The New Baby

I don't know why I got it in my head that I wanted a circa 1987 MIJ Fender '62 P bass reissue in Fiesta Red. It really isn't neccessary to be so precise. But I wanted it anyway. I did some research along the way (surely documented on this blog, but I'm too lazy to look it up right now like here) and found them hard to find...at least in the correct color...and generally more money than I wanted to spend (not over the top money, but more than I wanted to spend). Along the way, Fender put out a new model...the Squire 60's Vibe P Bass. I've always avoided Squire products, believing them to be inferior in quality. I always figured that one could get any crappy instrument for less money and that you really were just paying for "Fender" to be written in very tiny letters. But I read some decent reviews of this new model (in comparison to other Squire products) and learned that, actually, in 1987 the '62 reissue was a Squire product...they just didn't put Squire on the headstock at the time. That's what I heard anyway. New the bass sells for $335...and that's more than I wanted to spend for what it was. I decided that if I ever found one really cheap (like under $200) I'd pick it up. I wanted to try it out, but it seemed unlikely that I'd ever see one in a store (though I looked at every store I stepped into).

So on Friday things were slow at work and I went and did my occasional check for basses on the internet. There were two Squire 60's Vibe P Basses in Fiesta Red on ebay for under $200. I decided that I didn't even want to spend $200 though...that I wanted to spend more like $160. That knocked one out...and the other had $40 of shipping tacked on...bringing the final total over my $160 cap. Plus, the idea of buying an instrument online sight unseen and having it shipped (who knows how well), kind of gave me pause.

The next day I decided to go over to GC because I'd recently bought a prepack of drum heads and they came with a kind of shitty bass pedal slam patch (cheap bastards...Remo used to include a regular falam slam with these prepacks). I wanted the regular falam slam patch and I wanted it right away...I went to get it.  I walked into the store and strait ahead. In a bit of a fog I thought "hmm, what did I come for and where do I need to go". As I'm working this out, my eyes start to focus on what I'm standing in front of. It was a used Squire 60's Vibe P Basses in Fiesta Red for $179. I kind of thought I might be going insane. I double checked the label. I took it to an amp. Played like a dream (I'm not thrilled about the tone range, but it is good enough. Also the strings were pretty new and bright and buzzy...but the action was really good...it played comfortably). Bought it. Took it home next day (it was on a hold until the next day).

Once I got it home I took off the tortoise shell pick guard. There was only a half shield underneath (this is how Squire builds em so cheap) and it was a sticker on the back of the pickguard. I read somewhere along the way (who knows when or where...the constant obsession) that she didn't like the white pick guard, so took it off and left the "shield" underneath exposed. So I went online and bought a full '62 reissue shield, which seems like it will fit based on my research.  It isn't meant to be used as a pick guard, but I'm hoping I can jerry rig it (there is certainly precedence). It'll be here in a few days. And then the thing will look kinda like this:

I did not need this instrument. It is essentially the exact same instrument as my Yamaha P bass. And no one actually will care that I have the proper looking bass (and what is proper is subjective anyway, since this is just the Doolittle era bass...and I'm not going out and also getting an Aria, a Music Man, and a Steinberger...I think this is the bass she is most known for, especially since the reunion). But it is one fewer obsession for me to have. The funny thing is, I probably will only have ONE chance to play it with CJ on stage this year...Oct 11th....since our June gig is acoustic, we'll likely take off July, Aug-Oct will be spent learning non-Pixies tunes for our special Halloween show, and Nov-Dec are notoriously slow gig months due to holidays and post-Halloween malaise (why do we agree to do Halloween shows year after year when they only end up making us sad?). But here's hoping that we pretend to be the Pixies for enough years to come that this won't have been a TOTAL waste.

Actual photo to come once I get the shield on.

UPDATE: Here she is.  Realizing that the shield alone would be too thin to support the input jack (this I suspect is what led to that duct tape on KiD's bass), I simply put the shield over the tortoise shell pickguard. There is a strip of shielding tape under the pickguard, so all should be well. I rest my thumb on the end of the finger board and it turns out that there is a sharp edge on the shield there, so I put a little bit of masking tape over the edge and it seems to be safe enough. I played it for an hour or so last night and didn't cut myself. I may invest in black knobs to replace the silver, but we'll see. I've already fallen down the rabbit hole so I might as well go all the way (UPDATE 6/10/2013...Happy Birthday KiD! A little research today and I'm fairly convinced that the black tone/volume knobs are not original to this instrument. Those appear to be jazz bass knobs. I suppose it is possible that they came with hers, but seems unlikely. Anyway, 12 bucks will correct the situation).

I like the way it plays, especially at the high frets, because the action is super low. It MAY be too low, as I'm getting a tiny bit of fret buzz, but I think that might lessen as the strings deaden. It's hard to tell right now if it is just a brightness thing or actual buzz. It sounds really great played with a pick. Loud and clear. Played with fingers the tone is very muffled and the volume low...more so that with my other basses...even with the treble turned up. So I guess I'll have to start playing with a pick most of the time on this one, which for accuracy sake wrt to Pixies is actually more appropriate anyway. For the same reason, this may not end up being a great bass for the ska band, because I don't think that I'm going to be able to learn to play fast moving lines with a pick any time soon, but I may try using it at the ska show on Sunday and see how it goes.