Fender PB70 (PB-70) Precision Bass
The ’70 Made-in-Japan Reissue
The Fender Japan PB70 (’70 Reissue Precision Bass) was a prominent feature in the Fender Japan 1990 Catalog. Crafted during the highly regarded “Made in Japan” (MIJ) era at the FujiGen Gakki factory, the PB70 series was designed to recreate the aesthetic and feel of the early ’70s big-headstock Precision Bass.
The rarest PB70 in the Bass Vault. Not a catalogue colour, not a catalogue order. This Cherry Sunburst was an “Order Made” special request in Fender Japan’s earliest PB70 year – the neck stamped April 1990, right as the model entered the record. A custom finish, on an ash body, from the very start of the run: the kind of PB70 you don’t stumble across twice.
This page is my working reference for the model: full specifications, the finishes it shipped in, how to tell a Made in Japan example from a Crafted in Japan one, and every PB70 that has passed through the vault, photographed and dated.
The story of the PB70
Fender launched its Japanese venture in 1982 to out-build the copyists with faithful reissues of its own golden-age instruments. Each model carried a two-letter, two-number code – the model and the era it recalled – and the PB70 was the 1970s Precision. It stayed in the catalogue until Fender Japan restructured its entire line in 2015.
Where and when a given PB70 was built is the collector’s puzzle. “Made in Japan” examples run from roughly 1990 to 1997, “Crafted in Japan” from about 1997 to 2008, and “Made in Japan” returns from around 2008 to 2015 – mapping onto a move from the celebrated Fujigen Gakki factory to Dyna Gakki. The core recipe held steady throughout: alder/ash body, 34″ rosewood/maple neck, 7.25″ vintage slab radius, one split-coil pickup.
The suffix told you the rest. Numbers like PB70-700 marked the yen price tier, while the -US suffix (PB70-US, PB70-70US) meant genuine Fender USA pickups rather than the Japanese-wound unit. Fender only sold the model briefly abroad, badged as the ’75 Precision Bass in 1992-93 – and that scarcity outside Japan, paired with Fujigen-era build quality, is exactly why the PB70 earned its “giant killer” name.
Every PB70 in the Bass Vault
| Year | Era | Finish | Serial / Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | MIJ | Cherry Sunburst | H / Order made |
| 1990 | MIJ | Olympic White | J |
| 1995 – 1996 | MIJ | 3-Color Sunburst | U |
| 1997 – 2000 | CIJ | Olympic White | O |
| 1999 – 2002 | CIJ | Surf Green | P / Custom colour |
| 2002 – 2003 | CIJ | Black | Q |
| 2004 – 2005 | CIJ | 3-Color Sunburst | R |
| 2004 – 2005 | CIJ | Classic Copper | R / Custom colour |
PB70 specifications
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| Body wood | Ash or alder |
| Body finish | Gloss polyurethane |
| Neck wood | Maple |
| Neck profile & nut width | ’70s profile; nut width slimmer early-’70s-style “A” necks (~41 mm) |
| Fingerboard | Maple or rosewood |
| Fingerboard radius | 7.25″ vintage slab |
| Frets | 20 |
| Scale length | 34″ long scale |
| Pickup | Single split-coil – Japanese-wound on base PB70/PB70-70, genuine Fender USA on -US / -70US / -78US variants |
| Controls | Passive: 1 volume, 1 tone |
| Bridge | Vintage-style 4-saddle |
| Tuners | Gotoh (GB-10 on most) |
| Hardware & cosmetics | Chrome hardware, black pickguard, black-and-gold “modern” logo |
| Typical weight | ~3,8 – 4,1 kg |
| Country of origin | Made in Japan / Crafted in Japan |
Fender Japan PB70 FAQ
When was the Fender Japan PB70 introduced?
Later than most people assume. Fender Japan’s reissue line launched in 1982, but the ’70s-style Precision wasn’t part of it – the 1984, 1985 and 1986 catalogues list only the ’57 and ’62 Precisions, and even the ’75-style Jazz Bass arrived before it. Dated PB70 examples start appearing around 1988-89, yet the model doesn’t show up in the catalogue record until 1990 (as the PB70-700). So it’s both one of the later additions to the reissue range and, curiously, a bass whose production ran a year or two ahead of its own paperwork.
What do the numbers after “PB70” mean?
They’re a yen price code – but the multiplier changed over the model’s life, which trips up a lot of buyers. In the 1980s and early ’90s, three-digit suffixes divide by a hundred: a PB70-700 was a ¥70,000 bass, sitting on a ladder with the PB57 and PB62 at -500/-700/-900. From the mid-’90s the notation switched to two digits divided by a thousand, so a PB70-85 is ¥85,000. PB70-700 and PB70-85 aren’t a tenfold jump – they’re the same class of bass under two different systems. A trailing -US (PB70-70US, PB70-78US) marks genuine Fender USA pickups.
What’s the difference between MIJ and CIJ on a PB70?
Both mean Japanese-built, but from different periods and factories. “Made in Japan” runs roughly 1982-1997 and returns from about 2008-2015; “Crafted in Japan” covers roughly 1997-2008. In practice that maps a move from the celebrated Fujigen Gakki factory (early MIJ) to Dyna Gakki (CIJ). The origin stamp sits on the back of the neck at the heel, not just on the front-of-headstock logo.
Should I date my PB70 by the serial number or the neck stamp?
The neck stamp, if it has one. A serial prefix only tells you the production series, which spans a range and overlaps year to year; a date stamped on the neck heel is the actual day that neck was cut. When they disagree, the stamp wins. My own Cherry Sunburst is the perfect example: it carries an H0 serial, which the charts file under 1988-89, but its neck is stamped 17 April 1990 – so it’s really a 1990 build wearing an older-series serial. That’s classic Fender Japan inconsistency, and it’s exactly why serious dating starts at the neck heel.
What’s the difference between the PB70 and the PB70-US?
Pickups. The base PB70 (and PB70-70) uses a Japanese-wound split-coil; the -US variants (PB70-US, PB70-70US) carry a genuine Fender USA pickup. Everything else – alder body, maple neck, 7.25″ radius, 34″ scale – stays the same.
Are Fender Japan PB70 basses any good?
Yes – it’s why collectors call them “giant killers.” Fujigen-era build quality sits comfortably between Fender’s Mexican and American lines, and because the model was rarely sold outside Japan, clean examples remain a genuine bargain for anyone who knows to look for one.
Where to go from here
- Browse the range: more Fender Japan basses in the vault.
- Date your own PB70: decode the serial and factory in my Field Guide to Fender Japan: MIJ & CIJ eras.
- The one that started it: how I got hooked on the Fender PB70s.