BassAgent

I'm playing with my ABBA tribute in Breda, in the south of NL  Not a big fan of the holidays so very happy to be working.

Somebody sent me this just now:

A couple of things are weird to me:
-This bass is an obvious refin, and not a very good one. Why didn't they say so? Why keep that information from the owner?
-Why, when he knew the bass could be worth 12 grand (which in my view is pretty optimistic for a refin '60 P), did the owner agree to only $2,000 for the bass? 
-They kept the electronics original but also re-wired it? I get they want to make it functional again of course but why contradict themselves?

Other than that: absolutely gorgeous bass.

It is! Andy suggested not to ship it before New Year's because the payment probably won't arrive before Tuesday, which would make it difficult to have the bass arrive before Christmas. So to avoid the risk of having the bass sit in a cold shipping facility somewhere we've agreed to postpone shipping until January.

So here's a nice announcement: shortly after New Year's (hurray for mail not working after Christmas) this gorgeous machine is going to come my way:

The previous Model D reissue from a few years back was very good and cost around $4K. This is supposed to be about twice as expensive. Blimey.

Yep, that's a veeeeeery sloppy refret.

Probably the most bass for the money I've ever owned.

I translated my review!
 

The design of this bass is almost seventy years old. In fact, if you count its predecessor too (and the difference between those two is marginal) it’s óver seventy years ago Leo Fender released his Fender Precision Bass design, and almost three quarters of a century later it’s still a big hit. But if you look at this particular bass closely, it’s basically a very expensive wooden board with strings, right?

The American Vintage series is a series that Fender has been making for many years now, under different names, but always with reissues of a particular iconic year. They make instruments that should look and feel like they were built forty, fifty or sixty years ago. This Precision is no exception. The classic single coil pickup (replaced in 1957 by the famous split coil), a one piece maple neck and not much else on it. Still this design has a certain something. It is of course a classic design, like the Fiat Panda or a Chesterfield couch, but apart from that, it’s a very balanced design that above all is supposed to be functional and simple.

Right, enough nostalgia about days of the past. This is a bass that was designed a long time ago, but this particular instrument is brand new and has to conform itself to the demands of the modern day and age. Is this almost 2500 costing bass fit for today’s stage? Well, for a start you have to have pretty big hands, especially on the left. The neck isn’t just made from one piece of maple, it feels like Fender has used an entire maple tree for it. It improves the stability of course, but it’s going to be a (literal) handful for people with small hands, or for those who are used to thinner necks. Let’s just call it an acquired taste.

Apart from the chunky neck the first thing that strikes me is the way this bass is built: it’s flawless. The see-through blond finish is perfect, the frets are great, the hardware works excellently (warning: the tuners turn the other way!) and the setup from the factory is also very comfortable. There are periods in Fender history where the quality control was so-so, but those days are long gone and this bass is a perfect example of that. This bass is equipped with flatwound strings as standard, which I think is absolutely required: that’s the way it was designed, that’s the way it’s supposed to be. Funny feature too: on the original basses from 1954, the bridge saddles were made of some kind of pressed fiber as a successor of bakelite, and on this reissue Fender has put “fiber” saddles too. No clue as to what this fiber consists of, but it certainly looks the part.

A Precision bass must sound like “grunt”. Well, this bass certainly does that. It doesn’t matter which amp you use, “grunt” is what you get. Most people know the classic grunt from a split coil Precision like on old Motown records, but this grunt is different. It has less low end and it sounds a bit rougher, possibly partly because of the higher output than a split coil Precision. It feels and sounds like there’s already a bit of overdrive on your sound. Is that an issue? Not at all, on the contrary: you get this rootsy kind of sound that fits perfectly with the image of this bass.

Let’s go back to that neck. As said, it’s pretty chunky. I don’t want to imply that that makes it uncomfortable to play, not at all. Playing this bass for an hour is an absolute joy. The balance is great, the neck isn’t very inviting to play fast licks (but let’s be honest: with a sound and feel like this, you don’t want to play fast anyway) and before you know it you’ve been playing the entire Motown and Stax repertoire. And when you’re finished doing that, grab your pick and play all Carol Kaye songs you know.

But it’s 2022 now and I feel I’m getting nostalgic again. So out with the old, in with the new! Dua Lipa, Harry Styles, Tame Impala, the whole shebang. And lo and behold, even with the most recent and modern music, this bass shines. A nice, balanced sound with which you can do anything you like. Well, as long as it contains “grunt”.

