The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Fender Basses => Topic started by: godofthunder on September 20, 2023, 03:29:07 PM
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One of the hazards of working at the House of Guitars is seeing stuff before anyone else. Total impulse buy and I'm glad I did. I've been sitting on this for several weeks waiting for the official release.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnD1Fs0Qn_A
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Nice!
I remember looking at a 51 Pbass , said to be one of the really early ones , and a previous owner had removed the single coil and dropped in a Lover Humbucker right by the end of the fingerboard.
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Very nice, well done!
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Nice review, Scott, probably better workmanship and better weight than the originals.
Not for me, though. My '76 did have more mids and highs than a Gibson, but not enough real fundamental. And I didn't like the 7.25 inch radius, which Fender has unfortunately brought back on the Vintera series.
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Interesting round, vowel-y tone. I'm sure it would record well!
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I keep coming back to this video... I might try and 'score' one of these in January to keep the January Blues away.
It looks like the nut width on these is conventional P Bass 41 mm rather than a goliath 43 - 44 mm monstrosity like that of a '50s P Bass?
Beyond that, are these heavy or otherwise uncomfortable basses? I've can drawn to the original '70s basses for a long time, but they became pretty expensive and are cursed with '70s Fender build quality (heavy weight, approximate measurements and tolerances).
In my head, this bridges the gap between my Rivoli and my Fender-like basses.
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The body is alder, weight on these run 8-9.5 pounds or so. Build quality is far better than the originals. I wouldn't recommend this bass as your main player but it a great compliment to a Precision or Jazz. It's a very Gibson sounding Fender so your Epi Rivoli comparison isn't unwarranted. Fender knocked it out of the park with these, if you want a Telecaster Bass this is the one to buy.
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I finally caved and bought one of these beasts. I spotted one in cream and had to try it.
I sold my Rivoli and 4003 last month, but regretted selling the Rivoli almost instantly. I bought the Rivoli as a conciliatory prize of sorts after a personal setback, but over time began to begrudge it slightly as it wasn't letting me move on mentally.. Psychobabble aside, the pickup mounting situation (teetering on the outer limits of repurposed neck bolts) always annoyed me as well. The Rivoli also had a nasty fall. I was able to cosmetically repair it, but it almost seemed like a sign: sell this bass!
The Tele bass sounds good. Almost too good for the premise of it. Burying a hot pickup at the end of the neck tends to limit tonal options. The Fender scale length and maple neck seem to provide some sort of sonic guardrails from it being too much of a hot, foggy-sounding bass. There is an inherent freight train grind to it and the tone control perfectly pivots the tone from freight train to subsonic rumble. I've got back what I lost with the Rivoli, but with a more confident fundamental note below the 5th fret of the E string. Yes, it weighs a bit and has no contours, but I can get passed that! I will finish off the fretwork that Fender started and call it a day. Good bass, and arguably better than the originals? If you study photos of mid-'70s Tele basses you see that the neck pockets could be a bit approximately routed, for example.
Interesting that Fender made a more Gibson-style bass at the same time that Gibson started experimenting with longer scale lengths, maple necks and moving pickups away from the extremes. A bit of cross-pollination.
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Day five of ownership, straight in with the mods...
(https://i.imgur.com/ytnCWt6.jpeg)
Subtle, but I've replaced the two-saddle beastie with a proper bridge. I think it's a Hipshot model B. No modifications required, just drop it in.
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If you care to figure out the balancing act the two way bridges work just fine.
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When I had my '76, the two-saddle bridge never gave me a problem. Still, the Hipshot is a nice solution.
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If you care to figure out the balancing act the two way bridges work just fine.
The two saddle job looks too small to my judgemental eyes! Huge pickup, gulf of nothing, tiny ridge. :o
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The two saddle job looks too small to my judgemental eyes! Huge pickup, gulf of nothing, tiny ridge. :o
Agree! Maybe if it had an ashtray it would be okay but it needs the visual balance.
Really nice!
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I have a MIJ 51 reissue , the school bus yellow version. I’ve kept the two way bridge but put on the classic rocket shaped covers. Out of sight , out of mind.
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I wish they had drilled the body for the bridge cover. I've done it myself on a few basses, but trying to get the geometries accurate from the bridge itself is a challenge!
I've seen vintage basses with subtly offset bridge cover mounting screws, but I would hate to drill them squint myself. Fender poly finishes aren't always the most friendly when it comes to drilling new holes as well, as I've had a few splinter and flake around new screw holes.
I've been doing some home recording with this bass and it lays down a nice thick fundamental that sits nicely in a mix. I just run it directly into an MXR studio compressor pedal and it needs minimal tweaking in the final mix.
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I've finally finished off the fretwork Fender started. Essentially I had to clean lacquer off the sides and ends of the frets, round the fret ends over, ensure the crown of each fret was established and then polish out to a higher standard than Fender do. I also replaced the nut as the slot spacing seemed a bit arbitrary and I had a buzz from the A string behind the nut that couldn't be tamed, even after filing the slot, ramping and flaring the back of the slot, setting the witness point and making sure there was maximum break angle over the nut by getting the string right down the A string post.
Oddly both the third neck bolt and the anchor in the neck it secures into were very loose on this bass. I've used the micro adjuster setup to try and 'shim' the neck. It's a cool idea but it results in some scary creaking noises! Traditional four-bolt setups do seem to be a bit more stable?
Finally, I'm struggling to get the neck arrow straight. I'm wary of over-tightening the bullet adjuster and crushing wood under the string nut or torquing the bullet off the end of the rod . It feels very stiff, but I still have a bit of relief in the neck. I can live with it, but prefer a neck that could be dialled into a backbow so that I know I'm not using all the available tension on the rod just to achieve a usable setup and that a flat neck is achievable somewhere along the full excursion of the trussrod, rather than when it is squeaked 100% tight.
I've taken the bass to two rehearsals with an acoustic folk band. It is making me simplify bass lines and hang onto root notes, as the notes take time to bloom. Fast playing becomes a bit of a 'woof'! This bass sounds amazing with a pick, but the low end bloom when you play fingerstyle is really nice. Solid fundamental!