Fender's First Reissue

Fender's first reissue, being a reissue of the original Precision Bass. This 12 3/4-inch-wide bass guitar weighs 11.30 lbs. and has a nut width of 1 3/4 inches and a full bass scale length of 34 inches. Solid ash body with a nice see-through Blond finish, one-piece fretted maple neck (with a skunk stripe) with 20 frets and black dot position markers. The neck is stamped "23 MAY 68 C." Single circular string tree. Headstock decal with Fender logo in silver with black trim and with small circled "R" (for "Registered"), with "TELECASTER BASS" and one patent number ("PAT. 2,968,204") in two lines in black beneath it. Individual Fender "paddle gear" tuners with "Fender" logo and with paddle-shaped metal buttons. Four-bolt neck plate with large Fender "F" logo and with serial number ("246184") between the two top screws. Single-coil gray pickup with four polepieces (dated "4-29-68" in black ink on the bottom) with an output of 6.06k. Later white plastic pickguard with eleven screws. The thumb rest is missing from the treble side of the pickguard (the two screw holes are present). Two controls (one volume, one tone) on a chrome-plated metal plate adjoining the pickguard. Chrome knobs with flat tops and knurled sides. The potentiometers are stamped "137 6642" (CTS October 1966). Combined two-saddle bridge/tailpiece. The original pickup and bridge covers are missing (but we can supply reproductions). This guitar is a great example in excellent plus (8.75) condition of one of these very rare basses. There are a few small indentations on the back of the guitar, a couple of cigarette burns (?) on the inside of the treble horn, a small area of pick wear on the top of the guitar near the treble side of the pickup, some discoloration to the last few frets due to the disintegration of the original pickguard (which has now been replaced with another), a few tiny marks on the back of the neck, and some very fine checking on the body. Housed in a later black hardshell case with orange plush lining (8.50).

"In 1968, the original Precision Bass design was re-introduced as the Telecaster Bass with the majority of the original appointments: the strings went through the body; the bridge had two saddles like the original; the pickguard, covers, headstock and controls were resurrected, as was the slab body. Other features differed: the pickguard was white, rather than the original black single sheet Bakelite; the neck was constructed with a maple fingerboard lamination cap, unlike the original one-piece maple design. Some models featured the original one-piece maple neck later that year. The ferrules on the new Telecaster Bass were smaller and no longer seated flush into the body like the original 1950s model" (J.W. Black and Albert Molinaro, The Fender Bass: An Illustrated History, p. 49).

"A curious version of the Precision Bass appeared in 1966, apparently only for export to the U.K. It had a slab body and black pickguard, like the original P-Bass, but was otherwise the same as the contemporary models. The slab body returned again in 1968 on the Telecaster Bass, a new model patterned on the '51 Precision, right down to the strings-through-body bridge and single-coil pickup. (Some of the product literature claimed that 'the Telecaster Bass was originally introduced before 1950.' Under CBS, Fender couldn't even get its own history right.) The choice of finishes included psychedelic Blue Flower and Paisley Red bodies. The single-coil pickup was replaced with a large chrome-covered humbucker in 1972; not many bassists found this to be an improvement. The Tele Bass was discontinued in 1979" (Jim Roberts, American Basses: An Illustrated History & Player's Guide, pp. 56-57).