Block inlays on P basses - anyone else dislike them

[AdamR]

Looks fine to me.

 

[elBandito]

Doesnt look right on P's..

 

[LowEndOperative]

Sometimes blocks work, sometimes they don't.

Personally, I wouldn't have them or dots on a P neck. If you're looking at your dots while gigging, you don't belong on stage.

 

[DwaynieAD]

I prefer blocks

 

[bkbirge]

The blocks don't bother me but the frets do.

 

[themarshall]

For me, blocks are getting like those stick on portholes on cars - on all kinds of things where they have no business.

 

[KyleSerlington]

the 2 warmoths i built i went with black blocks. it was a last minute decision on the green one and i'm glad i went with it. the warmoth headstock was also a last minute decision and i kinda regret that one
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[bobbybass85]

I had an old SX/Allparts bass that I put together a few years ago, never could get the looks to my liking and ended up parting it out. Blocks do belong on Jazz's IMO, but sometimes there are P exceptions.

 

[Old Fart]

The bass I really want is a blonde ash-bodied P/J Precision with Modern-C maple Precision (non-Jazz) neck, black blocks and black pickguard.

 

[xUptheIronsx]

untill this post, I never really even gave it a thought...

if I had my choice, I would get dots on a P

If someone GAVE me P for with blocks for free, I definitely would NOT turn it down,and would leave the blocks as is

 

[gimp]

Went with it on my most recent refresh of my first "real" bass. I'm super happy. Just put an ashtray cover on it too (but I need to get photos).

 

[TN WOODMAN]

I 'm not crazy about blocks on anything . I actually prefer simple dot markers on unbound necks . I do like trapazoids on my Les Paul guitars .

 

[woodyng]

You took the words outta my mouth,Woodman.
Blocks,or in the case of rickenbackers,triangles,on the neck means neck binding too,which i generally prefer to do without. I'm more of a no- frills kind of guy.

 

[Floridabwoy]

I would LOVE a black Jazz with a Precision 9.5 radius and 1.625 nut, rosewood fredboard and black blocks,

My dream bass!

 

[WretchedExcess]

Sometimes blocks look right, sometimes they don't.

personally, I think that binding and blocks on a maple neck just looks hideous -- black or white, doesn't matter, but black binding on maple necks is just heinous. White pearloid blocks on rosewood looks good to me though.

Being old school 70s, my mental image of a P has a dotted neck, either maple or rosewood. my mental image of a J is sunburst, tort, and white dots or white blocks on rosewood. Even my 70s P that came with the J neck has dots on it, because the guys at Fender knew that real P-basses shouldn't have blocks.

Today the company is just throwing every sort of combination together to see what will sell. the result is that there are a lot of good looking new combinations that aren't "traditional", but there are also some truly fugly looking basses that only a mother could love.

 

[krismiller1982]

I hate blocks so much that I'm contemplating selling the whole damn bass. It sounds great but makes me want to vomit everyone I look down at the fretboard. It's an Elite JV. If I could source a compound maple neck/rosewood fretboard with clay dots I would burn the neck or use it as an ugly stick.

 

[Bassjocky]

Exactly. Blocks = Jazz. P's have dots. That's the way Leo intended it.

I am primarily referring to the Fender "Classic '70s" (huh?) P and the new gui**** Center Special Run P/J, although Lakland comes to mind as well.

If "Thats the way Leo intended it" is important why do the majority of owners change the bridge, p/ups and electrics??

 

[dabbler]

While blocks on a P is not my first choice, I can live with it:

 

[Kenneth92]

I will literally not buy a bass if it has dot inlays… I’d rather the bass have no inlay rather than dot, y’all don’t understand how frustrating for me it can can be because the lack of options for p bass there are for me. I don’t consider pj basses as p basses and I don’t consider a p bass with a jazz neck a p bass either. So I have to go custom and drop some coin!

 

[350125g0]

Pearl on rosewood looks fine to me, but for some reason black on maple doesn't... there's something jarring about the latter.

I also am not a fan of binding on necks when there are blocks. I feel like it's too much plastic obscuring the wood.