If you want a 51 but can't afford the American one get the Japanese one. The only difference is you don't get the ashtrays { Pickup and bridge covers} but you can order them and install them yourself. Single coil pup buzzes slightly but not as bad as a new jazz bass pup or a strat pup. All and all a Great piece of workmanship and Americana made in Japan.
Go Figure!
Model Year: 2003
Price: $600.00 (new)
Where Obtained: 8thStreet Music
CIJ, ash telecaster slab type body, U shaped maple neck with 7 1/4th radius, black/greenish pickguard, reverse vintage clover tuners, One single coil pick up 1951 spec, Vol, Tone. Telecaster style headstock. Two saddle vintage bridge. String through body. Vintage frets.
Brings you back to the early days of Fender. Old school thump and thud to the max. Neck is kind of chunky, takes about a week to get used to it. Sets up wondefully. Ultra low action with flats. I reccomend flats because of the vintage frets. They are smaller and rounwounds will eat them up.
50's Fender. Old School JACK!
Hefty! Baseball Bat neck and big slab body.
You can pull a Keith Richards with this bass, and it probably will still be in tune.
I got rid of my other basses when I got this....
I am searching for the 2-tone version of this same year model...
It's only down side is it's weight.
When you want to play the bass, this is all you need.
Model Year: 1989
Price: $400.00
Where Obtained: Local shop in Japan
Made in Japan, this is from the second series of '51s, part of an order from a
local retailer, this is a slightly different model from the standard '51 reissue.
It has a clear finish, nicely aged now. the main difference is it is not string-
through and has a four saddle bridge. Otherwise standard , SCPB pickup,
reverse tuners. A basic bass.
The action is great, it is the way I like it.
I play mostly through a Hartke Kickback 12, or direct into a mixer. I find it
very versatile for many styles. very full and warm.
It is a tank, though there are reports of the SCPB pick-up breaking if you
pull on it.... I have the covers on,no problem
I was looking especially for this model...
Model Year: 2004
Price: $499.00 (new)
Where Obtained: musician friend
Really love this bass, I added a thumbrest, & pickup & bridge cover. The sound is very punchy, I am using this bass in a five piece classic rock band. Very pleased so far....Mikael Wilt
Sound quality is right up front..
Hope it holds up as well as it plays & looks...
My Favourite Bass, I considered Jazzers and other later P-Basses but for me this is The one. I will have more basses but this is my Favourite.
It is also really well balanced and light. It tastes good too ;o))
Model Year: 2003
Price: $485.00 (new)
Where Obtained: uk Dealer
Japanese Reissue. Excellent build quility.
Ash Body, Maple Neck and Fingerboard.
20 vintage frets that are finished very nicely.
1 Vol- 1 Tone pots, very responsive.
1 Vintage Neck Biased single coil.
Butterscotch Blonde with Black single ply scratch plate.
Two saddle string through body Vintage Bridge, I have no problems with my intonation wich is unusual on these Bridges, I put it down to the new Roto-Sounds I had put on before I collected it.
Freaky reverse gear tuners on that sweet Tele style head stock, took a few attempts to get used to turning them the "other" way. As I've only had it a couple of weeks I will give it a high rating for now cos I cant fault it yet. Its awsome and beautifull.
I've managed to set it up real nice, pretty low action but not dumb. The neck is FAT but well proportioned and feels good in my hand, not as fast as other basses but it plays comfotably. I play alternative rock with some funk/punk and it copes fine with those styles.
I'm happy, wouldnt really suit fast funk or metal style riffage. Pretty single minded.
I play it through a Laney R5 300watt 2X10 combo and 1x15 extension Cab and its COOOOLLLL!!!! Together I can get any sound I want from Warm jazzy to tinny weirdness and everything inbetween, that pickup is awsome and LOUD.
Really versatile. A little noisy but if I stay in contact with the strings or bridge its silent, typical single coil. Its sound is great.
Its a Fender, I'll have it for the rest of my life.
When I saw Fender was releasing these again, I knew I had to have one. I'd wanted one since the Custom shop RIed them in 01. Ok, so this is no custom shop bass, but it is definetly a head above MIM basses. The reverse tuners threw me for a loop at first, but once I figured to turn them the other way, everything worked out great. Everything about this bass is great (well, ok I wish my G string played in tune, but this bas is 50 years behind the times afterall). Not the most versatile thing on the market, but wow, what a gutsy punchy sound it has. It may just edge out my custom Warmoth bass as being my favorite bass...what a scary thought :-)
*Addition* 5-22-03
I'm not sure when I first posted this review, but I've had this bass for a little while longer now. And I've noticed that when playing and agressive pick style, it's less comfortable to play because of the lack of a forearm cut. If you're an agressive style pick player, you might want to take notice of that.
Model Year: 1997
Price: $600.00
Where Obtained: Ebay
Mine is a 97/98 RI, but they are making them again for 2003-?. Ash body with no countours, maple neck (one piece?) with rosewood skunkstripe. Vintage single coil type pickup, one vol, one tone. Basic P-bass setup. the body has a nice 2 tone burst (think Sting's bass) and the neck has a gloss finish with a vintage tint to it. Kinda interesting to note, that the pickguard I belive to be original, has a single screw hole for a single screw thumbrest, but the body doesn't have this hole.
When I got it, once I tightened the strings up, it played perfectly, however the intonation on the G string was pretty off, and I need to get a set up done for that reason. Seems to be pretty typical for a 2 saddle bridge. I'm not really sure how I feel about that....
This sucker is LOUD! I mean LOUD! The output is slightly louder than my MIM Mark Hoppus sig, which has Duncan 1/4ers on there, which are notoriously hot. The single coil hum is there however, and gets worse as you turn up the tone knob. With the tone knob up you get a nice punchy sound, not quite a 'modern' p-bass tone, more midrangish. With the tone knob down you get a gutsy almost J-bass like sound.
Well, it's previous owner but a ding or 2 in it, but the finish has held up pretty well. I'm going to replace the straplocks with a DiMarzio cliplok strap as soon as I get one, I never leave home with out a cliplok strap :-) Tuners seem stable enough, the neck is straight as an arrow for these 5 or so years, so I believe everything should be fine.
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