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Fender PBass '51 Reissue
- Thread starter ShazzamDood
- Start date
Cool, I stand corrected. Does anyone know if '90 was the first year?
Apparently that was the case. I've been looking through my various Fender books (a lot about Strats, very little about Precisions) The only citation I found is from American Basses by Jim Roberts (Backbeat Books, San Francisco, 2003):
"In 1991 Fender moved its corporate offices to Scottsdale, Arizona, celebrating the 40th anniversary that year with ...Custom Shop model....A small number of Japanese '51 Precision reproductions were also made...." (p 60)
That makes it sound as though the MIJ RIs were made in 1991, but there's no statement to that effect. So 1990 is probably a pretty good bet.
Cool, I stand corrected. Does anyone know if '90 was the first year?
They appeared here in the US in mid '90 but, IIRC, they had been available in Japan since the mid '80s or so.
If you're thinking about using the scpb pickup to replace the JB neck pickup remember to make sure the scpb pickup is reverse polarity to the bridge pickup. You can reverse the leads to make the reverse wound adjustment if necessary. Add a series/parallel switch and it would be very versatile.
Sorry to hijack, but I measured, and the J front pickup is back a bit more than the SCPB pickup- in fact, if a side by side double coil was put in place of a front J bass PU, it would be in the right spot.. Hmmm.
I have an early MIJ '51 P that was made in 1987. The original pickup in it literally died a year ago, and now it has a Duncan Antiquity 68 Tele Bass pickup in it. It's one of my favorite basses. When I record R&B in the studio, I use it over my Lakland US Duck Dunn
SF
SF
I can def agree with that in that it must be in the wood, as im sure we have all tried pretty resonate contoured and non contoured basses, but i was simply saying that i thought that was what made the difference to me. Ive never touched a dirnt or sting, so i cannot tell you how those sound or play, btu i truly enjoy my 51. Good luck with your decision mate.
Yeah, I don't expect it to be an easy choice, though the extra cash for the Sting doesn't seem worth it.
To top it all off, I saw someplace online another Fender version with the Tele neck and split pickups....kind of like the Dirnt, but without the BA2 bridge.
No one seems to be commenting on the Dirnt's bridge, and I've seen some mixed reviews elsewhere, though I personally love them.
All in all, the 51 blonde looks awesome though.
Guess I'll just have to find a place with all 3 to try out....
If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, you're thinking about two HB possibilities; scpb in series with the JB neck, and the two JB pickups in series. If that's the case you'll want the scpb pickup RW/RP to the JB neck (since the two JB pickups already should be RW/RP with each other). IOW, the scpb pickup will have the same polatiry and winding direction as your JB bridge pickup.
If you want to have the HB options using the scpb pickup in both you'll need to have the polarity reversed on one of the JB pickups, and the polarity of the scpb opposite to both.
how much difference in sound there would be to move the scpb back an inch- to where the Jazz pu is.
BTW sorry to hijack the thread... PM, maybe?
BTW sorry to hijack the thread... PM, maybe?
Taking this thread back to the initial subject.
One important thing to consider if hesitating between the single coil pre 57 P-bass mike or the split humbucker alternative is that the singlecoils placement is a bit closer to the neck which makes it a bit more bassy and you wont be able to get the harmonics from the 4th and 9th fret sounding out in the speaker. That's a big drawback if you like playing harmonics. But the advantage is the sound is big and even across all strings and very sensitive to touch and percussive tricks like slap, tap and pops. Also the single coil seems to be more hi-fi sounding with more highs and lows.
The post 57s split humbucker sits more in the middle of the instrument and that's how it's sounds. More barky, middy, but that's usually what's associated with a good p-bass sound today. The split configuration also makes a slight difference in tone on the two lower (E-A) strings compared to the two higher strings (D-G) that you might notice when crossing strings. to me it sounds a bit like you loose bottom when going from A to D string. It's something you probably get used to as is the lack of certain harmonics on the single coil. This is all from my experience and no truth. Both sounds great though and it's a matter of taste. I feel the split humbucker sounds more typical P-bass while the older single coil sounds more bass in general. I own and play both as well as the jazz bass and couldn't put one before the other. it all depends on the mode and the song and getting used to the instrument.
