June 2013
1952 Fender Precision Bass
This well-played, yet beautifully preserved 1952 Fender Precision Bass rests against a 1952 TV front Fender Bassman 1x15 combo.It shares the characteristics common to basses made between 1951 and 1954. The most prominent of these are a flat, slab ash body like the Telecaster’s with elongated horns for better balance (the body became contoured to match the Stratocaster’s in ’54), a headstock shaped like a larger version of the Tele’s (this became more Strat-shaped in ’57), black Bakelite pickguard (white by ’56, gold anodized by ’57), and a single-coil pickup (which became a hum-cancelling, dual-coil unit in ’57).

Early players of the original Precision were Roy Johnson and Monk Montgomery—two consecutive bassists in jazz vibraphonist Lionel Hampton’s band.

Original price: $199.50 in 1952
Current estimated market value: $15,000