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Where are the 51-56 single coil precision basses?

#42
i had a 5ver P/J 51
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mutant... Warmoth -
 
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#43
Coolhandjjl said:
I didn’t either. Not sure if they were a Japan only, or if US dealers carried them. Apparently, there was the butterscotch, seafoam, and paisley (which I haven’t ever even see pics of).

The single coil pup is great as far as I’m concerned. GHS Precision Flats never sounded so good! Curious note, the pickguard and body has no hole for the tug bar. I had a guy make me one out of ash to vintage specs, and I used hobby paints to color it. I positioned it using pics from Google of vintage ‘51s.
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Now that you mention it, I have seen the Paisley one in the past. Good thing the seafoam ones seem rare or I would have to buy the damn thing as soon as I saw it.

Interesting observation on the tug bar screw holes...I would have thought they were present from factory. Oh well. I'd love to check one of these out in the wild if given the chance.
 
#45
two fingers said:
For the price of what Fender would sell it if they made it, you could get Warmoth parts in your favorite colors, pickups of your choice and a pro to put it all together and set it up for you.
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I'm doing precisely that, except I am the "pro" putting it together. I'm using all roasted wood - neck and body - trying to approximate the acoustics of a really old instrument (insert long argument about tone wood here; I'll be taking both sides at different points of this argument) - If I had to wait another 60 years for the wood to age, so this thing will sound really good, well, I'll be dead by then, so I see no good reason not to try this route.

The one thing I am doing differently that a real 50's P is a hum cancelling pickup (Nordstrand) - I see no reason to put up with hum. Oh, and no pickguard - people get all fussed up about putting a poly finish on a bass; why would you slap a REALLY thick layer of plastic on an instrument?
 
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#46
kodiakblair said:
A few years back I checked out Thomann in Germany's site. They do a single coil P-bass in their Harley Benton range. It had the crazy price tag of £70 and more interested by what £70 got you these days I bought one. Turned out to be a very well made bass. The neck was lovely and had an almost roast maple look to it. A friend A/B'd the then stock Wilkinson against a Seymour Duncan, the Wilkinson had the same tone as the Duncan but a louder output :) That A/B must have lost SD sales as anyone planning the swap changed their mind after hearing the sound clips :laugh: Most go ahead with the Tele style headstock change,I'd cut so many templates for folk it made better sense to have a batch laser cut :thumbsup:

I ended up buying 3. 1 got tapes,1 went to a friend and the other I put a Peavey super ferrite in. The Peavey enhanced one is strung with TI jazz flats and gets the most play out of my basses. The model's called the PB-50 and is a huge seller for Thomann, so much so they finally will release them in left hand versions. Sea foam green and fiery red colours are due next year.

I'll stick with my bursts :D
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+1 on this, I also A/B'd the stock Wilkinson pickup with the SD and preferred stock, I found it brighter and stronger. Always liked the look of the original P's best, and the Thomann is so inexpensive it was cheaper than buying a used Squier, so I got one. Nicely set up with D'addario nickel rounds from the factory, and you can remove the pickguard as I've done with mine. Incredible bass for the price.

Fender can't seem to sell enough SCPB's to warrant making them, yet this is H-B's 2nd biggest seller. That's largely due to price obviously, but clearly there is a market.
 

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#47
InhumanResource said:
Now that you mention it, I have seen the Paisley one in the past. Good thing the seafoam ones seem rare or I would have to buy the damn thing as soon as I saw it.

Interesting observation on the tug bar screw holes...I would have thought they were present from factory. Oh well. I'd love to check one of these out in the wild if given the chance.
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I’ll try to get some pics when I get a chance. I also changed the saddles to Bakelite, I read that was the original material. People complain about that bridge, but mine intonnates perfectly.

Yeah, surf green with a maple board would be a must have.

The slab body comfort factor is fine for me as well.
 
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#50
Fender_Bender said:
Bide your time. All things come to those who wait. I’m sure something will be reissued at some point. And as others have mentioned there’s always Warmoth. I really wish the Sting bass hadn’t come with that dumb 12th fret marker :rollno:.
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I bought a Sting bass recently a love it! That 12th fret marker is no issue to me at all. I mean if I had a choice I'd say leave it off, but otherwise it is barely even an afterthought.
 
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#52
RBrownBass said:
Nordstrand makes a humcancelling pupgrade, and I think Duncan does, too. There are several H/C Strat-style guitar pups that will fit and do fine, too. One guy here had a Lace Alumitone in his. Dunno if it was a Fender or not, if that matters.

Some people use them stock, tho, and from what I've read here, they don't have any issues with the noise.
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With my recently purchased Sting bass, it was purchased used and all stock. No noise, sounds and plays wonderful. I could use it for any gig requiring a 4-string fretted. Anything a standard P can do, this can do.
 
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#54
Fender_Bender said:
Bide your time. All things come to those who wait. I’m sure something will be reissued at some point. And as others have mentioned there’s always Warmoth. I really wish the Sting bass hadn’t come with that dumb 12th fret marker :rollno:.
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Agreed, the one thing that made me pass on it the couple times I had real opportunities to buy one.
I regret being that picky now that they're discontinued, but that really was a stupid feature.
I also am willing to bet the NO ONE bought it because it was the sting sig, anyone who wanted a sting bass would no doubt lean towards a natural (or shellac orange) jazz with tort or an Ibanez Musician or a Spector, all basses he's more associated with during the time he was playing bass that bass players would care about.
I know he has stuck with that one ass for longer than anything else at this point, but still it's not a "sting bass" in my mind.
 
#58
danosix said:
Agreed, the one thing that made me pass on it the couple times I had real opportunities to buy one.
I regret being that picky now that they're discontinued, but that really was a stupid feature.
I also am willing to bet the NO ONE bought it because it was the sting sig, anyone who wanted a sting bass would no doubt lean towards a natural (or shellac orange) jazz with tort or an Ibanez Musician or a Spector, all basses he's more associated with during the time he was playing bass that bass players would care about.
I know he has stuck with that one ass for longer than anything else at this point, but still it's not a "sting bass" in my mind.
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They may have added that so that people couldn’t buy them and relic them all up and try and pass them off as real 50’s models maybe?.
 
#59
Fender_Bender said:
They may have added that so that people couldn’t buy them and relic them all up and try and pass them off as real 50’s models maybe?.
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It was a modification of the previous min reissue that had proper dots. I think that was just the thing at the time, a bunch of guitars and basses came out around then by fender and other companies with those 12th fret sigs.
 

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