Fender Precision Bass (1951–present)
The Precision Bass is the instrument that invented the electric bass guitar, and it is still in production - which makes it an odd fit for an archive of obscure vintage gear. The model has run for more than seventy years, so most of the "history" floating around online is marketing copy, not documentation. What can actually be sourced is narrower: Fender's own owner's manuals and a handful of period press mentions.
Fender's From the Beginning… booklet (2003-era, shipped with new instruments) says plainly that Leo Fender and his small Southern California company conceived of and produced the Precision Bass and the Bassman amplifier in the early 1950s. It says the Precision Bass was created in 1951 as an electric bass guitar with "precise" intonation. The same booklet notes that Fender followed it in 1960 with the Jazz Bass, an offset-waist instrument with two pickups and a narrower neck. A 1962 Fender "Fine Electric Instruments" catalogue describes the Precision Bass as requiring only a fraction of the playing effort of an upright acoustic bass. It lists an adjustable neck truss rod, individual bridges adjustable for string height and string length, and split pickups. That catalogue copy is promotional, not measured, but it is period-accurate documentation of how Fender positioned the instrument.
Surviving owner's manuals are the best technical source. A 1975 manual (manual no. 033512, copyright CBS Musical Instruments) covers string-height adjustment with eight adjustment screws - clockwise to raise, counter-clockwise to lower. It warns that action set too low will buzz against the frets. The warranty registration card in that manual offers the model as either fretted or unfretted, so fretless Precisions were a factory option, not only a modification. Copyright dates on the manuals run 1975 and 1978, both under CBS ownership.
Later manuals (1998 onward, and the 2003 booklet) give pickup-height guidance. A chart lists Vintage Style Precision Bass pickups at 8/64" on the bass side and 6/64" on the treble side, and Standard and American Standard Precision Bass pickups at 7/64" and 5/64". Fender's own text warns that pickups set too low lose output, while pickups set too high can cause excessive magnetic string pull and pitch warbling. The 1975 manual also lists a companion Bassman 100 amplifier: 100 watts RMS, 220 watts peak music power, four 12-inch speakers, a deep switch on the bass channel and a bright switch on the normal channel, plus master volume. That is amplifier data, not bass data, but it shows what Fender was pairing the instrument with at the time.
On the reception side, the record is thin and mostly incidental. Mix (March 1982, p.67) reported that Fender was bringing out a series of detailed replicas of vintage guitars and basses - specifically '57 and '62 Stratocasters, '57 and '62 Precision Basses, and a '62 Jazz Bass, per Fender's Dan Smith. That is a press announcement, not a review, but it is a real dated data point for the reissue program. EQ (May 2004, p.67) listed a Fender Sting Precision Bass as a giveaway prize in a promotion tied to Sting's Sacred Love. Again, not a review, just evidence the signature model existed and was being used promotionally that year. Sound Arts (April 1978, p.33), profiling Rick Nielsen's instrument collection, lists a 1950 Telecaster and a 1951 Telecaster among his Fenders. The Precision Bass is not itemized in the excerpt on hand, so this page won't claim it was.
What can't be sourced: original list prices, serial number ranges, body wood by year, pickup winding specs, neck profiles, or production totals. None of the documents in hand give those, and it is better to leave them blank than repeat numbers from memory. A period price list, dealer sheet, or factory spec card for the Precision Bass is exactly the kind of material this page is missing.
Known specifications (from Fender owner's manuals)
- String height: eight adjustment screws; clockwise raises, counter-clockwise lowers
- Pickup height, Vintage Style Precision Bass: 8/64" bass side, 6/64" treble side
- Pickup height, Standard / American Standard Precision Bass: 7/64" bass side, 5/64" treble side
- Factory fretted and unfretted versions (per 1975 warranty registration card)
- Adjustable neck truss rod; individual bridges adjustable for string height and length (1962 catalogue)
- Split pickups (1962 catalogue)
- Companion amplifier listed in 1975 manual: Bassman 100, 100 W RMS / 220 W peak, four 12" speakers
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