My Fender Basses and the Headstock Logo



I don't put the Fender logo (waterslide decal) on my Fender tribute basses, and it all started back in the '80s.

Back in 1987, while working at Guitar Center in San Diego, I purchased my first bass guitar - a white Squier Precision Bass (Made in Japan). Even back then, I had to tinker with things and after swapping the stock bridge for a Leo Quan BadAss II, and the stock pickup for a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder, I guess I was a little embarrassed that is still said Squier on the headstock. So I just sanded it off (as shown above). I also sanded down the back of the neck, moved the jack to the side, stripped off the paint and sprayed it light blue, and added a backwards single-coil Duncan pickup. And over the years, I added another volume knob (one for each pickup - like a Jazz bass) and completely re-wired the thing. A lot of modifications!

And to this day, this medium-scale Fender Squier Precision Bass is my favorite. Trust me, if there was an internet back in 1987, and if I could've tracked down a legit Fender waterslide, I would have slapped it on there. But none of that was going on, so I suppose I'm honoring this beast's legacy by not affixing any Fender decals to any of my other "Fender tributes" and "Squier Specials":




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