Hi everyone,
Longtime reader here but newly registered. I currently own an E series Japanese Fender Precision, the standard model I believe- not a reissue. Black basswood body. It's a nice bass, but I can't figure out what pickups are in it. It seems like Fender Japan used quite a few different kinds of pickups during the 80s. The pickups in my bass have black and yellow leads, and brass plate, which would make me think USA, but there is no writing on the backs of the pickups. Also strange is the wiring- It's extremely well done, very tidy, original looking solder joints, etc. but the pots look like newer CTS pots without date codes. I figured cheaper Alpha pots would have been used on an import instrument, or if they were USA guts, then they would have a date code instead of the generic code normally found on replacement pots.
Why do I care? Well, the pickups don't sound particularly great, and I'm thinking of replacing them. Also, I'm wondering about the originality of the pickups and wiring. Attached are pics- what do you all think?
Longtime reader here but newly registered. I currently own an E series Japanese Fender Precision, the standard model I believe- not a reissue. Black basswood body. It's a nice bass, but I can't figure out what pickups are in it. It seems like Fender Japan used quite a few different kinds of pickups during the 80s. The pickups in my bass have black and yellow leads, and brass plate, which would make me think USA, but there is no writing on the backs of the pickups. Also strange is the wiring- It's extremely well done, very tidy, original looking solder joints, etc. but the pots look like newer CTS pots without date codes. I figured cheaper Alpha pots would have been used on an import instrument, or if they were USA guts, then they would have a date code instead of the generic code normally found on replacement pots.
Why do I care? Well, the pickups don't sound particularly great, and I'm thinking of replacing them. Also, I'm wondering about the originality of the pickups and wiring. Attached are pics- what do you all think?
