NBD - Fender Custom Shop

[kbakerde]

Finally came in, ordered this last year, placing my deposit with Make 'N Music on Apr 30, 2022. I had no idea how long it would take. 12 months, 15, 24, would they forget about it! But sure enough, I got the email and photos that the bass arrived earlier this month. There was a bit of a snafu, one thing that I was looking for that didn't get ordered correctly. I asked for a 70's TV logo, but instead got the '59 style logo. But Fender and the shop gave me a nice discount for my trouble, so I will not complain.

Bass is a beautiful 3-Tone burst with a black guard and an all Maple neck. The neck is a '60's Jazz neck and feels excellent. One of my choices was to get a satin finish on the neck which is nice and smooth. The relic job is very light, and can be tough to even see. All means it looks like a loved and worn in bass. I have to get the pickups set where I like them, but so far so good. This is the best PJ I've played to date. I have had the bass for a total of 1 hour, but so far I am enjoying my time with it. Details:

• Fender Custom Shop 1969 Precision Bass
• 3 Tone Burst nitro finish
• Maple neck with Maple Fretboard, nitro finish with a satin neck finish
• Jazz neck profile
• Black pickguard
• FCS '62 HW Precision Bass Pickup
• FCS '75 HW Jazz Bridge Pickup
• 60's Jazz Concentric Wiring

The Pics:

 

[4SG]

 

[Mike Vee]

whoa that is super dope

 

[60bass]

Very nice but I'm surprised at the Bullet truss rod. Almost looks out of place on that one. Definitely makes it way easier to adjust the neck for sure. A real great looking bass.

 

[kbakerde]

Very nice but I'm surprised at the Bullet truss rod. Almost looks out of place on that one. Definitely makes it way easier to adjust the neck for sure. A real great looking bass.

Got that at the advice of the shop. Already had to use it and man it’s nice. A lot easier than at the heel.

 

[60bass]

Got that at the advice of the shop. Already had to use it and man it’s nice. A lot easier than at the heel.

They do make it easy. I can tell you from experience when I had a store that sold Fender when bullet truss rods were in common use to keep a close eye on that truss rod nut. Don't ever let it get too tight, or it reaches the end if it's threads. If that ever happens take it to a Luther and have it repaired. I have seen it where owners tried to crank that nut after it got bottomed out and the pressure on the rod and nut caused the fret boards to crack along the first fret where the truss rod passes through. Other than that they are great truss rods. Don't get me wrong. I love vintage fender bass guitars with heel adjust truss rods but they can be a real P I T A to work on.

 

[Mike Vee]

lol i just read about the decal, how on earth do you f**k that up? jeeze..I feel like this logo looks really good though

 

[Matt O]

I’ll tell you what. That’s a fine looking bass you got there.

 

[tb-player]

Congrats man! Looks amazing!! P with jazz neck is never a bad thing.

 

[mikewalker]

Beautiful bass - but I would have returned it for the correct logo( thats the best part of a 70s P-bass)

 

[kbakerde]

Beautiful bass - but I would have returned it for the correct logo( thats the best part of a 70s P-bass)

It is. But the discount ended up being quite good. So I’ll take it lol.

 

[Dust2Dust]

Sweet Bass!

 

[kbakerde]

Ran it through the paces at rehearsal tonight. Played around with the pickup volumes. Playing the P solo’s, it’s just a really great P Bass sound. I also like bringing up the J pickup to 50-80%. Puts the bass squarely in P territory with a little more sizzle and bite. Playing both pickups straight up, is not like a Jazz. But gives enough of the feel.

For tone, found with the fresh strings lots of high end. So I pulled the P down a couple notches and the J to about half. Works well so far.

 

[2thAche]

P body, J neck, PJ pickups: win, win, win

 

[stumblebee]

The black on the concentric pots with the black of the pickguard give it that classic p bass look. Nice touch! The burst is amazing as well.

 

[dusterdan70]

very nicely spec'd out bass my friend, that is terrific! Congratulations!!! Those HW pickups are pure-magic!

 

[MAJOR METAL]

Congrats Dude! Rock it in good health!

 

[andare]

Looks great! Enjoy.

What is the significance of those years?
What makes it a 69? Is it the particular shades in the sunburst?
Did they change the P pickups in 62?
Is 75 the year they introduced 70s spacing in Jazz basses?

I've always been curious about specific Fender vintages. I know about some of them (1959 is when they switched to rosewood, 1963 is when slab boards became veneer boards, etc.) but not these.

 

[Acoop]

Bullet truss-rod? ... Did you ask for that? ... I don't think I've seen a Maple neck, Bullet truss-rod P-bass with a Spaghetti Logo. Interesting to look at.

 

[kbakerde]

very nicely spec'd out bass my friend, that is terrific! Congratulations!!! Those HW pickups are pure-magic!

That they are!