Has anyone purchased the new '51 P-Bass Re-issue? As a long time Fender player, I was very interested when they put this bass on the market. The price is VERY reasonable and I was wondering how it played. None of the Guitar Centers or Sam Ash down here stock it, and I would like to know how it plays before I buy one. I may just buy it based on the vintage design and reputation of Fender, but if any of you have it or have played it, I would love to know what you think. Thanks
Fender '51 P-Bass Re-isssue
- Thread starter Sal4001
- Start date
I don't have the 51 reissue.
But I do have the Sting signature model, which uses the same pickup and neck. Only other differences are the finish and the fact that the Sting has the contoured body back.
The single-coil pickup is the interesting thing about both of these guys. It gives a very open and honest sound, with a little growl and a pretty fair bark.
The neck is very comfortable, not as wide as the '57 and '62 models, but a little beefier front to back. Mine took some work to get set up right, but that's the luck of the draw when you buy a wooden instrument.
The bridge, with only two shared saddles, can make intonation a challenge. I swapped a 4-saddle bridge in and like it better.
I'm not sure I'd recommend it as an all-around bass, but it's great as a second or third bass (after you get a split-coil precision and a jazz!).
But I do have the Sting signature model, which uses the same pickup and neck. Only other differences are the finish and the fact that the Sting has the contoured body back.
The single-coil pickup is the interesting thing about both of these guys. It gives a very open and honest sound, with a little growl and a pretty fair bark.
The neck is very comfortable, not as wide as the '57 and '62 models, but a little beefier front to back. Mine took some work to get set up right, but that's the luck of the draw when you buy a wooden instrument.
The bridge, with only two shared saddles, can make intonation a challenge. I swapped a 4-saddle bridge in and like it better.
I'm not sure I'd recommend it as an all-around bass, but it's great as a second or third bass (after you get a split-coil precision and a jazz!).
cavedog101
Well-known member
The Sting bass is a rep. of the 56 P-bass...A transition year...The contoured body with the single coil. I have an original one. I play it every weekend. It weighs around 7 lbs. Its a beautiful wreck of a bass, I changed the P/U to the 51 Fender RI. Its a bit cleaner than the original. More lowend....firmer. And not worth nearly as much. Lately one of the pots is cracklin and now I'm faced with replacing one of them. I'd have to go vintage to get it sounding the same. Ke-Rist.....Who wants to pay that much for a pot.
bongolation
New member
Actually, it's supposed to be a somewhat "interpretive" reproduction of a 1954 precision, not a '56, though in some ways it more closely resembles a '56. The pickup is a reproduction - and a functionally close one - of a 1955 Precision Bass unit with compensated poles.cavedog101 said:
FMIC marketing initially advertised the Sting as a '53 reproduction, but several others and I corrected them on the error; the '53 still had the slab body and non-sunburst paintjob. Yes, the current sunburst '51 "reproduction" is not authentic. The contoured body and sunburst paint first arrived in '54, and Fender never made a slab-bodied sunburst Precision.
The "Sting Signature" is in fact nothing more than the non-exported Fender Japan 1954 Reissue with the stupid 12th-fret "Sting" inlay added.
There are a number of departures from strict 1954 authenticity on the Sting, most of which are improvements. The compensated pickup I've mentioned, but also there is a trussrod adjusting rout under the pickguard that is a huge improvement over the original, which required pulling the neck to adjust tension.
I've written a great deal about this bass over the past few years.
Aside from the extremely primitive bridge (which may contribute substantially to the "woody" sound of this bass, being very low mass and little more than a saddle support), it's a pretty useful bass if you go for vintage sound, and I use it in stock condition with heavy 9050M flatwounds as my #1. It has drawbacks, particularly if you go for a more treble modern tone.
Stringing the instrument can be difficult with either of these basses, because the vintage dimensions of the scale often make intonating the G impossible with anything but very large diameter strings. The saddle will move off the bridgeplate. The supplied strings are horrible, generic Asian stainless roundwounds (contrary to Fender specs). They will typically not intonate with the available adjustment limitations on the G, and in any case will chew up the small vintage frets in no time. Fender photos usually show the saddles adjusted to the extreme edge of the bridgeplate. The one of the Sting has been pulled from the site for some reason, possibly bcause I've been using it to demonstrate this problem for the past few years.
