Fender Fullerton Reissue club

[A-Step-Towards]

Originally Posted by Johnny Alien

No date stamp or builder markings of any kind. Could be but I am not sure how you would prove it.

and thats why i held off on buying it

[Fredde]

My new bass, a '57 from 1982. Serial number V00#### This is a keeper!

[JimB52]

That bass is in great shape, Fredde. Nice one.

[daahoud]

Just got one Fullerton AV 57 Precision. Very nice one.
Kinda creamy color. Supposed named Vintage White.
Seller says it's used only a few weeks and yes this is DA one.

[JimB52]

August '82. Sure has aged.

[Fredde]

Beautiful checking!

[4001_kenobie]

For folks who are interested in a Fullerton, check out my FS thread...
Fender 62RI PBass, 1983 Vintage Series

[One Drop]

Originally Posted by daahoud

Just got one Fullerton AV 57 Precision. Very nice one.
Kinda creamy color. Supposed named Vintage White.
Seller says it's used only a few weeks and yes this is DA one.

Looks like a winner! My '83 P has faded to the same cream, and the neck is heavily ambered. I think it hung on a wall for a long time as when I bought it it was in NOS condition but quite yellowed already.

It has the most luxurious feeling and looking neck of any P I've played, the rosewood is drop dead gorgeous.

[markoSirec]

here is my 84 fullerton reissue (62). probably one of the last ones made judging by the serial number. i got it about 1 year ago, it had an ugly fake tortoise pickguard so i changed it to the anodized pickguard. looks more like a 1959 now. it is very light, a little under 8lbs so it suffered from some neck dive problems. i installed gotoh lightweight tuners (direct replacements) and now she balances perfectly very light bass.

this year i scored a couple of original 1960 pbass pickups on ebay for 550$. they sound freakin sweet, not that the original reissue pickups were bad, far from it. but the vintage pickups sound wider and sweeter not sure how to explain it. i was a little skeptical at first because of the price but when i heard this beast i was blown away by them. but props to the reissue pickups, they sound just fine.

the back of the neck was really worn and the laquer that was left was sticky and coming off, so i had it redone in nitro with the original amber tint. much better now and a pleasure to play. i love the wide and flat neck of the fullerton reissues!

all in all, an amazing bass! it is not in pristine condition but she plays amazingly well and the sound is to die for. it's my no.1.

[JimB52]

Nice upgrades, MarcoSirec. That ugly fake tortoise pickguard is probably the factory original. The Fullerton guards are referred to as 'pepperoni' .

[markoSirec]

thanks!

i wish it had the pepperoni guard... i don't mind those. this fake guard has a greenish yellow and the swirling is very chaotic. it looks literally like puke. the original guard got lost somehow during the years.

she is wearing labellas (jamerson set). after trying a couple of different flatwounds i settled for these. they just sounded the best!

here's a couple more pictures...

[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!

[JTE]

When Fender finally got around to shipping our VS instruments (they all arrived on the same day in April 1983- ordered at January NAMM 1982) we got:

'57 Strat 'burst
'62 Strat 'burst
'57 Precision burst
'62 Precision Lake Placid Blue (the one I wound up buying shortly after they arrived)
'62 Jazz Black

The '57 P had a pronounced V shape on the neck and the '57 Strat's neck was more V than the '62 P. We had a real late '50s maple neck Precision at the same time and the necks were similar though the real one (don't recall the exact year) had a neck that was much much more of a sharp V.

The '57 Strat, while quite V shaped, was nothing like the severe V of the original Eric Clapton Signature Strat.

John

[king_biscuit]

Originally Posted by daahoud

Just got one Fullerton AV 57 Precision. Very nice one.
Kinda creamy color. Supposed named Vintage White.
Seller says it's used only a few weeks and yes this is DA one.

It's "vintage white," not olympic white and it was pretty much that color when it left the factory? I have one just like it, btw, along with the 82 Fender catalog listing the color choices.

[One Drop]

The two early S/B '57 Fullertons I've tried had soft V necks and raised A pole PUPs. Very nice feeling neck, though I can understand it's appeal being possibly limited.

[Das Beste]

Hey everyone. New User although I've been reading this forum for years. I bought an AVS 57 RI a few days ago. As far as I can tell it all lines up to be a "Fullerton." Its the vintage white faded to a yellowish cream. Raised A pups. Pots dated 83 and 84 and a penciled neck date of April 84. 3 Name stamps in the neck pocket. "Torres" stamped on the neck. No markings on the pickups but 99.9% sure they are original (Felt like I was the first person to ever pop them out). Serial # V014. I've been looking and haven't seen any this late. Any reason to suspect its anything other than a Fullerton made AVS? Would appreciate any feedback.

Thanks

[Caca de Kick]

Originally Posted by Das Beste

Serial # V014. I've been looking and haven't seen any this late.

Mine was a V015 that was a may/june 84 build so it sounds like you're in there.

[Das Beste]

Originally Posted by Caca de Kick

Mine was a V015 that was a may/june 84 build so it sounds like you're in there.

Did yours have a body date stamp? The only thing that seems unusual to me is that the screw holes where the pickup cover would go have not been drilled. The pickguard has holes but not the body. They are drilled for the bridge cover however...?

[One Drop]

They were shipped with the pick guards drilled but not the bodies. Most were installed at some point by the owners.

[Das Beste]

Originally Posted by One Drop

They were shipped with the pick guards drilled but not the bodies. Most were installed at some point by the owners.

Thanks. That makes sense. Does anybody know at what point the stopped dating the bodies? I know a few people have mentioned theirs have a date stamp but it seems like they are mostly early ones. Or was it more random than that like the neck plates? Also, I'm curious what names people have stamped in their neck pockets? Might be good to have a list of common names.