Cycleops
Legendary Member
- Location
- Accra, Ghana
Thought I'd give you all a laugh. I found this 'new style' Fender Precision bass on the local equivalent of Gumtree. I think the fakers got their Stingrays and Fenders mixed up.
The Bassist and Guitarist thread
- Thread starter Drago
- Start date
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DCBassman
Guru
- Location
- The lumpy far South West
I built this one, components are not new, but it's many times the power I could ever use. And a Core i5-3470 with 8GB ram as a backup, so no shortage of horsepower. The i5 is probably more than enough. Two displays would be a bonus, but, alas, no space.
DCBassman
Guru
- Location
- The lumpy far South West
That looks suspiciously like a standard 1.625" neck with 5 strings crammed on. There's previous for that, Wilkinson used to make a converter bridge to do it. However, ALL Precisions have the bridge at the end of the body, and NONE of them have 24 frets...
OP
OP
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Christ, when I built my Fakender I at least went to some effort to make an accurate copy.
Cycleops
Legendary Member
- Location
- Accra, Ghana
@Drago & @DCBassman . Yours for the princely sum of £100.
OP
OP
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Id give you a hundred quid to burn it. Even John Entwistle would refuse to smash that up on stage.
MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
is that a short scale neck? ...or just the angle??
Xipe Totec
Frrrg rrrrf yrrrr crrrnds
- Location
- Between The Thirteen And The Nine
Don't think it looks 34", considering that appears to be a 24 fret neck stuck on a standard P type body. Anyway I quite like it, but I have previous for Basses Done Wrong. Most unnecessary thing is the shonky Fender sticker, otherwise it's quite an interesting take on an intrinsically dull bass - I like the finish too, reminds me of my old Aria Pro RSB. If I saw that at the local car boot for £30, it'd be coming home with me.
OP
OP
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Even the shape of the body is wrong. The outline is a bit chubbier than the real deal, a bit like the early 80's Encores.
Now here's a thing - in the 80's no one wanted an Encore, they were seen as cheap sheet. Now they they are a bit colletible and go for moderately decent money. What gives?
Now here's a thing - in the 80's no one wanted an Encore, they were seen as cheap sheet. Now they they are a bit colletible and go for moderately decent money. What gives?
MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
My latest project (which is moving along very slowly)... is to make a body for the bass neck i've had for 30 years. But I'm thinking about making a prototype of the body out of ply before cutting into the walnut... which means I'll then have a neckless body 
And that got me thinking about a short scale 5 string on a telecaster body...and that find by @cyclops is a cheap enough way to get the neck and metalwork for the hollowcaster mkII
And that got me thinking about a short scale 5 string on a telecaster body...and that find by @cyclops is a cheap enough way to get the neck and metalwork for the hollowcaster mkII
raleighnut
Legendary Member
- Location
- One of the 'Elite'
Do you mean the Squier models, the Japanese built ones were reckoned to be better than the Fender ones, a bit like the Tokai 'Strats'
Xipe Totec
Frrrg rrrrf yrrrr crrrnds
- Location
- Between The Thirteen And The Nine
Squier JVs (the earliest ones from '82/3) can go for properly silly money now, often 4 figures or over.
Get me started on old Japanese guitars & I am likely to bore you to the point of a ban request - but Fender Japan was set up specifically because the replica-standard Greco Strat copies were demonstrably superior to the CBS-era Fender stuff of the time, and Fender realised they couldn't beat Japanese manufacturers on quality or price. The company which owns Greco actually ended up being a partner in Fender Japan, and anecdotally the very first JV Squiers started life as part of a Greco production run.
There is a connection between Encore Fender copies & Fender but I am very aware of how crushingly dull all this stuff is...
Get me started on old Japanese guitars & I am likely to bore you to the point of a ban request - but Fender Japan was set up specifically because the replica-standard Greco Strat copies were demonstrably superior to the CBS-era Fender stuff of the time, and Fender realised they couldn't beat Japanese manufacturers on quality or price. The company which owns Greco actually ended up being a partner in Fender Japan, and anecdotally the very first JV Squiers started life as part of a Greco production run.
There is a connection between Encore Fender copies & Fender but I am very aware of how crushingly dull all this stuff is...
OP
OP
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Nah, I meant the Encores, cheap clones from (I think) Korea.
Some of the Squiers in the earlier days were punted out by Japanese firms like Tokai, who had indeed been making superb quality clones. Unsurprisingly, they were adept at making high quality instruments to a keen price point, and they did indeed embarass the USA based Fender factories.
In general, I dont buy into this idead that MIM Fenders etc are lesser quality than the US built ones. First of all, a millimetre in Mexicomis the same as the one used a few hundred miles North. And secondly, its not as if "made in America" is a byline for high quality engineering in other fields, such as cars, electronics or the 737 Max. That being the case, I don't understand why people get moist over USA Fenders when the foreign built ones are often their equal or even better.
Some of the Squiers in the earlier days were punted out by Japanese firms like Tokai, who had indeed been making superb quality clones. Unsurprisingly, they were adept at making high quality instruments to a keen price point, and they did indeed embarass the USA based Fender factories.
In general, I dont buy into this idead that MIM Fenders etc are lesser quality than the US built ones. First of all, a millimetre in Mexicomis the same as the one used a few hundred miles North. And secondly, its not as if "made in America" is a byline for high quality engineering in other fields, such as cars, electronics or the 737 Max. That being the case, I don't understand why people get moist over USA Fenders when the foreign built ones are often their equal or even better.
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Xipe Totec
Frrrg rrrrf yrrrr crrrnds
- Location
- Between The Thirteen And The Nine
Tokai was involved with Fender Japan but not until much later - late 90s, I think. Up until that point they were exclusively made by Fujigen Gakki, best known for Ibanez & the aforementioned Greco. Basically any Fender or Squier marked 'Made In Japan' is a Fujigen, subsequent 'Crafted In Japan' instruments are Tokai or Dyna Gakki. Makes no difference in terms of quality - just the pedantry...
The Fender/Encore connection is that some 90s Encores appear to be identical to Fender-licensed Sunn Mustang Strats & Precisions, and from the same factory in India. I've had a few Indian-made Sunn Strats and (apart from some cheap hardware) they're excellent. This might be why Encores are appreciating, or it could just be that there are mugs who will pay through the nose for any old tat.
Seevio
Guru
- Location
- South Glos
I would but I suspect you already have a surfeit of bassists. I suppose I could stretch to drums if you're not looking for a Neil Peart replacement. Or maybe rhythm guitar. I could also wing keyboards for a recording but the bottom of the barrel will be starting to look a bit worn.
