LeftyBassist.com

I hear ya, Chris. I know that new basses can have that magic as well, and those new ADE look delicious. I have an off-the-shelf 2013 MIA Jazz, and it happens to be 100% perfect in every way, from fit to sound. . . Actually that's why I didn't take the plunge with an ADE, because this one is just so good. Buying an old Fender is ALWAYS a risk. . . Although in this case, being that's Elderly and they have a return policy, it's a pretty safe bet for the buyer. I bought a mid-'90s P-Bass from Elderly once, and the bass had no setup before they shipped it, so don't trust that they do much of a setup on every bass before listing it for sale. Unfortunately, that bass ended up having a seized truss rod, but they were super nice taking it back, so definitely buy with confidence from them.

Sorry not to hijack this thread but it brings up a conversation I get into or should I say try and stay away from and has come up a lot for me lately. Instruments are all different and so are each one’s own personal relationships with their own and opinions and emotions can flare easily.

A builder I trust dearly said one thing to consider about old 70’s Fender guitars and basses that are amazing is it’s not so much snake oil of wood or pickups or whatever. The thing that has happened to old gear is if the bass or guitar sucked players would mod them or change pickups or all kinds of stupid things to try and get them to play and sound great. The ones that played and sounded great were not usually changed so when a 79 P or whatever turns up in its original glory not bastardized it usually was because it did kick so much ass out of the box and left alone. Natural selection more than ingredients. The turds get weeded out.

I do think older growth wood used to be readily available was cheaper and most basses and guitars were made with that kind of wood back then. Natural wild growth northern ash where it’s colder so it grows slower with tighter straighter grain will make a stiffer tighter focused instrument. There is just not kind of wood around today in an abundant supply that I know of and what is super expensive. They grow trees now like produce and have figured out how to get it to grow faster but it’s softer and not as good for instrument building.

It’s not all snake oil good wood is good wood and aged good wood is magic. I would take a new instrument from today made with more modern design like carbon fiber stiffening rods and better finishes and hardware, newer pickups with new full strength magnets and new winding wire over old standards every day of the week. Get that old wood today and build an instrument with today’s standards that’s the ticket. Buyers are more informed and more educated today competition is more fierce than ever the internet changed everything and makes it sometimes in some aspects much better for us consumers. Not that Fender doesn’t put out a lemon today but I bet it’s a lot less likely today than in 79. I'm with Addison I'll take a new Fender if I have a choice and resale value isn't on the table.

You think there is still so much magic in your old bas compared to a newer well-made instrument? Maybe there is but I suggest you watch this YouTube video if you have a few minutes. I thought it was enlightening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtlTJkbUqkA

BTW I thought it was the second one it did sound more rich and complex to my ears. But what do I know I will almost always choose a different instrument to play than a Fender. Just a thought on vintage stuff don’t mean to ruffle feathers...

I am very familiar with this problem, and I assure you it's not a simple remedy. That misalignment is nowhere near as offensive as it is on my '77 Tele bass, which has a bridge so far off that my E string is almost flush with the neck's edge!:





The only solution I thought might work aside from re-drilling is to swap out the bridge and/or saddles for a Schaller with roller saddles, but then that might introduce a whole new set of issues.

Dude, that Tele bass is amazing, and I think you should have that bridge re drilled & positioned better. It's worth it for that rare beast

Hey guys I did the unthinkable- I called and asked for more pix.

Looks like the nut could be cut better, but other than the alignment not being -absolutely- centered, I don't see an issue at all.

And worth mentioning, the bass is listed at 9.8 lb. Take the covers off and put Hipshot Ultralite tuners in, and you will have 9 lb 70's P-Bass! Nice!

If that bass had a 1-1/2" nut, I would be seriously tempted. . . Actually, it really looks on the skinny side of 1-5/8" already...

What do some of y'all think about the truss rod? Does it look excessively turned in at all?

Good question. You know all this, but what I'm thinking: You need to find out what strings are in the bass (to guess the tension) and need to know how straight the neck is. If the neck is straight with high-tension string, you should be good to go even with that truss rod nut slightly turned in. . . But if the bass has normal to light strings and the neck is not straight, a truss nut like that could be a sign of trouble.

...or buy it for the 7 day trial period. Yea, the nut is cut a little off (not surprising for those days... I have seen worse).

I say take a chance but thats just me.

Based on those new pics, I'd probably give it a whirl too if I was looking for something like that.

ENABLERS

it's why we're here

The above mentioned whirl has been given. Of course I will keep you all posted.

If you need to make room on your wall for this vintage awesomeness by giving away any of your "new-fangled modern instruments", please let us know

I know.

It's also why I love you fuckers.

Grab it Matt!

It's been grabben.

It showed up today looking like it just came from the factory. Still have a little tweaking to do, but it plays & sounds great. I'm going to have a new nut cut for it. The truss rod pic I posted above is deceiving. It's barely turned in and looks brand new.

The owner's manual is still in the case. Ha.

I scored a nice one, which was a relief considering I sacrificed a couple REALLY nice instruments to buy those American Design basses, which turned out to be a shit storm.

Here's a pic I took today:
http://imageshack.us/a/img539/5126/TqXbnw.jpg

I missed the story, how were the American design basses a shit storm?

That's a killer looking P-Bass, congrats!

Just had terrible QC issues with both the basses I ordered. Returned the PBass and I'm waiting for a replacement Jazz Bass

Wow, Excellent. I'm happy for you