about the body on the suspected bass. It could be from another year other than 1959.

Buy #1.

Maybe the bodies from that era aren't dated, but the pots are. Granted, pots could've been replaced with pots from the same era. But that is unlikely.

 

[shufflebass123]

A very important point. For me the neck radius, shape, and fret wire on my 1959 all contribute to the beautiful sound and playability of the 1957 through 1959 Precision’s, even the Fender reissues don’t sound or feel like the original hand capped necks. Just my take. Are the necks on new reissues cut on a computerized router? View attachment 4208842View attachment 4208843

Are you sure that that is a '59? Because I don't think it is. It looks like a '58. As far as I know, and I'm not an expert but I'm fairly knowledgeable, Fender stopped making basses with maple fretboards after '58 and certainly or as far as I know, did not make them in '59. Supposedly they started making them again in the late 60's. But I've never seen a picture of one.Ones made in the 70's? Seen thousands of pictures of those. And I've never seen a picture of one made in '59. If this has the '59 pencil marks and SN, I'll take your word for it. But that would make this a unicorn based on what I know.

 

[Ric Vice]

My Luther and I took the neck off, it’s a very early 1959 according to the neck date.

 

[shufflebass123]

My Luther and I took the neck off, it’s a very early 1959 according to the neck date.

Fender's business back then was very seasonal. So, they would go to NAMM in the summer and get a bunch of orders. Then they would work from summer until early in the following year filling those orders, then lay quite a few of the employees off, then start again that summer. That's why they say that Fender and Gretsch products back then were basically made by housewives in Brooklyn and Southern CA. A lot of the employees were women who didn't care about getting laid off because their primary focus was being the housewife and working at Fender or Gretsch was just extra money.

The reason I mention this is because they likely made that right after New Year's as a '58 model, even if technically it's a '59. It's similar to cars. You buy a new 2021 model in late 2020 and afterwards, whereas the 2020's, by the time fall comes around, are last year's models. Once Leo shut things down and laid everyone off, that was likely when the prototype's for the '59 P Bass were made at his lab desk with the rosewood fingerboards.

Everything I said here is my guess. I wasn't there. But it's a very educated guess.

TLDR: This is technically a '59. But really it's a '58. A '59 is going to have a rosewood fingerboard.

 

[MtManiac]

This is technically a '59. But really it's a '58. A '59 is going to have a rosewood fingerboard.

Excellent point.

 

[Turnaround]

#1 Lemon Pledge on the back of the neck will clean it AND make it an easy slide. Repeat every couple weeks or as necessary,

Lemon Pledge contains silicones. It has been advised by many sources that silicones should be kept away from musical instruments. A simple search will reveal information like this:

"Silicone residue makes it difficult for glue or finish to adhere properly and is a primary cause of "fisheyes" and cratering in lacquer finishes. It's even worse if silicone reaches bare wood or gets into the cracks of older finishes. Even the simplest finish repairs can become more difficult, time-consuming and costly."

"It is not always possible to remove without total stripping
- and sometimes even problematic then".

"The problem with silicone is that it tends to absorb into the
existing finish. Permanently. You can never wipe it off completely.
If you do any subsequent applications of lacquer, you'll get a
pockmarked effect very much resembling the surface of the moon."

" For people who work on guitars, the stuff is hellish because NOTHING will stick to it, wherever it happens to be. Glue, finish, nothing."

 

[Stewie]

In 45 years of playing, most of it on the same neck, I've never needed a neck refinished, but I do like them smooth

 

[Mastermold]

...

TLDR: This is technically a '59. But really it's a '58. A '59 is going to have a rosewood fingerboard.

I know rosewood fretboards were introduced starting in '59 but understood some maple boards were still being used (or used up) in early '59 during the change.

Edit: For what it's worth, I just grabbed my copy of The Fender Bass by Black & Molinaro, it says Fender added a rosewood fingerboard to the line by 1959, and discontinued the solid maple neck as a production item by 1960.

 

[shufflebass123]

I know rosewood fretboards were introduced starting in '59 but understood some maple boards were still being used (or used up) in early '59 during the change.

Edit: For what it's worth, I just grabbed my copy of The Fender Bass by Black & Molinaro, it says Fender added a rosewood fingerboard to the line by 1959, and discontinued the solid maple neck as a production item by 1960.

I incorporated that into my comment. The gentleman technically has a '59, but in terms of style and functionality, it's a '58. That may seem like a minute distinction. But different years of instruments have different caches and prices. That may or may not be the case here.