Precision Bass Lyte

I am not sure what they are going for in the used market, but they are pretty decent basses. I found one in a store in Manchester NH for quite a bit more than that and it was kind of beat up. Might be a spike in demand for them??

 

Excellent score I had one in the early 90"s great bass awesome tone

 

I have the Precision Deluxe Lyte. It is a nice bass. The reason I like it is, the neck feels and plays great, Plus it is light and easy on those long gigs.

If I am not mistaken, they made two, one was passive, one active, and they had different pickup configurations, and the Deluxe has a natural finish with a mahogany body.

Enjoy!

 

id play it a while before meddling with it. Not that it may not need it, but it may prove to be a wste of money for your application to drop 150 or so on pups for a 300 dollar bass. Then again, whats the fun in not doing anything to it?

 

I could be wrong but I think all the P-Bass Lyte's are Active BUT the active guts they (Fender) used back in the '80's were pretty weak in my opinion. I got a black sparkle one in like new condition this year for $300 also and that is a good price as I see them go for as much as $500 or even more sometimes, tho I would never pay that much. I have been having a lot of back troubles this year and this bass is a LOT lighter than anything else I own and very easy on the back.
I did think the active system in it sucked and I found a Demeter onboard Preamp on CL for $50 !!
With that upgrade I have a very good sounding bass even tho I am not blown away by the new pre it IS a big improvement over the orig. issue one. I am now thinking about replacing the PU's as well but am in no big rush for that upgrade.
Some would argue that the slim neck is too small but I love it. It actually is one of the easiest to play basses I own and I have 8....I think have to go look to know for sure..LOL...
oldtimers disease and all that you know!

peace....Capt. Kirk

anyway enjoy your new axe and RAWK ON !!!

 

If i recall, I saw a post from Jimmy saying that he is using one now. Only thing is that hes changed his to all passive and that he loves it that way. Just a thought.

 

+1 on each.

Still, it seems easier to rip a pre out that properly put one in

 

The original P-Lyte had a poplar body, a PJ configuration and the pole pieces were not exposed. The later p-lyte had p-doublej pickups. Both versions were active. I used an early version of the pre-amp in a modded 76 precision with a set Bartolinis. My take was that the preamp was fairly advanced for the time, but the pickups were cheap import ceramics. The preamp with quality pickups sounded very nice.

 

I think it's a great deal. I love the P-Bass Lytes.

 

I own a 90's Lyte in pearl white that I won at auction a few years ago.

I wanted one when they were part of Fender's line up back in the 90's, I checked the specs on them at the time & will tell you what I remember:

Fender Lytes were made in Japan. The basic body wood was basswood (the "light" in Lyte) for the painted models, & mahogany for the Deluxe series. They have a slim J-bass style neck, & all had rosewood f/b's. A lot of them, if not all, had gold hardware. All had active electronics. Pickups were "Fender" labeled, and although the signal is very powerful (at least on mine, & the others I have played) the sound generated by the factory system is no a particularly pleasant one. An EMG PJ set would make this bass sing, but, as others have pointed out, a $200 upgrade (more if you add on EMG's "custom" electronics) on a $300 or $350 bass (this is what they're going for these days) is a pretty tough call. Still, if you like the bass otherwise...and it's a verrrry nice bass to play, especially for long gigs...upgrading the electronics to EMG's is a viable option, IMO...

...the Lyte was discontinued i the late 90's and replaced by the Zone bass. The standard Zone basses were made in Mexico, using poplar as a body wood, & some tweaks to the active electronics. The Deluxe Zone was USA made, not sure of the body wood, but they were on the expensive side; don't think I've ever seen a USA Zone. The Zone basses are now discontinued also.

 

Great bass. I have the P-Lyte Deluxe. The Deluxe has the gold hardware and mahogany body and was made in Japan. I use TI Flatwounds on it and never did any upgrades.

Just do a search here on previous posts from a awhile back and check out re: possible neck problems. I do not play mine much, and got it new in the 90's, no problem with mine, but others have had problems. Before you sink any $ into it...

 

Bro, i didnt even notice you were from here, lol. Ive never tried to wire anything, but im gonna give it a go next week. If all goes well I'll let you know and I'll rewire it for you. Should actually be pretty simple, just take out the pre and solder a few wires here and there.

 

I have a MIM Deluxe Zone...Sienna Sunburst...the body is alder, not poplar. Luckily, the neck issues of the Lyte didn't migrate to the Zone. Mine was made in 2003, I think. The preamp finally crapped out on it this year, so I replaced the electronics with an active EMG P/J set.

The Zone's original pups are now in my SX p/j minus the preamp.


The only issue with the EMG's that I put in the Zone is: it is a V/V/T setup going into the Zone's 3 band EQ layout so there are some dummy knobs on board now, just for appearance sakes.

 

Good question
I'm going to check out, and probably buy, a red photo flame P-Lyte from craigslist tomorrow. What should I be concerned about? / looking for?

http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/msg/1282400250.html