This well-played, yet beautifully preserved 1952 Fender Precision Bassāserial #0215ārests against a 1952 TV front Fender Bassman 1x15 combo.
Leo Fender introduced the Precision Bass in late 1951 following the success of his revolutionary electric 6-string, the Telecaster. The P bass proved to be even more groundbreaking. The radical guitar-sized instrument was almost immediately embraced by bassists and guitarists alike.
Bassists had labored for years carrying around the huge upright, only to be barely heard over the horns and drums. Fenderās new, readily portable 4-string was easily amplified and could provide a strong bottom-end complement to the drums. Unemployed guitarists, out of work due to the post-World War II trend of smaller dance bands, could get gigs without having to learn a completely new technique. An early 1952 ad listed the reasons to buy a Precision Bass: āFretted neck, superb tone, easily played, modern design, highly portable, extremely rugged, faster changes, light weight, 1/6 size of a regular bass.ā
The P bass pictured this month dates from July of 1952. It shares the characteristics common to basses made between 1951 and 1954. The most prominent of these are a flat, slab ash body like the Telecasterās with elongated horns for better balance (the body became contoured to match the Stratocasterās in ā54), a headstock shaped like a larger version of the Teleās (this became more Strat-shaped in ā57), black Bakelite pickguard (white by ā56, gold anodized by ā57), and a single-coil pickup (which became a hum-cancelling, dual-coil unit in ā57).
Early players of the original Precision were Roy Johnson and Monk Montgomeryātwo consecutive bassists in jazz vibraphonist Lionel Hamptonās band. More than two decades later, the bass again found favor with two successive bassists for the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Keith Ferguson and Preston Hubbard.
The amp behind the bass is an original 1952 TV front Bassman. It came with a 15" Jensen speaker and a closed back with two small circular ports. The chassis on the earliest Bassman was mounted on the cabinetās bottom.
The Fender Precision Bass sold for $199.50 in 1952, and its current value is $15,000. With a current value of $2,000, the Bassman originally sold for $203.50.
The Tele resemblance is also evident in the original headstock shape.
Yes! Tone to 12āthatās one more than 11, isnāt it, Nigel?
Fenderās amp logo, circa 1952.
Sources for this article include The Fender Bass: An Illustrated History by J.W. Black and Albert Molinaro, Fender Precision Basses: 1951-1954 by Detlef Schmidt, Fender: The Sound Heard āRound the World by Richard R. Smith, and Fender Amps: The First Fifty Years by John Teagle and John Sprung.
Dave Rogersā collection is tended by Laun Braithwaite and Tim Mullally and is on display at:
Daveās Guitar Shop
1227 Third Street South
La Crosse, WI 54601
davesguitar.com
Photos by Mullally and text by Braithwaite.
An Fender Custom Shop 1962 Stratocaster replica with a gold-sparkle finish
Boasting an eye-catching, gold-sparkle finish, this 1962 Stratocaster replica is an early example of the quality craftsmanship coming out of the Fender Custom Shop.
Signed by then Custom Shop manager John Page, the certificate of authenticity is an important component in determining the value of this Strat.
Hector Montes, whose name is stamped on the neck next to the date stamp, was most likely responsible for sanding the body to shape its contour.
Hi Zach,
I have an early Fender Custom Shop
1962 Stratocaster replica with a gold-sparkle
finish. And after disassembling
the guitar, Iāve found some interesting
information about who was involved
in building it. I also have the original
case, a certificate of authenticity
signed by John Page, and all the case
candy. Is this trash or treasure?
Thanks,
Richard Grant in Guelph, Ontario
Hi Richard,
Do you really need to ask if it is trash or
treasure? Maybe a more appropriate question
would be to ask how much of a treasure it is!
The Fender Custom Shop is one of the finest
custom-guitar facilities in the U.S. and theyāve
certainly produced some amazing (and valuable)
instruments over the years. Letās begin
with a little bit of Fender Custom Shop history.
Back in 1985, Fender nearly went bankrupt under the ownership of the Columbia Broadcasting System before an investment group led by Bill Schultz purchased the fledgling company from CBS. Schultz and his crew then began revamping Fender to return the company to its roots. The Fender Custom Shop got its start in 1987 with luthiers John Page and Michael Stevens at the helm. Known for producing outstanding luthiers, both of these craftsmen would later go on to start their own successful guitar businesses after their tenure with the Custom Shop.
Part of the motivation behind the start of the Custom Shop was that Fenderās R&D department was fielding a lot of requests for custom guitars by artists, and the company wanted to shed the dark image of CBS. Under their ownership, customization of guitars was not often an option. So Page and Stevens were summoned to head up this boutique lutherie shop where the plan was to produce five or six guitars a month. But work orders for custom guitars reached nearly 600 in the first month, and the operation expanded to keep up with demand.
Your Fender Stratocaster has a serial number of VO469XX, but what is more important is the neck-stamp date of October 29, 1990. The name Hector Montes is also stamped on the neck right next to the date. According to John Page, he believes Montes was probably responsible for sanding the body to shape its contour. Art Esparza was doing the final set up on guitars in the early 1990s, and his name is printed in the neckās mortise joint. Page mentioned that J.W. Black probably painted your guitar. And Black was known for painting the sparkle-finished guitars at his home instead of at Fender so to not contaminate the paint booth. Page also thinks that your guitar was one of several early Fender Custom Shop instruments sent out to select guitar dealers to promote the Custom Shop.
