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Post subject: My '54 Precision Reissue find
Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 9:48 am
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I bought my newest bass, this '54 Japanese reissue for $560. It came with a Fralin pickup and the pickup cover already on it when I bought it. :D I have been wanting one for a long time and when I saw this I knew I had to have it, especially since the ones on ebay are going for $800 + used. It sounds amazing with a lot more low end thump than a split coil. I like the pickup cover because I can use it as a thumb rest and it looks really cool to boot. :lol: It came with roundwounds but I bought some flatwounds seeing how this is a "54". A question though, should the pickup cover be so asymmetrical over the pickup? The treble side is right up against the pickup while the bass side is about half and inch away from it. And here's a pic of my '65 Precision with my reissue '59 Bassman.

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1965 Fender Precision Bass, 1994 Fender '54 Reissue Precision Bass, 2007 Applause Celebrity, 2011 Fender American Special Jazz Bass, 2012 Squier Vintage Modified Jazzmaster, 2013 Fender American Special Stratocaster, 2013 Gibson LPJ


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Post subject: Re: My '54 Precision Reissue find
Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 11:15 am
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There are a couple things I am not nuts about in your pup pic, but the cover is tight up against the pick guard, so it is what it is. As long as you like the sound, just enjoy it.

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Post subject: Re: My '54 Precision Reissue find
Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 12:15 pm
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Could you explain? Is there something I should be worried about? Is the pickup cover bad?

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1965 Fender Precision Bass, 1994 Fender '54 Reissue Precision Bass, 2007 Applause Celebrity, 2011 Fender American Special Jazz Bass, 2012 Squier Vintage Modified Jazzmaster, 2013 Fender American Special Stratocaster, 2013 Gibson LPJ


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Post subject: Re: My '54 Precision Reissue find
Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 7:52 pm
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On the Fender Japan reproductions of the first generation single coil P-Basses the pickguard shape is off slightly from the original in the area where one side of the chrome pickup cover should be seated on the body. To compensate you have to remove the pickguard for some minor reshaping in the area where the chrome pickup cover is installed. Alternately you can position the cover inferior to the era correct position. 99 out of 100 people that add the chrome pickup cover do not take into account the pickguard being off and do not reshape it, hence the reason why your cover is off kilter. They got a lot right on them but the pickguard sizing is one of the things they got wrong.

Instead of reshaping the guard you can also mount the cover so that the pickup is near the superior lip of the cover where it will be better centered. When mounted that way it looks OK and also gets your plucking fingers closer to the pickup while still protecting it from damage.

If ever an electric bass needed a chrome pickup cover it is this one and why they didn't get the pickguard shape correct when it would have been just as easy to get it right instead of wrong is a mystery to me. It is so off that it seems entirely possible they didn't actually have an original to go by and just eye-balled it. An alternative idea is that they didn't want them to be interchangeable with the original. Like I said it is a mystery to me.


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Post subject: Re: My '54 Precision Reissue find
Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 6:43 am
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BD +1. I was not aware they could be reshaped without damaging the cover.

The other point I was going to raise was about the saddles, but I am on the road and wanted to check first. Upon review, the steel saddle is correct for 1954, so no problem there.

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Post subject: Re: My '54 Precision Reissue find
Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 11:11 am
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That bass is pretty much just like my Sting bass unless it didn't come stock with the little pots. Are they big ones or small ones? We don't like the small ones do we? :shock:


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Post subject: Re: My '54 Precision Reissue find
Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 2:06 pm
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affprod wrote:
BD +1. I was not aware they could be reshaped without damaging the cover.

The other point I was going to raise was about the saddles, but I am on the road and wanted to check first. Upon review, the steel saddle is correct for 1954, so no problem there.


I meant removing the pickguard and reshaping the pickguard a bit to allow proper placement of the pickup cover. I did not mean to reshape the pickup cover.


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Post subject: Re: My '54 Precision Reissue find
Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2013 2:54 pm
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stroker vance wrote:
That bass is pretty much just like my Sting bass unless it didn't come stock with the little pots. Are they big ones or small ones? We don't like the small ones do we? :shock:


All the Fender Japan 51/56 reissues I've been into used mini-pots. There really is nothing tonally inferior with mini-pots because 250K is 250K. They do seem to feel a bit different in operation to me and I've always suspected they won't last as long as standard sized pots but I have no proof of that and they do seem to hold up for me. Mini-pots are used in all sorts of electronics such as active EQ sections on multi-thousand dollar basses, high dollar mixers and many effects pedals.

In order to convert one of these Fender Japan first generation P-Bass reissues to full sized pots several things have to happen and none of them are really easy. You have to expand the control cavity routing as it is too small for full sized pots. That is really messy and while I'm not a proponent of doing that I have done it. BUT I won't do it again. You also have to expand the holes in the control plate as they are smaller than standard so a CTS standard sized pot won't fit the existing holes. That means re-drilling the holes which requires a drill press. Additionally you'll have to get knobs to fit the standard sized pots. For me, all that hassle really is not worth it so long as the original pots are working well. I do NOT recommend up-sizing to standard pots.

For this Fender Japan first generation P-Bass fan, the only downside to mini-pots is that if and when they do act up and don't respond to cleaning spray you have to order replacement mini-pots and wait for them to come because most local shops just don't stock them, at least none around here anyway.


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Post subject: Re: My '54 Precision Reissue find
Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2013 9:36 pm
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brotherdave wrote:
stroker vance wrote:
That bass is pretty much just like my Sting bass unless it didn't come stock with the little pots. Are they big ones or small ones? We don't like the small ones do we? :shock:


All the Fender Japan 51/56 reissues I've been into used mini-pots. There really is nothing tonally inferior with mini-pots because 250K is 250K. They do seem to feel a bit different in operation to me and I've always suspected they won't last as long as standard sized pots but I have no proof of that and they do seem to hold up for me. Mini-pots are used in all sorts of electronics such as active EQ sections on multi-thousand dollar basses, high dollar mixers and many effects pedals.

In order to convert one of these Fender Japan first generation P-Bass reissues to full sized pots several things have to happen and none of them are really easy. You have to expand the control cavity routing as it is too small for full sized pots. That is really messy and while I'm not a proponent of doing that I have done it. BUT I won't do it again. You also have to expand the holes in the control plate as they are smaller than standard so a CTS standard sized pot won't fit the existing holes. That means re-drilling the holes which requires a drill press. Additionally you'll have to get knobs to fit the standard sized pots. For me, all that hassle really is not worth it so long as the original pots are working well. I do NOT recommend up-sizing to standard pots.

For this Fender Japan first generation P-Bass fan, the only downside to mini-pots is that if and when they do act up and don't respond to cleaning spray you have to order replacement mini-pots and wait for them to come because most local shops just don't stock them, at least none around here anyway.



I did all that to my Sting a few weeks ago. It sounds better- I put 500k pots in it and a 473 cap.


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Post subject: Re: My '54 Precision Reissue find
Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2013 8:58 am
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stroker vance wrote:
I did all that to my Sting a few weeks ago. It sounds better- I put 500k pots in it and a 473 cap.


Bet that sounds brighter with 500K pots and those Roto rounds you use.


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