Last edited:
bongolation
New member
I had been looking for one before FMIC started re-importing them, but was surprised to find that Guitar Center, a HUGE outlet for FMIC product, would not be carrying them for reasons that were never made clear. They were "special order only" in the chain. When one turned up as a return at my store, it was resold almost instantly. Still, GC won't carry them, though they carry the Sting.lpdeluxe said:
Prior to their re-importation, they were going for over US$1000 on eBay, if you can believe it.
Steve "Dude" Barr told me that I would be happier with a Sting anyway, so when GC had them on sale for $449.99 delivered, I got one. I think he was right. These are very similar instruments, though I have heard from various people that they do not have the same neck dimensions in all production runs. The contoured body is a substantial improvement in player comfort.
The vintage pickup is a very fragile unit, like the original '55 on which it is based. In fairness, it was supposed to be covered with the metal guard which is not included on these reproductions. You will eventually wreck the pickup if you use it as a thumbrest.
I have a problem with the finish color on the '51RIs. The gaudy schoolbus yellow is completely inauthentic. The original finish on these was sort of limed white, very close to the now-extinct FMIC "White Blonde," but it began to yellow and discolor almost immediately to the "butterscotch" finish we now associate with these early instruments. That said, there's never been a genuine vintage finish that ever came close to looking like this reproduction's. The sunburst, as I have mentioned, is totally nonhistoric.
I have seen photographs of an original '51 or '52 that was somehow stored in its case in a nearly perfect enviromment for decades, and it is indeed almost pure white except for a blackening around the bridge cover where the degrading rubber mute outgassed and discolored the finish.
lpdeluxe
The Precision Bass Guy
Thank you, bongolation.
I too am a little distressed by the yellow, and in fact I have toyed with the idea of making my own from Warmoth parts to avoid that. Still, the paint's not what makes the sound, and I need the kind of tone you are describing. I currently have 2 JB clones and an ABG, but none of them gets that P sound.
Speaking of which, have you tried flat tape-wounds with your Sting? I have heard that they are a good alternate (I have a set on my ABG).
As far as the authenticity goes, I believe the RI has metal saddles as well, compared to the bakelite (or similar) on the originals. Not only that, but all the literature I have seen suggests that no Fender basses were actually marketed until '52. The earliest neck date I've seen was November '51, which means only that the neck was dressed out then. Fender has always played a little fast and loose with its dates.
I too am a little distressed by the yellow, and in fact I have toyed with the idea of making my own from Warmoth parts to avoid that. Still, the paint's not what makes the sound, and I need the kind of tone you are describing. I currently have 2 JB clones and an ABG, but none of them gets that P sound.
Speaking of which, have you tried flat tape-wounds with your Sting? I have heard that they are a good alternate (I have a set on my ABG).
As far as the authenticity goes, I believe the RI has metal saddles as well, compared to the bakelite (or similar) on the originals. Not only that, but all the literature I have seen suggests that no Fender basses were actually marketed until '52. The earliest neck date I've seen was November '51, which means only that the neck was dressed out then. Fender has always played a little fast and loose with its dates.
bongolation
New member
No, I haven't. The Sting is a real headache to get strings for.lpdeluxe said:
It has unusually shallow vintage ferrules, which effectively shorten the string, making the E slightly too short in most cases, when it would have been fine with the modern Fender ferrules. Add to this the need for a very large diameter G in order to approach proper intonation within the available adjustment (see above).
On top of this, the G in the Fender nylon sets are even larger than normal, to the point of probably requiring recutting the nut in the case of the nylon 7120 filament roundwound, with a .070" G.
The 9120 nylon tapewounds have a .058" G, which might work without modifying the nut, but I don't know if either of these sets are long enough.
The only strings I've used on mine are the 9050Ms, which are extremely high-tension flatwounds. They just barely come in under the wire with the above problems. I don't know of any other set that works, for sure.
As I said, I don't use steel roundwounds as they are too hard on the small vintage frets.