This is a very interesting piece. This instrument started out its life as a 1962 Fender Precision bass in sunburst finish. Somewhere along the way, this instrument has experienced a comprehensive makeover, making it a truly unique, player grade vintage fretless bass. The fretless bass didn’t exist in 1962. It wasn’t, for the most part until the late 60s when fretless basses began to appear, bridging a gap between the articulation of the fretted instruments and warm expressiveness of an upright bass. In the 1970s the fretless bass craze began to emerge in a large part due to the incredible bass work of Jaco Pastorius. 

This bass plays well as a fretless. The original Brazilian rosewood “slab” fretboard has been planed down for a smooth playing surface and has a 1st fret depth of 17.3mm and a nice wide nut width of 43.6mm. You can see in later pictures how thin the edges of this slab board are. There is evidence to suggest a refret was carried out at some stage after the board had been thinned out. This is shown by the unusually deep fret tangs in the upper register - going quite far into the maple neck from the mid range up to the 20th fret.

This bass was refinished in gloss polyurethane some time ago, which shows deep finish checking. Evidence of the original sunburst finish is shown in the neck pocket. The neck has a glossy headstock face with a reproduction period correct decal over the top (you can just see the footprint of the original decal, offset by about 1.5mm). The back of the neck/headstock has been buffed, as evidenced by cutting compound in the hootenanny button hole (headstock strap button). The thin neck finish has a nice vintage feel without the poly “stickiness” that some refinished basses experience. Original heal date stamp shows thicker finish with original nitro in tact around it.

The neck pocket of this bass shows the shadow of the 'mounting stick' used to paint these instruments, which began to appear in late 1962, we also have some nail holes in the treble cutaway, at the bridge and the control cavity next to the volume knob. There is no date markings in the pickup cavity, as they have been removed with the refinish. 

This bass also sports a WD enterprises tortoiseshell pick guard (held in with hum bucker mount screws), replacement tug bar and an after market late 60s style bridge with brass saddles and metric grub screws. The pickup appears to be original with black bobbins, with original cloth wire, brass base and a healthy 11.07k resistance. Volume and tone pots have been replaced. Fender used “reverse wound” tuners up until approximately 1966. The tuners on this instrument have been replaced with later model, forward winding tuners. 

This instrument comes with a late 1960s vintage Fender case with a chain handle. 

Aside from the substantial modifications, this is still very nice, light, resonant pre CBS, Pre L series Fender Precision bass. A truly unique fretless conversion that can be either enjoyed as is, or restored to its former glory. Either way, this is a one of a kind and affordable foray into the world of pre CBS Fender basses, with a heck of a story to tell. 

 
Brand: Fender
Model: Precision Bass (Fretless conversion)
Country: USA
Year: 1962
Serial: 30XXX
Case: Fender Hard Shell
Body Colour: Natural
Neck Colour: Natural
Finish Type: Poly Refin
Body Material: Alder
Neck Material: Maple
Fretboard Material: Brazilian Rosewood
Scale Length: 34”
Frets: N/A
Fretboard Radius: 7 1/4”
Action (Low E): 3mm
Neck Profile: Slim C
Nut Width: 43.6mm
12th Fret Width: 57.8mm
1st Fret Depth: 17.3mm
12th Fret Depth: 23.5mm
Pickups: Split Single
Resistance: 11.07k
Electronics: Modified
Knobs: Vol/Tone
Pick Guard: Tortoiseshell
Tuners: Fender, post 1966
Hardware: Chrome
Weight: 3.37kg
Mods, Repairs: Refinish (clear poly), replaced tuners, replaced volume and tone pots, replaced pick guard, bridge, converted to fretless