Fender Nate Mendel P-Bass

sigmafloyd · #1 10-01-2012, 10:49 AM

http://www.fender.com/products/foofi...dNo=0142500309

willsellout · #2 10-01-2012, 10:53 AM

So.....it's a P bass. Fender is really breaking new ground LOL.

sigmafloyd · #3 10-01-2012, 10:55 AM

Yup. MIM, slightly roadworn, Badass II, SD SPB-3 Quarter Pound

Demon_Hunter · #4 10-01-2012, 11:19 AM

Another excuse to overcharge people for something?

I like it though.

fisticuffs · #5 10-01-2012, 11:20 AM

I do really like the Shiflett Tele.

Hapa · #6 10-01-2012, 11:28 AM

I just played that in the office, its like a jazz neck profile. Similar taper and nut width with a different neck profile from a jazz. U shaped to a D shape cool bass, i like the tinted headstock.

quite_angry · #7 10-01-2012, 11:30 AM

Wow... that's really unique. I don't think I have ever seen anything quite like it. What kind of pickups are those and why are there two of them? I also don't think I have ever seen a bass in that color combination. Truly a groundbreaking piece.

FiXeR · #8 10-01-2012, 11:39 AM

I like the features it offers but I'd much prefer the standard radius neck instead of the 7.5 .

It's fairly unique in that it's an ash bodied P-bass with a nitro lacquer. I don't believe Fender currently offers a production model with that wood type and finish.

If I was in the market for a MIM precision I'd probably pick one up since it has all the features I'd want outside of the neck radius.

Mark Nye · #9 10-01-2012, 12:38 PM

Nice appointments. I've owned a few Ps with the SD Quarter-pound and always got a great tone out of it. Nice, thick, and agressive. Using it for styles other than rock almost always yields tonally interesting results.

I'm just not sure about a $1200 MSRP for an MIM. I have a hard time wrapping my head around $1000+ Mexis after the original Highway 1 series came and went. They were solid US-made basses leagues beyond the MIM stuff for only a few hundred bucks more.

Of course, when I worked in a guitar shop in 2000-2001, you could get a MIM standard for $299 ($329 for sunburst), and a MIJ Geddy Lee sig for $599. Crazy that prices can almost double in just over a decade.

Jwood · #10 10-01-2012, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Nye

Nice appointments. I've owned a few Ps with the SD Quarter-pound and always got a great tone out of it. Nice, thick, and agressive. Using it for styles other than rock almost always yields tonally interesting results.

I'm just not sure about a $1200 MSRP for an MIM. I have a hard time wrapping my head around $1000+ Mexis after the original Highway 1 series came and went. They were solid US-made basses leagues beyond the MIM stuff for only a few hundred bucks more.

Of course, when I worked in a guitar shop in 2000-2001, you could get a MIM standard for $299 ($329 for sunburst), and a MIJ Geddy Lee sig for $599. Crazy that prices can almost double in just over a decade.

Yeah dude, but most everything was a lot cheaper in 2000 that it is today.

Lublin · #11 10-01-2012, 12:48 PM

WANT!!!!!!

jgroh · #12 10-01-2012, 12:48 PM

It better come stuffed with contraband from a cartel in Mexico for $1200!

**awilkie84** · #13 10-01-2012, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sigmafloyd

Yup. MIM, slightly roadworn, Badass II, SD SPB-3 Quarter Pound

So, it's a Highway One/Roger Waters love-child?

Octavio · #14 10-01-2012, 01:00 PM

This is interesting. Within the last two years Bass Player magazine did a story on Nate. The article mentioned a signature model. Thereafter, someone on this website reported that they contacted Fender about the rumored model and Fender indicated that they had no plans to build one. Now this.

**bobbybass85** · #15 10-01-2012, 01:18 PM

$1199 is the same MSRP as the Roger Waters ($879 retail) and the Sting ($899 retail)sig basses. My guess is that'll be about what the buyers price is.

RCCollins · #16 10-01-2012, 01:20 PM

I can't stand the screw in the middle of the pickguard. that would bug the heck out of me

**awilkie84** · #17 10-01-2012, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCCollins

I can't stand the screw in the middle of the pickguard. that would bug the heck out of me

My guess is that maybe Nate does this to deal with resonance issues from the pickguard vibrating on certain notes? Double-sided tape would have served just as well.

fisticuffs · #18 10-01-2012, 01:31 PM

$899.99. I just got it listed.

mccartneyman · #19 10-01-2012, 01:32 PM

Foobar.

fisticuffs · #20 10-01-2012, 01:36 PM

I was pretty skeptical about a premium priced mexi-Fender too when they came out with the Cobain Jag but then I got it in my hands and the fit and finish was as good as anything I've played. I HATE relics but that Jag was tasteful and way cooler than I expected it to be. If these basses are anything like that, sure they come off the same line, I'd be interested.