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Fender Fullerton Reissue club

#182
Question about the Fullerton-era vintage jazz basses... Since it has been suggested earlier in this thread that these models were made with the parts and technology at hand, could it therefore stand to reason that a '62 Vintage Jazz bass might have been issued with a three-pot configuration in addition to the version with stacked pots? Or would such three-pot controls suggest an after-market mod?
 
#183
All these Bass RI's are so fantastic looking. Having seen and owned a couple of the early RI (mid 80's) Strats, a Tele and then a mid 90's RI strat. I am starting to think Fender did the Basses better and more accurately early on, could that be ?

Not that the guitars aren’t great as well.
 
#184
Jan.'83 AVS 62 pic on pg.2. Here is another photo.
l_b8e4174a6a784b81b00192710e2acf6c.png
 
#185
Hey all,

I have a question for all you experts on Fullerton reissue P-Basses.

I bought this bass about two years ago from a guy that didn't know what he had (and neither did I at the time). It hadn't been played for over 20 years.

Neck has a date of 12/82 and the body, dated 1/83...

The bass is Fiesta Red P-Bass and in decent condition, original p'up and bridge covers, and has what I've been told by the original owner, the original gold ano'd pickguard...

Here's where it gets dicey....we need to know that the guy I bought it from said he bought it new (and I have no reason to doubt him and he had no reason to tell me anything but the truth).

The neck has a rosewood fretboard but a 10 hole pickguard. From what I understand, Fender made a 57 and a 62 P-Bass reissue in that series of basses, the 57 had a maple neck and the 10 hole pickguard (ano gold) where the 62 had a rosewood fretboard and a 13 hole tort (I believe) guard. I have checked this bass over with a fine tooth comb and there is only ten holes in the body where the PG screws go and no filled holes which means it has a 57 body with a 62 neck....

After I realized I had a fairly collectable bass but not sure of it's pedigree, I went back to the original owner and asked him if anyone had ever swapped necks or pickguards. He was 100% sure that the bass I had was as he received it from the Fender dealer...in fact he had to order it as the dealer didn't have them in stock at the time and so he was the first one to open it too.

So I'm stumped...do I have a rare bird or did Fender also make a what looks like a Fullerton '59 reissue bass (which, if they did, I suppose that would be rare too)...or what? I'm flummoxed :confused:.

BTW, not knowing what I was looking at and only buying the bass because I liked the Fiesta Red color and figured I could put a new neck on the bass if the neck turned out to be no good, I paid $75 for the bass. It turned out the neck was wonderful and it has turned out to be definite player.

So all you experts out there, gather around and talk to me. I would like to know what I have. I was over on the Fender forum back right after I bought it and realized that I had something but they couldn't shed any light on it for me. It all looks 100% legit, except it doesn't match anything I can find on that era of basses.
 
#186
Jah Wobble Fan said:
Since it has been suggested earlier in this thread that these models were made with the parts and technology at hand, could it therefore stand to reason that a '62 Vintage Jazz bass might have been issued with a three-pot configuration in addition to the version with stacked pots?
Click to expand...

The short answer is; yes, but not in the way you are thinking (fender had no shortage of stack pots)
The long answer is; several folks who bought the earliest ones brand new, said that while the Jazz came with the stack knob control plate installed, a complete 3-knob control plate was also included in the case.
How long that extra accessory lasted, I don't know but wasn't for very long.
 
#187
Caca de Kick: Thanks for the info! This site is truly incredible, not only for the arcana it catalogues but for the willingness of peeps like yourself to share what you've learned. And even though I did not in fact think that three-knob control pots were offered only because Fender was temporarily out of stock on the stacked pots, I never in a million years would have guessed that there was a time when the bass was offered with a whole other control plate included in the case candy! Crazy!
Where else but here would one be able to learn a detail like that?! Very cool. Thanks again.
 
#188
PJRL said:
All these Bass RI's are so fantastic looking. Having seen and owned a couple of the early RI (mid 80's) Strats, a Tele and then a mid 90's RI strat. I am starting to think Fender did the Basses better and more accurately early on, could that be ?

Not that the guitars aren’t great as well.
Click to expand...

They were made very well, but cosmetically are actually less accurate than later versions (same deal as the Custom Shop).

I do feel the Fullerton '62 Ps and Js feel more like the originals they are patterned after than later iterations, though. The '57s I have little experience with.
 
#191
Just picked this up, a March ’82 Jazz in Fiesta Red w/ original battered tweed case! I LOVE the thin neck. The body is really light and the contours are so perfect. This is probably the closest thing I’ve felt to a real 60’s Jazz. It doesn’t even have too much wear on it – though I plan on rectifying that over the new few months.

Wish it had some of the cool case candy that came with these – I remember hearing that these came with the mute kit like the originals!

The sound is gonna take some getting used to and it may need some major tweaking to get it do to what I need it to do; i.e., dropping an active preamp in it and maybe noiseless pickups. I have played a thumpy Stingray with old flats for my last 100 gigs or so and I am used to having MASSIVE amounts of bass at my disposal. She’s a bit clanky, but also has NEW Chromes on it which need to die down a bit.

But then again, I won’t know a damn thing until I’m playing it through my rig at gig volume, right? Better warn the neighbors in advance…

Better pics to come.

photo-2442.jpg
 
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#194
trunkshope6 said:
does anyone know if they made the 57 precisions in black?
Click to expand...

Yep. The original colors for the Vintage Series were Sunburst (two-tone for the '57 instruments and three color for the '62 ones), Fiesta Red, Candy Apple Red, Lake Placid Blue, Black, and a vintage white. Over the years Fender has deleted colors, and made different instruments available in different colors, but in '82 all the VS (Strats, Precisions, and Jazz basses- the '52 Tele was offered in transparent) were available in any of those colors.

John
 

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