Fender American Vintage 1958 Precision

[LeftyClover]

Hi y'all,
I wanted to make a Fender American Vintage 1958 Precision, as these are only available right handed.
I started with a Fender USA replacement body from eBay.
Then I ordered a neck, exactly to the right specifications, at Musikraft USA.
The gold anodized pick guard is from Tone-Guard USA, as the standard Fender model can not be used left handed, due to some de-anodized spots around the potmeter and jack output holes.
And so on.. until I got all the bits and pieces, so I could finally assemble the bass.
The thumb rest was made by my 80-year old father, from a piece of "pokhout" (I believe "lignum vitae" is the correct English word?). That makes the bass even more special to me.
It has d'Addario Chromes on it.
The bass plays very smooth and has a very distinctive sound, deep, with loads of sustain.
I'm happy!

[J-meister]

WOW
Looks amazing, man!
And very nice shots too!


Post some sounds, if you're able

[superheavydeathmetal]

Very ccool.

[paulo]

WOW
Looks amazing, man!
And very nice shots too!


Post some sounds, if you're able

I agree! =)
Very nice shots and the bass came out flawless!

[AzWhoFan]

looks great!

[tim]

That's a piece of art, man. Nice work!

[andrew]

Looks great, well done!

[LeftyClover]

Thanks everyone! I will try to make a little soundclip in a few days and upload it here.

[tim]

Thanks everyone! I will try to make a little soundclip in a few days and upload it here.

I fixed your Avatar for you:

[LeftyClover]

Thanks Tim!

[tim]

You're welcome

[Addison]

Very cool!!! Came out great... love the story about the tug bar!

FWIW, you can get a lefty 58-style bass from Fender now through the American Design Experience.

Here's mine...



The finish is poly, so that kind of sucks... but otherwise everything is spot on, from the overall specs to the one-piece neck, to the vintage threaded barrel bridge, to the reverse Kluson tuners, to the gold anodized guard.

Here's a link to where you can design your own: http://www2.fender.com/american-design/

I'll never sell mine... it's literally perfect... but they do come with a CoA and matching serial number in case you ever decide to sell, you should get very good resale value.

[LeftyClover]

Wow, that looks great! I checked the Fender ADE site, and surprisingly the '58 P is less expensive than I thought.
Maybe I'll give mine a PU cover too.

[sblueplanet]

Excellent.

Here is my 57 RI Fender CIJ with a righty flipped anodised guard on it.

[2ToneIdiot]

This is legit the most beautiful P bass I have ever laid eyes upon. Fantastic work, perfect finish. Makes me want an ice-cold A&W!

[pjmuck]

Beautiful job.

Interesting P PUP. What is that with the raised pole pieces?

[LeftyClover]

Thanks everybody!
The pup is a Fender Pure Vintage 58 (see for instance http://www.bestbassgear.com/fender-58-p-bass-pickup.htm)
Great definition, great tone, however setting up the bass is a bit annoying (string-PU distance varies per string).
The raised pole pieces are vintage correct but not necessary, as low-mid outputs of any modern amp & cab are more than acceptable nowadays.
I would certainly recommend these PU's in any P-bass!

[nerkoids]

Great stuff!

Someday, I hope to build my Holy Grail bass, a 1966-67 Jazz Bass.

[LeftyClover]

Thanks! Yes I can understand that. I would love to own a '64 jazz bass once, as it is my year of birth..