Nash vs Vintage P

[andare]

We still don't know what OP means by magical, yet we have 5 pages of recommendations based on zero info.

If I wanted to get as close as possible to a pre-CBS I would either do what I did (get a Vintera 60s P bass and maybe in the future have it stripped and repainted in nitro, the cheapest and least authentic option but the neck is very very close) or I would find an AVRI from 2000-2018 or I would order a neck from Musikraft and get an alder body, pickup and stuff and have someone paint it in nitro.

My only experience with relics is the bass in my profile. The nitro neck feels amazing but it's 31 years old, no idea what part of the wear is authenthic and what part fake. You have to play a few to get a feel for them.

So you just have to know the specs you want and know it's not gonna sound and feel the same because it's not a $20,000+ unobtanium vintage bass. Nobody can be indifferent to that when playing it. Mojo is real.

 

[Dynacord]

One more thing, get yourself a celluloid pick guard from Spitfire. I have one of their red tort guards on my 48th Street Custom PBass. They also offer light relicing treatment, and you’d swear it was from 1962.

Or Avantguard - they look even closer IMO

 

[Danny C]

hey...Oakland NJ would be the town. Way north.

I'm an hour from you if you wanna try some Nash basses. A few JB's and the only P's I have are a 55 and 57, not the 63. I love Nash basses and I have the one's that start with an F too. The Nash basses go with me when working.

 

[LanEvo]

Or Avantguard - they look even closer IMO

Ooh. That does look nice. I haven’t heard of them before. But I’m really happy with my Spitfire.

 

[Auer]

We still don't know what OP means by magical, yet we have 5 pages of recommendations based on zero info.

Also there are several threads within the thread that has nothing to do with the OP.

Standard TB

 

[KellyC]

That’s surprising on a modern bass. It’s an unnecessary pain in the ass. I’m not afraid of unscrewing necks but I’ll be damned if I have to just to adjust the truss rod.

Vintage boutique luthiers are true to the original, including Fender CS. Some will route an access slot for you for and extra $100 or so.

 

[wraub]

A suggestion for those with issues regarding truss adjustments at the body- try one of these.

Also, my "vintage" P Bass is an 80s MIJ Squier with a gold anodized pickguard and a Velvet Hammer pickup.
Use what gets you there, I say.

 

[commonplayer]

I've had no less than 100 Fender style basses pass through my hands over the years (yes, I have a problem with buying and selling). I've had a chance to play Fenders ranging from vintage to CS to AVRI, and down the line. And also Squiers, random parts basses, and several Nash basses as well. I've come to the conclusion that, for what I like, Nash feels superior to any of these other brands I've owned.

If it hasn't been said already in this thread, someone will claim that Nash is just a parts bass with a relic'd finish. I won't try to change anyone's mind about that, but didn't Leo Fender originally design these things to all be parts basses in a sense? And when it comes to Nash, there is a feel that Bill and his shop have achieved over the years that just makes them feel amazing, like a broken in baseball glove or pair of jeans. Some of them are too over-the-top relic'd for my tastes, but the lightly aged Nash basses feel great.

 

[negativeions24]

Likewise, over a hundred Fender-style basses in my 25 years of playing bass. Nash is great, but Bluesman Vintage is on a whole other level. Bluesman just seems to have it.

 

[JohnnyBottom]

I'm an hour from you if you wanna try some Nash basses. A few JB's and the only P's I have are a 55 and 57, not the 63. I love Nash basses and I have the one's that start with an F too. The Nash basses go with me when working.

Thank you for the offer. That Nash pb63 in the pic is mine, im lacking a vintage Fender

 

[Grinderman]

Its not hard to distinct... Sure, many companies make bolt-on gutars/basses. However, companies like Fender, and Yamaha make their own bodies and neck and have their own hardware too.
Nash, merely assembles "parts" all made by other commercial companies...all of which you can buy on your own and assemble just as well. Only difference being the paintwork/reclicing...which doesn't look authentic anyway.

