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Fender Fullerton Reissue club

#64
mrpackerguy said:
Got this off Craigslist. It's actually better than advertised. Lucked out again - guy was great to deal with. Unbelievable birdseye neck front and back. Didn't know they even made these with birdseye necks. It's what sets this '82 57RI apart from my other one definitely. Wonder how common a birdseye neck on these are?

Typical 57RI features. Raised A string pup poles. Truss and everything functional. V015000 something, so about 14,200 basses later than my other '82 57RI P. Neck date 12-7-82. Missing both ashtrays. Some heavy finish checking when tilted toward the light. Not quite as tobacoo'ey as my other '82 53RI P. Somewhere between a 3 tone burst and a tobacco burst. Some fret wear, not bad. Responsive, light. The neck really makes this one. It did not come with the original case, but from a check of a Fender forum, looks to be a vintage Fender case from the 70's with the refrigerator silver logo and fully functional.

This could very well shoot to hell the "lore" that more attention was paid to these than CBS basses. My other bass with its ser # of V00810 has a neck date of 8/82. This one with a ser# of V015000 has a neck date of 12/82. So in 4 months some 15,000 of these basses were made? Seems pretty production turn-and-burn to me.

Sweet Bob! It looks a little nicer than the one I sold you. I look forward to you posting a comparison and announcing a "winner"
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#65
Question to all of you:

I'm thinking of grabbing a 1957 reissue P Bass. I've been looking at used Fender Custom Shop P's and also at the early 80's reissues. If you've played a Custom Shop P...how would you rate them compared to the early 80's fullerton reissues? If not...do you feel the need to even play a Fender Custom Shop P after owning a Fullerton reissue? The prices are about the same so I'm kinda stuck. Thanks!
 
#66
stingray56funk said:
Question to all of you:

I'm thinking of grabbing a 1957 reissue P Bass. I've been looking at used Fender Custom Shop P's and also at the early 80's reissues. If you've played a Custom Shop P...how would you rate them compared to the early 80's fullerton reissues? If not...do you feel the need to even play a Fender Custom Shop P after owning a Fullerton reissue? The prices are about the same so I'm kinda stuck. Thanks!
Click to expand...

I have a "new" AV 57 reissue P-bass (2007) and it plays and sounds every bit as good as my Custom Shop 59. You don't get a pure nitrocellulose finish and the neck isn't quartersawn but it's a wonderful neck, thinner front to back than the CS and very easy to play. The raised pole pieces under the A-string seem to affect the overall tone, making it a little more middy than the CS pickup, and it sits really nicely in the mix. I get a classic P-tone from it which I really love.
 
#67
stingray56funk said:
how would you rate them compared to the early 80's fullerton reissues?
Click to expand...

I rate them pretty similar. Same deep exaggerated body contours, and necks from both feel great. The FMIC reissues I've had do not have those same more-comfortable contouring, or feeling necks. Yes nice in their own right, but the CS stuff is the only similar feel to my fullerton.
 
#69
stingray56funk said:
Thanks for the replies fellas. Did the fullerton reissues have quartersawn necks?
Click to expand...

Nope, flatsawn like all Fenders until the Eric Johnson Strat came out.

When CBS hired Schultz, he told the board of directors "I know why Fender guitars aren't selling. It's because they suck. But we can make them better than they are and as good or better than they used to be." He invested heavily in training, new machnery, and they also bought a lot of old Fender instruments from the vintage market. The research into the Vintage Series ("reissue" is a common but potentially confusing term) included digging up old factory prints and specs, chasing down old suppliers, and comparing those things to actual old Fenders. At the 1983 NAMM show they had real vintage-era instrument on the stand next to a Vintage Series instrument. Next to the VS '62 Jazz bass was a white '61 Jazz that had been owned by a friend of mine. The Vintage Seriers were not (as has been alluded to) built exactly like the original instruments, but as close as they could get with the materials and toolng they had. Nor were they reproductions of specific insstruments.

For example, the spacing of the two dots at the 12th fret was different on the Fullerton era VS than on the real '57 and '62 instruments. That was due to the tooling they had. The tuning machines were Gotoh reporductions of the original Klusons with a higher gear ratio.

The point of the VS was to herald in and advertise that Fender (still owned by CBS- they didn't actively market the company to others until 1984) was seriouis about overcoming the deplorable decline in overall quality, and the resulting huge loss of market share and image. Other instruments built in Fullerton at the time are every bit as good as the Vintage Series stuff. The regular P bass, Jazz, Strats, and Teles from the early '80s are also excellent instruments.

