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american made fenders

#23
Dark Horse said:
Can't remember the exact specs from back then, but this is when they still had the steel reinforcing Rods instead of graphite, it was a solid alder body with a thin finish.... they were an overall very good instrument for the cash.
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wvbass said:
I may be wrong, but I don't think the original H1's had any reinforcing rods in the neck. At any rate, mine is too light for there to be steel rods in the neck.
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No reinforcement whatsoever on the early hwy 1 series. To me they were very similar to MIM, but the price was attractive. I already had my 98 american standard jazz and 2000 american standard P, I wasn't in the market, but the faded cherry Lee Paul's and musicman sub's were appealing. Gibson fender and Ernie ball all had lower priced satin finish USA instruments come out at the same time, it was a good time to get 'merican on the cheap. Before fenders prices started to climb drastically.

I was sooooo sold and happy with my posiflex rods and string through bridges. If they had block inlays on the hwy 1 jazz I would have gotten one though.
 
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#27
tjh said:
There are no rods in the Hwy 1 neck, you will only find the Posi-Flex graphite wrapped support rods in necks with heel adjust truss rods ... Fender began using them mid '06 on the 'upgraded' Hwy One .... the GreaseBucket tone circuitry appeared during the '05 Hwy 1 run and was continued through all of the Hwy One series ... then into the AmSpec's ...

The entire run of the Hwy 1 J's used the 58358/9 pup set ... same pup used in the Classic Series 60's and 70's J, and the Road Worn Jazz (add a 4 to the neck pup, and 5 to the bridge pup serial #'s to indicate the added wear factor on RW)
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I've got an 04 Highway one, and speaking of the pickups, while they do have a decent tone , I find them ridiculously bright. I probably have the mastertone turned down by about 3/4 on average, just to have a sound that isn't completely overrun with treble frequencies. I considered swapping out the cap for something of a higher value maybe a .068 uf , but I think I'm just going to change out the pickups. Anyone have any recommendations for J pickups that really capture the early mid sixties vibe?
 
#29
Robroy said:
So, I went to my daughter's wedding last weekend in Burbank. Her new husband is a guitar player who also plays bass in the church. He shows me his bass. It's a beautiful tobacco sunburst american made Fender P bass with gold round wounds. Nice case too. I have six basses but I don't have a P yet.

Then he says that he'll bring it with him when they come to Kentucky - and it's mine.

So that's when I said he could marry my daughter. :D
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I like the Tinman...
 
#30
Pbassmanca said:
I've got an 04 Highway one, and speaking of the pickups, while they do have a decent tone , I find them ridiculously bright. I probably have the mastertone turned down by about 3/4 on average, just to have a sound that isn't completely overrun with treble frequencies. I considered swapping out the cap for something of a higher value maybe a .068 uf , but I think I'm just going to change out the pickups. Anyone have any recommendations for J pickups that really capture the early mid sixties vibe?
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I find string changes enough to reach what you are talking about ... I use flats on both of my early Hwy 1 J's, Sads on one that I will keep that way, and the other is a bit of a test bed to try various strings, currently Chromes ... both of the basses still have the stock pups, and I find myself adding EQ on the amp sometimes to brighten things up ... strings make a BIG difference ...
 
#32
'06 Highway One (not '1'), Midnight Wine

IMAG1408.jpg


Notice the finish choices in flyer... Midnight Wine isn't listed (probably 2nd production, for that year)... also guitars shown have truss rod access at headstock, while mine is at the heel... the letters 'US' prefixes the rest of the serial number.

IMAG1463.jpg

I actually think they are pretty nice instruments, especially after a proper setup...

Correction: Serial number Z6xxxxxx, with 'MADE IN U.S.A.' below it...
 
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#33
Spidey2112 said:
'06 Highway One (not '1'), Midnight Wine

View attachment 1139978

Notice the finish choices in flyer... Midnight Wine isn't listed (probably 2nd production, for that year)... also guitars shown have truss rod access at headstock, while mine is at the heel... the letters 'US' prefixes the rest of the serial number.

View attachment 1139979
I actually think they are pretty nice instruments, especially after a proper setup...
Click to expand...


Hi !
To my knowledge ....

Your bass is "Crimson Red Transparent "


Midnight Wine is only available on MIM standards, but the two colors are similar.
 
#39
Dark Horse said:
Hi !
To my knowledge ....

Your bass is "Crimson Red Transparent "


Midnight Wine is only available on MIM standards, but the two colors are similar.
Click to expand...

See the number in parentheses, after finish? After presenting my serial to Fender, they gave me the color as well as my 'number' for my bass... that's why I said they had two production runs, for that year, with different finish options... mine being in the 2nd run...
 
#40
Spidey2112 said:
See the number in parentheses, after finish? After presenting my serial to Fender, they gave me the color as well as my 'number' for my bass... that's why I said they had two production runs, for that year, with different finish options... mine being in the 2nd run...
Click to expand...


Weird

I was a fender dealer for 12 years, never seen that. Course that was a bit after my time is a fender dealer. Pretty cool!
 
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