“Vintage Custom Relic” Fender ’57 Precision Bass

This is my latest project- a “Vintage Custom Relic” Fender ’57 Precision Bass, set up with Rotosound Flatwounds and hand wound “red bobbin” Fender Fullerton Factory pickups from the 1980s. I always wanted a vintage Fender, but could never afford one. I have the luxury of owning a beautiful Fender Jazz Bass that I bought when I was a teenager, but sometimes you just want that Precision Bass sound. I found a newish, but fairly beaten up Fender p-bass, and proceeded to customise it- stripping it back, respraying with nitrocellulose (as would have been done at the time) sourcing nickel plated hardware, a gold anodised pick guard, and a thumb rest.

I had originally decided to fit it with Fender’s ’63 Vintage p-bass pickups, but a stumbled across a pair of hand wound “red bobbins” made in the Fullerton Factory in the ’80s. They would have been originally made for a ‘re-issue’ model at the time, but somehow got separated from their body. I snapped them up and popped them in, having lined the body cavity with copper, and they sound amazing. Having now set it up with a set of Rotosound flatwounds, I have a bass that feels amazing to play, looks great and sounds the part.