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What makes a 51' P a 51' P?

#41
johnk_10 said:
yeah, i worked as a consultant with them just before they started G&L.
both Leo and George (and their wives) were really sweet people and they made me feel like they were family.
man, those were the good ol' days. ;)
Click to expand...
awesome .
great memories , for sure .

:cool:

i wish i could have met those two guys ...
 
#43
The early necks were all made by hand, by several employees, so the neck back profiles were all over the place. The most sought after were the TG (Tadeo Gomez) necks seemed more slender. TB'er edmundstg said his Jan/52 P had a 1-5/8" with a slim rear profile, no V shape.

The saddles were a phenolic material, and the pickguard was also a vulcanized pressed material that was clear laquer coated. The original fingerboard dots were the same pressed material. The difficult item to reproduce is the coarse thread Kluson tuners with slotted screws. *And* don't forget the rounded ends of the tuner shafts. All the reissue tuners are fine thread and phillips screws, and squared-off tuner shaft ends. The only 'production' coarse thread tuners made are on the custom shop 55 RI, they even have the correct rounded shafts, but use incorrect phillips screws.

Why build one from scratch though? Why not start with a MIJ version and strip all parts and paint off?
In 2001 for the 50th anniversary, the custom shop built an accurate 51 RI with all the right part details, and they charged 6k for it because they had to go through all those special details.
 
#44
david meissner said:
awesome .
great memories , for sure .

:cool:

i wish i could have met those two guys ...
Click to expand...

i had been working with Dale Hiatt (previously Fender, Randall, Musicman and eventually G&L's head of sales & marketing). he told me to try look for him at the next namm show, so the first day that i met Leo was at a namm show in 1979 (or 1980?). i saw a big crowd of people surrounding someone in the gibson booth. there were about 70-80 people all crowded around him, but Leo pulled his calipers out of his pocket protector, and was measuring the neck width and action on some les pauls. he'd look up and shake someone's hand or give them an autograph and then go back to looking at the gibsons.

i was there with a friend of mine that told me that i should fight my way thru the crowd and at least touch him (shake his hand), since my buddy knew that Leo had a big effect on my life (i started building/designing guitars in '73 in whittier, ca). i told my friend that i would love to, but it looked like all these people were just bugging him, and i was just happy to be in his presence and observe him.

i was about 20 feet away and Leo looked up, and right at me and said, "are you Johnny?". it blew my mind. i just wanted to meet the guy and he already knew my name? later, i realized tha Dale probably previously pointed me out, but i was just awestruck at the time.
i walked over to him, shook his hand, which would have been enough, and then he said, "would you mind metting me at my hotel room at the Hiatt in about an hour?"

i told him that i'd love to. an hour later, my friend and i went to his room (my friend begged me to include him) and Leo, his wife and George and his wife opened the door and greeted us. Dale Hiatt was there too. they were some of the nicest people that i've ever met. so for the next 6 hours Leo and i talked about guitars, amps and basses nonstop, and i had a great relationship with him ever since.

he told me tons of stories about the early days of fender, and ended up giving me a gold L2000 bass. when he gave it to me, he took some pictures of me with me playing. he told me that i was the first person that he ever gave an instrument to, which totally freaked me out.

anyway, i would probably bore alot of you with the stories he told me, but it was just a great thing to experience, and that first day meeting him will always be a memory that i'll always cherish and never forget.
 
#48
johnk_10 said:
maybe he didn't invent it, but IMO, he certainly DEFINED it.

i mean, when i was back in high school (60's-70's) all of the written music for an electric bass said "fender bass" on it at the top of the page.
Click to expand...

Well, that's because that's how the musician's union differentiated between the electric bass and the upright in their rolls.

:D
 
#50
From a 1955 trade show:

IMG_7433.jpg
 
#55
Not boring at all, but rather a terrific story. Thanks for sharing.

johnk_10 said:
i had been working with Dale Hiatt (previously Fender, Randall, Musicman and eventually G&L's head of sales & marketing). he told me to try look for him at the next namm show, so the first day that i met Leo was at a namm show in 1979 (or 1980?). i saw a big crowd of people surrounding someone in the gibson booth. there were about 70-80 people all crowded around him, but Leo pulled his calipers out of his pocket protector, and was measuring the neck width and action on some les pauls. he'd look up and shake someone's hand or give them an autograph and then go back to looking at the gibsons.

i was there with a friend of mine that told me that i should fight my way thru the crowd and at least touch him (shake his hand), since my buddy knew that Leo had a big effect on my life (i started building/designing guitars in '73 in whittier, ca). i told my friend that i would love to, but it looked like all these people were just bugging him, and i was just happy to be in his presence and observe him.

i was about 20 feet away and Leo looked up, and right at me and said, "are you Johnny?". it blew my mind. i just wanted to meet the guy and he already knew my name? later, i realized tha Dale probably previously pointed me out, but i was just awestruck at the time.
i walked over to him, shook his hand, which would have been enough, and then he said, "would you mind metting me at my hotel room at the Hiatt in about an hour?"

i told him that i'd love to. an hour later, my friend and i went to his room (my friend begged me to include him) and Leo, his wife and George and his wife opened the door and greeted us. Dale Hiatt was there too. they were some of the nicest people that i've ever met. so for the next 6 hours Leo and i talked about guitars, amps and basses nonstop, and i had a great relationship with him ever since.

he told me tons of stories about the early days of fender, and ended up giving me a gold L2000 bass. when he gave it to me, he took some pictures of me with me playing. he told me that i was the first person that he ever gave an instrument to, which totally freaked me out.

anyway, i would probably bore alot of you with the stories he told me, but it was just a great thing to experience, and that first day meeting him will always be a memory that i'll always cherish and never forget.
Click to expand...
 
#56
JohnK,
The custom shop catalog from around '04 showed a remake of the 55 NAMM bass, and it was I think sherwood. Definitely greenish, not LPBLue.
They also said the pink was shell pink, that's why they made a run of them (I have one).
 
#59
John, I remember on the 1962 or3 Fender Catalogue, the Fender address changed from Santa Monica or Santa Barbara to Santa Ana (at best memory). Do you have any idea if this had to do with increased production or was something else involved?
B.
 

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