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Fender American Vintage 1958 Precision

Posted: February 18th, 2016, 2:27 am
by 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!

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Re: Fender American Vintage 1958 Precision

Posted: February 18th, 2016, 3:53 am
by J-meister
WOW 8-)
Looks amazing, man!
And very nice shots too!
:)

Post some sounds, if you're able :)

Re: Fender American Vintage 1958 Precision

Posted: February 18th, 2016, 7:41 am
by superheavydeathmetal
Very ccool.

Re: Fender American Vintage 1958 Precision

Posted: February 18th, 2016, 8:43 am
by paulo
J-meister wrote:WOW 8-)
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!

Re: Fender American Vintage 1958 Precision

Posted: February 18th, 2016, 9:17 am
by AzWhoFan
looks great!

Re: Fender American Vintage 1958 Precision

Posted: February 18th, 2016, 9:17 am
by tim
That's a piece of art, man. Nice work!

Re: Fender American Vintage 1958 Precision

Posted: February 18th, 2016, 3:28 pm
by andrew
Looks great, well done!

Re: Fender American Vintage 1958 Precision

Posted: February 19th, 2016, 3:27 pm
by LeftyClover
Thanks everyone! I will try to make a little soundclip in a few days and upload it here.

Re: Fender American Vintage 1958 Precision

Posted: February 19th, 2016, 3:42 pm
by tim
LeftyClover wrote:Thanks everyone! I will try to make a little soundclip in a few days and upload it here.
I fixed your Avatar for you:

Re: Fender American Vintage 1958 Precision

Posted: February 22nd, 2016, 12:46 am
by LeftyClover
Thanks Tim! :lol:

Re: Fender American Vintage 1958 Precision

Posted: February 22nd, 2016, 6:40 am
by tim
You're welcome :D

Re: Fender American Vintage 1958 Precision

Posted: February 22nd, 2016, 9:12 am
by 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...

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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.

Re: Fender American Vintage 1958 Precision

Posted: February 23rd, 2016, 1:13 pm
by 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.

Re: Fender American Vintage 1958 Precision

Posted: February 28th, 2016, 11:34 am
by sblueplanet
Excellent.

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

Re: Fender American Vintage 1958 Precision

Posted: July 29th, 2016, 12:26 pm
by 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!

Re: Fender American Vintage 1958 Precision

Posted: July 29th, 2016, 5:33 pm
by pjmuck
Beautiful job. :)

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

Re: Fender American Vintage 1958 Precision

Posted: September 29th, 2016, 10:19 am
by 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!

Re: Fender American Vintage 1958 Precision

Posted: December 15th, 2016, 7:41 pm
by nerkoids
Great stuff!

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

Re: Fender American Vintage 1958 Precision

Posted: December 16th, 2016, 1:06 am
by LeftyClover
Thanks! Yes I can understand that. I would love to own a '64 jazz bass once, as it is my year of birth.. :-)