My ol Fender Precision

[bongolation]

It flat out can NOT be that old. Up uyntil 1957, they were the "Tele" basses.

Untrue. The slab body only went until 1954. The current Fender "Sting Signature" is the Fender Japan '54RI with a stupid sig inlay and a couple of subtle changes w/no guards. The Sting body is correct for a '54.though. And of course the "Telecaster Bass" was unheard of until 1968 when the first '51 Precision reissue was produced under that name to prevent confusion with the contemporary Precision.

At any rate, I talked to my shop manager today, and he agreed with me, early 1960's.

That would be my guess, too, but if it's an L-series, that neckplate's been changed, which happened a lot on stolen basses. It was very common in those days to see neck plates far older than the axe and these were exclusively cases of theft. I was dealing guitars then and got wise to it early. Why would anyone switch out a neckplate on an otherwise intact instrument?

In any case, I believe that all L-series instruments had patent numbers on the heads. I know the Stratocasters did. So if it's '60s, it's pre-L-Series, '60-'61 maybe.

If the owner really wants to know what this is or isn't, I suggest taking the question to the Fender Discussion Page's bass forum. There are professional vintage dealers there who can tell you exactly what this is or isn't, right down to the smallest part.

 

[foo]

I'm better with guitars, but the basses probably have a similar time frame. So, from memory:
Slab Rosewood 'board - March '59 to mid-late '62
Clay dot inlays - early Sixties
Those knobs look really early 60's (like 60 - 61?)
Silver 'Spaghetti' logo - early 60's
'Shell guard - early 60's
Olympic White custom colour - not available in the 50's

Unfortunately, I don't have access to my books or we could get really specific - but it definately cannot be pre-March '59.

Take the pickguard off - there will probably be something pencilled in the cavity. There may be initials (if you're lucky TG - Tadeo Gomez, shop foreman around about that time, but more likely to be Gloria. It's who assembled the instrument.); and possibly a date. That's the date of the body. There may also be OW - if white is the original finish, it stands for Olympic White.
On the end of the neck, there should be something pencilled there, too. If you have a date, it will almost certainly be different from the body date. The format for the date = 5/61 would be May of 1961.

Definitely early 60's - great bass!!
Congrats!!

BTW - the manufacturers don't have a clue about their 'pre-modern' instruments (except Martin, who are very conscientious about their stuff). Imagine calling Chevrolet in Detroit and asking them about a 1962 Impala.