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Post subject: Vintage 70's, American vintage Reissue, or Design Your Own?
Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 5:53 am
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Hey All,
Looking to upgrade from my MIM Jazz. Looking for a P-Bass this time around.
Should I look for a nice Vintage from early 70's? (want something not too heavy)
Or should I go with a new Reissue?
The "Design your own" option on the Fender site is enticing , and is about $1000 cheaper than the reissues.
If I design one as a vintage is it that much different than the official American reissues?
Thanks!


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Post subject: Re: Vintage 70's, American vintage Reissue, or Design Your O
Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 7:53 am
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Stephen Borgovini wrote:
Hey All,
Looking to upgrade from my MIM Jazz. Looking for a P-Bass this time around.
Should I look for a nice Vintage from early 70's? (want something not too heavy)
Or should I go with a new Reissue?
The "Design your own" option on the Fender site is enticing , and is about $1000 cheaper than the reissues.
If I design one as a vintage is it that much different than the official American reissues?
Thanks!



It will have a Poly body (which since you are looking at 70's P's is irrelevant) Though to be honest the cheapest vintage style ADE bass I could design was 1699 dollars. Which is only 300 cheaper than the AVS reissue. It's unclear as to whether the tone circuit will be the same as the AVS even if the pick ups are. Meaning. They could have the vintage series pick ups but the modern wiring, pots and jack. Also, you won't get the covers, and vintage case candy. The modern style instruments are much cheaper. The vintage style not so much where the ADE is concerned. Honestly the vintage necks in the ADE aren't going to be anything like a 70's P bass.

I have an MIM Classic 70's P and used to own a vintage 78 Precision. The Classic 70's is a really good bass for the money and is much lighter than my 78 was. If you're determined to buy American but save money then the American Special will get you the closest to the 70's basses in terms of appointments with the exception of the greasebucket. If you are determined to have an early 70's Precision reissue then the Nate Mendel P bass is the way to go, imo.

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Post subject: Re: Vintage 70's, American vintage Reissue, or Design Your O
Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 8:21 am
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:arrow: My '76 Precision tips the scales at 12+ pounds. The Alder grain is very straight; tight, and highly resonant.

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Post subject: Re: Vintage 70's, American vintage Reissue, or Design Your O
Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 8:24 am
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My 78 was 13.5lbs. It was a great bass and had absolutely killer tone for classic punk. There are times I miss it. However, I NEVER miss the weight of it. I can't imagine doing 4 hours with her now. Hopefully she's now on the shoulder of some young kid playing punk and loving it. I'm getting too old for that, anyhow. :wink:

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Post subject: Re: Vintage 70's, American vintage Reissue, or Design Your O
Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 9:01 am
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Oh come on, doesnt Mary Huff from SCOTS still do it?


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Post subject: Re: Vintage 70's, American vintage Reissue, or Design Your O
Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 9:27 am
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atolleter wrote:
Oh come on, doesnt Mary Huff from SCOTS still do it?


Does that make her 'Mary, Queen of SCOTS' ? :lol:

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Post subject: Re: Vintage 70's, American vintage Reissue, or Design Your O
Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 10:22 am
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atolleter wrote:
Oh come on, doesnt Mary Huff from SCOTS still do it?



I'm pretty sure not for 4 hour stretches. I could do a set or two, and stand and bebop in one spot no problem. SCOTS isn't punk. By a long shot.

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Post subject: Re: Vintage 70's, American vintage Reissue, or Design Your O
Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 8:28 am
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So I went to Guitar center last night and played a few P basses.

First I played a nice 1973 all original, medium weight. Asking $3000 (no case). Sounded good, felt good.

Then I played a '58 Ash reissue. This thing was light as a feather and the pickups had a wider tonal range. Nice bass and much brighter than the '73 on the treble end. The output was less than the '73. The neck was perfect all the way up, and it felt like a toy compared to the '73! Maybe its psychological but it seemed to lack warmth? It was priced at $1,999

Next I tried the '63 reissue, I don't know if there was something wrong with it, but it lacked bass and volume, I put it down quickly. $2499


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Post subject: Re: Vintage 70's, American vintage Reissue, or Design Your O
Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 1:15 pm
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As fo the 58. The Ash will be brighter which can seem like it lacks warmth. Also, a rosewood board is generally warmer than a maple one. So the 63 should seem warmer.