The later "Standard" Series (ca 1983 I think) suffers, especially the Strat due to them being very different in key regards. The Jazz had an extended pickguard with the knobs on it. The Strat had the "Free-Flyte" trem, and only two knobs. They were well built, but the desings proved to be unpopular. But a standard guitar or bass from 1982 and 1983 generally tend to be very well made- like what a '70s Fender could have and should have been.

jte
 
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#71
JTE said:
Nope, flatsawn like all Fenders until the Eric Johnson Strat came out.

When CBS hired Schultz, he told the board of directors "I know why Fender guitars aren't selling. It's because they suck. But we can make them better than they are and as good or better than they used to be." He invested heavily in training, new machnery, and they also bought a lot of old Fender instruments from the vintage market. The research into the Vintage Series ("reissue" is a common but potentially confusing term) included digging up old factory prints and specs, chasing down old suppliers, and comparing those things to actual old Fenders. At the 1983 NAMM show they had real vintage-era instrument on the stand next to a Vintage Series instrument. Next to the VS '62 Jazz bass was a white '61 Jazz that had been owned by a friend of mine. The Vintage Seriers were not (as has been alluded to) built exactly like the original instruments, but as close as they could get with the materials and toolng they had. Nor were they reproductions of specific insstruments.

For example, the spacing of the two dots at the 12th fret was different on the Fullerton era VS than on the real '57 and '62 instruments. That was due to the tooling they had. The tuning machines were Gotoh reporductions of the original Klusons with a higher gear ratio.

The point of the VS was to herald in and advertise that Fender (still owned by CBS- they didn't actively market the company to others until 1984) was seriouis about overcoming the deplorable decline in overall quality, and the resulting huge loss of market share and image. Other instruments built in Fullerton at the time are every bit as good as the Vintage Series stuff. The regular P bass, Jazz, Strats, and Teles from the early '80s are also excellent instruments.

The later "Standard" Series (ca 1983 I think) suffers, especially the Strat due to them being very different in key regards. The Jazz had an extended pickguard with the knobs on it. The Strat had the "Free-Flyte" trem, and only two knobs. They were well built, but the desings proved to be unpopular. But a standard guitar or bass from 1982 and 1983 generally tend to be very well made- like what a '70s Fender could have and should have been.

jte
Click to expand...


Yeah cool info indeed!

I've got an '83 P-bass Elite II that seems really well made -- now I know why.
 
#72
JTE said:
At the 1983 NAMM show they had real vintage-era instrument on the stand next to a Vintage Series instrument.
Click to expand...

At a local guitar show last year, I ran across a guy who had a real '53 Telecaster sitting next to a worn 82/83 AVS Telecaster...and boy did everyone have a tough time telling them apart! The finish of the AVS had ambered-down and weather checked all over, neck playing positions worn to wood, tarnished hardware. Looked fabulous.
My '84 AVS Jazz looks pretty similar, weather checked and worn, even the headstock decal is shrunk and cracked. And it fools bassists all the time because they don't realize the reissues were made back then.
 
#73
:cool:

The "Fullerton" reissue's are some of my favorite basses.

Since 1982, I have own.

Three 1962 reissues P-basses. (2-1982s, 1-1983)
Two 1957 reissue P-basses. (1-1982,1-1985)
Two 1962 reissue Jazz basses. (1-1983,1-1984)

I now have just one 1982-1962-P-bass.
And, one 1982-1962-Jazz bass.
 
#75
Got mine back from Mike Dolan today. There was a newer reissue neck mounted to the Fullerton body when I got it but I recently found a neck dated days after my body so I picked it up.. It had been defretted so I sent it off to Dolan to fix up and he did a killer job! highly recommended. Everything is now correct on it except the pickup (obviously) and the pickguard.

fullerton.gif


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#78
Here's mine in action.

Don't recall the date exactly, I have it noted somewhere, it's either Jan or July something, 1983. V004172

l_c668b03cfb2746bc80535e8b5dc10238.png


Bought it in '87 for $400, didn't know anything about it other than when I picked it up and thumped on it for a few minutes, I had to have it. Didn't even plug it in.

I had another "fullerton" era bass at the time. An Elite II in Sienna, w/ rosewood board and gold hardware. First bass I ever owned. I regret ever selling that one.
 

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