I know what's being flatly said by layman in layman's terms and I recognize the suggestion being made when it's said.

The difference is I'm not a layman in relevant areas of production methods and seeing as how stubbornly lay people persist with this notion I'll make this blunt: They are mistaken; they don't know what they're talking about.



Nash and all those other particulars about Nash are irrelevant to the question of "parts". Anyone can dislike Nash--or any other brand for that matter of personal preferences--but basing that flatly on what they're suggesting about "parts" isn't rooted in anything rational or knowledge beyond their superficial knowledge.

Even in the cases of Fender and Yamaha with their metal hardware--tuning machine heads, string retainers, bridge assemblies, and strap buttons--, little to none of which is proprietary in the case of Fender, I would be more surprised if they do 100% of that metal hardware production in-house without subcontracted vendors. I'd still be surprised if that's 40% in-house.

We can be sure the frets, control pots, input jacks, and all the screws are made elsewhere.

Whatever the case, either way, it does not matter. This is how the vast majority of high-quality goods and much more complex physical products have been produced for as long as there has been manufacturing. The fact that wood components are involved makes no difference in and of itself.

 

[Grinderman]

A suggestion for those with issues regarding truss adjustments at the body- try one of these.

You must be another lucky one. That would not work single Fender or Fender-type neck I have or ever had, at all or without doing a lot of ugly damage.

 

[StayLow]

I know what's being flatly said by layman in layman's terms and I recognize the suggestion being made when it's said.

The difference is I'm not a layman in relevant areas of production methods and seeing as how stubbornly lay people persist with this notion I'll make this blunt: They are mistaken; they don't know what they're talking about.



Nash and all those other particulars about Nash are irrelevant to the question of "parts". Anyone can dislike Nash--or any other brand for that matter of personal preferences--but basing that flatly on what they're suggesting about "parts" isn't rooted in anything rational or knowledge beyond their superficial knowledge.

Even in the cases of Fender and Yamaha with their metal hardware--tuning machine heads, string retainers, bridge assemblies, and strap buttons--, little to none of which is proprietary in the case of Fender, I would be more surprised if they do 100% of that metal hardware production in-house without subcontracted vendors. I'd still be surprised if that's 40% in-house.

We can be sure the frets, control pots, input jacks, and all the screws are made elsewhere.

Whatever the case, either way, it does not matter. This is how the vast majority of high-quality goods and much more complex physical products have been produced for as long as there has been manufacturing. The fact that wood components are involved makes no difference in and of itself.

I was shocked and pleasantly surprised how much Fender makes in house. Others, and perhaps you, may be too.

There are similarly revealing vids, the best done by Andertons that I’ve seen, for the Fender CS, Gibson factory, Gibson CS, and interview with the famous Gibson relic chief Tom Murphy.

 

[Grinderman]

I was shocked and pleasantly surprised how much Fender makes in house. Others, and perhaps you, may be too.

There are similarly revealing vids, the best done by Andertons that I’ve seen, for the Fender CS, Gibson factory, Gibson CS, and interview with the famous Gibson relic chief Tom Murphy.

One company I worked for has been in the business of manufacturing its product line and for other brands since 1951. Fender keeping integrated production of Strat trem blocks, saddles, and pickguards, the sorts of parts that Fender has made the same for 50 to 75 years, is less surprising to me than if they do that for other and newer type parts like Invalid Link Removed for example.

Back in the pre-CBS days, Kluson made Fender's tuning machines for some years then Fender started to make those in-house. I don't know whether they make Pure Vintage bass tuning machines in-house now but no doubt they're capable and no doubt an outside vendor could make them just as well.

Something I'm more particularly curious about is whether or not Fender operates nickel and chrome plating and aluminum anodizing lines in-house.

 

[Grinderman]

I got to play a pre CBS P and it was truly a magical experience! I can’t afford one so was wondering how the Nash bass compared to an early 60s P?

There are none around to play so would love to hear how they compare.

