2008 American Standard Precision

[Son of Wobble]

I had a student with one, I found the same scooped tone. Great bedroom tone, bad band mix tone. Pickup swap is nothing though if it's a good player.

The '08 I owned in the past had a very modern, scooped sounding pickup. The tone was more balanced when I strung it with boomers, but it was scoop city when I was using DR hibeams.

Mine too was scooped in a band setting, so much so that I just moved on from the guitar, since I didn't particularly love its other specs (high mass
bridge = less old school tone; mini-tuners look to me like dangling tricep where there should be Popeye muscle), and had plenty other players.
Build was however impeccable, and the neck fine. Mind you, there were dogs that year, too... (I saw several clunker '08s on the floor of Sam Ash for whatever reason).

Pick up swap in in any case no biggie should you decide to pull trigger.

 

[The Chuck]

They are fine workhorse basses. The Fender pure vintage 63 pickups are killer.

That's what I ordered for my 2015 MIA LPB Precision. Can't wait till they ship it!

 

[TMARK]

That's what I ordered for my 2015 MIA LPB Precision. Can't wait till they ship it!

Of all the P pickups I've tried, I liked these the best. Enjoy!

 

[AMJBASS]

EMG GZR-P. $99, comes complete with pots and jack with no soldering required. One of the BEST sounding pickups out there. Its balanced and strong, sits in the mix perfectly.

 

[Venom of God]

Thanks for all the replies here, I appreciate it. Another question: My Gibson is a 2009 (I picker her up in 2010) and it is starting to age quite nicely. I like it how the finish has gone through where I anchor my thumb and the few little dings and such give it some character. I don't go out to deliberately beat up my instruments, but I like the aged look I suppose. Do modern MIA Fenders do this? My old MIM had a chip or two and a crack in the finish by the neck heel, but it never wore through where I play it.

 

[JimmyM]

This is totally getting ahead of myself and probably unnecessary for my needs, but is there a go-to pup replacement for these? Preferably from either Seymour or DiMarzio.

Duncan SPB-1 and EMG Geezer P are the best replacements IMHO, especially the Geezer. But yes, you will want to rid yourself of that pickup ASAP. Most mid scooped P pickup I ever used in my life. I don't even think it's debatable that it sucks. But the basses themselves are generally awesome...I have a 2009.

 

[JimmyM]

I had a late 07 with all of the 08 updates and it was the best sounding P I've ever owned. It had crazy overtones and just beautiful tone. It slayed Ps I've owned that were 3 times the price. I definitely wouldn't jump to the conclusion that you immediately need a new pickup.

I would and I never ever do that otherwise

 

[JimmyM]

Thanks for all the replies here, I appreciate it. Another question: My Gibson is a 2009 (I picker her up in 2010) and it is starting to age quite nicely. I like it how the finish has gone through where I anchor my thumb and the few little dings and such give it some character. I don't go out to deliberately beat up my instruments, but I like the aged look I suppose. Do modern MIA Fenders do this? My old MIM had a chip or two and a crack in the finish by the neck heel, but it never wore through where I play it.

It doesn't wear like a nitrocellulose finish, but you can create wear spots on them, yes.

 

[AlexanderB]

... as mentioned, '08 was a transition year ... along with the bridge and machine change, Fender began using the 61276/7 set of pups in the 'New' American Standards ... these were used up until the transition in 2012 (as mentioned) to the CS pups ... '08-12 set seems be the least preferred stock pups (taste is subjective) in the American P's compared to the CS and the pre-'08 56003/4 set which was generally used through the early American Standard (pre-2000) and American Series run (2000-'07) ...

Just FYI, but the price of a new '08 AmStand included the rectangular TSA style latch case ... if that is not included in a used sale, you may want to adjust the price accordingly ...

A big + on that one. I have been looking at many 2008 and newer Fender Jazz (not Precision) basses. While the 2008 and up seem more consistent than earlier models, I had to try a bunch before "the one", a 2010 one. Interstingly, the (by far) worst of them was a "transition" 2008 one, but built in 2007. Still, it was the new, "American Standard" series. Bland tone, massive dead spots in the regular G string positions, not very "pure" or "nice" grain in the neck wood, very little resonance etc. So now, almost 8! years after its manufacturing, it is STILL NOS, unsold and hanging on the wall in some MI shop...
And no, it was not due to setup or strings! The bass was well set up, and I re-strung it with a fresh set of my preferred brand.

 

[dedpool1052]

Stock pickup? I always switch out the stock fender pickups. Buying used + pickups is often still cheaper than buying new.

Yup, totally stock. Bought new around april '08 for $1125.

 

[halloweenfiend]

GZR's ftw

 

[BaltBass5]

Personally I think the 2008 P Bass sounds great with stock P/U. If I were to swap it I'd go with a Seymour SPB-1.

 

[Venom of God]

I am meant to go and pick this bass up on Monday, showed a picture to a friend today though and he said he thought it was a little off. He isn't a Fender expert so I thought I'd check it with you guys as well! Main thing that felt wrong to him was that the headstock should be tinted, not gloss. I don't know if this is true though. Can anyone chime in?

 

[Venom of God]

Quick Google search seems to show them all as tinted too..

EDIT::Looking at it again, maybe it's just the light that makes it look gloss?

 

[JimmyM]

My 2009 headstock is gloss and untinted and looks identical in every way to that one.

 

[AMJBASS]

Agreed, nothing wrong with that one. 2008 and up should have gloss finish on the headstock, satin finish on the back of the neck.

 

[Venom of God]

Here are the photos from the original listing. Colour does look a bit different, but I think it's just down to the camera (logo and string silks are different shades too). Looks less gloss in these though? Glad to get the okay from you guys though, I thought my friend was probably just being a bit paranoid for me, but it did make me wonder!

 

[sarlscharisma]

Is this post applicable to 08-12 Am Stan Jazz basses? If so I can't agree that the stock pickups are sub-standard. I have had both a 2013 with CS pickups and currently have an 08 with original pickups. By far I preferred the 08 pick up sound.

Back in 2008 everyone was raving about new Am Standard basses yet now retrospectively they are being dissed for their pickups. Hey ho!

 

[JimmyM]

Is this post applicable to 08-12 Am Stan Jazz basses? If so I can't agree that the stock pickups are sub-standard. I have had both a 2013 with CS pickups and currently have an 08 with original pickups. By far I preferred the 08 pick up sound.

Back in 2008 everyone was raving about new Am Standard basses yet now retrospectively they are being dissed for their pickups. Hey ho!

Well they are built really nicely otherwise BTW, I finally took my Geezer-loaded Precision to the store and compared it to a new AmStd Precision. I'm now inclined to agree with you that the 2008-12 pickup might actually be better. I've heard they were greatly improved but I sure didn't hear it. Lateral move at best IMHO. But I still stand by my opinion that they both suck. The one flaw to a super feeling instrument.

 

[AMJBASS]

Well they are built really nicely otherwise BTW, I finally took my Geezer-loaded Precision to the store and compared it to a new AmStd Precision. I'm now inclined to agree with you that the 2008-12 pickup might actually be better. I've heard they were greatly improved but I sure didn't hear it. Lateral move at best IMHO. But I still stand by my opinion that they both suck. The one flaw to a super feeling instrument.

My current 2015 stock MIA Standard is one of the best sounding Precisions I have had. Its got the 60's custom shop pickup. Not scooped at all. I don't know if its just luck of the draw but this one has a big wide and colorful sounding midrange. I have had a few basses from 2008-2012 and I would tend to agree that the pickup in those can be the weak link at times. Its a bit too scooped and modern but that can work really well in some styles I suppose.