1990 MIJ '57 RI P-BASS ???
 

I just score my first older MIJ P-Bass . I walked into one of my regular stop pawnshops, and I saw this baby on the racks.The owner was asking $248.79 so I was interested in checking it out. Upon inspection I noticed the neck was a little bowed,but I wanted to plug it in anyway and make sure it worked and played ok. Anyway the input jack was messed up and you'd have to wiggle the chord to get the bass to play. As far as what I heard when it would stay on was a really clean punchy tone. The body and neck are in really decent shape for the age of the bass. I told the owner that I could not pay anywhere close to his asking price with the bow and the messed up jack. Anyway he knocked it all the way down to $115.47 plus tax. I could not say no to that price. Anyway the serial number on the bass is
I 018001 which puts it at 1990. I'm also wondering if it's a '57 RI P-Bass? I've seen a few on e-bay and look just like mine. What do the experts say? Also , is this color white or Olympic white? Thanks in advance. Here's the obligatory pics.

Nice score.

Nice bass. Great deal.

Enjoy.

NICE WORK!!
What a score. You could probably say it's 62RI. If the neck issue can be sorted out that's easily a $500 bass, and that would be a square deal.

Thanks Low. The neck wasn't really that bad,I made a big about it to help get the price lowered. Are you saying it's a '62 cause of the color? Just wondering.:)

It's the whole package. Most MIJ's aren't really "reissues" in the same sense of the word as American series basses. If you pull the neck it will probably have a "PB-62" stamp of some sort.

I really appreciate the helpful info Low. Thanks! :)

I need to start going to pawn shops more often. Nice score! Any plans to change that guard? Red tort or gold anodized or even black would look great.

Thanks. Now that you ask, I've seen a few like mine with the red tort and they look Very cool. :)

Thanks Low. I took your advice and pulled off the neck. I did have the PB-57 stamp on the neck. I also read that there were a bunch of fake Japanese guitars that used the PB-57 necks and put them on cheap plywood bodies. Mine turned out to be legit though.:)

Looks like a genuine 57 Jap re issue. I had a 2006 crafted in Japan 57 ri that looked the same only the colour was more yellowish vintage white. You got yourself a good deal there.

Seriously? They should call 911 because at that price you stole it. These sell for between 400 - 600 all day long. More importantly they are great value for money. Great score!

Thanks. So is my bass color Vintage white ? :)

I thought the days of walking into a pawn shop and scoring amazing deals like this one were over thanks to the Internet. Seriously, great score on great bass! I just got another E-series P bass that plays and sounds fantastic.

Very cool looks just like my 83 american standard!!!

If the color of your '83 is the same as mine, what color is it? :)

Somebody had called it Ivory sounded pretty good to me not sure what Fender calls it. got a tort guard and some black pup covers I'm getting ready to put on it!

I believe that's called Vintage White.

Thanks!

I guess it is a typical lower cost export model. They have basswood bodies instead of alder or ash, cheaper ceramic pickups (not necessarily cheap sounding!) and cheaper electronics.
But nonetheless I love the necks on those mij-intruments. I have a 1989 strat from the export series.
I guess if they would have used alder or ash and the same electronics as for US build instruments they would have cut the sales of US made instruments.
There were exceptions to that rule like the Noel Redding and Duck Dunn Signature models and the '70s reissue jazz bass (ash body).
There were and still are mij standard Fenders made of alder or ash and equiped with US-Pickups, but they were never officially exported, at least not after the Squier JV Series (1982, 1983).


Dirk