june-2013

This well-played, yet beautifully preserved 1952 Fender Precision Bassā€”serial #0215ā€”rests against a 1952 TV front Fender Bassman 1x15 combo.

This well-played, yet beautifully preserved 1952 Fender Precision Bassā€”serial #0215ā€”rests 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. Fenderā€™s 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: ā€œFretted 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 Telecasterā€™s with elongated horns for better balance (the body became contoured to match the Stratocasterā€™s in ā€™54), a headstock shaped like a larger version of the Teleā€™s (this became more Strat-shaped in ā€™57), black Bakelite pickguard (white by ā€™56, gold anodized by ā€™57), and a single-coil pickup (which became a hum-cancelling, dual-coil unit in ā€™57).

Early players of the original Precision were Roy Johnson and Monk Montgomeryā€”two consecutive bassists in jazz vibraphonist Lionel Hamptonā€™s 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 cabinetā€™s 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 12ā€”thatā€™s one more than 11, isnā€™t it, Nigel?


Fenderā€™s 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 ā€™Round the World by Richard R. Smith, and Fender Amps: The First Fifty Years by John Teagle and John Sprung.

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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, Iā€™ve 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 theyā€™ve certainly produced some amazing (and valuable) instruments over the years. Letā€™s 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 Fenderā€™s 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 neckā€™s 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 yoursā€”or any guitar for that matterā€”is 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. Itā€™s 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, itā€™s 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!

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The Matt Pike Dirty Heshers from Lace are designed to produce the massive tones Pike is known for, only bigger and richer than youā€™d 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 ā€™90s with the legendary band Sleep, and his soundā€”a monstrous wall of fuzz that harkened to Blue Cheer and Black Sabbathā€”was a huge departure from the processed rock of the era.

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