NBD Fender ‘58 AVRI

[Matt Dean]

Really New Bass Week… This bass guitar arrived on Tuesday, but I haven't had much time to spend with it. I did take it to a rehearsal Tuesday night - straight out of the box (just tuned it and raised the action a little) and then spent more time with it today. I've had a few Fender Precisions… in the 1970s I had a '70 and a '73 and again a '73 in the 2000s. I had a sweet 1983 '57 AVRI and now this 2013 '58 AVRI.

This one is for the most part all I thought it would/should be. It sounds great with quality tones and end to end of the tone knob. The neck is BUTTERY… really one of the best I've played. And I've had more than a few basses with exceptional necks. According to what I've read, the '58 supposedly has a thick neck… bordering on baseball bat. But this '58 has a neck I think of as having a sweet badonkadonk; fits my hand very nicely and the edges of the neck are comfortably rounded.

Aside from some dings, which I don't mind - I actually like my basses pre-dinged. There only weird thing is how the pickup is set up (see pics). My other P bass pickups all were more or less parallel to the strings and top surface of the guitar. This guitar's pickups are set at a jaunty angle slanting downward from E to G. The sound level seems very even from E to G, so I don't think this is really a problem - just weird to me.

Question to the TB community… has anyone seen this before on a '58 P (or other P)?

Thanks!

 

[StevieMac]

Super nice, congrats!

 

[Ghastly]

That's a beauty!

 

[CletusMarley]

Sweet! Nice score!

 

[StayLow]

Nice bass!

No, that pickup angling makes no sense. Top half of pickup (E and A side) should be at roughly an equal angle the opposite way, basically matching the fretboard radius and bridge saddle heights (which I can't see in your pics but those should also roughly match 'board radius.

Possibly whomever set it up played very heavy-handed so needed the E and A raised up high to avoid clacking and buzzing. If so, it makes sense.

Ultimately it doesn't matter, so just do this: set it up so it plays comfortably *for you*, then adjust the pickup to sound balanced string-to-string when *you* play *your* preferred strings on it.

No tech at a shop or set of arbitrary numbers, even from the builder, can tell you how it should be set up for *you*.

Enjoy!

 

[Mike Vee]

Easy fix on the pickup angles. Get your hands dirty and set it up. Nothing better than knowing how to setup your own basses. No Luthier is going to be able to make the micro-adjustments overtime that you're going to be able to achieve to make your bass perfect. There's not much that you can mess up on a precision base lol. Tinker away!

Sweet bass!

 

[Matt Dean]

Easy fix on the pickup angles. Get your hands dirty and set it up. Nothing better than knowing how to setup your own basses. No Luthier is going to be able to make the micro-adjustments overtime that you're going to be able to achieve to make your bass perfect. There's not much that you can mess up on a precision base lol. Tinker away!

Sweet bass!

Yeah… I haven't time to give it a proper setup - Sunday I'll dive into adjusting the neck and I'll play with the pickup.

 

[Riff Ranger]

Really New Bass Week… This bass guitar arrived on Tuesday, but I haven't had much time to spend with it. I did take it to a rehearsal Tuesday night - straight out of the box (just tuned it and raised the action a little) and then spent more time with it today. I've had a few Fender Precisions… in the 1970s I had a '70 and a '73 and again a '73 in the 2000s. I had a sweet 1983 '57 AVRI and now this 2013 '58 AVRI.

This one is for the most part all I thought it would/should be. It sounds great with quality tones and end to end of the tone knob. The neck is BUTTERY… really one of the best I've played. And I've had more than a few basses with exceptional necks. According to what I've read, the '58 supposedly has a thick neck… bordering on baseball bat. But this '58 has a neck I think of as having a sweet badonkadonk; fits my hand very nicely and the edges of the neck are comfortably rounded.

Aside from some dings, which I don't mind - I actually like my basses pre-dinged. There only weird thing is how the pickup is set up (see pics). My other P bass pickups all were more or less parallel to the strings and top surface of the guitar. This guitar's pickups are set at a jaunty angle slanting downward from E to G. The sound level seems very even from E to G, so I don't think this is really a problem - just weird to me.

Question to the TB community… has anyone seen this before on a '58 P (or other P)?

Thanks!

