Jono Bolton

I had the Classic Vibe Bass VI. It was decently made and I really liked the pickups in it, but ultimately I didn't use it much, and the string spacing at the nut was far too narrow for me to play comfortably so I sold it at the end of last year.

It's absolutely sickening to think that a bass made in the 90s would be considered 'old'.

I took the scratch plate off last night and had a look at the wiring. I've got a 1 Meg CTS pot in the tone position, but the solder on the volume pot is covering up the details; is it likely to also be 1 Meg or would it be lower? I didn't get a note of the cap values while I had it open so not sure what it is. Given the volume pot doesn't have a smooth sweep, it is worth just replacing the whole harness?

What pots and cap have you got in there already?

How can a product on pre-order be discontinued?

I'd be more interested in the P if the neck had dots instead of blocks. I don't know why Squier (and Fender) have blocks on their 70s Precisions when almost every genuine 70s Fender P I've seen has just had a normal neck on it.

Are we looking at the same picture?

In terms of build quality, I have no issues at all with mine. The first one I had was returned due to a dent in the finish under the top coat, but this one is fine build-wise. I'll probably open it up and re-wire it at some point, but I suppose my main issue is that I don't know what it's supposed to sound like to begin with as I'm not that familiar with the pickup. I've watched a few YouTube vids and in some there's a clear difference between the tone at 0% and 100%, similar to a P Bass, but I've seen a couple where the sound isn't hugely different. The volume pot is definitely a duffer, but I can live with it for now.

I did think that, though it's a bit shite to have to replace the wiring in a 4-month old bass that cost a grand

I probably wouldn't have questioned it but I can hear the difference in my P Basses very clearly. I didn't wonder if it was perhaps a duff pot as the volume control in the Telebass is garbage; once you turn it down to about 8, it's off completely.

I've updated the thread title rather than create a new thread as the issue seems to be wiring related, rather than the pickup itself. This might be a daft question as I've got one of the Fender Vintera Telecaster Basses, but I'm a bit perplexed by the Wide Range Humbucker in the neck. The tone control doesn't work in the same way as a P Bass does where turning it down rolls off the top end; rolling it from 0 to 100% seems to provide different voicings to the pickup but the difference is quite subtle. It could be because I'm usually playing at low levels at home, or my ears are a bit duff. Perhaps that's just how they sound, but I'm struggling to find much information on them and how they're wired. I was expecting a big boomy sound with the tone turned right the way down.

Matching headstock and a bound neck as far as I can see. Dot and binding always looks better than blocks IMO

Without pictures it's hard to say, but IIRC every Fender (and Squier) produced in '96 had a 50th anniversary sticker on the back of the headstock. Chances are it's just a standard production P Bass of the time, rather than something specific produced for the 50th anniversary.

You've had an instrument for 40 years? I thought you were supposed to sell them on every two to three years. That's how it works, right?

I only really play precisions, or precision-style basses, and they're all much of a muchness really. I don't think one made in 1987 (my YOB) would be much different to the ones I've currently got; 1982, 2011, 2023, and one put together from various parts.

This is probably the correct answer. Unless you're absolutely certain that you don't want or need it, and you can afford to do so, hang onto it. I've got one for sale at the moment that I only had a day before putting it up in the Marketplace. I didn't really want it in the first place but I won an eBay auction that I didn't expect to, and I felt it would have been a dick move on my part to not pay for it, so I know I won't look back in regret if it goes.

Even eBay has it's idiots. I've got a guitar up for sale and received an offer yesterday that I deemed too low, so I made a counter offer that was about midway between their offer and my listed price. The buyer declined it and added a message that basically amounted to "I can buy an entirely different guitar brand new for less".