Fretless P Neck?

[edmonstg]

I'm starting to feel very inadequate. 

George

[Dave W]

I could have done without Herr Simmons outsize signature on it, not because I don't like Herr Simmons, but because I don't like outsize signatures on instruments, period.

But his signature is what makes it valuable! Let's face it, without Gene's signature, it's just an EMG P/J in an unusual shape. You bought it because of Gene, not because you love the sound of EMGs.

It's kind of like the polar opposite of a Sting bass, where people love the bass but try to cover up the 12th fret inlay to keep from being embarrassed. 

[Chris P.]

I like Noel gallagher, but a lot of people don't. His Epiphone signature is one of the best Epiphone semis around. very good pick ups and well made. I know the Dutch agent sold lots of Manchester Blue ones (instead of the Union Jack) and the had some nail polish remover ready al the time to rub off the Gallagher signature.

[godofthunder]

 Nail polish remover ?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that would take off a lot more than the signature. Naptha works best.

[Chris P.]

Well, it was somethin' chemical... Dunno what.

[uwe]

But his signature is what makes it valuable! Let's face it, without Gene's signature, it's just an EMG P/J in an unusual shape. You bought it because of Gene, not because you love the sound of EMGs.

It's kind of like the polar opposite of a Sting bass, where people love the bass but try to cover up the 12th fret inlay to keep from being embarrassed. 

I bought the Punisher because I liked the Addams Family/Munsters goth coffin look it has and because I rate Herr Simmons as a bass player. It sounds like a souped up, dominating TB btw and is very ergonomic with an unlimited double octave high register access and phat sustain. He certainly knew what he was doing.

The Sting inlay on the 53 P-Bass reissue is cheesy and had me hesitating, but that bass sounds great, I love those early single coils when played with a pick. It just doesn't sound anything like Sting sounds these days (oe ever sounded before), but that is the least of my worries. It is a real snarler and cuts through nicely. I also like the baseball bat neck which feels like your playing "a man's bass". 

[uwe]

Back from fretted Punishers to (now) fretless 1962 P Bass reissues from the late eighties. The bass has been back from the luthier for a while now, original neck could be saved (it was always warped and the truss rod finally gave up the futile fight trying to correct the forces of nature), re-trussroded and at my request equipped with a phat rosewood fretless board, it plays great ("mwaw" and all that) - I knew it always had a great fretless bass "sleeping" in it - and I hope the optical results find mercy even with discerning Fenderistas. While I know that fretless P Basses did not crop up until the seventies, I pray the rosewood (rather than ebony or maple) board has retained this specimen's original vibe?

[HornetAMX]

Very nice Uwe!  I had an '83 1957 reissue bass in Fiesta Red that I bought in 1985 for $300.  Wish I still had that one.  George is right in saying that the early Fiesta Red basses are very rare.  The new "classic" MIM Precision basses have some very nice necks and should fit on your bass but are all one piece Maple necks I believe.

[ilan]

Very nice, Uwe! Why did you want a thick board? Is it to have enough rosewood for future redress(es)?

Next week I'll take some pics of my new (to me) '73 P fretless, also an unlined rosewood board. Mine is black w/black guard.

[uwe]

The thick board is there for sound and stability reasons and also because there was a nice slab of old rosewood lying around with my luthier to do it!!! My luthier thinks that the eighties reissues have neck stability issues because their necks are relatively thin to accomodate then prevailing tastes. And getting the warp out of the neck involved some honing of maple too. So far the neck is stable, but I'm not taking chances: When this bass was fretted it had 105 D'Addario Chromes which have huge pull. It now features TI 98 Flats which offer less than 2/3 of the pull of the Chromies.

[JTE]

Hmm..   '80s Reissues (well to be correct, Vintage Series) had thin necks due to the prevailing tastes at the time?  I don't know about that.  My Vintage Series '62 P neck is still as stable now as it was the day I bought her in April 1983.   It's very wide side-to-side, but very narrow front-to-back, and that's perfect. It was a much different feel from most basses at the time which tended more towards being very big front-to-back and varying quite a bit side-to-side.

But nonetheless, it's a beautiful bass you have there!   Fiesta Red, as posted earlier, is a pretty rare color for the early Fullerton Vintage Series basses.  I was a dealer then and only saw two, both '57 Ps.

jte

[uwe]

I had no idea this was a rare color. I bought the bass in Dallas, Texas, sometime in the late eighties. I had been invited to the American wedding of a German friend/ex-band mate (who had gone to law school there and met his American wife) and at the spur of a moment we decided on an inpromptu gig at the wedding since the former drummer and lead guitarist were there as well. We had no gear, so we just went out and bought guitars and a bass, renting drums and backline. The shop only had a couple of basses and this was the only one that "spoke" with me. I remember another, then modern day Fender P in black, but it didn't sound anything like the fiesta red one (which was also cheaper, probably due to the warped neck, which I didn't then notice, or the fact that it had been standing around for ages), even though both my band mates ("that is a weird pussy color, get the black one") and the shop salesman tried to talk me into the black one. Even in later years when I would play it, people would say: "That Fender sounds real nice, but the color is an acquired taste." I used to refer to it as my "Beach Boys bass". It was only comparatively recently that I saw color pictures (as opposed to black and white) of the first Deep Purple line up with Nick Simper on bass and realized that he had played a fiesta red one too in 1968/69. As a Deep Purple nerd that was kind of redeeming as is reading this thread now - belated, but sincere and validating appreciation, thanks!

Re the neck: I'm no expert on Fender necks but this one is more wide than thick too and as regards stability my luthier favors thick over wide necks both with guitars and basses. I don't really care too much either way as regards playability, but prefer the feel of a more rounded neck. But the "warpability" of this particular one is probably more accounted for by how that particular piece of maple grew.

And when I bought it in the late eighties, wide, but "flat" necks were all the rage I thought.

[Chris P.]

Nice bass, Uwe, though I would like a Fiesta/trtoise/rosewood with frets.

About the colour: I have this great Fender MIM 50s P in Fiesta with gold anodized guard. It's my work horse and I love the orange/salmon/pink colour! Real 

If we play with other bands, bassists always seem to have too modern Wariwick-shape basses or cheap P copies in black. People always started about mine! It's just a P which you see too much, but it still is different!

[Bass VI]

Uwe,
I like it!
Speaking of signature basses, don't you now have a Pino Pallidino signature? ( I thinks his has frets ) ?
I always associate him playing a fretless," Boys of Summer " etc.
Long live tomato soup topped with pepperoni!



S.

[uwe]

I have a question for you Fender buffs: This thread has me wondering whether my bass is from the early or the late eighties. I always assumed the latter, because I bought it in the late eighties, but of course it might have been standing in the shop for some time. The neck plate has the serial no V0 31273. The Fender site tells me, I take it, that I would have to remove the neck to look for a stamp to identify the date any closer than "eighties". Is that right?

And I always thought Gibson's serial no system was confounding!

George wrote "Looking at your group shot, with the bass in question some distance from the camera, it appears to me the straight-across cut of the tip end of the rosewood board above the nut indicates it was made after 1986." Is that a trait to discern younger eighties US Vintage basses from older ones? Do the older ones have a rounded cut? If that is true than the bass was indeed from the later eighties (between 1987-1989) which would be a "close enough" date determination for me (and my hunch tells me that that bass is indeed from that period, it didn't look like it had been standing in the shop for five years when I  first bought it). 

Uwe