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Fender has launched a most bodacious limited edition collection of bass guitars to mark the 75th Anniversary of the game-changing Precision Bass.
The 75th Anniversary Precision Bass Collection offers three distinct takes on the model. There is an upscale modern hybrid in the form of the American Professional PJ Bass, which pairs the bridge single coil of a Jazz Bass with the split-coil at the middle position, gives us the HiMass bridge, gold hardware, a 2-Color Sunburst finish and – what the heck – a figured maple top over an alder body.
It’s a real looker, and even has a sculpted heel should you feel adventurous enough to go beyond the 12th fret.
Then we have the OG reproduction, the American Vintage II 1951 Precision Bass. With its Butterscotch finish and single-ply pickguard, controls mounted on a chrome plate, and that headstock – not to mention a slab of ash for a body – it shares so much Telecaster DNA.
But then the first mass-produced electric guitar and bass guitar share a birth year; it was inevitable there would be some twinning. This model just has the one single-coil pickup.
Rounding out the collection is the Player II Precision Bass in Diamond Dust Sparkle, which has the single split coil, and a pearloid guard to complement that glam-rock finish.
It’s a real doozy, and comes with the rolled fingerboard edges, the modern C profile neck shape and 9.5” radius ‘board, and the more contemporary four-saddle bridge with Single-Groove Steel “Barrel” Saddles.
These are special basses, and are here for one year only. Get them while they're hot. But then the P Bass deserves this treatment. It is officially a BFD. It is no exaggeration to say that it helped transform popular music – it helped inaugurate popular music, ushering in a new era of low end as bassists transitioned away from traditional upright instruments.
As Bob Glaub says, “It’s the bass you think of when you go to pick a bass. It’s magic and it really has no limits.”
It had a profound effect on how I play, coming from the upright bass
Freddie Washington
The legendary Freddie Washington (Herbie Hancock/Michael Jackson) was one of those bassists.
“It had a profound effect on how I play, coming from the upright bass,” says Washington. “It inspires me to play the way I play, the way it sounds, the way it feels. I’ve played on a lot of different records, and I’ve played lines on records that I probably wouldn’t play this way if it was another bass. This bass has given me the ability to go places that I can go any time I want to go.”
Washington was one of a number of high-profile Precision Bass devotees whom Fender have spoken to mark this anniversary. The likes of Nate Mendel, Tal Wilkinson, Geezer Butler, and more will all feature in a video series celebrating the instrument.
“I tried other basses, but nothing had the balance of a P Bass,” says Butler. “It becomes part of you.”
You can see and hear that in practice as John Mayer bassist Sean Hurley puts them through their paces in the demo video.
The 75th Anniversary Precision Bass Collection is available now, with the American Professional PJ Bass priced at $2,699, and the Vintera II 1951 Precision Bass priced $2,899. The Mexican-made Player II P Bass looks a real bargain at $1,099.
See Fender more more details.
