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Post subject: Fender CiJ P-Bass Fake?
Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2015 11:21 am
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Hi there! Some man sold me this Precision bass. When I came home I couldn't find out the year it was made. That made me doubt. Please, help me! Is it fake or not? If "yes", I will return it.

The headstock says "Crafted in Japan" with a strange font I've never seen before. The number is N089954 Which is enormous according to product datings, there is no such combination. And there is no number on the body under the headstock. The pictures are here.
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Post subject: Re: Fender CiJ P-Bass Fake?
Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2015 11:27 am
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It looks genuine to me. However, it appears that the pickup has been upgraded.

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Fender CiJ P-Bass Fake?
Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2016 12:31 pm
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Did you post this on the Precision Bass forum? Ask Brother Dave, he knows all!!!


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Post subject: Re: Fender CiJ P-Bass Fake?
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2016 8:27 am
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Fender says it is a 1993-1994 model here:
http://www2.fender.com/support/articles/japanese-instruments-product-dating/
N plus 6 digits is 93-94 model as you can read for yourself. There is nothing unusual about the serial and it checks out to be properly formatted for a Fender Japan instrument FMIC imported to the USA.

As Retroverbial/Arjay pointed out the pickup pair is not stock. Appears to be the Seymour Duncan SPB3 set, also known as the "Quarter-Pounder" which is one of the most popular aftermarket P-Bass pickup options if not in fact the most popular. Fender uses the SPB3 on numerous Artist Series instruments and it is way better than the stock Fender Japan pair. Pickups are the weakest link on these usually.

The Gotoh 201 aftermarket bridge also is not stock. It shipped with a vintage original vintage style bridge based on the 1957 design. Other electronics may have been upgraded when the pickup pair was changed such as the pots, capacitor and jack, but there is little tonal advantage in changing anything except the tone capacitor and only a subtle advantage in doing that.

Most of the Fender Japan P-Bass export models I've seen have PB-57 stampings in the neckpocket and/or on the neck heel or paddle back. The Fender logo on these PB-57 models was the "spaghetti" logo from the 1957 Fenders such as this one:
Image

That headstock decal is correct for these PB-57 model instruments made by Fujigen in Matsumoto Japan under contract from Fender Japan and imported by FMIC for North American distribution.

Other than the pickup and bridge externally it appears stock and correct. A pickup upgrade is something I also would have done almost immediately but I probably would have left the bridge stock. The Gotoh 201 is a good affordable option if you want a high mass bridge. My pickup upgrade would have been the Fender Original Vintage and if I changed the bridge at all I would have considered the Gotoh 203 or Fender Original threaded bridge instead of the 201.


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