Fender Precision Fretless Solid Body Electric Bass Guitar (1971)
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Fender Precision Fretless Model Solid Body Electric Bass Guitar (1971), made in Fullerton, California, serial # 303193, sunburst polyester finish, alder body, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, original black tolex hard shell case.
This 1971 Fender Bass embodies a built-in inherent contradiction...the defining characteristic of the Precision Bass was the guitar-like frets allowing precise intonation; yet in 1970 CBS/Fender started offering a fretless version. Undoubtedly inspired by Ampeg's AUB-1, the Fretless Precision was fairly popular among more ambitious players in the 1970's but never really caught on in a big way.
Old-school P-Bass features like the chrome bridge and pickup covers, tortoise plastic pickguard and the fingerrest below the strings still lend this bass a classic '60s look. The bridge with solid, non-serrated saddles and the long "G" string screw and the narrower nut width on the neck (along with the fretless configuration) are notable newer features that began around this time, as the '70s kicked in.
The serial number on the neck plate is typical for 1971. The neck has a "green stamp" code 5 02 71 B the last letter signifying the Precision is now being built with the slimmed 1 5/8" "B" nut width instead of the older 1 3/4" C-width used in the 1960s. This one actually has an even slimmer 1 9/16" width, almost Jazz bass narrow. The fingerboard is a lovely colorfully grained piece of rosewood, displayed in all its glory without frets or position marks.
The grey pickup bobbins are still 1960s style coded "4291" on the underside of the lower coil and the pots are stamped for 304-7116 dating to the 16th week of 1971, indicating Fender had finally used up the 1966 pots from the enormous CBS buy that year.
This bass has the sound and feel of a standard Precision, but of course the fretless fingerboard allows for a more glissando-ridden expressive playing style closer to the sonic possibilities of the upright bass. This is a very early example of this fairly rare Fender bass variant, looking not much played with a classic "totally vintage" sound and vibe.
Overall length is 45 7/8 in. (116.5 cm.), 12 7/8 in. (32.7 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 34 in. (864 mm.). Width of nut is 1 9/16 in. (40 mm.)., 8.73 lbs.
This is a superbly clean original 50+ year old bass looking not too much used since new. The all-original finish has some minor scuffs and dings and one heavier spot of buckle wear to the wood on the back. There is noticeable fade to the red in the sunburst, particularly visible under the tailpiece cover. All hardware appears original except possible the center pickup cover which may be a reissue. The knobs show some chrome plating loss especially for some reason the top of the tone knob.
Internally the original grey-bobbin pickups, pots and wiring appear untouched. We added a bit of extra foam under the pickups to preserve adjustability; the original is intact but partially hardened up. The lovely rosewood fingerboard has hardly any wear; nobody ever put a set of board-chewing stainless steel Rotosound strings on this one! Overall a great-sounding and playing, lighter-than-many fine funky piece of the early 1970's ready to keep up the groove for the 21st century. Overall Excellent + Condition.
This 1971 Fender Bass embodies a built-in inherent contradiction...the defining characteristic of the Precision Bass was the guitar-like frets allowing precise intonation; yet in 1970 CBS/Fender started offering a fretless version. Undoubtedly inspired by Ampeg's AUB-1, the Fretless Precision was fairly popular among more ambitious players in the 1970's but never really caught on in a big way.
Old-school P-Bass features like the chrome bridge and pickup covers, tortoise plastic pickguard and the fingerrest below the strings still lend this bass a classic '60s look. The bridge with solid, non-serrated saddles and the long "G" string screw and the narrower nut width on the neck (along with the fretless configuration) are notable newer features that began around this time, as the '70s kicked in.
The serial number on the neck plate is typical for 1971. The neck has a "green stamp" code 5 02 71 B the last letter signifying the Precision is now being built with the slimmed 1 5/8" "B" nut width instead of the older 1 3/4" C-width used in the 1960s. This one actually has an even slimmer 1 9/16" width, almost Jazz bass narrow. The fingerboard is a lovely colorfully grained piece of rosewood, displayed in all its glory without frets or position marks.
The grey pickup bobbins are still 1960s style coded "4291" on the underside of the lower coil and the pots are stamped for 304-7116 dating to the 16th week of 1971, indicating Fender had finally used up the 1966 pots from the enormous CBS buy that year.
This bass has the sound and feel of a standard Precision, but of course the fretless fingerboard allows for a more glissando-ridden expressive playing style closer to the sonic possibilities of the upright bass. This is a very early example of this fairly rare Fender bass variant, looking not much played with a classic "totally vintage" sound and vibe.
Overall length is 45 7/8 in. (116.5 cm.), 12 7/8 in. (32.7 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 34 in. (864 mm.). Width of nut is 1 9/16 in. (40 mm.)., 8.73 lbs.
This is a superbly clean original 50+ year old bass looking not too much used since new. The all-original finish has some minor scuffs and dings and one heavier spot of buckle wear to the wood on the back. There is noticeable fade to the red in the sunburst, particularly visible under the tailpiece cover. All hardware appears original except possible the center pickup cover which may be a reissue. The knobs show some chrome plating loss especially for some reason the top of the tone knob.
Internally the original grey-bobbin pickups, pots and wiring appear untouched. We added a bit of extra foam under the pickups to preserve adjustability; the original is intact but partially hardened up. The lovely rosewood fingerboard has hardly any wear; nobody ever put a set of board-chewing stainless steel Rotosound strings on this one! Overall a great-sounding and playing, lighter-than-many fine funky piece of the early 1970's ready to keep up the groove for the 21st century. Overall Excellent + Condition.