Fender Classic Series '51 Precision Bass (No Longer Available) 
4-string Electric Bass with Ash Body, Maple Neck and Fingerboard, and One Single-coil Pickup - Butterscotch Blonde
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Item ID: PBass51MBB
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Sorry, the Fender Classic Series '51 Precision Bass is no longer available. We've left this page up for reference only. Check out the great alternatives on this page or call toll-free (800) 222-4700 to speak with a Sweetwater Sales Engineer about similar products.
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Groove Yesteryear's P Bass Today!
The '51 Precision Bass ® combines great traditional P Bass ® tone in a classic package that bass freaks, as well as players and collectors, will love! A special edition P Bass with Maple fingerboard, Ash body and detailed vintage styling, the '51 P Bass truly delivers. It features the original P Bass headstock shape, one vintage single-coil pickup and 2-saddle bridge. The look, feel and vibe of this bass are classic FENDER ®. The '51 Precision Bass speaks of decades of bass history and tradition, and besides, it looks and sounds great! Fender Reissue '51 Precision Bass Features:- Model Number: 027-1902-550
- Series: Classic Series
- Color: Butterscotch Blonde (Polyurethane Finish)
- Body: Ash
- Neck: Maple, Thick "C" Shape (Gloss Polyurethane Finish)
- Fingerboard: Maple, 7.25" Radius
- No. of Frets: 20 Vintage Style Frets
- Pickups: 1 Original Single-Coil Precision Bass Pickup
- Controls: Volume, Tone
- Bridge: 2 Saddle Style '51 P-Bass
- Machine Heads: Vintage Style Reverse Tuning Machines
- Hardware: Chrome
- Pickguard: 1-Ply Black
- Scale Length: 34"
- Width at Nut: 1.625"
- Unique Features: Original Precision Bass Headstock Shape
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Sweetwater Advice
David Klausner
When we needed a bigger and meaner bass sound for a recent album project I produced and engineered, I plugged in the Fender '51 Precision Bass for the bass player and he immediately said, "Sold"! The best way to describe the sound of this bass is to say "Mack Truck". It's like a Yeti awakened from its nap and boy, is he mad. Considering this is the first electric bass design, the band and I continue to marvel at how the most simple bass design posesses the most intriguing character we have ever heard. It's truly an amazing value, and at this price, every serious bass player should add one to the arsenal.
Dan VanAmerongen
The reissue P-Bass 51 is a special edition P-Bass, crafted with the same appointments and materials as the original '51. It sounds HUGE and has the classic Fender bass tone. At this price, it is very affordable and every serious bass player should have one.
Excellent Instrument
by Chris from Kansas City, MO USA
August 19, 2009
Music Background: Recording Engineer, Guitar, Bass
This bass sounds as amazing as it feels to play it. I was a little wary of the idea of having only one pickup, but this thing has such fantastic tone - a real growl to it - that when you pick it up to ... read more [+] play it, you forget about any wariness you might have had before. It's pretty cool when the sound guy comes up after the gig and tells you how great the bass sounds - how easy it is to fit it in the mix. close [-]
51 P bass, Mustang bass and SG reisue bass
by Patrick Kelley from Indianapolis Indiana
July 4, 2009
Music Background: Bass, horn, guitar player also guitar collector
I started playing on my 1964 EBO as a freshman in highschool in 1965. In 1976 I purchased a Mustang bass due to the short scale that I got acustomed to from playing my EBO. I still have both of my old ... read more [+] friends and still play them as well as my 51 reissue P bass. All guitars have their own personality and playing and sounding plusses and minousses. I have been playing my 51 P bass for about 2 years. Getting used to the longer scale was allot easier then I expected it to be due to the playability of this insterment. The neck is very comfortable and lends it's self to the many stiles of music that I play. I play open stages and have let several players use my guitar and I have yet to find a player that didn't love the sound and feal of this guitar. I have had several players try and buy it freom me as well as joke about haveing me turn my back so they can run away with it. I have the two color burst which looks great on or off stage. I have 24 guitars counting 6 string, basses and lap steele guitars most of which are vintage insterments, I also do repair and modifications as well as custom rebuilt guitars, so I am very well able to judge the quality of the guitars that I would like to own as well as play. I highly recommend getting a 51 P bass reissue. I have also played the newer Mustang bass as well as the Gibson SG (solid guitar) reisue basses. Haveing owned both vintage guitars I can tell you from first hand expierance the newer versions are both also well worth owning. The quality of these 3 insterments is comparable to the vintage units. The new Mustang neck is a little narrower then the U.S.A. vintage but plays very well. I compaired my vintage Mustang side by side to a new Mustang and found the vintage pickups to be a little less powerful but not eneough to keep me from aquireing one if the operatonity presented itself in the future. As for the SG reisue the neck is a little chunkier then my 1964 EBO but as in the Mustang not eneough to not make it play and feal like a vintage guitar. I recomend getting eighter new or vintage, if your lucky, of any of these guitars. As I stated befor all guitars have their own virtues and your needs are the determining factor which guitar you would prefer to play. I for one will play till I am no longer able to raise my trusty guitar from it's case. Play on! close [-]
Excellent retro bass
by John Weigel from Nacogdoches TX USA
January 5, 2009
Music Background: project recording studio operator, itinerant pro musician
I found myself playing bass full-time in a honky-tonk band 3-4 years ago, and needed a better bass than what I had. I first bought a Tribute by G&L L2000, but it didn't have the personality and sass I ... read more [+] wanted. Up came the Classic '51 Precision reissue: great looks (the butterscotch glows under stage lights) and great sound. I really like the retro proto-Fender appearance, but it's the sound that makes this one worth buying. It's difficult to describe the sound of a bass, but this one is deep-voiced, with an almighty thump. If you're used to other Fenders, it sounds more hi-fi than either the Jazz or the split-coil Precision (both of which I have owned and gigged with). It doesn't sustain like its brothers, but that makes it sound more percussive: the split-coil was Fender's attempt to alleviate damage to bass amp speakers back in the day, so the thump was partially designed out of it. Trying out a split-coil and the single coil side by side will quickly demonstrate the difference. And the Jazz, in contrast, sounds polite and generic...nothing against Jazz basses, a lot of people happily play them, but this is a horse of a different tonal color.
The ash body and maple one-piece neck fit nicely out of the box, and the finish, while not as cool as the original nitro, wears well. Mine's still glossy 3 years later, even with some dings. I'd rather have the original 1951 blond wash, but I'll pass on the extra $20K that I would pay for the real deal.
This really is a retro bass, and there are several things to be aware of. The single-coil pickup can hum (but I never had a problem on stage, only in my living room), the two-saddle bridge won't intonate exactly, it has a chunky neck and small "vintage" frets.
I dropped in a Fender American Deluxe bridge (an exact match, with four saddles and string-through loading), installed Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Flats, and recently replaced the Tele-style output socket cup with a machined Electrosocket replacement. As it happens, I really like the chunky neck and small frets (they facilitate fretless-style slides up and down the neck). After playing other basses, the high crown on the fingerboard was a little awkward (especially with material like Black Magic Woman) but I adapted to it soon enough.
The real proof, to me, of the value of this bass is that a good friend, a rabid Gibson Les Paul bass player, "borrowed" this one for a year and wouldn't give it back until recently!
So: the flaws (two-saddle bridge, fiddley output socket) are easily rectified, and you are left with a bass perfect for early rock, blues, and many other styles. Fender deserves credit for resurrecting an old classic for an affordable price. close [-]
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