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Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 5:37 pm
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Rock Star
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NOT that I am condoning any mods on a real original vintage instrument. Nor am I recommending the following pickup swaps for you. You might hate them. Who knows? Anyway here are my personal impressions on different pickups for these basses.

The stock 51 Reissue P-Bass pickup is pretty bright but lacks the personality, character or warmth of my 68 Telecaster Bass. The green chicklet cap I didn't like much either. Alligator clipped in different caps including ceramic (as was stock on my Telecaster Bass), Poly Orange Drops and Mylar Orange Drops of various values before settling on a Vitamin-Q 0.047 200v paper in oil as the one that sounded best to me.

Now, I already had had a Seymour Duncan SCPB3 Single Coil Quarter Pounder in my blonde '54 Frankenstein first generation P-Bass with rosewood slab fretboard. (Yeah I know it is not period correct.) That is the one you see on the header of my website. That pickup is very full range but the biggest difference I noticed was vastly improved sensitivity. This is probably one of the optimum full range pickups for a first generation P-Bass or Telecaster Bass. While the 51 P-Bass is often called a "ONE TRICK PONY" with the Quarter Pounder installed it becomes much more versatile. The Quarter Pounder is not excessively overwound and there are plenty of upper mids which for me makes that single pickup bass the most versatile passive bass I have. If I need an up front sound, that is the bass I want.

It is important though to remember that as with all true single coil pickups the Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder SCPB3's are still vulnerable to RFI noise. So while swapping out the pickup I fully copper shielded it, grounded the cavities and put in a 60's ceramic disc cap which I used for two years before switching to a Sprague Vitamin-Q tone capacitor. The Quarter Pounder always sounded so aggressive with the ceramic cap, but the Vitamin-Q truly opened up the warmth and removed an edge on the upper mids. I like how it sounds better now. But when you crank the treble wide open there is still some RFI sensitivity. Still a very versatile tonal range and super sensitivity.

For a near RFI immune pickup that will fit on these basses, some people over the years actually routed out pickup cavities to install a 2nd generation P-Bass 2 piece split coil. I see Telecaster Basses people did this too frequently on eBay. HOWEVER, this is no longer necessary! Curtis Novak here in North Carolina along with Lindy Fralin up in Virginia and other custom pickup makers offer a DROP IN split coil pickup that looks just like a single coil and fits right into the cavity with no body mods required! However they sound very similar to the 2nd generation 2 piece arrangement. I first tried the Lindy Fralin stock wound split coil pickup with the raised A-pole and it makes my Fender 51 Reissue sound more like a 57 second generation bass. I really like it for Motown things. I put a Vitamin-Q cap in with it too but NO SHIELDING WAS NEEDED AT ALL! Wow that bass creates amazing rumble but no bad noises even with the tone cranked wide open. I put a Leo Quan BAIII bridge on it as well but that was after first trying the Fender USA Deluxe Bridge previously mentioned in another post. I found that on my bass the USA Deluxe bridge would not intonate properly due the very limited saddle travel the Fender compact bridge offers.

In the next single coil bass project that comes along for me I'm probably going to use one of the same design, only next time I'm going to try one from Curtis Novak.

If you decide to go for one of these remarkably RFI immune custom split coil 51/Telecaster style pickups then you may be tempted to get it OVERWOUND as overwinding is a popular and often discussed option. Sometimes the question asked is how much overwound should it be? HOWEVER, I would suggest going with the stock winding or maybe even a tad (2%) underwound for a fuller range sound. If you overwind one of these split coil noiseless wonders they don't seem to have many upper mids left. Sure overwinding makes them LOUDER but narrows the tonal range and they are plenty loud pickups when in stock wind anyway!

The beauty of the 51 and the first generation P-Bass design in general is that with the single coil pickup they don't sound like a second generation P-Bass and they don't sound like a J-Bass but are something else completely! They are loud, sound more aggressive yet they can still get warm. The neck is like a baseball bat and they are harder to set up and the tuners work backwards, but I always have one at a gig.


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Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 6:03 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Roger that.

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"Digo: 'paciencia, y barajar.'" Don Quijote de la Mancha, Part II, Chapter 23


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Post subject: So it's true...
Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 6:31 pm
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Just when I was getting around to finally buying one of those butterscotch numbers, they're nowhere to be found! I wonder why Fender discontinued them.

Can't find them on Craigslist anymore (I live in Nashville), nor on Ebay. General googling finds lots of reviews but few stores, and those stores all list them as "no longer available."

Guitar Center folks told me they certainly sold well enough....

Anybody got any good ideas where to look?


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Post subject: Re: So it's true...
Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 3:51 am
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Rock Star
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clharrison wrote:
Just when I was getting around to finally buying one of those butterscotch numbers, they're nowhere to be found! I wonder why Fender discontinued them.

Can't find them on Craigslist anymore (I live in Nashville), nor on Ebay. General googling finds lots of reviews but few stores, and those stores all list them as "no longer available."

Guitar Center folks told me they certainly sold well enough....

Anybody got any good ideas where to look?


Try eBay item numbers 250718510419 and 140478998096. Mine is sunburst. I was never happy with the butterscotch blonde.

Apparently there are plenty of them in Tokyo. Maybe Fender Japan is still making them, maybe Fender USA is just not importing them.