The features and characteristics of Nash's PB-57 necks are different from pre-CBS '57 Fender P bass necks in at least seven or eight ways. How much that matters to any one person: YMMV.

Truly magical experiences by their nature are impossible to define or fully describe.

How much do you care whether the neck profile, nut width, fretboard radius, and fret size are different from the pre-CBS P?

Do you care if it's a 1-pc '50s Fender-type neck or 2-pc?

Stiffening rods inside the Nash neck?

 

[Dynacord]

One company I worked for has been in the business of manufacturing its product line and for other brands since 1951. Fender keeping integrated production of Strat trem blocks, saddles, and pickguards, the sorts of parts that Fender has made the same for 50 to 75 years, is less surprising to me than if they do that for other and newer type parts like How Fender's Golden-Era Hardware Was Made | Bacon's Archive for example.

Back in the pre-CBS days, Kluson made Fender's tuning machines for some years then Fender started to make those in-house. I don't know whether they make Pure Vintage bass tuning machines in-house now but no doubt they're capable and no doubt an outside vendor could make them just as well.

Something I'm more particularly curious about is whether or not Fender operates nickel and chrome plating and aluminum anodizing lines in-house.

I don't know about now but in the pre CBS/early CBS era, Fender locally contracted much of the metal work and plating. In particular, Race & Olmsted Tool and Die in Fullerton starting in the late ’40s (they, in turn, sent their work out to other shops for chrome or gold plating and/or anodizing - they did nickle themselves). This included making the 'lollipop' bass tuning machines (until Fender switched to Schaller). Excellent interview with Karl Olmsted on it here in which he directly addresses much of what you raise:
Invalid Link Removed

Fender did stamp out the ashtray covers and other parts in-house as well. Also there are in-house photos of tuning machines being assembled but those appear to be Klusons - I believe this is a result of the string posts being different for use on Fender basses than on double basses and my understanding (I'm not 100% on this point) is Fender replaced the posts themselves (I would guess they ordered from Kluson sans posts). Note that the posts where chromed while all the other Kluson parts were nickle (also the posts, post screws, and bushings are slightly different on the Klusons that Gibson used on Thunderbirds and Embassy basses at the same time, suggesting they took their own similar approach).

 

[Bass Viking]

You know what OP, the more Im reading the responses in the thread the more I think that you’d enjoy a parts build. You can get REALLY dang close with a lot of stuff out there these days.

Im doing a 65 jazz bass build, basing it off of previous real 65’s I’ve had using parts such as a musikraft neck, vintage hardware etc found on reverb. Going with mjt as finisher. I’ll post a thread on how it turns out.

After everything I should be set back about $1800-1900, and thats WITH a spitfire guard. Less than an american reissue, yet you can get closer to the real thing than the reissues are.

Parts basses are great, the only caveat is you don't know what the final product will sound like. I had 2 Jazz basses, a Modern Vintage and a parts bass made of a Squier body, Lindy Fralin pickups, and a Warmoth neck. I downsized and sold the MV, it was good alright but the Frankenbass just played better and sounds fantastic. It goes to show you don't have to spend a lot of $$ to get a great Jazz and the same goes for a P Bass.

 

[point_departure]

+1 for Modern Vintage. It's the real deal.

Olinto is a pretty amazing replica of a '64P as well. But they're pricey with a one year wait.

Did you end up preferring the Modern Vintage over the Nash? I know you were back and forth on those for a minute, eh?

 

[micguy]

Nash is a parts guitar.

And so is a pre-CBS Fender.

 

[micguy]

Though Fender produces their own parts.

Two of the most important parts (body and neck) they cut out of stuff that comes from trees. The most important variables in those parts are things they don't control at all.

If there is anything to old basses in terms of better sonics, it's almost certainly the wood aging - that's the thing where things change measurably. As roasting necks and bodies do the same things to their properties as time, you should be able to make new basses that work (sonically) as well as old basses. All my basses have roasted necks, and all but one have roasted bodies - whether or not they are sonically superior, they are really nice sounding basses.