Fender '50s Precision vs. Roger Waters Precision?

[winterburn69]

Looking to get my first P bass, I've played lots and narrowed it down to these two. Price isn't an issue, the '50s is $790 and the Roger Waters is about $900.

So I took the long drive to Long & McQuade yesterday, it's about an hour & 20 minutes from home. Just three local music stores here that rob you like Dillinger robbed banks.

But I digress, I bought a BOSS BF-3 and played a few basses, I've played the '50s there a few times before, they didn't have one yesterday but I finally got a chance to play the Roger Waters P, I really liked it except for that the frets on the bottom side (G-string side) stuck out a bit and it wasn't very smooth, kinda sharp actually, I figure it's probably just a bad quality neck, or something happened to the wood when it was shipped to the frozen tundra here. Any thoughts?

I've always been a Thunderbird guy, so the neck is a nice change. I always value the advice and knowledge of other TB'ers greatly, so who can give me their thoughts, opinions and knowledge of these two basses?

[solarplexus]

The frets sticking out is the neck/frets acting out on the weather. I'm from Canada too. Those frets can be filed down by the luthier there. No biggie and it should be done for free. You should look at fret buzzes rather than sharp frets.

[recreate.me]

I havent played the classic 50s P bass, but i do own a RW precision which is essentially the same as the Classic 50s but its nitro and reliced. That being said, I played a Roger Waters bass a couple weeks back the big differences are:

The fret board radius is 9.25 on the Waters bass, and 7.25 on the 50s (i found the 50s/RW nicer since it has really nice rolled edges, and the 7.25 makes it easier to play IMO)

The pickups are really different which i think will be your main deal breaker. The Waters bass has Seymour Duncans, and thats the Quarter pounders, which have a much more aggressive tone then the 50s bass which was rounder and smoother i found..

Besides the looks of the two those are the big differences i found, and they are both great basses but they are really different IMO.

[sillyfabe]

I am a proud owner of the Roger Waters P-Bass. I spent about a good 2 hours a piece with them when k decided to get the RW. I've been following both for a while (esp the 50's) but the pups on the RW jus have that slight bite when needed but are still warm. Love that bass! I have it strung with Steve Harris flatwounds

[bongomania]

The Roger Waters bass is better because it comes with a session bassist to play the actual bass lines for you.

[nocontrols]

Originally Posted by bongomania

The Roger Waters bass is better because it comes with a session bassist to play the actual bass lines for you.

The joke that keeps on giving.

Anyway, I think both are a bit overpriced, relative to what you're getting. But if that's not an object, I would take a serious listen to the pickups. Those pickups will make a big difference in sound... the Quarter Pounder isn't very well suited to old-school 50's accurate warm tones. It does modern, aggressive sounds with a bit more muscle, though. Decide which you prefer and go from there.