Your guitar is based on a 1962 Fender Stratocaster and boasts many unique features including Lace Sensor pickups, a highly figured maple neck, a Brazilian rosewood fretboard with abalone-dot inlays, pearloid pickguard, gold hardware, and the ultra-hip, gold-sparkle finish. The cool thing about your Strat coming from the Custom Shop is that it is more than likely a one-of-a-kind guitar.
An important component that helps determine the value of a custom instrument such as yoursāor any guitar for that matterāis how much documentation you have. Whenever possible, get as many details as possible in writing if the guitar has a history. This applies to a famous person previously owning the guitar to the origins of where it was built. Itās fantastic that you have the certificate of authenticity documentation from the Custom Shop manager, and all the original equipment that came with the guitar. Without all this, itās nothing but a story that would be reflected in the value.
Evaluating Fender Custom Shop guitars is often a difficult task because each instrument is unique. I typically look at what the guitar is based on (in this case, a 1962 Stratocaster), the value of the additions/improvements (pickups, hardware, finish, etc.), how old the guitar is (20 plus years in this case, which is an early Custom Shop model), and who worked on it. Of course, the overall evaluation factor is also based on the desirability of the guitar. In mint condition, I estimate your guitar is currently valued between $2,500 and $3,000. Keep all that documentation and case candy, and this guitar will be a treasure for years to come!
The Matt Pike Dirty Heshers from Lace are designed to produce the massive tones Pike is known for, only bigger and richer than youād expect from super-hot humbuckers.
Lace Matt Pike Dirty Heshers (Heavy Overdrive, stock Gibson 4989T, then Bridge Dirty Hesher)
As one of the most important guitarists to emerge from underground metal over the last two decades, Matt Pike has influenced a generation of players with his crushing yet uniquely melodic songwriting and playing. Armed with a Les Paul, Green Matamps, and a Soldano X-77 preamp, Pike worked in the ā90s with the legendary band Sleep, and his soundāa monstrous wall of fuzz that harkened to Blue Cheer and Black Sabbathāwas a huge departure from the processed rock of the era.
His style got faster and more aggressive with his nextāand currentāoutfit, High on Fire. Jeff Lace, chief designer at Lace Pickups, is a big fan, and he recently teamed up with Pike to produce the companyās first-ever signature set. The Dirty Heshers are designed to produce the massive tones Pike is known for, only bigger and richer than youād expect from super-hot humbuckers.
Beyond Nitro
The passive, coil-splittable Heshers are
based on Laceās fire-breathing Nitro Hemi
humbuckers. Their windings have been
tweaked, per Pikeās specifications, to
expand midrange presence and response.
Each pickup uses not one, but 10 barium
ferrite ceramic magnets, which makes each
pickup nearly double the weight of a set of
Seymour Duncan or Gibson humbuckers.
Interestingly, the magnetic field is emitted
from the edges of the coils rather than the
center. Don Lace Sr. pioneered this process with his Lace Sensor pickups years ago, and
it significantly increases the string surface
area the pickup detects. The chrome covers
are emblazoned with Pikeās last name, and
theyāre also epoxied to reduce squealing and
feedback. Four-conductor, vintage-gauge
wire enables series, split, parallel, and out-of-phase wiring.
Ratings
Pros:
Huge, grinding mids that cut like a knife. Clean up well with picking and volume
changes. Perfect for sludge and doom metal.
Cons:
Strong mids are less ideal for modern metal.
Tones:
Versatility:
Build/Design:
Value:
Street:
$174
Company
lacemusic.com
Dirty Love
The Dirty Heshers have a very wide and
powerful tone quite different from other
metal-oriented humbuckers. I expected a
more focused and compressed tone, similar
to a Gibson 500T or Duncan Invader. But
the Heshers hit your amp with incredible
force without automatically overdriving it,
which means you can crank the amp without
muddying your tone. And the dynamic
response when you move from chords to
single notes is remarkableāsingle notes
offer almost as much volume and girth as
power chords.
Mounted in a Les Paul Traditional driving an overdriven Orange TH100, the 19k bridge-position Hesher delivered dirge-like rhythm tones with a forceful upper midrange. Sleepās āDragonautā tone was easy to get by dropping the guitarās volume knob about 30 percent. Maxing the volume takes you to fuzzier High on Fire territory, and tight, Motƶrhead-style riffs delivered percussive, thrash-friendly response.
The 15.8k neck pickup yields a forceful, refined low end that opens up when you pile on the gain. Roll down the volume, and the mids morph from round and fat to focused and biting. The upper-mid presence is so strong in these pickups that itās hard to dial it out if you donāt want it, a property that might confound metal players used to scooped tones. But the rich midrange also lends definition to clean tones and makes room for the deep and resonant low endāall of which creates impressive sustain.
The Verdict
Laceās Dirty Heshers stand out as some of the
most distinctive humbuckers in the heavy
metal pickup world. Theyāre loud, brash, and
powerful. But theyāre also organic, dynamic,
and responsiveāqualities a lot of hotter
humbuckers canāt deliver. The robust and
wide midrange make them a less ideal choice
for scooped Meshuggah-style extreme metal.
But for doomier, sludgier stylesāwhere loud
mids play a crucial roleāthe Dirty Heshers
deliver the raucous, mid-heavy wall of sound
those genres demand.