83 '62 RI - value

[One Drop]

Originally Posted by king_biscuit

I've never played a heavy Fullerton era reissue. In my experience, a solid Fullerton reissue is as good as any custom shop Fender. Also, the body contours and neck profiles are more true to vintage than the later models. There is certainly nothing wrong with reissues from any era, but the early Fullerton models are different. My 82 Fullerton 57 P weighs 8.2 pounds and sounds great. My 84 Fullerton 62 J weighs 8.8 pounds and sounds as good as any Jazz I've ever played or owned. Both are light and very resonant, and I like both better than any of the later reissues I've owned and played.

My thoughts exactly. My Fullerton P just oozes quality- the neck is a work of art, from the beauty of the R/W, the incredible shape of the neck (flat and wide, but extremely comfortable for me), and the tone is to die for. It's my N° 1 and has been for a few years now.

I know some had neck problems, usually Js, and like any other era I'm sure there are some duds. But the ones I've played have all been really nice, and a '57 with a V-shaped neck in two tone 'burst I tried in TO was one of those basses you never forget.

[MetsMan75]

Hey all,
Just been wondering if anyone knows the entire truth on the Fender "fullertons" I've been looking on different forums to see how many people own a Fender "Fullerton" '57 reissue that has a V shaped neck (which is what would be period correct). I'm even curious about the Strats too because to be period correct they would have a V shaped neck. I have owned a couple Fullerton '57 reissue P basses, one from 1982 and the other from early 1983 and both were said to have had V necks but when I recieved them they definately were not even a soft V in my oppinion....they both were definately C profile to me. Maybe some people have a different oppinion of neck profiles? IDK I also see some people sell them that say they are C and on a website right now theres an '83 for sale that says it has a V profile neck. If they trully exist I would love to find one because I happen to Love V profile necks, theres nothing like them. I was lucky enough to play a real '57 before and it was the sweetest most comfortable I've ever played in my life! I'd appreciate any input anybody has on their experiences with these things. They do seem to be beautiful basses and have great craftmanship but I'm curious about the necks. I even compared both of mine when I owned them to my classic '50s P bass & Road Worn and they were similiar especially the nut width of approx 1.75 (I think my "Fullerton" was about 1.77) but the classic '50s was actually deeper front to back of neck. Usually a V neck is a little thinnner at nut but deeper front to back and feels chunky front to back but skinnier the other way because of the V contour. Real '50s V necks are usually about 1&5/8 at nut. I've played the newer Corona '57 reissues and the neck looks very similiar to the "Fullertons" and the Road Worn and Classic '50s...all C necks to me. I recently saw a Fender "Fullerton" '62 reissue for sale being advertised to have a V profile neck which has to be false. I've been reading as much info I can find about the early '80s Fullertons and I cant seem to find any legitimate source to back up the theory that Fender hired the original guys from the Pre-CBS days to make these reissues and even used the original jigs and tools and that they were made by hand like the old days and not on CNC machines. I have a bunch of Fender bass books and I can never find that much info...i'm just curious to know the truth about them. In the last edition of Guitarist magazine (Dec 2012) Theres a cool little article about the "Fullertons" in there and it was only a couple pages. According to Dan Smith they did research on the old guitars and went to a vintage music store and purchased particular models to help guide them because technical drawings were not available for pre-CBS guitars and basses. He didnt mention anything about hiring the old Pre-CBS guys and he also didnt mention anything about acquiring the original jigs and tooling. It dont mean it didnt happen, but if it did it just wasnt mentioned in that article. I wish they did a longer article. Smith also was quoted as saying that he made the decision to NOT do V necks on any of the reissues after talking to different guitarists. That was the main modern concession he made because he felt more people prefer a C neck and it may detract some people from buying them with a V. I'm just curious if they were hand made and necks hand shaped like old days, if any of them were given a V anyway by some of the Old Fender Guys? I'm curious if there are variations in each of the necks as it should be if they were made like the old days? I'd love to hear all your info and experiences with these things. Happy New Year!

[edwinhurwitz]

I don't know about the '57 reissues, but I have an '83 '62 reissue strat and it's a great guitar. I got it for about $400 in '86 and didn't really think about what it was, it was just a nice strat that showed up at a good price. So, I modded it some, took off the sunburst finish and added some preamps, shielding and a battery box. It's a player, but a good one. It was definitely head and shoulders against all the other 70s and 80s strats that I compared it to.

[the art guy]

Originally Posted by king_biscuit

I've never played a heavy Fullerton era reissue. In my experience, a solid Fullerton reissue is as good as any custom shop Fender. Also, the body contours and neck profiles are more true to vintage than the later models. There is certainly nothing wrong with reissues from any era, but the early Fullerton models are different. My 82 Fullerton 57 P weighs 8.2 pounds and sounds great. My 84 Fullerton 62 J weighs 8.8 pounds and sounds as good as any Jazz I've ever played or owned. Both are light and very resonant, and I like both better than any of the later reissues I've owned and played.

^ This. Early Fullertons are, IMO, amazing. Mine's in the 8 lb range (it's an '82), and is my main player for many good reasons.