Fender Telecaster bass RI

[plmaurer]

This is a re-post from the gear section. It appears that I put it in the wrong section.


I see that Squier by Fender has introduced a modified Pbass that resembles the 72-77 Telebass.

http://www.squierguitars.com/product...tno=0326902500

Has anyone heard whether Fender has any plans to introduce an American made or Custom shop reissue of this bass? Out of curiosity, how many folks here would be interested if Fender decided to reissue this bass?

[tkozal]

Not me.....never a fan of those at all....

[Thor]

Tele guitars - I'm a big fan.

Tele basses - not so much.

Cheers,

Edward

[musicofanatic5]

I am a fan of the dull thud that is the 72-77 tele bass. I mostly play a 68. Would like to see one of the squiers in person ("ash veneer"?!).

[The Golden Boy]

Originally Posted by tkozal

Not me.....never a fan of those at all....

Originally Posted by Thor

Tele basses - not so much.

The pre-72 ones are pretty cool sounding- a bit hot and 'poppy' much like the old SC P basses, but much like those- the necks are a bit "more" than I care for. The post 72 ones, with the big ol' neck mudbucker- No thank you.

EDIT:
I think it would be cool to stick a rosewood boarded Jazz neck on a pre-72 Tele bass...

[alanbass1]

The problem is that original ones typically go for between $2k and $2.5 in good condition. A Custom Shop version would likely be priced that! Also, like others have said, this was not the best bass that Fender produced, the bick pickup sounding quite muddy and ill defined.

[musicofanatic5]

Found and played one today at the local gtr store. The one they had was fairly light weight and well balanced. The neck is nowhere near as beefy as an original (predictably, it's a puss-neck, like a Jazz), but I was surprised at the bold flamey maple on it. I don't think it's "foto-flame", but could be wrong. I didn't plug it in, but even with the cheap, nasty-sounding round wound strings (bass like this demands med gauge flats!), it resonated pretty well. At $279, it would be a good back-up bass for any roots oriented player. Hell, I may go back tommorrow and take 'er home. Did somebody say "quite muddy and ill defined"? Hellthef*ck yes, baby! Yer talking my language now!! I'm probably not gonna get the gig in the Who, so I definately do not need to sound like that Entwhistle dude.

[musicofanatic5]

Originally Posted by The Golden Boy

I think it would be cool to stick a rosewood boarded Jazz neck on a pre-72 Tele bass...

Blaspheme!!! You'll burn in hell for even considering it!

[musicofanatic5]

May I follow up? I bought the thing and left on a four-week tour the next day. At the third gig I plugged it in and...nothing. Opened it up and the pots were the ones with the dime-size cans and the jack was flimsy. Replaced with CTS and Switchcraft respectively and was up and running again. Over the course of a coupla weeks I probably cranked two or more full turns of the truss rod to straighten the neck, and finally achieved a usable action. The neck is still somewhat bowed, and would need a plane and refret for real low action. That would cost about the purchase price of the gtr again, so, no dice. Action is medium and for me, quite playable. It's fairly light and well balanced on a strap. The sound is big and dumb; it bellows. Great in blues and o.s. r&b, but probably wouldn't win you the audition for Prince's band. Looks cool; decent sunburst and finish. Observation: In disassembling, it looks as if one could easily re-style to '68-'71 Tele Bass Specs: swap out the p.u. and p.g. with earlier "style one" p.u. (routing required) and p.g., and mount the pots on a plate. Just a thought.
Biggest improvement over the original: Four bolt neck mounting!
I wonder do they all come with this gorgeous flame-maple one piece neck? I'll try to get a photo up.

[plmaurer]

So, I contacted the Fender Custom shop and spec'd out a '72 Telebass as a one off. I was quoted about $7,000 with a "good guy" discount from my local dealer of about $5400. Here is the kicker, I would have to supply the humbucker pickup since they don't make them anymore and are not set up to make one. Further, the pickup in the Squier is not the highest of quality. Finally, the estimated time of delivery was about a year and a half. Obviously, I passed. I just picked up a vintage '73 for about $1800. Tell me, what sense does that make?

[Thor]

Originally Posted by plmaurer

So, I contacted the Fender Custom shop and spec'd out a '72 Telebass as a one off. I was quoted about $7,000 with a "good guy" discount from my local dealer of about $5400.

Tell me, what sense does that make?

That would "none".
$5K - and you supply the PUP?!? -

Good for you for scoring a vintage piece - enjoy it in good health.




Cheers,

Edward

[ghoti]

Just my opinion...there are a lot of nice basses you can get for that price or less.

Thing is, P-bass doesn't really do it for me. It's an OK sound I guess but no versatility and it feels like you're always just there for backup and nothing else.

[musicofanatic5]

"Thing is, P-bass doesn't really do it for me. ...it feels like you're always just there for backup and nothing else."

Um, isn't that what the bass is supposed to do??

I would like to compare the cheapass squire with an original. The neck is probably bigger and a better p.u. on the original, but I bet the sound is comparable.

[getbent]

I like it a lot. I'd love a fender one without having to go the sting route.

[ghoti]

Originally Posted by musicofanatic5

"Thing is, P-bass doesn't really do it for me. ...it feels like you're always just there for backup and nothing else."

Um, isn't that what the bass is supposed to do??

I would like to compare the cheapass squire with an original. The neck is probably bigger and a better p.u. on the original, but I bet the sound is comparable.

Yep, backup and nothing else. Just like the guitar should chord and nothing else (no solos, that's wrong!), the drums should just play the same type of beats (no improvisation here, that's wrong!), etc...

Listen to any of the big-name bassists. Very few are playing P-style instruments. A P-style has a "chunk" that goes in a mix pretty well but I have never heard or played one that sounded like it gave me anything else.

Fender J's have a lot more ways to modify your sound, as do Ric's, Music Man's, T-birds, and others. I don't hate P's, just find them limiting for what I want to do with an instrument.