Mexican P-bass with 21 frets???

[Oric]

And the top half of the headstock looks a little wonky, although that might just be the angle of the camera.

 

[scrodzilla]

I don't know, man...I know two other dudes with Mexican Ps (both with 20 frets! ) and one truss rod hole looks as yours does while the other looks like mine. The store I bought my bass from is and have always been 100% all about being a Fender dealer...in fact, they don't sell much else and I've known the owners and have done business there for 20+ years.

And it's not the actual neck pocket that is extended (as I said above) but the rosewood fretboard that extends, giving me my *now controversial* extra fret. And yeah...it's a weird angle. The shape of this headstock is identical to my American P.

 

[ytsebri]

K... Here's the deal. Since Fender has been making the Mexi basses, they put the serial number on the front of the headstock on the standards. Not only that, the configuration of "Fender, Precision Bass, and whatever is below that" hasn't, to my knowledge, ever been used by Fender. Something that might shine a light on whether it's really a Fender is the serial number. What are the first 4 digits of the serial on your bass?

 

[scrodzilla]

As stated in an earlier post, I changed the decal after a botched attempt at painting my headstock. The decal is a repro of a 60s decal or something. It looks cool. Whatever. The serial number that was once on my headstock is long gone. In honesty, perhaps I shouldn't have opened this can of worms. I've had people tell me that somehow, a custom shop neck made its way onto my bass. I've had others tell me that the music store I bought it from is shady (which isn't the case). I've had others tell me all sorts of crap. At any rate, it's an awesome bass and the quality, in my opinion, is better than my American-made P-bass. If it's some kind of fake, it's a damn good one and I'm stoked to own it. I was just hoping some of the knowledgeable folks of TB might be able to shed some light. As said before, I guess not. No biggie.

 

[Beej]

Yeesh, what a thread! Gotta love internet forums for the anonymized behaviour it brings out in generally nice people...

Okay, so in response to the OP's original question (and i can't believe the experts haven't chimed in) mexican Fenders in the late 90's came from the factory with 21 frets. They might have also been that way in the early 2000's, I can't recall, but I do know that I had a 98ish jazz that also had 21 frets. Its no big deal, and if people took the time to count the frets on their late 90's mexi fenders, I think that a few more would be chiming in here. I only noticed the extra fret on my jazz when i compared it to my 94ish jazz when they were lying side by side.

Internet denizens, your assignment: open up your cases and count your frets!

 

[scrodzilla]

Jeez-us...thanks Beej! My particular bass would be from the mid/late 90s, as that's when I purchased it new. What started as a post derived from slight curiosity left me feeling like somewhat of a nutcase, wondering if I somehow managed to buy a fake Fender. I had just never seen another with 21 frets, but I knew someone would eventually set the record straight.

I learned something valuable here, though:
My headstock looks wonky and no matter how many frets my bass has, my fretboard is just too damn dirty.