ID a P Bass

[gfnk357]

I have a P Bass that I picked up about 15 years ago that I'd like to figure out whether it's actually a Fender and if so what year it might be.

The bass has poorly spray painted at some point, both on the body and on the headstock. Lots of the finish has come off and underneath there's weird black markings that almost look like someone took a pencil and ran it back and forth all over the body. The finish that has come off tends to be in big flakes with gray on the bottom, then white, then the dark gray spray paint.

I've always suspected it may be a knockoff due to the condition of the decal, or if it is real it could be cobbled together out of various basses. I can't find any dates on it, but it also has features that look like it might be a 60's P-bass. One of the things that makes me wonder if it is real is actually the decal, because why would anyone bother to paint around the decal if the bass wasn't actually a Fender, and if they were going to put a fake decal on it then why wouldn't they paint underneath it first.

Even though there aren't any dates that I can see, there are some other markings in the neck pocket and under the pickups. I don't know if these are useful. The body appears to be one piece of wood. I don't see any joints but they could be masked by the black underfinish stuff. There was no neck plate (neck held on with wood screws). The tuners have no fender markings, the pickguard may not be original, the pots are mismatched and someone tried putting an XLR jack in the corner of the body at one point. The pickups and bridge look like they could be original fender but I'm sure there are lots of aftermarket parts of knockoffs that looks similar.

The bass plays well and I love the sound, it just looks terrible. At this point I'm thinking of taking the rest of the finish off and either getting it repainted or going with a natural finish depending on how the body looks.

I'd be interested in what everyone thinks about whether this is a real P Bass and what year it might be. I can also take measurements if that would help.

 

[MotorCityMinion]

Re-finish the body but please leave that cool looking head stock alone. It's like finding buried treasure or a winning scratch off and tells a story as well.

 

[JIO]

I have a P Bass that I picked up about 15 years ago that I'd like to figure out whether it's actually a Fender and if so what year it might be.

The bass has poorly spray painted at some point, both on the body and on the headstock. Lots of the finish has come off and underneath there's weird black markings that almost look like someone took a pencil and ran it back and forth all over the body. The finish that has come off tends to be in big flakes with gray on the bottom, then white, then the dark gray spray paint.

I've always suspected it may be a knockoff due to the condition of the decal, or if it is real it could be cobbled together out of various basses. I can't find any dates on it, but it also has features that look like it might be a 60's P-bass. One of the things that makes me wonder if it is real is actually the decal, because why would anyone bother to paint around the decal if the bass wasn't actually a Fender, and if they were going to put a fake decal on it then why wouldn't they paint underneath it first.

Even though there aren't any dates that I can see, there are some other markings in the neck pocket and under the pickups. I don't know if these are useful. The body appears to be one piece of wood. I don't see any joints but they could be masked by the black underfinish stuff. There was no neck plate (neck held on with wood screws). The tuners have no fender markings, the pickguard may not be original, the pots are mismatched and someone tried putting an XLR jack in the corner of the body at one point. The pickups and bridge look like they could be original fender but I'm sure there are lots of aftermarket parts of knockoffs that looks similar.

The bass plays well and I love the sound, it just looks terrible. At this point I'm thinking of taking the rest of the finish off and either getting it repainted or going with a natural finish depending on how the body looks.

I'd be interested in what everyone thinks about whether this is a real P Bass and what year it might be. I can also take measurements if that would help.

Poor thing... but this can be a very cool "before & after" project. One way to determine age will happen once you remove all paint off the back - it may or may not have the characteristic fill where a finishing stilt was located. Small dot below the plate - it appears to have the other characteristic element - the hump as seen on my '66 to the bottom-left of the plate. At least it will narrow it down. The tuners are not original to that bass. Do you have the neck plate w/serial #?

Also - feel free to post these pics of it on my related thread -
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/show-your-distressed-finishes.1028292/page-338#post-28689239

 

[JIO]

Re-finish the body but please leave that cool looking head stock alone. It's like finding buried treasure or a winning scratch off and tells a story as well.

Yah, I thought the same thing, but once the body is refinished I'd go all the way - it'll look odd leaving it like that.

 

[Lance Bunyon]

That poor poor bass needs 10000 hugs and a lot of TLC.

 

[gfnk357]

No neck plate unfortunately. I'll need to get one along with some new neck screws. I'll keep my eye out for any marks from finishing stilts.

 

[JIO]

No neck plate unfortunately. I'll need to get one along with some new neck screws. I'll keep my eye out for any marks from finishing stilts.

The 'spaghetti' font was used through '64 and later RI in '82 and has become the default script since. So it is either early '60s or '80s-newer. Studying the pics, the bridge looks to be definitely '60s -

This is from a 1960 J - note how relatively crude the plate is compared to new RI's. This bridge was the same on all Fender P's & J's in the 60's. So initially, if your bridge is '60s, and the neck original w/the spaghetti script hs logo - it could be pre-'63. Renovated to original specs - it will be worth something, but not as much as a unmolested example. But, there's a good chance it will be a good player.

 

[gfnk357]

Do you know if neck measurements were different between the early 60s and the 80's-newer? I've been trying to find this sort of info myself but there's alot to wade through.

 

[gfnk357]

Your 1960 bridge looks very similar to my bridge. The only that sticks out to me is that the barrels on yours look beveled on the ends while mine look like they were just cut straight up and down.

 

[gfnk357]

I'm not as interested in trying to determine value since I'm going to keep it as a player once I fix it up, just trying to figure out what I'm actually starting with. It will be fun to have a bass that I was able to fix up and play.

 

[JIO]

Your 1960 bridge looks very similar to my bridge. The only that sticks out to me is that the barrels on yours look beveled on the ends while mine look like they were just cut straight up and down.

That is most definitely a ('59-'69) bridge. '50 bridges had tighter threads on the saddles.

 

[gfnk357]

Thanks for the info!

 

[JIO]

I'm not as interested in trying to determine value since I'm going to keep it as a player once I fix it up, just trying to figure out what I'm actually starting with. It will be fun to have a bass that I was able to fix up and play.

For sure. The specs on '60s vs '80s I'm not certain of, but since the early RI's were made in Japan (attention to detail-high quality) there's a good chance they will be the same. But that bridge is a good indicator of a '60s P - as in, why would anyone put a valuable vintage bridge on a newer bass?

 

[abarson]

I've nothing to contribute, but I've got to know whether the XLR jack is/was actually wired to anything.

 

[gfnk357]

It has solder and broken wires on it but I can't tell if it was hooked up in this bass or if it was put in with the broken off wires and never hooked up. There aren't any loose wires at this point that would hook up to the XLR jack.

 

[Killing Floor]

Jacked from a band van a long time ago and all identifiers removed and lived a rock’n’roll life. Cool bass. Rock it.

 

[stringthrough]

A little buffing and it'll be good as new.

 

[friskinator]

If it’s the real thing, it’d be a great candidate for a restoration by someone who knows what they’re doing.

 

[SharpCat]

I'm wondering about the body control cutout. It's full size at the lower end to hold a full-size pot. All the (more recent) Fender P I've seen have been smaller there, only big enough for a mini pot or a jack. Did 60s bodies have a larger cavity?

 

[JIO]

I'm wondering about the body control cutout. It's full size at the lower end to hold a full-size pot. All the (more recent) Fender P I've seen have been smaller there, only big enough for a mini pot or a jack. Did 60s bodies have a larger cavity?

The width of a vintage '66 control cavity is 1-1/4" ... a standard sized pot is 7/8" wide