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Fender Fullerton Reissue club

mrpackerguy

mrpackerguy

Gold Supporting Member
Jul 3, 2004
4,694
3,185
Madison, Wisconsin
www.whozplaying.com
#1
Despite the fact that it seems a lot of these were made, I had a hard time finding a lot of information on the Fullerton 1982 57RI Precision I just bought from slfajimmy and thought this would be a good place to share basses and information about these cool basses.

Mine's a a two-tone tobacco burst, maple neck and fb, gold annondized pg. ser#V000*** so very early. Ser# on the neck plate (not the headstock). Ashtrays, thumbrest, extra strap button on back of headstock (mine is missing the pickup tray, the thumbrest and the extra headstock strap button). Decal placement just north of the string tree. Alder and very light. 3 piece body. Neck 8-9-82.

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#5
BigOldHarry said:
1982? Are the decent? That was when Fender was rather at a low point, just prior to CBS selling it... That said, if it was a special 'reissue', it might be pretty cool.
Click to expand...

Incorrect....
Fenders' low point was the late 70's. Then in 81-ish a new production manager (Bill Schultz) took over and the quality turned around, machines recalibrated. they still had heavy woods in quite a few models, but the build quality on everything was night and day from a few years earlier.
 
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#6
BigOldHarry said:
1982? Are the decent? That was when Fender was rather at a low point, just prior to CBS selling it... That said, if it was a special 'reissue', it might be pretty cool.
Click to expand...
OK, I don't know how much of this is true. Maybe one of the resident Fenderphiles can clarify, but apparently these were made back at the pre-CBS Fullerton Factory on the original dies and tools. As such, there is supposed to be a special quality to them. But I've read a mixed bag. Some guys think they are every bit as good as pre-CBS Fenders, while others say there is nothing per say, special about them. The one I got is real nice. Wouldn't say it's the best P I ever picked up, or somehow it's magical. It's just real nice and feels and plays real nice. I think the general concensus, though is that there is a certain collectability about them.
 
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#7
mrpackerguy said:
OK, I don't know how much of this is true. Maybe one of the resident Fenderphiles can clarify, but apparently these were made back at the pre-CBS Fullerton Factory on the original dies and tools. As such, there is supposed to be a special quality to them. But I've read a mixed bag. Some guys think they are every bit as good as pre-CBS Fenders, while others say there is nothing per say, special about them. The one I got is real nice. Wouldn't say it's the best P I ever picked up, or somehow it's magical. It's just real nice and feels and plays real nice. I think the general concensus, though is that there is a certain collectability about them.
Click to expand...

As you can read, my statement about the time frame is according to one person to be mistaken; That may be - I know that fenders in the late 1970's were more or less awful, no matter HOW collectible they are now.

What I know from personally owning them is that after CBS sold Fender to the group of employee investors, quality improve dramatically. It could well be that these quality improvements were under way when CBS sold (which makes now sense... unless you've worked for a big stupid company like have!) so I could be wrong about early '80s basses being bad. Of course, when I've said that mid-70's 3 bolt J basses were awful (I owned one) I've been told I'm wrong then too...

I do know that my '89 P-bass plus I had custom ordered from the factory when I was a teacher ROCKED. I slapped the hell out of that bass... Blueburst with a maple neck... Yet another bass I shouldn't of sold...

Hey - for those real Fender geeks reading this: Did Fender make any J basses in Tobacco Sunburst? I love that color scheme, but I prefer J basses...

just curious...
 
#8
:cool:
I've been into these since 1982.
Bought a CAR 1982 Jazz, and a Black 1982 P-bass. ( in 1982)
Played those two bass for nine years.
Have own over the years.
Two Jazz basses.
Two 57-P-Basses.
Three 62-P-Basses.
All from 1982-1985.
Only have the 1985-62-P-Bass, and a 1983-57-P-Bass now.
Great Basses.
 
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#11
Beautiful basses Mrpackerguy and Caca. I just bought a 1974 P-bass with a natural finish and in some areas it fits into the poor finish era. I would like to pick up a Fullerton P-bass at some point. Does anyone know if Fullerton era basses were sold with a natural finish? I seem to have a fetish for the natural look.
 
#12
Great idea for a thread, Bob, I think you made an excellent choice there. And Caca, that's a sweet '62 RI. I first learned about the Fullerton-era reissues on TB and the Fender forum (FDP). Some of the posters at the latter place have amazing Fender collections, and many of them have praised the Fullerton reissues as being the best Fenders since the pre-CBS days.

See JTE's post #32 for the story of how the reissue line came about. I don't personally have much experience with other Fullerton reissues, but I know that my 1983 '57 RI stacks up pretty well with any of the vintage Ps I've tried. It's light and very resonant; it just nails the P tone I have in my head. I bought it here about two years ago.


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#15
Hey Mr Packerguy, two nice basses in as many weeks.
Here's mine -
August 11 1982 '57 AVS Precision ser #V002033.
8 lbs, 3 piece body, finish checked and worn, a rock and roll machine.
I've got some info on other Fullerton RIs.if anyone's interested.
The earliest AVS bass I've seen was from June 1982.
 

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#16
Sept. 1982 neck and a November 1982 body. I'm too lazy to pop the neck and check the dates. I bought this for $400 in SF about 7 1/2 years ago, it was my first bass. Its the lightest P, and the best P, I've ever played and I've played a lot of pre-CBS instruments. The others were a 63 Precision, a 71 (not mine), and a Pino Palladino signature.

It weighs a hair under 8 pounds and I've played the crap out of it. When I bought it, it was in basically NOS condition. Its... er.... a little worse for the wear now.

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The reason why the back is so messed up below the neck plate, is because I used to tape set lists back there. And after awhile you have a build up of tape crud, and apparently acetone strips the finish pretty easily. :hiding:
 
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#20
Mastermold said:
I've got an '83 P-bass Elite II that's a tank -- must weigh 12 lbs but really well built.
Click to expand...
I used to own an 80s P-Bass Elite II also. Black with maple board, two odd-shaped P-style pickups without exposed pole pieces. I don't know why the heck I sold it -- it was signed on the battery cover by Stevie Ray Vaughan. That was a fantastic bass. I was a stupid kid wanting something fancy, and I ended up with an Alembic that didn't suit my playing style at all. I'll never go away from Fender again -- their basses just fit me, know what I mean?
 
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