(Originally written by Tibo1987/translated from Audiofanzine FR)

50th anniversary USA-made Fender Guitar (1996). My model is a sunburst.

22 frets.

Deluxe machine heads (very, very good).

1 Precision pickup (upgraded to a Bartolini)
1 Jazz humbucker in bridge position (jazz pickups pair)
Only active...
Bass, mid, high, pickups balance, volume.

Fender bridge with through body strings.

Maple neck and rosewood fingerboard.

Slightly cheap pearl pickguard!

It's the best Precision bass I've ever played. It has a huge sound and a very sweet feel. The big advantage comes from the dual jazz pickup in the bridge position providing a growling jazz sound although it is a Precision model. Good manufacturing quality exception for the neck varnish.

I only give it a 9 because its only active and the flaking neck varnish.

UTILIZATION

I've been playing it for a couple of days now and I will soon take it to a rehearsal. I already know that it will sound great.

If I were a professional musician, it would be my favorite working tool: Very good and versatile tone providing classic Precision and Jazz Bass sounds. It's not too heavy, it's well balanced, it has a good finish, it looks great but not too flashy. It's perfect.

SOUNDS

Neck pickup: Big and round Precision sound. The Bartolini pickup is awesome the tone a really good definition. It sounds warm, full and round, it provides a wide frequency range, specially in the lows and ultra-lows. It also produces nice high frequencies for slap playing... A real Precision tone.

Bridge pickup: Typical Jazz Bass sound with perhaps a bit less bite. I'm using the original pickup and it does a darn good job. I set it as close as possible to the strings to enhance the sound precision and the result is a powerful growling Jazz Bass tone. With both pickups the sound is full with the big low-end of the neck pickup and the biting mid and high frequencies of the bridge pickup. This combination produces a huge, full and "straight" sound.

OVERALL OPINION

I've been using it for a couple of months.

I love it. In the beginning I thought it didn't have as much character as other models. But it's great. I said great but I could've said perfect because I don't find any weaknesses (yes I do... the varnish. It is flaking off the edge of the neck).

Excellent value for money (even with the Bartolini price increase). You get a beautiful and rare professional instrument for a reasonable price, .

I would definitely buy it again (although it might be hard to find a second one).

I'm just asking myself why Fender doesn't increase the production.