Here is a beautiful, clean looking vintage 1962 Fender Precision bass. This is a solid, structurally sound and excellent performing vintage Fender that can be had for considerably less than the majority of pre CBS, pre L Series Fender basses on the market. 

This bass has had a few modifications that detract from originality, yet make this a solid player grade option. Early in this instrument’s life (we believe 1970s) this bass has received a replacement neck. Why? We don’t know. All we know is that it feels excellent - nice and straight, with a solid, slightly chunky feel to it. It has had a refret with big, fat 2.9mm jumbo frets with plenty of life in them, and a set of forward winding Fender brand tuners. These tuners were installed sometime later. The “R” trademark appeared after 1976 and these tuners occupy a slightly different footprint to the ones previously on this bass. Heavy checking on the headstock shows this is a nitro finish - which was phased out in favour of the less desirable polyurethane in 1968. 

The body of this bass is very clean - in no small part contributed to by an early clear overspray. This is evidenced by very subtle signs of drip in the upper neck pocket, as well as some light scuffs on the wood that have been painted over and are smooth to the touch. Again - this was done early in its life. Some paint scratches have on the black edges have been ‘touched up’ by permanent marker at some stage. 

This bass arrived to us with an original vintage Fender black bobbin pickup which we believe to be original to this guitar. The treble side pickup bobbin was reading high resistance - signalling a dead coil and needed to be rewound. Some poor quality solder on the potentiometers and the pickup itself suggest previous failed attempts to repair this pickup. We enlisted the services of highly reputable Slider’s Pickups (who famously make pickups for Nacho Banos - world renowned guitar builder and writer of “The Black Guard” book). The coil was rewound with vintage accurate 42 gauge Plain Enamel wire and new foam risers. The new winding is both visually and sonically a perfect match for the original bass side of the pickup and sounds excellent. 

Original pots both show manufacture dates of early 1962. Nail holes from pre 1963 painting methods are all where they should be, as well as clear pencil ’62 marking in the pickup cavity. Lack of paint stick outline in the neck pocket is also correct for this time period. Neck plate serial 74XXX is also from 1962. Comes with an early 1970s Fender case. 

This is a fantastic playing, great sounding, super clean player-grade vintage ’62 Fender Precision that can be had for a great price. 

 
Brand: Fender
Model: Precision Bass
Country: USA
Year: 1962/1968
Serial: 74XXX
Case: Vintage HSC
Body Colour: Sunburst
Neck Colour: Natural
Finish Type: Nitro
Body Material: Alder
Neck Material: Maple
Fretboard Material: Rosewood
Scale Length: 34”
Frets: 20
Fretboard Radius: 7 1/4” 
Action (Low E): 3mm
Neck Profile: C
Nut Width: 41.3mm
12th Fret Width: 58mm
1st Fret Depth: 21.5mm
12th Fret Depth: 24.2mm
Pickups: Vintage - Black bobbin
Resistance: 10.6k
Electronics: Vol/Tone
Knobs: Chrome
Pick Guard: Vintage tortoiseshell
Tuners: Replacement Fender forward winding
Hardware: Chrome
Weight: 4.2kg
Mods, Repairs: Replacement neck, refret, replacement tuners, rewound treble side pickup coil, early overspray