Cool and classic basses: Fender Slab Body Precision

You would be forgiven in thinking that this is just another Precision from a not particularly interesting time in its production history, but you'd be wrong.

For a start this model didn't initially appear on sale on American soil - it was a purely British phenomenon. Essentially it's an original slab body Precision from the early fifties but with the later, larger sized headstock as ordered by Arbiter in London.

Exactly what inspired the order is hard to discover but they caused interest as soon as they appeared, tickling the fancy of bassists like John Entwistle, Chip Hawkes (Tremeloes), Bob Daisley (Gary Moore, Ozzy Osbourne, Rainbow) and Eric Haydock (Hollies). Even Marc Bolan's bass player used one on Top Of The Pops in 1971 for Get It On.

It created enough interest and sales for a second batch to be made and some of these remained in the States. This is one of the most researched and coveted production Precisions ever, and it helped rekindle the interest in the original P-Bass and subsequently lead to the Telecaster Bass.

Fender Custom Shop recently introduced their Masterbuilt '66 Slab Precision Closet Classic Bass and a book called 'Fender Bass For Britain' by Barry Matthews gives the fullest possible account of this curious instrument.

Read our full Fender Slab Body Precision profile