One important thing to consider if hesitating between the single coil pre 57 P-bass mike or the split humbucker alternative is that the singlecoils placement is a bit closer to the neck which makes it a bit more bassy and you wont be able to get the harmonics from the 4th and 9th fret sounding out in the speaker. That's a big drawback if you like playing harmonics. But the advantage is the sound is big and even across all strings and very sensitive to touch and percussive tricks like slap, tap and pops. Also the single coil seems to be more hi-fi sounding with more highs and lows.
The post 57s split humbucker sits more in the middle of the instrument and that's how it's sounds. More barky, middy, but that's usually what's associated with a good p-bass sound today. The split configuration also makes a slight difference in tone on the two lower (E-A) strings compared to the two higher strings (D-G) that you might notice when crossing strings. to me it sounds a bit like you loose bottom when going from A to D string. It's something you probably get used to as is the lack of certain harmonics on the single coil. This is all from my experience and no truth. Both sounds great though and it's a matter of taste. I feel the split humbucker sounds more typical P-bass while the older single coil sounds more bass in general. I own and play both as well as the jazz bass and couldn't put one before the other. it all depends on the mode and the song and getting used to the instrument.
YES! That was one of the coolest parts of seeing them. Most metal bassists don't play a 51 P-bass fingerstyle. And, most metal bands aren't as awesome as The Sword. Correlation?
There was just a JV serial number japanese 51 reissue on ebay not too long ago. I believe it had an early 80's neck date. From what I understand they were made but not exported in the 80's and then brought here in the early 90's for a limited time.
Based on the reputation of the JV reissues I would love to try a JV 51.
Based on the reputation of the JV reissues I would love to try a JV 51.
Here ya go. Way ugly burst though.
http://cgi.ebay.com/1983-Fender-Jap...QQptZGuitar?hash=item3a53a07130#ht_500wt_1182
http://cgi.ebay.com/1983-Fender-Jap...QQptZGuitar?hash=item3a53a07130#ht_500wt_1182
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I've seen a few originals with that same type of burst with the wide dark portion.
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Jim Carr
Dr. Jim
- Jan 21, 2006
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Sorry I missed your post earlier, Bill.
I think the setup, and specific strings, pickup, neck, electronics, and bridge have more effect than the small amount of wood that is in the slab vs. the contoured body.
What makes a bass sound great is IMHO the bassist.
That's what makes dogma about gear so pointless. I was about to trade off my '51 (didn't want to put out the bucks for an AV '57) last month, but made the mistake of taking to a friend's place where he had set up his ca. '70 B15N. The combination of the single-coil and the Ampeg filled the room with the warmest, punchiest bass you can imagine.
So I ended up writing a check for the whole amount of the '57.
Ok here's my opiniontake it at face value.I was doing gigs in high school in 1972 playing with a Fender amp and a Fender P bass 62 worked for me.
The 51 p bass was never an option never saw an real one in my life and wouldn't have known the difference anyway.
When I bought my first 51 Ri p bass.I bought only for the cool vibe.
Then I figured out how to make it true all those albums from the 70's haunted me the p bass sound was a quest for the holy grail.
The 51 fender P bass.is actually a hybird of the p bass sound...that showed
up on so many records.
When I bought the RI from Japan, I was totally dissapointed terrible high end treble guitar sound.
Change the pots slap some flatwounds on her and a Lindy Fralin pickupv and you are in the general neighborhood of the 60's vibe.
The ash body/flatwounds will take you half there the fingers will do the rest.
WillieG
The 51 p bass was never an option never saw an real one in my life and wouldn't have known the difference anyway.
When I bought my first 51 Ri p bass.I bought only for the cool vibe.
Then I figured out how to make it true all those albums from the 70's haunted me the p bass sound was a quest for the holy grail.
The 51 fender P bass.is actually a hybird of the p bass sound...that showed
up on so many records.
When I bought the RI from Japan, I was totally dissapointed terrible high end treble guitar sound.
Change the pots slap some flatwounds on her and a Lindy Fralin pickupv and you are in the general neighborhood of the 60's vibe.
The ash body/flatwounds will take you half there the fingers will do the rest.
WillieG