Conventional wisdom is pointing toward a USA MADE REISSUE coming for the 60th Anniversary. That maybe is why the 51 Reissue was killed off in the USA. Fender Custom Shop made some really nice ones too.

If you want one of the CIJ's new from an online dealer, just order the STING artist bass, it is the same thing but with contouring. Many players prefer the contoured bodies, but I think the extra wood equals extra tone. Then again, I might be wrong and I frequently am. HOWEVER, the STING and the 51 RI were made in the same place with same parts.

If I could change anything about mine, it would be the super fat neck and the vintage frets. Just literally a baseball bat cut in half and nothing like my 68 Telecaster Bass at all.

I do not recommend upgrading the bridge on these as it brings on all kinds of headaches.


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Post subject: Re: So it's true...
Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 6:16 am
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Thanks for your response, and for the eBay links. I have a couple of follow-ups....
brotherdave wrote:
I was never happy with the butterscotch blonde.

Is that purely for aesthetic reasons, or something else?

Quote:
If I could change anything about mine, it would be the super fat neck and the vintage frets.

I actually liked the feel of the narrow, low-profile frets, from my one time of briefly playing one. Would you mind expanding on what you didn't like? (I would guess they'd erode faster, esp. with round-wounds)

Thanks,
Chap


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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 10:06 am
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Roadie
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I played with one of my favorite local bass players last weekend, and he had one of the Squier '51 CV (blue color), with the Seymour Duncan QP installed. Sounded fantastic - quite a tone machine for not so much dollars.

I've also read elsewhere that there should be US-made '51 replacement at NAMM.


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Post subject: Re: So it's true...
Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 2:02 pm
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brotherdave wrote:
If I could change anything about mine, it would be the super fat neck and the vintage frets.

[/quote]

I quite like the neck, and, with this one, the Classic '50s and the AV '57, I am loving the skinny frets.

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Post subject: Re: So it's true...
Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 4:18 pm
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Rock Star
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clharrison wrote:
Thanks for your response, and for the eBay links. I have a couple of follow-ups....
brotherdave wrote:
I was never happy with the butterscotch blonde.

Is that purely for aesthetic reasons, or something else?

Quote:
If I could change anything about mine, it would be the super fat neck and the vintage frets.

I actually liked the feel of the narrow, low-profile frets, from my one time of briefly playing one. Would you mind expanding on what you didn't like? (I would guess they'd erode faster, esp. with round-wounds)

Thanks,
Chap


I just didn't like the color. It was too far off from blonde. Just for aesthetics yes.

The frets are basically guitar frets. If you are used to medium jumbos they take some getting used to. AND yes they will wear faster with rounds. I do not think it is a good idea to use stainless rounds with them. I only use flatwounds on mine. You can almost get a fretless sound with them though and slides are very smooth so there is an advantage to them as well.

The CIJ 51 RI and the Sting both use mini-pots and the control cavity is not large enough for standard CTS pots to fit, so unless you route the control cavity you will always be using mini-pots. There is nothing wrong with mini-pots, but they are harder to find if you ever need a replacement. Mine have been trouble free, but in all honesty I don't use the 51 RI daily. It is like the 3rd most used instrument.


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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 11:51 pm
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Roadie
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Brother Dave;

I have a Road Worn P-Bass, and it has smaller frets as well. I really dig them (with flats). Makes for some real low action with the flats.


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Post subject: glossy fingerboard
Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 9:32 am
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The re-issue maple finger boards feel too fake. The finish is poly I assume? I will take a rosewood board for a recent bass. I bought a cheap Classic Vibe (LP Blue) like the one shown farther down this post. I hated the feel of the board & the pickup is kinda weak too. I like oldermaple boards like on my original '53 P-Bass. Feels like wood. I wanted a cheap one but I am going to sell this bass & buy one with a rosewood board.


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Post subject:
Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2010 6:17 pm
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Maybe they discontinued it because they are gonna put out a 60'th anniversary version for 2011.


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Post subject: Huzzah! Got a used '51 CIJ RI Pbase
Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2010 7:31 pm
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Bought a used '51 reissue off eBay. I like it - very good condition (built ~2005). Couple of questions:

The black "pick guard" (or whatever it's called) does not lie perfectly flat - it buckles slightly. Not visibly, but it just feels cheap. Is this a problem others have seen? Any suggestions how to fix it?

I was surprised to see a video about adjusting the truss rod, in which they began by removing the entire neck. I don't know much (if anything) about truss rod adjustment, but thought it might be something I could manage on my own; however, I didn't think it involved neck removal. Is that the usual procedure?


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Post subject:
Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2010 6:23 am
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Loosen the strings, remove the four screws holding the neck in place; lift the neck away from the body, and turn the truss rod in the desired direction 1/4 turn. Repeat as needed.

My '06 model was shipped in a cardboard box from Japan and ended up in humid East Texas, and required one 1/4 turn on the rod. It's been perfect for the last four years.

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"Digo: 'paciencia, y barajar.'" Don Quijote de la Mancha, Part II, Chapter 23


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Post subject:
Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2010 11:41 pm
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I love my 51 RI. If I hadn't bought a CS 55 RI it would probably be my main player (but that's now the 55).


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