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NBD: 1983 Squier Precision

Discussion in 'Basses [BG]' started by bcbckr, Jul 11, 2021.

  1. Jul 11, 2021 #1
    bcbckr

    bcbckr Supporting Member

    Feb 27, 2019
    Calgary Canada
    Actually Friday was NBD but this is the first chance I've had to post. This bass is in immaculate condition and I got a excellent deal. The bass plays very well, better than any other Fender that I've played and the first Fender where I liked the pickups.

    IMG_1116.JPEG IMG_1117.JPEG IMG_1119.JPEG IMG_1120.JPEG IMG_1121.JPEG IMG_1119.JPEG IMG_1120.JPEG IMG_1122.JPEG IMG_1123.JPEG
     
    Bass4ThePublic, CletusMarley, ajkula66 and 7 others like this.
  2. Jul 11, 2021 #2
    GTHintz

    GTHintz

    Jan 9, 2018
    Parts Unknown, California
    Nice! I had one a lot like that. Older basses have mojo that the new ones are lacking.
     
  3. Jul 11, 2021 #3
    DirkP

    DirkP

    Jan 18, 2013
    Hamburg and Berlin, Germany
    The JV series is cult! Had one for many years. I envy the original tag!!! Most of these had US pick-ups.
     
    bcbckr likes this.
  4. Jul 11, 2021 #4
    rockinrayduke

    rockinrayduke Supporting Member

    Dec 30, 2007
    Henderson, NV
    Good score my friend!
     
  5. Jul 11, 2021 #5
    bcbckr

    bcbckr Supporting Member

    Feb 27, 2019
    Calgary Canada
    I needed to raise the pickups and the original “foam rubber” has probably dried deteriorated, so I had a good excuse to take a look. Here are some pictures. I used surgical tubing on the screws to prop up the pickups. 3526CCB8-73A0-409D-BE11-1E1ABA2D61D2.jpeg 90FDBAAD-FE96-430C-995A-7E6B8C591270.jpeg FEBEAFFA-A48B-40CE-B5F3-43F016BF2E83.jpeg 35570562-46BD-4ABF-A4DE-4C565BC05986.jpeg 3526CCB8-73A0-409D-BE11-1E1ABA2D61D2.jpeg 90FDBAAD-FE96-430C-995A-7E6B8C591270.jpeg FEBEAFFA-A48B-40CE-B5F3-43F016BF2E83.jpeg 35570562-46BD-4ABF-A4DE-4C565BC05986.jpeg
     
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  6. Jul 11, 2021 #6
    bcbckr

    bcbckr Supporting Member

    Feb 27, 2019
    Calgary Canada
    That mojo might just come from the fact that the neck, pickups, and bridge align properly. I bought a Mexican J body and the bridge was way off kilter. There have been a number of Geddy Lee signature models that have shipped that way. Dave’s World of Stuff a couple of videos where he shows how to diagnose and fix the problem.
    Edit: here is one of the videos of a Geddy with a crooked bridge.
     
    Last edited: Jul 11, 2021
    GTHintz likes this.
  7. Jul 11, 2021 #7
    GTHintz

    GTHintz

    Jan 9, 2018
    Parts Unknown, California
    That's always a risk you run with squier. It's all parts from fender that weren't up to stuff and got sent over to china, mexico, Korea, etc. You still run into some good ones though.
     
  8. Jul 16, 2021 #8
    DirkP

    DirkP

    Jan 18, 2013
    Hamburg and Berlin, Germany
    The early Squiers (JV-series and to a lesser degree the SQ-series) are different. These were the first japanese made Fender instruments. There was a time, when Japan was the only location, where Fender instruments were produced. The people, who bought Fender back from CBS, didn't have any factory to start with, they more or less just aquired the name and leftover materials.
    When the new Fender owners saw the first japanese Squier Fender instruments, one of them nearly started to cry because he was so impressed by the quality. Prior they had sent some vintage early 60s models to them to copy these.
    Later Squier became kind of the budget Fender line. There were even more budget Squier and a bit more expensive Fender labelled export instruments from Japan. But even the Fender labelled instruments didn't have the quality of the early Squier JV instruments. The workmanship and quality control was brilliant on all of them, but the pickups and electronics were rather cheap.
    There were always exceptions, so a lot of Fender Japan instruments since the early 90s were of a higher quality, like the '51 Precision, the Bass VI and many others.

    Since a decade or so, some Squier instrumens - like the CV series - offer an impressive quality again, esp. regarding the low prices.
     
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2021
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  9. Jul 16, 2021 #9
    bcbckr

    bcbckr Supporting Member

    Feb 27, 2019
    Calgary Canada
    @DirkP thanks for that. It matches my understanding of that bit of Fender history. I went digging through my guitar/ bass books and I couldn’t find it in any of them. However there are some folks that believe that those early years of production in Japan were another “golden age” in the saga that is Fender.

    I bought another MIJ Fender from the same era today, so I am looking forward to another NBD in the next week or so.
     
    DirkP likes this.
  10. Jul 17, 2021 #10
    bcbckr

    bcbckr Supporting Member

    Feb 27, 2019
    Calgary Canada
    Pulled the neck off this morning. This bass is definitely "Fender Inside" Check the tag at the end of the neck pocket:

    IMG_1172crop_resize.jpeg

    The date on the neck concurs:
    IMG_1173_crop_resize.jpeg

    I did some reading today, and the first instruments from FujiGen started to reach the US in early 1983.
     
  11. Jul 17, 2021 #11
    DirkP

    DirkP

    Jan 18, 2013
    Hamburg and Berlin, Germany

    >>Marketing executive Dan Smith, quoted in “The Fender Book” recalled, “Everybody came up to inspect them and the guys almost cried, because the Japanese product was so good — it was what we had been having a hell of a time trying to do.”<<

    Source:
    A Brief History of Squier: Origins of Fender MIJ, Budget Superstrats & More
     
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  12. Jul 17, 2021 #12
    CletusMarley

    CletusMarley Knuckle Dragger Supporting Member

    Feb 11, 2018
    Tejas
    Sweet bass!