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My 1976 Precision: before and after with pics!

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#21
j.kernodle said:
those model P's are still really great pickups. good luck with the 62 swap but don't be surprised if the model P ends up winning in the end. :)

it's the granddaddy of after market pickups and there's something "right" about the way they sound on a 70's p bass :)
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I will admit, I was stunned at how well this pickup sounded after the bridge swap, so we will see what the difference is after dropping in the '62 RI 'Original".
 
#22
nshuman said:
For really nice entertainment, you should buy a BA bridge, bring it to a machine shop, have the BADASS wording sanded off and have a Fender F engraved in it. Then, see people's reactions when they try it :)
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I have a machine shop and can do that. :)

FWIW, I've owned BA's and went back to the old school F bridges with threaded saddles. That's where I find happiness.
 
#23
I also picked up a '76 recently and it too had a BAII on it. Mine is Natural with a maple A width neck and a bwb three layer guard. The original case, bridge and covers are gone, but everything else is original. I'm taking it in to have a couple of high frets fixed then I'll need to make a decision on whether to keep it or not. All my other bases have wider necks, so the A neck feels kind of tight. For whatever reason, the BAII sounded really bad on this bass, very indistinct. I replaced it with a '75 reissue and its a huge improvement. For what it's worth, I put the BAII on my MIM P and it sounds fine there.
 
#24
jad said:
I also picked up a '76 recently and it too had a BAII on it. Mine is Natural with a maple A width neck and a bwb three layer guard. The original case, bridge and covers are gone, but everything else is original. I'm taking it in to have a couple of high frets fixed then I'll need to make a decision on whether to keep it or not. All my other bases have wider necks, so the A neck feels kind of tight. For whatever reason, the BAII sounded really bad on this bass, very indistinct. I replaced it with a '75 reissue and its a huge improvement. For what it's worth, I put the BAII on my MIM P and it sounds fine there.
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My brother also has a BAII bridge on his MIM and it sounds good, but he's going for a more modern sound. With the few P-basses I've heard with BAII bridges, it does do what they claim as far as increasing sustain, but it seems to do it at the expense of killing the character of the bass and giving it a sort of generic sound, if that makes sense. Personally I could care less about sustain if it means giving up the tone and sound that makes a P-bass a P-bass.
 
#25
I did the same thing--bought a 1975 P-bass and replaced the high-mass upgrade bridge with the original Fender bridge. Same results--it sounded much more like a P-bass and seemed more playable, less stiff.
 
#26
Nice bass. Thought the last pic was pretty funny.

I don't like the BA bridges either, just sound so... un-Fendery. IMHO. I like the HM bridge that comes on the MIA standards at the moment.
 
#30
If you have a good, resonant piece of wood for the body, a high-mass bridge will prevent you from hearing that, as you can see here. IMHO - the reason high-mass bridges are now so common is for consistency in sound from one bass to another, as the good wood is now very rare and the quality varies all over the place.

The DiMarzio Model P is one of my favorite pickups, but only for certain music, as they have a grindy, growly sound. The Fender , Fralin, etc. pickups have a smoother tone.
 
#31
Bassamatic said:
If you have a good, resonant piece of wood for the body, a high-mass bridge will prevent you from hearing that, as you can see here. IMHO - the reason high-mass bridges are now so common is for consistency in sound from one bass to another, as the good wood is now very rare and the quality varies all over the place.

The DiMarzio Model P is one of my favorite pickups, but only for certain music, as they have a grindy, growly sound. The Fender , Fralin, etc. pickups have a smoother tone.
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Funny you should mention that, because as so many people say that the 70's Fenders were heavy, dead, dull and lackluster, when I put the 60's bridge on, I could actually feel the bass resonating and vibrating; a characteristic it didn't have with the BAII.
 
#35
Love the covers and the 'burst...that bass looks fantastic!

I've never found anything lacking about the Fender bent metal bridges. I would have done exactly as you did. A couple of years back I picked up a '64 EB-0 with a BA bridge on it. I immediately removed it, sold it and re-installed the original bar bridge.
 
#36
Yes, God forbid anyone not like the Badass, eh? Pfft. Sorry. I don't like it. It adds a lot of weight and I never thought it did anything positive for the tone.
 
#38
sbpark said:
Funny you should mention that, because as so many people say that the 70's Fenders were heavy, dead, dull and lackluster, when I put the 60's bridge on, I could actually feel the bass resonating and vibrating; a characteristic it didn't have with the BAII.
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It is clear that you have a good piece of wood. Those in the know can knock on the wood with their knuckles and "hear" the sound of the body. If you have a good resonant one, a heavy bridge is just going to take that sound right out. The only way now to get a good sounding body is with a boutique bass where they have paid more for the wood, and from dumb luck.
 
#39
Nice job. I can't join in on the BA debate, because I have always loved the sound of my Precisions, and why change what you love? I did replace the two-saddle bridge on my '51 RI to a later four-saddle bridge but the new one came off the Fender assembly line.

Great score, too!
 
#40
Bassamatic said:
It is clear that you have a good piece of wood. Those in the know can knock on the wood with their knuckles and "hear" the sound of the body. If you have a good resonant one, a heavy bridge is just going to take that sound right out. The only way now to get a good sounding body is with a boutique bass where they have paid more for the wood, and from dumb luck.
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IMO, it's the weight of the wood that determines the how the body affects the sound. To that it is certainly luck of the draw with Fenders, Musicman, and most other mass production instruments. However, I have always believed that the neck makes a bigger difference to the tone than the body.
 
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