I have to wonder if you played an actual Fender AVS 63 Reissue, though. There's no way a 63 Reissue should cost 2500 dollars. (unless you were looking at the list price and no the actual street price) The AVS 63 should cost exactly the same as the 58. Unless you're talking about a Custom Shop Reissue. (Which I think the only 63 CS Reissue I remember is the Pino. (Which should literally cost twice that unless it's used)

Not sure why it would lack volume or bass. Especially as the early 60's P's and their reissues are known as the bassiest and fattest sounding of the Precision lineage. The actual vintage 70's P's are usually the hottest Precisions I've ever heard in terms of output. However, they are also generally fairly unruly in the frequency department. Which makes them great for music like punk. You usually get a lot of drive and a lot of sound across all the bass frequencies. However, it's usually less focused.

Again. If you're looking for a representation of the early 70's P but don't want to break the bank. Try and get your hands on a Nate Mendel Signtaure Precision. It should give you exactly what you're looking for, but at less than a 3rd of the cost of the actual vintage model.

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Post subject: Re: Vintage 70's, American vintage Reissue, or Design Your O
Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 1:49 pm
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TheKingofPain wrote:
Again. If you're looking for a representation of the early 70's P but don't want to break the bank. Try and get your hands on a Nate Mendel Signtaure Precision. It should give you exactly what you're looking for, but at less than a 3rd of the cost of the actual vintage model.


I agree go with the Nate Mendal P-Bass,.... I've played one,.... they're nice basses & it's a replica of Nate's '71 P- Bass


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Post subject: Re: Vintage 70's, American vintage Reissue, or Design Your O
Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2014 9:38 pm
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linnin wrote:
:arrow: My '76 Precision tips the scales at 12+ pounds. The Alder grain is very straight; tight, and highly resonant.




!@ 12 lbs?? Well GIT IT Arnold Schwarzeneger!!!! Use that bass for a workout. I'm here to pump you up. :lol:


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Post subject: Re: Vintage 70's, American vintage Reissue, or Design Your O
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 6:07 am
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Totally forgot to mention that the '73 i played had "checking" which I learned is congruent with a NITRO finish. I didn't realize Fender was still doing nitro finishes in the 70's. Do you think I found something RARE?


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Post subject: Re: Vintage 70's, American vintage Reissue, or Design Your O
Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 11:13 am
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stroker vance wrote:
linnin wrote:
:arrow: My '76 Precision tips the scales at 12+ pounds. The Alder grain is very straight; tight, and highly resonant.

!@ 12 lbs?? Well GIT IT Arnold Schwarzeneger!!!! Use that bass for a workout. I'm here to pump you up. :lol:

No $@!&! I feel like a total wimp everytime I put it on to play, but I can still do a 90 minute concert/show with that bass.

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2016 Rumble 200 Combo
One day they shall name a GREAT city after me, and they shall call it LINNINGRAD


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Post subject: Re: Vintage 70's, American vintage Reissue, or Design Your O
Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2014 7:51 am
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Stephen Borgovini wrote:
Totally forgot to mention that the '73 i played had "checking" which I learned is congruent with a NITRO finish. I didn't realize Fender was still doing nitro finishes in the 70's. Do you think I found something RARE?



I don't think so. I'm not sure exactly when the switch happened. You'd need to consult someone like Brotherdave for really specific info like that. Possibly around the time the tugbar got moved to the thumbrest postition? So maybe around late 74? It was driven by government regulation among other things if I understand it correctly. The Nate Mendel is basically a RI of his 71 with the SD 1/4lb pick up upgrade and Badass II bridge. It comes in Nitro and has a light relic done to it. It's a pretty sweet looking bass. So for the early 70's basses Nitro is still something that was used. Whether that was standard across all models I have no idea. (ie: P, J, and Telebass) I guess we'd need to know what is it about 70's basses that really draw you to them to really give you a definitive opinion on which 70's-ish Fender would be the ideal option as opposed to a legitimate 70's vintage model. That being said. 3k isn't a bad deal for a vintage piece as long as it's all original and in good shape.

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