2006 Fender Japan Precision Bass PB62-72AB Review

Aloha!

Though Fender Japan is no longer making instruments, there are still plenty of their great instruments out there, and many of them are quite unique and were never exported to our shores. Today we are looking at another cool piece – a fairly rare 2006 Japanese Fender Precision Bass – the “All Black” model.

The model is PB-62-72AB, meaning that its basic design is loosely based on a 1962 P Bass, and the 72 indicates its original selling price in Yen (72,000, or around $700). You can see why they call it the All Black model – it is almost all black! The body is glossy black, as is the back of the neck and the headstock. All of the hardware is black too, and the only touch of any color is the metallic Fender logo (with no other markings) on the headstock. The look of the neck and the body shape hearken back to the Jazz Bass Specials of the mid-to-late 80s, and it is sorely tempting to spray the body pearl white to complete the look. Hopefully I can resist the temptation…

I have been told that these basses are made of basswood, and this one weighs 8 pounds, 5 ounce, which is a tad heavy for basswood, that will have to remain an unsolved mystery. For now. . The neck is maple, and it is has a pretty rosewood fretboard and a slender profile with a 1 5/8” nut width.

The hardware is certainly good enough, with small-base open-gear tuners to hold the strings solidly, and a normal profile bridge. The bridge has a very similar look to the ones on the old Jazz Specials, so I wonder if it has brass saddles underneath the anodizing. Fortunately the finish on it and the neck plate have held up very well, which is not usually the case on these.

Fender Japan stepped up a bit and installed a PB-Hotrod pickup on this bass. There is no pickguard, so there is an electronics cavity routed into the back of the body, so adding active electronics should not be much of a problem if I eventually decide to go that route. But it is not really necessary, this bass has a beefier tone than similar MIJ P Basses that I have owned and played before. This is a really solid instrument in all aspects.

My guy in Tokyo came up with this one for me, and he always comes up with the coolest stuff. The condition is pretty good, with a few light dings and evidence of an-ill-advised thumb rest installation. Who does things like this? At least they did not put a brass bridge on it! It plays very well, with nice fretwork and a great set-up and action. There is plenty of bite to the sound, and it does everything a Precision Bass should do. Looking at my collection, I am not sure how it fits in, though. I already have a nice rosewood board P-Bass, but I am really taken with the looks of this one. There is no real need to have two of these, so I guess we will see which one wins out in the long run. Stay tuned!

Mahalo!