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50's Classic P-bass question

J

JBMysteron

Dec 10, 2010
115
2
35
Perth, Western Australia
www.facebook.com
#1
Been researching online,
Assuming these bad boys are Mexican made, correct?

Also; the gold pickguard is drilled for pickup cover + thumb rest, is the actual bass body wood drilled for these or is it just the pickguard for aesthetics?

Looking at getting one, swapping for a black pickguard and dropping in covers to get a real cool vintage 75-esque look.


Thoughts?
 
#2
I have one in the Honey Blonde finish and I love it :)

Yes they are made in Mexico, although I have read in numerous sources that they utilise the same hardware as their American Vintage counterparts.

The body itself is not drilled to accept the thumbrest or pickup covers. The reason the pickguard is drilled first is so that the insides of the holes are also coated with the gold during the anodization process :)

Hope this helps :)

Also, bear in mind that you will need to drill extra holes if the replacement guard is the standard 13-hole configuration. 9 screw holes lined up fine on mine when I briefly swapped guards though.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year :)
 
#3
I have a black one and also love it. Amazing player! duffisgod is correct about the parts assembly and the pickguard and p/g holes. If you do want a p/g that fits without drilling new holes there are a few places on-line that make and sell them. Some places will even make one from a tracing of the current p/g if you send it to them.

Merry Christmas!
 
#4
Honey Blonde owner here as well. I love mine also. What color are you getting? I'd think long and hard before swapping the pickguard. I think the gold anodized looks really good with the maple neck/board. They blend together really well. The Honey Blonde is my favorite color for the Classic '50s, but I've toyed with the idea of getting a black one too. I love the black & gold. I also like the Fiesta Reds, but surprisingly enough, I'm not real big on the 2-tone bursts for some reason. That's the only one that I might swap the pickguard on, but that's just me. Here's mine:

100_1252.gif


And here she is wearing tort:

100_1123.jpg
 
#5
Looks awesome with Tort. One of the things that put me off this bass (along with the lack of headstock trussrod access) is that pickguard sadly. For a new bass I was not keen on the gold, and the idea of chewing wood to add a new pickguard seemed like a bad idea. I have a new bass for 5 minutes then break out the powerdrill. I even had an ashtray pickup cover lined up!
 
#6
I first bought one of these as the Road Worn P, which I think is the exact same thing as these 50s models but with the nitro finish instead and the fake wear, but other than that I believe it is the same thing. I have had many Fenders over the years, USA, MIM, CIA, and the '78 I bought new in the store. By far the best soiunding of all of them was that MIM Road Worn P. So I bought one of these MIM 50s reissues and got the same sound, or at least very close. Just love these things. My road worn is the 2-tone sunburst and my 50s is like above, the honey blonde, and I think the gold pg looks great on both. I could not recommend a Fender more highly!
 

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