Here's some pics and info on my 1973 Fender Precision bass. This is a clean example of a 100% original one with the rosewood fingerboard and three tone sunburst finish (standard base model)
The weight of these vintage basses can vary by one to one and a half pounds. This particular one weighs in at a light 8 lbs. 6 oz.. The body is made from two pieces of alder. The neck is a modern "C" neck which measures 1 5/8" at the nut. It has an extremely straight neck and its action is very low with no buzzing. I bought this bass because it reminded me in the aspects of look and feel as my very first P Bass that I bought in December of 1969. It is a great sounding bass with lots of punch and thump. Personally, I think that the split pickup P Basses such as this are probably the best basses of all time and can be used for any type of music. By 1973 the finish on the body and neck was polyester (they stopped using nitro in 1969), but I have found that on a vintage bass such as this, it hasn't impeded its tone at all. This is the last year that the thumbrest was mounted on the treble side of the pickguard. By mid 1974, the gorgeous tortoiseshell pickguards were first replaced by a "printed" (dot matrix) pattern pickguard, and shortly thereafter, in late 1974, a three laminated black-white-black pickguard was used on the sunburst models. The chrome neck plate has the Fender "F" embossed on it and the serial numbers were six digits in the 300,000 to the 500,000 range.
If you look at the pictures closely, you can see that the original thumbrests were actually a very dark brownish-red color, and much more rounded than the reissue part that fender offers today. The knobs are chrome plated zamac (zinc/aluminum alloy) and are very lightweight as opposed to the reissue knobs that are heavier chrome plated brass.
The dot position markers on the front of the fingerboard were "pearloid" plastic, and the side dots were black 3/32" plastic dots on the maple part of the neck. The earlier (late 60's) rosewood board P Basses had side dots that were 3/32" "pearloid" and were centered between the area where the rosewood met the maple as the earlier "clay dot" necks were. You can also see in these pictures that the pickguard is a deep reddish color as opposed to the reissue's brown color. To me, with their tight swirl pattern, the tortoiseshell pickguards that Fender used from 1968-1973 were among the prettiest ones that they ever used. Another thing that is worth noting is that the original chrome pickup covers had very sharp bends in them. the reissues have no sharpness to their bends and often have to be reshaped to fit the mounting hole. The new bridge covers appear to be the same as the originals. The machine heads were nickel plated as were all of the pickguard screws and strap buttons. The bridge is chrome plated steel with nickel plated single slot saddles with slot head screws for action adjustment. To me, this is the last year of the "true" Precision Bass and 100% original ones such as this can still be found at somewhat reasonable prices in the $3000-$4000 range. It is however, getting harder and harder to find one in this nice of condition that has never been molested. In 1973 these basses retailed at around $419.00 list! ( I remember buying a brand new one in 1974, while I was working in a Music store that was a Fender dealer and retail was around $440.00 by then. I also have this bass's original hardshell case and it is in very nice condition as well. It is black tolex with the black leather ends and black leather covered handle. The Fender logo on the case is the earlier type with the "tail" and the inside is the plush, bright orange interior.
