10 hole tort P bass pickguard?

timmus · #1 08-29-2010, 10:18 PM

Hey all,

I'm looking for a 10 hole tort pickguard for a Fender p bass I own. It is essentially a Fender 59 clone (it seems to be a Fullerton 57 body with a Fullerton rosewood 62 neck...go figure) and it's Fiesta Red.

I would love to be able to remove the gold guard that's on it now and install a tort guard on it...unfortunately, all the tort guards I can find are 13 hole style...this body has 10 holes.

I would certainly entertain recommendations for a "non" Fender of decent quality that has the pickup holes routed and no screw holes drilled (I could do that myself) but a ready made PG would be nice too.

What's good out there without breaking the bank?

walterw · #2 08-29-2010, 10:23 PM

it's no big deal to drill a couple extra holes for a different guard. they'll always be covered up whether you swap back or not.

timmus · #3 08-29-2010, 10:34 PM

thanks walterw...this bass has a rather interesting history and because of that, I really want to keep it as original as possible (in brief, it appears this bass may have come from the factory this way...57 body/62 neck...I am a Fender amp repair tech and in some conversations with some of the higher mucky mucks at Fender in Scottsdale, they believe there were a few of these that were sent to "special customers").

Be that as it may, I don't have a problem buying a PG without the screw holes drilled as I have the technology to do that...and I will just use the ano guard as a template.

king_biscuit · #4 08-29-2010, 10:37 PM

It could be that the necks were swapped at the dealer -- e.g., a customer wanted that color body and gold guard but wanted rosewood, so the dealer switched necks between 57 and 62 reissue.

I'm sure you could either have a custom guard made, or simply get tort P guard with no holes drilled so you can do it yourself.

timmus · #5 08-29-2010, 10:48 PM

the older gent I bought the bass from bought it new in the spring of 83...sealed box and all...it's the way it came...I know the guy was a fairly renowned bassist in this area and was pretty tight with the Fender rep as well...also no dealer I know would swap parts on a new bass that's under warranty...Fender doesn't like that

Anyway, regardless of the pedigree of the bass, I will look around some of the PG houses...I just emailed Warmoth to see what they can do for me...

walterw · #6 08-30-2010, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by timmus

thanks walterw...this bass has a rather interesting history and because of that, I really want to keep it as original as possible (in brief, it appears this bass may have come from the factory this way...57 body/62 neck...I am a Fender amp repair tech and in some conversations with some of the higher mucky mucks at Fender in Scottsdale, they believe there were a few of these that were sent to "special customers").

oh, so it's not a "clone" at all, but actual pre-CBS fender parts?

then sure, avoiding extra holes is a good idea.

WD should be able to make you exactly what you want, especially if you mail them a tracing.

or do you mean that it's early '80s reissue parts? if so, i might be less inclined to sweat it and just put what i wanted on there (as long as it could go back to stock cleanly).

king_biscuit · #7 08-30-2010, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by walterw

oh, so it's not a "clone" at all, but actual pre-CBS fender parts?

then sure, avoiding extra holes is a good idea.

WD should be able to make you exactly what you want, especially if you mail them a tracing.

It's not a clone or pre-CBS. It is a Fullerton era (82-84) era American Fender Reissue.

**TheFantod** · #8 08-30-2010, 10:01 PM

Mercy...I went through this trying to find a PG for my RW P-bass.

Easiest solution is just get a regular 13 hole PG, then break out the drill. IIRC, you have to put two new holes along the bottom.

The only other recourse is to get one custom made. At least that's what I discovered.

timmus · #9 08-31-2010, 04:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by king_biscuit

It's not a clone or pre-CBS. It is a Fullerton era (82-84) era American Fender Reissue.

From all that I can find out on it through extensive research is it's a Fullerton Reissue (NOT pre CBS parts) with the neck from a 62 reissue and the body from a 57 reissue. Neck date is 12/82 and body date is 01/83.

It is a deadringer for a 59 P-bass (rosewood fingerboard/Fiesta Red body with a 10 hole gold ano guard). I think a brown tort guard would look the nuts on it.

TGLbass · #10 08-31-2010, 05:12 PM

All Parts and a couple other companies make the 10 hole p guard--I've bought vintage type guards new before--they do the same for strats etc.