So yes, this is a wooden board with strings. And that’s exactly what makes it successful: you can do everything with it, because it doesn’t force you to do anything in a specific genre. A Precision always fits, and this American Vintage Precision is no exception. It isn’t cheap, but you could do all your gigs with it. As long as it contains “grunt”.

Awesome! How do they compare?

On 25/09/2022 at 18:56, ped said:

New knobs on the Celinder today

 

 

Oh my. Seeing a Celinder always makes me yearn for my former bass (I had the 1998 Skarbee J Update). The 70s sound and me never became friends (and probably never will) but that neck... I think I never played a better neck. Except a Stenback perhaps. But I hope I can find a Classic or Vintage Celinder someday for a decent price. There's one on Reverb in the USA for €4000...I bought mine back then for half that.

EDIT: I read that Thomas Skarbee bought this very bass back a few years ago. That makes me happy.

This is all excellent advice and I'm going to take it all to heart. Thanks so much

Of course I'm going to have it set up optimally  Thanks for the advice!

Yep, you're totally right. The shim consists of two parts, I'm going to save them to probably put it back later. The bridge cannot be adjusted in height now, however a Staytrem (which I'm planning on putting on the bass) is adjustable so that wil also help.

By the way, the Fender strings that are on it now are heavier than the Labella strings currently in production. The Fender 250B6 are .024, .034, .044, .065, .080, .100, while the Labella's are .026, .035, .044, .056, .075, .095.

Yesterday I gave it almost "real" tension and the strings were...well...not really doing anything. Just buzzing. I looked at the neck and saw it had a shim underneath it. Took the shim out, tuned the strings, and, well...it works. It sounds. It needs a good setup of course, I have to check the neck pickup, but it sounds great. Couldn't be happier so far.

It hasn't been sold yet so the price is not definitive but I don't think it's going to be sold under €20K. But I have no idea of the exact price.

I had a truly staggering experience today. A friend of mine is selling a few basses for a colleague, and one of them is an August 1960 Jazz Bass. So I said "please don't sell it before I've played it". So today I had some coffee and a few minutes on this amazing instrument. It has had a refret (and a new nut), the pickguard has been removed for many years now so it doesn't fit anymore, but otherwise...boy o boy what a bass. One of the best Jazzes I've ever played, I think. I wish I could afford it.

Thomann is awesome. Great customer service, shipping with UPS (never a hassle), good prices... Love it. I've bought my JMJ Mustang as a B-stock from them and it worked like a charm. I asked them how I can notice the fact it's B-stock and they said "it might have scratch here or there". The JMJ is a Road Worn bass.

It's an Allparts Mustang bridge. Works pretty well as a placeholder so far, but pretty hard to adjust (if not impossible) to adjust the saddle height, so if it's going to work neckwise I'm going to check with the owner if I can get a better bridge for it

It's 55 mm

I gave her some strings. Not on full tension yet, only a tiny bit. I'm going to wind the tuners once every day. See what happens. The neck seems straight, somehow, after being without strings for many, many years.

I always kind of ignored Dingwalls for being "weird" and "ugly" and then I played one. And then I had to get one.

Got a few nice shows coming up:

-Tonight going to see Porcupine Tree

-Converge and Full of Hell next Wednesday

-Jason Isbell next Monday

-Tuesday after that: Zeal & Ardor

-Sunday after that: Opeth

Yep, that's old all right.

Ahhh yes. Slab board.

I have a new temporary housemate. It's an original 1963 Bass VI. Well, almost original. It's missing the bridge and the neck pickup isn't working, and it has been missing strings for years now. Oh, and it has some moisture damage on the bottom of the body. I'm going to try to restore it.

The steps I'm going to take:
-Clean it, put some oil in the fretboard
-Get a cheap bridge to get it strung up with a set of Fender 250B6 strings to see what the neck is going to do when I slowly build tension on the neck
-Check why the neck pickup isn't working
-If the neck isn't warped, get a good Staytrem bridge for it
-See if I can find some new foam for the mute
-Give it a decent setup and set of Labella strings

Now I have a few questions so far:
-Would a cheap Jaguar or Mustang bridge fit this gorgeous instrument, just for the time being to check the neck? I was looking at this bridge, which is made for a 7.25" radius neck but would it fit the body? Setup isn't important for now, just tension on the neck

-How to properly build tension on the neck

Alright, time for pics! A bit hazy because it's dark here at the moment.