Hey, how's it going?
- Hey, how are you? - Good.
What do we got here?
I have this old Fender bass guitar here.
Nice.
Let's sit it right on top of this.
This is cool.
[music playing]
What can you tell me about it?
It's been in the family for generations,
and I know it's old.
What you have here is a Fender Precision Bass.
Stratocaster was huge.
Total game changer for Fender.
I mean, they've been around since 1946.
They came out with the electric solidbody Stratocaster guitar.
The body shape worked really well.
Let's do it with bass.
OK.
I mean, this still is today one of the most popular
bass any rock player plays.
And the older they are, man, the more--
more expensive they can be.
I've sold basses like this for 50, 60 grand.
OK.
So how much are you looking to get for it?
1,000.
OK.
I mean, it's in pretty rough shape, man.
This needs a pretty deep restoration.
Now, I have a guy-- he's local here--
that may be able to help us out with an idea of restoring it.
Let me go find him and see if it is fixable,
or if you've got the world's most
expensive boat anchor here.
- OK. - OK?
So hang out. I'll be back.
Let me see if I can find him.
All right, sweet.
Well, look at this dusty nugget.
This is as barn fresh as it gets.
Wow.
I love the play wear on this.
This is extremely soulful.
But also really, really beat.
Looks like I've got a slab board on here.
So this has to be made between late 1959 and mid '62.
That's the only window for this.
Kind of the golden age of the Fender Precision Bass.
COREY: All right, so what do you think?
Well, should we get under the hood on it
and confirm what's original?
- Do what you do, man. - Right.
Well, I can tell you right off the bat,
there's a lot that is original here.
I think once this gets cleaned up, it could be pretty cool.
All right.
Let's take the guard off as well.
Yeah, for how absolutely, you know,
played and neglected this is, there's a lot of original bones
here.
Pickup looks right as well.
There's a lot to be excited about here, Corey.
All right.
So, I mean, is this something that can be restored?
It's definitely something that I can restore for you, yeah.
Absolutely.
OK.
Well, give me an idea of what it would cost to restore it.
The goal is going to be to keep
this finish looking soulful.
There's a lot of value there.
But I think we're looking at around 1,000 bucks.
What do you think it could be worth restored?
I think we could be talking upwards of $10,000 to $12,000
once this is ready to go.
All right.
So I'm only going to be here a few days.
Can you get it done in that time frame?
Absolutely.
All right.
So you came in here.
You wanted $1,000.
I'm going to give you 2 because I got to get
him cracking on this thing. Is that a deal?
Yes.
All right.
Come with me.
You start working on that, please.
I appreciate it.
I have.
Let's do it.
Well, it looks like we've got it right here.
Hey, Ben. - Hey, how's it going, Mike?
Doing all right.
How you doing?
Nice to meet you in person.
Nice to meet you as well.
Well, why don't you come out here and show me what you did?
BEN BRYAN: Let's do it.
[music playing]
COREY: OK, where's the guitar?
I mean, what, did you just rebuild an entire guitar or--
MIKE BALL: Did what we could on the timeline,
and I think it turned out pretty well.
COREY: I'm blown away.
BEN BRYAN: We had three kind of primary challenges
in getting this 1960 P bass back on the road.
Hardware spent time in our ultrasonic cleaner.
Got them all operational again.
Secondly, we looked to the electronics.
When we first got this, no electronics
function whatsoever.
And we were able to save all the original electronics in here,
so we didn't have to replace anything at all.
And rewire it properly for Fender specs from the era.
And this is my favorite portion of the program
is the cosmetics.
This one had decades of grime and filth
on it, which we were able to buff off and detail it
so that it shows off in its best light
and still preserves its original patina.
If we were to refinish this with a brand new finish,
wouldn't have any soul to it.
No, I mean, it looks absolutely amazing.
I mean, I--
I'm actually stunned it's the same guitar.
You guys did a phenomenal job.
What can I sell it for?
Now, that it's restored, I think you can get
upwards of about 12,000 for it.
I'm blown away.
This is beyond anything I could have
ever expected or hoped for.
I can't thank you enough.
I really do appreciate it.
Well, thank you.
We're pleased that you're happy with it
and we trust you'll find a good home for it.
COREY: OK, I promise.
Well, guys, I got to get back to the event.
Are you sure it's the same guitar?
MIKE BALL: [chuckles] Pretty sure.
All right.
You'll be hearing from me soon.
MIKE BALL: See you later.
COREY: Take care.