2001 Fender Custom Shop " Vintage P-Bass Custom" Honey Blonde, Near Mint, Original Hard

This is from a select run of basses made by the Fender Custom Shop and released in 2001. This lightweight swamp ash beauty already has 17 years of aging to the wood, and still looks almost as new as the day it was sold. The “Honey Blonde” finish offsets the ash grain and the maple neck well is and is a great looking finish.

A combination of early 50’s Precision bass designs mixed in with a Jazz Bass pickup added in, make this an attractive, well balanced and comfortable bass. Features include: 1960 J bass r.i. bridge pickup, 1957 P-bass ri pickup, 1960 Jazz bass controls (concentric volume tone for each pickup). Setup lets you solo each pickup, or blend the Jazz Bass tone in for great versatility. Each knobs center controls the volume, with the outer black ring controlling the tone. The pickguard shows very little play wear.

The Certificate of Authenticity states 2/2/2001. The Serial # is stamped into the bridge bass next to the impressed “FENDER PAT. PEND. on the tailpiece, just like in the early 50’s. Saddles are solid steel with single slot height screws. 9.5 Fretboard Radius

This is not to be confused with a new limited edition of basses that Fender is releasing.

Sale includes the Custom Shop “Certificate of Authenticity” and all the case candy. Bass weighs in at a nice light weight of 8.4 lbs, and the grain figuring is well pronounced and clear. Variations in the weight and appearance of swamp ash can swing widely in the guitar production world, this is a great example.

The maple neck features some slight bird’s eye on the bass side back of the neck, that extends around to the face of the fretboard. I doubt this was ordered as an upgrade, as it is subtle, but it is a nice bonus, especially around the 12th- 18th frets. The only finish imperfections I see are a half pinhead sized dimple near the body sting ferrules, and a pin head sized oval imperfection on the back near the treble cutaway. This instrument was purchased by its original owner and stored away until I purchased it.