1982 Fender Precision Bass Special Walnut. Can you take it to the bridge?

[Hellzero]

As @SurroundedByManatees mentioned, the bridge was not factory fitted, but is an add-on, I remember owning a set of original Fender brass knobs still in their packaging that I gave to a friend needing them and they were so heavy!?!

 

You now have to search for the original bridge which is the one not fitted (so the packed one) on this fully original 1982 (aka Dan Smith era) Fender Precision Bass Special and you can also try to find the original ashtrays while you're at it..

 

 

If you look at the image above, you'll understand that the two outer holes on your bridge were meant to align with the bridge cover holes. 😉

 

Just in case you want to read the Fender ad provided, again, by @SurroundedByManatees, here it is:

 

 

My main question is: How much does the whole bass weigh as, with all that brass, it must quite heavy? I guess around 5 kilos or even more...

 

Edited 13 hours ago by Hellzero
More coffee please

[HeadlessBassist]

Personally, I'd leave the 'Claw Bridge' on. It looks very individual and cool. Definitely a talking point.

[wateroftyne]

11 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

As @SurroundedByManatees mentioned, the bridge was not factory fitted, but is an add-on, I remember owning a set of original Fender brass knobs still in their packaging that I gave to a friend needing them and they were so heavy!?!

 

You now have to search for the original bridge which is the one fitted (not the packed one) on this fully original 1982 (aka Dan Smith era) Fender Precision Bass Special and you can also try to find the original ashtrays while you're at it..

 

 

If you look at the image above, you'll understand that the two outer holes on your bridge were meant to align with the bridge cover holes. 😉

 

Just in case you want to read the Fender ad provided, again, by @SurroundedByManatees, here it is:

 

 

My main question is: How much does the whole bass weigh as, with all that brass, it must quite heavy? I guess around 5 kilos or even more...

I may have misread this post, but the bridge in the photo isn’t the factory bridge for these.

[Hellzero]

3 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

I may have misread this post, but the bridge in the photo isn’t the factory bridge for these.

I guess you mean it must have the "regular" high mass one, but it was also an add-on.

[wateroftyne]

6 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

I guess you mean it must have the "regular" high mass one, but it was also an add-on.

Again, might be misunderstanding but the hi-mass is the stock bridge on these.

[Hellzero]

This one?

 

[wateroftyne]

3 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

This one?

 

Yep, that’s the factory one. Specifically one of the earlier ones without the Fender logo.

[Hellzero]

6 minutes ago, wateroftyne said:

Yep, that’s the factory one. Specifically one of the earlier ones without the Fender logo.

My bad, I need to reformulate my post correctly.

[snorkie635]

44 minutes ago, Hellzero said:

My bad, I need to reformulate my post correctly.

My office, and clear your desk.

[ET777]

Hello. Thanks for the updates.  I am checking the used market for a used Hi Mass bridge from that era.  The ones that Ive seen that come original to this bass in 82 say "Fender pat. pending" on them just like The Claw does, however I have yet to find one that is stand alone for sale and I doubt that there are many out there.  As Hellzero pointed out, the earlier ones don't have the logo?  I like The Claw and it works and sounds fine, however the bass is 11 lbs as it is now, and going to a standard Hi Mass bridge may take 1 pound off of it and make it around 10.  My Ibanez Blazer from 81 is 9.5 pounds which is a P Bass style bass, for comparison.  I don't mind the 11 lbs on this one, since its a studio bass anyway.

 

Last night I put Flats on it, and spent time dialing in the action and intonation.  I got the A, D and G strings dialed in perfectly. Nice low action up and down the neck and intonated perfectly.  However the E string is a tiny bit of a struggle.  It plays perfectly below the 9th fret, but starts to get a little high action from there.  At the 12th fret open, from top of the 12th fret crown to the very bottom of the string, its about 1/8th of an inch, so a little high but not unplayable.  I can work with it.  That E also has a bit of issues intonating.  Its still a bit sharp (fretting the 12th fret) and I have to move the saddle all the way back in order to get it to be perfect. (it did this with both rounds and flats, so its not a "flats" thing).

 

So.... ultimately the bass may need a light "shim" in the neck cavity towards the rear, maybe the width of a business card.  That would help with the geometry and angle and get it a closer in intonation too.  However as it is, its pretty good so I am going to play it all day today to evaluate exactly how I want to tackle this.

 

This is an old skool, thumpin' P Bass. Its thick, heavy and rich like the best German Chocolate.  Its got a deep "nutty" tone.  Its got that 70s Pop and Soul P thing down cold.  I'm playing along with a top 100 hits from 1979 right now (Blondie, EWF, Bee Gees etc) and it just fits in to the mixes of those classic songs perfectly.  Its the sound.  It also can do the early 70s Soul and R&B (Stax, Willie Weeks, Chuck Rainey, Gamble/Huff/Philly sound etc).   I keep it in the Passive mode most of the time and prefer that over the active, but I could see switching to active for certain more aggressive style songs, or in particular live situations.  I really like the neck. Its not too thick and its fairly fast.  Its closer to my Fender Jazz bass than it is to my Blazer P.   This bass is a beast.  I appreciate all of your comments and suggestions. 

Edited 3 hours ago by ET777

[ET777]

I found the 1982 Fender price list online.  These were 1250 list, which was Fender's highest priced bass that year.  They offered a lot of Walnut across the line that year:  https://guitar-compare.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/1982-June-1.pdf