One of the rarest and most desirable years of all Fender Basses and Guitars, this bass guitar has received (from our repair staff) one of the finest and most enthusiastic reports concerning all aspects of structural condition, originality, adjustability and playability as any vintage fretted instrument we have ever received. The bass is accompanied by two printed photographs, one showing two pots, one of which is readable as 137-945 which would mean that this component was made in the 45th week of 1959, and the other shows a penciled neck date of 10/59.
The original owner of this bass was Peter Milano, who purchased it in Manhattan and in his career played with Les Elgar, the Dorsey Band, and in addition he had his own band and they would play clubs and weddings. He passed away around 2001. The piece was brought in by his son, and so this is technically a one-owner instrument.
Here is the report of our head of repair, Rocco Monterosso: This is indeed a Fender 1959 Precision Bass, #43082. The tuners and string tree are original, the nut and the frets are as well; the pickguard and thumbrest are original and so are the pickups, pots and capacitor. None of its internal solder joints have ever been broken or resoldered. The pot codes are 137-945 which means they were made in the 45th week of 1959. The input jack is original; the bridge, its nickel-plated metal cover, the knobs, the body finish and neck finish, they are all original. Only the thermoplastic hard shell case is not original. We chose to not remove the neck – most likely the neck has never been removed – we do not feel that it should be us to break this seal for the first time so, based on all the other incontrovertible evidence we have herewith stated, we declare that the bass is original and anybody who would pull apart the neck from the body to be able to write down the neck date is certifiably out of their mind since it is not required for proof of year. It’s a ’59.
We note that the instrument shows normal signs of use and wear including chips, scratches, scrapes, scuffs, marks, dings, finish checking and chipping finish, belt buckle “rash” on the back. There is hand-wear (gray color) on the back of the neck from playing as well as nicks, scrapes and scratches. It has both its covers and the tailpiece cover has the foam that keeps the strings from vibrating; there is a crack at the top of the tortoise pickguard, and, in addition, small mars of little significance on said pickguard. There are typical scuffs and discoloration on the headstock.
This is a bass guitar that should be of interest to every bass player and bass collector in the entire world of bass players and collectors. Other than the normal aberrations of cosmetic condition that one would expect to find on an instrument used professionally in the most illustrious circumstances over a lifetime of playing, it is wholly righteous and unrestrictedly right.
WAS $9795 BUT NOW ON SALE FOR: