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Fender 2018 MIM Player Series
- Thread starter OllyW
- Start date
edmidlifecrisis
Registered mediocre bass player
I was an early poster on this thread. I have have a white Player's P Bass with the pau ferro neck for a while now. I still love it and have kept it stock. My only issue is that the output jack gets a little hinky once in a while. I will probably replace it. Otherwise it's great, plays and sounds great, and I always get compliments on the tone when I play it out. Now I want another one with a maple neck. I use GHS Pressurewound strings on both my P Basses (I also have a RW).
I think that is reasonable I read a few people replaced tuners and jacks and this makes sense really. Also it's an easy thing to replace.
I had to replace the jack on my P bass as well, but the jack on my jazz has been okay. Both are Player series.
I think I bought a switch craft one and put it in.
-ScottM
edmidlifecrisis
Registered mediocre bass player
Thanks. I'll probably do the same at some point. Tuners are ok so far though.
I think I got my jack off of Amazon for hardly anything.
I took my neck off of both of mine with the original tuners. One of the necks went on a new Squire bass I had bought. The tuners seem good on it though.
-ScottM
D
Easy to replace but the Player instruments are in a price range where I would expect no mods or parts replacements to be necessary. The tuners are below what I would expect in this price range and the bridge saddles are very poor.
Still, the Players are probably the best value in the entire Fender catalog these days IMO. Decent instruments if you accept the extra cost of replacing hardware.
I’ve no problems with tuners on my Jaguar but the bass arrived with a damaged bridge so that was quickly upgraded once I’d arranged an acceptable discount with the retailer.
The gauge of metal used on the bridge is a lot thinner than the bridges from the previous Mexican Standard range so they are not as strong. No idea about the quality of the saddles as the bridge was immediately replaced with a Fender High mass bridge.
I agree one shouldn't have to but I am doing it. I've got tuners and a roasted neck coming, I'll upgrade the bridge later on.
D
I hope you're doing this (at least partly) for fun and not just out of disappointment with the Player. You will certainly end up with a great, unique instrument.
Don't get me wrong, I love modding basses. I think it's great fun and a way to learn a lot and get a GREAT instrument for cheap. But my maximum limit for mod candidates is around $300. Usually more like $100-150 if I buy it specifically to mess around with. At $600 I expect everything to work 100% and sound great. If a bass in this price range needs work I personally don't see it as mods but REPAIRS. But then again, I've seen people buy American Professionals with the intention of replacing expensive parts like the pickup. In THAT perspective I guess buying a Player with the intention of modding it should be considered a bargain.
Wow, that's quite a bend there, never seen anything like it.
Are you sure the plate is not the same as it's always been? I compared my Player to my other P bass which has had 70s Fender bridge for at least 5 years (I ordered one for my Player as well) and couldn't find a difference in the plate. Never had a problem with that bridge. I was hoping I'd only swap the saddles and not have to take the whole plate off. Plate to me looks like the same plate they use on the 60s vintage bridge (threaded saddles), 70s vintage bridge (non threaded, but solid saddles, my favorite) and the mexican line.
The plate on my Player Jag was 1.6mm (16 swg) thick. I had a spare Standard Mexican bridge in my box as well as the one fitted to my 2017 Standard MIM Precision bass and the plate on those measured approximately 2.3mm (13 swg) thick.
The saddles and adjustment screws weren't interchangeable either, the intonation screws were bigger on the Player bridge which also made it weaker due to the bigger holes in the plate.
My day job is designing press tools for making metal brackets so I tend to notice these sort of things.
The plate on my Player Jag was 1.6mm (16 swg) thick. I had a spare Standard Mexican bridge in my box as well as the one fitted to my 2017 Standard MIM Precision bass and the plate on those measured approximately 2.3mm (13 swg) thick.
The saddles and adjustment screws weren't interchangeable either, the intonation screws were bigger on the Player bridge which also made it weaker due to the bigger holes in the plate.
My day job is designing press tools for making metal brackets so I tend to notice these sort of things.
I'll definitely compare the two bridges more closely when the new one arrives. I guess the true test will also show if the intonation screws will fit into the Player bridge from the 70s one. One thing that's interesting in your photos, Player basses usually come with black intonation screws and springs, unlike what yours had.
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Got a donor loaded Jazz body on the way, to go with my Player Roasted Maple P neck. Just need to get some tuners, put it all together, then should have a good complement to my existing Player P.
I was intending to route the body, go for a PJ set up, as generally I'm such a big fan of that sweet spot Precision pup. However, now I'm kinda thinking I'll keep it in the stock Jazz config for now - haven't had a J in a long time, and maybe it'll get me out of my tonal comfort zone a bit.
I mostly just can't wait to get a play on that roasted neck though. The stock Player neck is my favourite yet, and I'm hoping this will have the same magic.
I was intending to route the body, go for a PJ set up, as generally I'm such a big fan of that sweet spot Precision pup. However, now I'm kinda thinking I'll keep it in the stock Jazz config for now - haven't had a J in a long time, and maybe it'll get me out of my tonal comfort zone a bit.
I mostly just can't wait to get a play on that roasted neck though. The stock Player neck is my favourite yet, and I'm hoping this will have the same magic.
The chrome screws, springs and barrels did look a lot nicer than the ones on my other bridges which is why I was tempted to swap them over onto my spare bridge until I realised the screws were too big. Looking through this thread you are right though, they all seem to have the same black screws and springs as the previous MIM Standard series and hopefully the same thicker plates.
Guess mine was just an unfortunate anomaly.
Yes, the Fender high mass bridge was a straight replacement on mine.
Same here, I'm loving mine too.
Does anyone know if the pure vintage bridge (below) would be a direct replacement on the player p’s?
Fender Pure Vintage Bass Bridge Assembly, Nickel/Chrome 2016
Fender Pure Vintage Bass Bridge Assembly, Nickel/Chrome 2016 | Reverb
Fender Pure Vintage Bass Bridge Assembly, Nickel/Chrome 2016
Fender Pure Vintage Bass Bridge Assembly, Nickel/Chrome 2016 | Reverb
Yes, should be fine. The Players have the standard Fender bridge mounting holes.
