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Post subject: Best p bass ever?
Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 3:12 pm
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Does anyone think that the 60th annaversary p bass it the best fender bass ever??? I do.

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Post subject: Re: Best p bass ever?
Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 3:21 pm
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Well, I think that my P-bass is the best in the world, but that's my opinion. 8)
I think you're gonna get alot of different answers.
As far as the 60th anniversary P-bass, I can't comment as I have not played one yet.
As long as you are "slappin' da bass", and you're happy, then i think that is all that matters.


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Post subject: Re: Best p bass ever?
Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 2:24 am
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I've not played one either and the odds I ever will is slim to say the least. It certainly is interesting looking. Sort of a hodgepodge of P-Bass designs marrying the first and second generations in ways that some people have been doing on their own with similar modifications to first generation instruments over the years. I would have preferred the smaller first generation headstock as it would take some getting used to sitting on the stand. The first gen body, second gen headstock thing really caught me off guard as I was not expecting that at all. I think that, like the 50th Anniv USA stuff, these will mostly be hoarded by speculative collectors and not used as players.

As for the best Fender Basses I ever had I think the Fender Telecaster was, if not the very best, at least one of the three best gigging Fender basses I ever had. I like the single coil first gen sound very much. It suits me. The Cowpoke Precision Bass Special I had was pretty sweet playing and had a huge tonal range and was LOUD with an excellent see through blonde finish. Sweet instrument. The black JP90 was the third of the three best ones. (The pickguard on the JP90 was a nightmarish thing, but it played fantastic and was pretty versatile too.) I never played any of those side by side so I can't really say which was best, but I'm leaning toward the Telecaster Bass. After I traded it for a new Jazz in 1971 or so and the new wore off the Jazz....I knew I'd messed up. But unlike today, hardly anyone back then had more than one bass....well Duck Dunn had TWO but hardly anyone else.


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Post subject: Re: Best p bass ever?
Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 8:39 am
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Wow thats quite a story, ive never herd of a tele bass, when did you get it?

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Post subject: Re: Best p bass ever?
Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 12:09 pm
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brotherdave wrote:
I've not played one either and the odds I ever will is slim to say the least. It certainly is interesting looking. Sort of a hodgepodge of P-Bass designs marrying the first and second generations in ways that some people have been doing on their own with similar modifications to first generation instruments over the years. I would have preferred the smaller first generation headstock as it would take some getting used to sitting on the stand. The first gen body, second gen headstock thing really caught me off guard as I was not expecting that at all. I think that, like the 50th Anniv USA stuff, these will mostly be hoarded by speculative collectors and not used as players.

As for the best Fender Basses I ever had I think the Fender Telecaster was, if not the very best, at least one of the three best gigging Fender basses I ever had. I like the single coil first gen sound very much. It suits me. The Cowpoke Precision Bass Special I had was pretty sweet playing and had a huge tonal range and was LOUD with an excellent see through blonde finish. Sweet instrument. The black JP90 was the third of the three best ones. (The pickguard on the JP90 was a nightmarish thing, but it played fantastic and was pretty versatile too.) I never played any of those side by side so I can't really say which was best, but I'm leaning toward the Telecaster Bass. After I traded it for a new Jazz in 1971 or so and the new wore off the Jazz....I knew I'd messed up. But unlike today, hardly anyone back then had more than one bass....well Duck Dunn had TWO but hardly anyone else.



Dave, I played around with the 50th anniversary P-bass they had displayed at the NAMM show a few weeks ago, it was okay but not any better than a typical American Standard.


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Post subject: Re: Best p bass ever?
Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 3:01 pm
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I think that calling the 60th Anniversary P the best ever is quite a stretch. I have a '51 RI (much like brotherdave's Tele), a Classic '50s and an AV '57, and I don't see how doing a mash-up is going to make one better. I doubt that I'll get to see one in this small town (where practically every player but me seems to have either a 5-string Ibanez or a black J) either, but I'm not upset about that.

On the other hand, I love the finish on the new one.

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Post subject: Re: Best p bass ever?
Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 3:05 pm
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lpdeluxe wrote:
I think that calling the 60th Anniversary P the best ever is quite a stretch. I have a '51 RI (much like brotherdave's Tele), a Classic '50s and an AV '57, and I don't see how doing a mash-up is going to make one better. I doubt that I'll get to see one in this small town (where practically every player but me seems to have either a 5-string Ibanez or a black J) either, but I'm not upset about that.

On the other hand, I love the finish on the new one.


Really it's just an Amperican Standard P-bass in ash instead of alder and a different pickguard.


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Post subject: Re: Best p bass ever?
Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 3:11 pm
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Guitar squirrel wrote:
Wow thats quite a story, ive never herd of a tele bass, when did you get it?

1968. The Telecaster Bass was basically the FIRST and probably most accurate mass production Reissue of the First Generation Precision Bass. They renamed it "Telecaster Bass." It was introduced in 1968. You got Fender Blonde or paid an upgrade for a CUSTOM COLOR therefore MOST of them are blonde. Legend says Fender Fullerton had enough left over 1952 production parts to construct the prototypes and to use as the templates for the computer controlled machines that make bodies and necks. so they were nearly exact copies of the '52. One glaring distinction however was the two-screw finger rest instead of the single-screw finger rest of the 1951 model.

In the 1971/1972 model year they changed the pickup to a huge chrome Gibsonesque humbucker that had the FENDER logo engraved upon it. From there other things got changed like replacing the chrome control plate with pickguard mounted controls and going from a 4 bolt to 3 bolt neck as the years passed until it ceased production in 1979 as a very different instrument from the '68-'70 model.

All of them remain collector items. Selling presently for $2,500 to $6,000 and even more. Some of the rarer and more collectible 1969-1971 versions are the PAISLEY (sort of a pinkish red, but not quite Fiesta Red, sort of like cranberry based) and the BLUE FLOWER finishes. These finishes were replicated in Japanese Fender '51 Reissues during the 90's but the Blue Flower Reissues seem most abundant.

Squier's current production models called the Classic Vibe Precision '50s Bass and the Vintage Modified Precision Bass TB are cosmetic knockoffs of the 1968/71 and 1972/79 Telecaster basses, but come in different colors than were available on the Telecaster Bass.

The 1968/1971 models looked like this:
Image

1972/1979 models looked like this:
Image

The Paisley and the Blue Flower had CLEAR pickguards. The Blue Flower below is one of the Reissues:

Image
Image

These finishes were also offered on the Telecaster 6-Strings and are if anything, more rare on the 6-String versions.


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