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Fender American Vintage '62 Precision

#22
Sorry to post an OT comment here, but I Installed the ashtrays on my 50's P and was wondering if any of you guys would know if the threads in the screw holes will wear out over time from having to remove the bridge cover to change strings? Sorry I know its a dumb question, but just curious as to how robust wood threads are. BTW that oly white 62 reissue is beautiful! I had an early 80's one once that the finish had yellowed on it a bit and very foolishly traded off, Id give anything If I could find it again.
 
#24
Aragorn35016 said:
threads in the screw holes will wear out over time from having to remove the bridge cover to change strings?
Click to expand...

Probably, over time. No big deal, though. You simply have to split a toothpick, break it off the same length as the screw threads, and put it in the screw hole. Same as new! Ashtray screws don't have much stress on them, so I wouldn't worry about the threads much.
 
#27
I'm going to chime in on the negative side: I had a 2004 62 RI P that I just couldn't love. The first one came with a bad neck (Fender replaced it without much hassle through GC, to both their credit), but I never got used to the wider neck, or the pups, which seemed weak rather than "old school," and there were definite dead spots, particularly on the G string. I much prefer my regular old 96 MIA P.
 
#31
I might need to wipe it when this happen...
I have another question, I usually like the resonance of my bass, lately I've played tighter stuff, kindda like some queen of the stone age and I realized that my open A string resonate a little bit too much, if I pick it fast and muff it as soon as possible there's still a resonance after, it last something like 0.5 to 1 second.
I normally like that resonance but on tighter stuff it doesn't work.
Is this something "fixable"?
let me know
 
#32
I've had mine since April 1983. It's the perfect Precsion bass as far as I'm concerned. I played one unamplified note on her, and she said "Hi, honey, I'm home!". They're excellent basses. At least the earlier ones. Sometime after FMIC moved the factory from Fullerton to Corona, the neck dimendsions changed. Mine is very wide (well, it's a P bass, and it's a full 1.75" wide at the nut, like all the '62 Vintage Series Precisions are spec'd), but very shallow front-to-back. That makes it one fo the easiest to play necks I've ever encountered. The newer ones I've played are chunkier, with more meat on them front-to-back.

Play a few and see if it works for you. I haven't looked at another Precision or clone since that day 25 years ago.

jte
 
#33
matskull said:
Does anybody else find the neck sticky sometimes, someone have a solution?
When my hand get wet it starts to stick to the neck which makes my playing slower, I still love my bass though hehe
Click to expand...

I think that I mentioned this in my earlier post in this thread :hmm:, but the sole reason that I sold my OLW reissue was that the nitro lacquer did become so "gritty" and sticky, that it made we want to put the bass down after 15 minutes :(.

Oddly enough, after searching for a replacement for it and realising that only a Fender would do for me, I went with a Custom Shop '61 reissue (which I found in Japan).

IMG_1187.jpg


It also has nitro lacquer on the neck, but the finish is kind of matt/aged (see below) and not shiney like the US Vintage reissue. As a result, it's nowhere near as sticky and I can happily play it for longer periods of time :).

IMG_1151.jpg


So, one possible solution (other than selling it and buying a CS model ;)), might be to use some very fine wet or dry or steel wool :hmm: and try to remove the shine from the finish. Obviously, you'd want to be careful not to rub through to the wood but if done lightly enough, it might make a difference!?
 
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#34
Hi
I play the '57 AM RI. I find it the best precision I've ever played, for sound, attention to detail, everything. It's built like a tank and it stays in tune for about a month!
The only, very small IMO, drawback is the nitro cellulose on the neck that can get sticky, but what I do is never whipe the nek and over time it has formed a thin layer of hardened hand-sweat, and making my neck not so sticky...

I can only say yes to this bass
I don't think you will regret it
 
#35
matskull said:
Does anybody else find the neck sticky sometimes, someone have a solution?
When my hand get wet it starts to stick to the neck which makes my playing slower, I still love my bass though hehe
Click to expand...

I have a CS Jazz with a nitro finished neck. I bought a set of Micromesh pads, took the neck of, and wet sanded the back with them starting from one of the coarser ones to the finest. it literally took 5 minutes and the result is a very glossy and incredibly smooth neck that feels the best of any I've played, short of vintage ones with almost no finish left from years of play. The pads are a bit thick, and you just need to dip them in soapy water, so no sanding blocks necessary. They were designed to polish plastic airplane windows; you can imagine how fine the finish is.

The bodies on the AV reissues have a poly undercoat with nitro on top, which kind of puts paid to the theory about them sounding better because of the finish. In any case, I don't think the finish makes a noticeable tonal difference at all on basses, but that's another story...

Matskull, you can try pushing down the A string at both sides of the nut when the string is slightly downtuned- this might help with your problem. First make sure you have enough windings on the post to keep the string down and create a big enough angle of break. This can cause problems if not observed on vintage styled Fenders in general, especially with large gauge and flatwound strings.
 
#36
I think One Drop's micromesh pads are probably the way to go. With my 62RI I just sanded the neck down till it felt good, which was pretty well all the laquer gone. After 4 years of playing the neck feels great, very smooth and natural.

After using it a lot over the last 5 years, the bass has gone from being what I originally considered "adequate" to "much better than I thought". It's a pretty nice P bass. I recently put a Pickguardian tort guard on it, big improvement in the looks department.
 
#37
One Drop said:
Matskull, you can try pushing down the A string at both sides of the nut when the string is slightly downtuned- this might help with your problem. First make sure you have enough windings on the post to keep the string down and create a big enough angle of break. This can cause problems if not observed on vintage styled Fenders in general, especially with large gauge and flatwound strings.
Click to expand...

Ok I'll give it a try, thanks.
 
#38
One Drop said:
I have a CS Jazz with a nitro finished neck. I bought a set of Micromesh pads, took the neck of, and wet sanded the back with them starting from one of the coarser ones to the finest. it literally took 5 minutes and the result is a very glossy and incredibly smooth neck that feels the best of any I've played, short of vintage ones with almost no finish left from years of play. The pads are a bit thick, and you just need to dip them in soapy water, so no sanding blocks necessary. They were designed to polish plastic airplane windows; you can imagine how fine the finish is.
Click to expand...
What do you mean by "wet" sanding?
Did you need to adjust anything after putting the neck back on the bass or did it stay the way it was before you removed it?

thanks again
 
#39
matskull said:
What do you mean by "wet" sanding?
Did you need to adjust anything after putting the neck back on the bass or did it stay the way it was before you removed it?

thanks again
Click to expand...

Just dip the pads in water with some regular dishwashing detergent in it. You'll want to oil your fretboard afterwards and any water that gets on it will dry it out by removing the oils.

You could do it without removing the neck, but I waited for a string change to do mine, and it's easier with the neck off. I also rolled (rounded) the fretboard edges a bit at the same time with the pads. The neck is dreamy now.

I do my own setups (nothing is easier on Fenders- it's a great way to get to know your bass), so I always tweak things if the string gauge or brand changes, but generally you won't have to touch the trussrod or saddles if everything else is the same when you put the neck back on.

Don't overtighten the neck screws, and work slowly and carefully on a flat soft surface so you don't slip with the screwdriver, and you'll be good to go.

BTW, I bought the Micromesh pads from an ebay store, but they are readily available elsewhere. The ones I got are a bit larger than these, but avoid the bigger sanding sheets that need a block:

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Good luck, you will love the feel!
 

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