'62 Fender Precision

Trusty ol' Pbass

I spent more than twenty-five years playing this bass exclusively, and it still inspires me to write, practice and play music.

This bass has many stories to tell. In 1967 I had scraped enough money together from a flyer delivery route to purchase my first "real" bass. I approached a friendly local player who had two Precisions, and for the princely sum of my hard-earned $100 plus an Electrovoice 664 microphone I took home the most worn of his two basses. Of course the first thing I did was to remove the well-mojo'ed finish in favour of a coat of marine varnish. Hindsight being what it is, the only excuse I can make is that it is now easy to tell that this is an alder-bodied instrument.

After a few years of solid gigging I remember we were loading into a local downstairs club (The Green Door at the Chaudiere). We had loaded the amps, the Hammond & Leslies and the drums in already and were tending to the last bits. I grabbed my bass. As I just started down the long flight of marble stairs the latches on the case failed and I watched my Precision tumble and clatter down to the very bottom. My heart sank. It was astonishing to find that excepting a tiny mark on the back of the neck, the bass was not only intact but still in tune. Try that with a modern boutique bass! On second thought...

This example is a totally mind-blowing instrument which proves beyond a shadow of doubt (for you skeptics out there) that vintage Fenders can truly rock like no other. It's also probably worth mentioning that I have kept all of the original parts; "ash tray" covers, bridge, tuners, pickguard piece and worn knobs which all rest in the original light brown case - with semi-functional latches.