1978 P Bass

[AZBass]

I have a 1978 P-Bass for sale. Not sure if she's over priced so send some input. I had her up on the Bay for 2000.00 and have now dropped to 1850.00. Neck is maple with no dents, dings etc. Frets are in great shape as well. Weighed in at just a tad over 10lbs on my scale so I've been told body is most likely Ash. You can see the wear spots on the body. I would love to hold on to her but can't. I see a great disparity in the asking price for older P basses so not sure what gives.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1978-Lefty-Left ... 3a7177d497

[Bassaria]

Hey az. I hear ya on the disparity with these 70's p basses. I had 2 78s in the last 4 years that I got rid of. One identical to yours in finish and wood but with a rosewood board ended up selling for $1200 to a dealer. The other which was a natural finish with maple board sold about a year later for $1800 to an individual so they seem to be all over. My guess is you could quickly move this for $1400-1500 and probably move it with patience for $1800, especially towards the summer - more gig heavy months. Seems like the 70-75s are bringing slightly higher bread as their numbers are less. Fender must have made a boatload of lefties in 78....
Good luck!

[pjmuck]

1978 is easily the most prevalent year for vintage lefty Fenders, so they're fairly common (especially the natural finish ones). I think the $1400-1500 range is accurate. Hopefully the economy will pick up and musicians will undertake free spending without remorse again.

[Matt R.]

I agree with the above estimates. I just picked up a walnut '78 recently for under a grand. Needed a little TLC, but still.. Good luck with moving this one. Looks great.

[Addison]

Also... for what it's worth... it's hard to tell, but that neck appears to be quartersawn maple, which would be somewhat of an anomaly on a later 70's P-Bass.

I'm not sure if it would add any value, necessarily... but, it's an interesting selling point that might help you move it a little faster.

I wish I had the dough... I'd buy it from you right now.

[bigevilrobot]

That is a damn pretty '78, and it's nice to see one in something other than black or natural. If I had a spare 2k lying around...

[pjmuck]

In lieu of Fender's recent announcement to go public, I'd immediately jack the price up to at least 3 grand.

[tomdbass]

I purchased the exact same year and sunburst finish P bass from Southpaw Guitars about 4 years ago. I think I got it for around $1200.00.
Great bass man. If I had the cash I'd definately buy it from you but I just purchased 2 basses and are awaiting delivery on them.

[flavman1]

Hey, I might be interested in this bass if the price is right, but I'd need to unload my Stingray first.

[mcarp555]

Maybe we could compile a list of late 70's P-bass serial #'s to see if Fender knocked out left-handed ones in batches. Might be interesting if we could get a sequence of them together.

[cangaroo]

keep in mind that the S8 and S9 serials were applied to fender basses from 1978 to 1983.

[gravesbass]

keep in mind that the S8 and S9 serials were applied to fender basses from 1978 to 1983.

What he said. You are correct. Lots of old stock used on left handed instruments. the pots dating stamp can help age better.

[cangaroo]

^^^

there is a lot of S8 lefty p's over there, but this doesn't mean that they were made all in 1978.

The S8 i bought from a forumite turned out being a 1980 (from the date stamped on the pick up bottom). Pots where instead from 77/78.

[AZBass]

Sold!!