Best Fender Precision Bass era?

[Ant B 2021]

I have played and / or owned a late 50's, a 1997, 2010, 2011, 2 Custom Shops (both 2011), a Nate Mendel (72 copy) and I presently have a 1973. The 1973 wins by a long distance. Sound, playability, quality and weight.

 

[BargeOn]

I have a preference for 80's MIJ's like the Boxers.
More pickguard-less basses please.

The gods have heard thy prayer:
Fender Bass Guitars | Sweetwater

 

[Bbrddck]

I have a ‘75 that is the dream in every respect.

isn’t that the one Kristen Pfaff owned?

 

[REMBO]

I have a 1974 P Bass that is incredible! …very lightweight!
I have a 1978 P Bass that’s a boat anchor with a thick poly finish and a crappy sunburst…and, it is incredible sounding! It also has a sloppy neck pocket!!

 

[steveinohio]

I've owned a ton of Fenders. I think the new American Professional IIs are the best out of all of them. Take into account what other US made instruments are going for and you have found a real bargain.

 

[REMBO]

I've owned a ton of Fenders. I think the new American Professional IIs are the best out of all of them. Take into account what other US made instruments are going for and you have found a real bargain.

I wanna buy one! I’ve been eyeing them for while!!

 

[tvbop]

Techinically, now is the best era, however there are always gems to be found during all times of production. I had a 71 P bass that was a total dog, heavy with a totaly dead E string, and a 75 natural that was real nice and my newish basswood CV70's P bass is a peach too.

 

[thmsjordan]

I've owned a ton of Fenders. I think the new American Professional IIs are the best out of all of them. Take into account what other US made instruments are going for and you have found a real bargain.

I have to second this. I have played two 1963 Precision basses extensively and had the option to buy both. Neither sounded as good as my 78 which had BAD neck problems, but sounded great. I owned a 1978, a 2004, and my current 2021 American Pro II V. For sound and play-ability I really have to salute fender's improvements in the 2021 basses. The 2021 is my favorite so far but I really liked the sound of my old 1978. Old recordings of that bass don't sound as good as the tracks I have recently done on the 2021 bass though, so I guess I am just being sentimental about the 78. The 2004 actually sounded better when compared back to back with one of the 63 basses in the studio so I gave up on worrying about the year number on basses after that. It seems that for me at least I need to take the bass on it's own merits and forget the date stamped on it.

I notice some debate on the pickups on the 2021 Pro II basses. I see what they are talking about but I have my current 2021 strung with rounds and I gotta say it works pretty well for what I do. The pickup has a better solo voice than any Precision I have played so far (think jazz gigs here). I can hear a definite tonal difference between the two pickups when using flats however, so they may not work for everyone.

I used to feel like I had to take my Jazz V to Jazz gigs due to my being asked to solo a lot. Now I can take my Precision and use it for the Jazz gigs. Me Likey.

 

[mongo2]

My favorite P bass era is whenever Fender made the MIJ '51 RI P basses.

 

[Ric Vice]

As a student I saved my money from mowing lawns for three summers and bought my first Precision. I sold it
the very same year. In 1975 a 1959 came my way. I still own that bass. The frets are different than any of the re-issues
and the neck profile and radius suit me to a tee. I owned an early G&L 1000, but after changing out the pickups and the
frets I sold it. My favorite basses are Lakland 55-94’s

 

[SJan3]

I have played and / or owned a late 50's, a 1997, 2010, 2011, 2 Custom Shops (both 2011), a Nate Mendel (72 copy) and I presently have a 1973. The 1973 wins by a long distance. Sound, playability, quality and weight.

See that! You never know from what period your dreamboat will come..

 

[claudel]

Probably better off thinking about individual instruments as opposed to "eras".

I had a beautiful looking (genuine) '58 that was sonically dead and uninspiring while as many have said, there are quite a lot of really nice ones being made currently.

Sometimes it can be necessary to kiss many princesses before finding the right frog...

 

[Ted Rogers]

Me personally, I don't think there's any way to tell. The strings are the much bigger factor in tone than anything on the instrument followed by the electronics, so the history of the P and J tone is really the history of string and amp quality and availability.

Mostly what makes the early 60's P bass sound is early 60's strings and amps, not the bass itself. And so on through all the decades.

In fact that's the nice thing about a P or a J bass. You always know approximately what it's going to sound like, whether it's 60 minutes old or 60 years old.

That said, the best sounding P bass I've ever heard is my Tony Franklin, but that's mostly because it's fretless which gives it a very unique kind of sound. My Jaco Artist jazz bass with flats gives a very unique sound too, but I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that it's best sounding jazz bass I've ever heard. But it's certainly the highest quality jazz bass I've ever held in my hands....

L

just curious: do these basses of yours have pickup wiring routes to the controls, or are the pickup wires fed through a hole/tunnel? thanks

 

[tvbop]

Forget eras. Had a beautiful, mint condition burst 71 which was rubbish. Had a natural/rosewood 1975 which was very good indeed.. but my Squire CV 70's P smokes the lot of em.