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The pickup housings look weird, and the pole pieces sticking way out of the housing under the A string look even weirder, but those cockamamie pole pieces might be what gives you balanced output from string to string as they seem to more or less match the radius of the fretting surface. If it sounds and feels good as-is, and the look won't drive you bonkers, I see no harm in leaving it. That would drive me bonkers, though

 

[Matt Dean]

The pickup housings look weird, and the pole pieces sticking way out of the housing under the A string look even weirder, but those cockamamie pole pieces might be what gives you balanced output from string to string as they seem to more or less match the radius of the fretting surface. If it sounds and feels good as-is, and the look won't drive you bonkers, I see no harm in leaving it. That would drive me bonkers, though

Apparently the raised poles at the A string is a '58 P thing.

 

[Coughdrops]

I mentioned this in the P pickup thread but I recently got the same bass and had to adjust the pickups in a similar manner. I'm not heavy handed and I didn't really expect the raised pole pieces to cause an issue but any more normal looking setup on that side of the pickup and the A was just too loud. I do quite like the tone of those pickups though.

 

[Mike Vee]

I mentioned this in the P pickup thread but I recently got the same bass and had to adjust the pickups in a similar manner. I'm not heavy handed and I didn't really expect the raised pole pieces to cause an issue but any more normal looking setup on that side of the pickup and the A was just too loud. I do quite like the tone of those pickups though.

I think you can push them in if you want to but don't take my word for it

 

[Riff Ranger]

Apparently the raised poles at the A string is a '58 P thing.

Ah; then as indicated immediately above, that's probably the way to angle them. Don't quote me on it, but I think the raised pole pieces have something to do with compensating for the small radius (kinda makes sense) and (maybe?) the string gauges available at the time.

 

[StayLow]

umami

The pickup housings look weird, and the pole pieces sticking way out of the housing under the A string look even weirder, but those cockamamie pole pieces might be what gives you balanced output from string to string as they seem to more or less match the radius of the fretting surface. If it sounds and feels good as-is, and the look won't drive you bonkers, I see no harm in leaving it. That would drive me bonkers, though

Whoa! I didn't notice those poles. That may well be the reason for odd angle.

If it were me, I'd adjust the poles to "normal" and '58 be damned.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

 

[utterlybored]

Gorgeous!

 

[JMarkD]

For that pick up, with the raised A magnet, that set up is correct. The "follow the radius of the fretboard" thing is not always the best way. Use your ears, not your eyes. It is a great sounding pick up. Do NOT attempt to push the A magnet down. There are plenty of replacement pickups if your eyes can't take it!

 

[Grinderman]

I think you can push them in if you want to but don't take my word for it

Whoa! I didn't notice those poles. That may well be the reason for odd angle.

If it were me, I'd adjust the poles to "normal" and '58 be damned.

They are "normal" for '57 and '58. You'd be likely to damage the pickup by pushing the pole pieces down. At the very least they'd protrude from the bottom of the bobbin as much as they currently protrude above top side. (see how that might be a problem?) As they are, those pickups are more less set up correctly.

If that's all too weird to deal with the next most sensible move would be to set them aside for potential resale of the bass and replace them with a different set of pickups that suit your aesthetic needs.

 

[StayLow]

They are "normal" for '57 and '58. You'd be likely to damage the pickup by pushing the pole pieces down. At the very least they'd protrude from the bottom of the bobbin as much as they currently protrude above top side. (see how that might be a problem?) As they are, those pickups are more less set up correctly.

If that's all too weird to deal with the next most sensible move would be to set them aside for potential resale of the bass and replace them with a different set of pickups that suit your aesthetic needs.

Thanks. Done it before. All good.

Hard to tell from the pics, but even with the "A" poles protruding I doubt I'd end up wth it slanting upward on the E side. I typically have my A string highest and E string lower than the A, so even with that pickup I'd expect to have it flat or slanted a bit downward on the E side just not as much as "normal".

Point being it's totally individual, with a lot of variables and options. Even something as simple as a tapered E string vs. non-tapered light gauge would be a potentially significant factor. So too staggered poles.

 

[JRA]

The neck is BUTTERY… really one of the best I've played.

music to my ears! a great playing neck/board is the bomb --- congratulations on your new instrument!

 

[Mastermold]

They are "normal" for '57 and '58. You'd be likely to damage the pickup by pushing the pole pieces down. At the very least they'd protrude from the bottom of the bobbin as much as they currently protrude above top side. (see how that might be a problem?) As they are, those pickups are more less set up correctly.

If that's all too weird to deal with the next most sensible move would be to set them aside for potential resale of the bass and replace them with a different set of pickups that suit your aesthetic needs.

All the poles were raised on my CS '59 reissue, which I didn't like so I swapped that pickup out for a Fralin with the poles flush with the cover. Just preference.