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Fender Precision Bass (1970-1983)

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Bass Guitar

Fender Precision Bass (1970-1983)

Fender · Precision Bass 1970 - 1983

Price: 1.524 EUR – 11.822 EUR

Price history 04.09.2026 19.09.2026
Cheapest seen Most expensive seen

Availability: 9/10 (Common)

The CBS-era production run of the instrument that started the electric bass guitar as a category. Alder or ash body, one-piece maple or maple/rosewood neck, and the split single-coil pickup design introduced in 1957 - largely unchanged in concept, if not always in build quality, during this period.

Where available? Go to the best price – 1.524 EUR About this instrument

About the Fender Precision Bass (1970-1983)

Basses from this production window carry the split single-coil humbucking pickup that had defined the Precision Bass since 1957, mounted on a body built from either alder or ash - both woods were used during the 1970s without a strict cutoff date between them. The neck was maple throughout, either as a one-piece maple neck or as maple with a separate, glued-on rosewood fingerboard; a fretless version with an unlined maple, rosewood or ebony fingerboard was also offered. Frets sit at 20 on fretted versions, over the same 34-inch scale the Precision Bass has always used.

Two changes from this period are commonly used to narrow down a more exact date. In 1971, Fender switched to a three-bolt neck plate and moved the truss rod adjustment to a bullet-shaped nut at the headstock, replacing the four-bolt joint and body-end adjustment used before. Collectors and players are divided on the three-bolt neck's reputation - some consider it a low point in Fender's manufacturing consistency during the CBS ownership years, others report no practical issues once the neck is properly shimmed. In 1977, the "Precision Bass" headstock logo was changed to a smaller, sans-serif style, which is one of the more reliable ways to distinguish an earlier-1970s example from a later one at a glance.

Because this listing covers a production span rather than a single model year, exact specifications - body wood, neck construction, logo style - vary within the range, and buyers comparing instruments from this era usually want to know the specific year and features of each individual guitar rather than assume they are identical.

Where to buy

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Source: https://reverb.com/item/85023018-fender-precision-bass-left-handed-with-maple-fretboard-1970-1983-ruby-red

Sound character of the Fender Precision Bass (1970-1983)

The split single-coil pickup - two offset halves wired out of phase to cancel hum while reinforcing the fundamental - is the source of the P-Bass's deep, punchy low end. The alder body and maple neck of this era keep the overall voicing warm and full-bodied rather than bright.

Warm Punchy Full-bodied

Technical data for the Fender Precision Bass (1970-1983)

Body Alder or ash
Neck Maple (one-piece, or maple with rosewood fretboard)
Frets 20 (fretless version also offered)
Scale length 34"
Pickup Split single-coil humbucking
Neck plate 3-bolt from 1971 (4-bolt before)
Truss rod adjustment Bullet nut at headstock from 1971 (body-end before)
Headstock logo "Precision Bass" wordmark, changed to smaller sans-serif style in 1977
Production span 1970-1983 (CBS era)

Price history for the Fender Precision Bass (1970-1983)

Cheapest seen: 1.524 EUR  ·  Most expensive seen: 11.822 EUR

11.826 EUR1.507 EUR 04.09.2026 12.09.202616.09.202617.09.2026 19.09.2026
Cheapest seen Most expensive seen

The history of the Fender Precision Bass (1970-1983)

The Precision Bass was designed by Leo Fender and reached the market in 1951, and it was the first electric bass guitar to be manufactured successfully at scale - a solid-body instrument built to be played and amplified like an electric guitar rather than an upright bass, with frets that let players hit a note "precisely", which gave the model its name. The original had a single-cutaway body closely related to the Telecaster and a single pickup.

Fender restyled the body in 1954 with the contoured curves that would later define the Stratocaster, and in 1957 replaced the original pickup with the split single-coil humbucking design that has remained the model's signature ever since. CBS acquired Fender in January 1965, and the years that followed - including this 1970-1983 production window - are generally referred to as the CBS era, a period during which manufacturing changes (including the three-bolt neck and bullet truss rod introduced in 1971) are widely discussed among collectors when assessing instruments from this time. The Precision Bass itself, meanwhile, is credited with having shaped the sound and role of the bass guitar in popular music more broadly than almost any other single instrument design.

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