'57-'59 Fender P Bass. What are the differences??

[gi doc]

I've been playing and collecting guitars, amps, and to some extent basses for many years now. I'm mainly a guitar player, but pick up the bass periodically. I have vintage '65 Fender Jazz Bass that I love. However, I've always wanted one of those late 50's P-basses with the anodized pickguard. Could somebody with vintage knowledge tell me all of the differences that happened to the P-bass during the '57-'59 period. I know they went from a 2-tone burst to a 3-tone burst in the late spring of '58. I have heard the neck is different on all 3 years, and have heard that the '58 has the best neck?? My hands are "large", but I don't have long fingers so I certainly don't want a baseball bat for a neck. Just needing all of the info before I make a purchase. Thanks in advance.

 

[Stranger Danger]

Maple to Rosewood.

 

[One Drop]

The necks varied very much in shape during those years, you'd want to try thhem on a case by case basis.

I'm not an expert on these years at all, but I do know some of the changes that occurred.

The '57s and '58s necks often had a V-shape to them, they went from anodized gold guards to tort (in '59), custom colours started to appear in '58, and there were some transition features involving number of screw on the PG, etc.

Bass Emporium has a beautiful '59 I've been looking at (not to buy, though) for a while.

 

[JTE]

Actually custom colors started appearing on the Precision before the '57 redesign. There are '54 style ones in Custom Colors in Molinari's and Black's book about the history of the Fender bass. That's a great resource for all these kinds of questions.

John

 

[One Drop]

Actually custom colors started appearing on the Precision before the '57 redesign. There are '54 style ones in Custom Colors in Molinari's and Black's book about the history of the Fender bass. That's a great resource for all these kinds of questions.

John

Of course you are right. I meant to say they became more common (the info was actually partly from the same book) in that year, but that fact of course doesn't help much in dating them.

 

[ChrisPbass]

The difference is 2.

 

[One Drop]

The difference is 2.

Actually, 57-59 = -2, so I win the internet this time.