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Fender Aerodyne Club!

I'm not much for a guitar player but for whatever reason I'm drawn to Telecasters myself. I prefer Precisions as well so I guess its just the simplicity and the fact of if it aint broke dont fix it. Very rarely if ever does someone get it right the first time but Leo Fender sure did. If I didn't already have a Tele I for sure would've bought the Hot Rod Tele before my jazz. I'm still keeping my eye on the Hot Rod Strat.

I know you said about the strat but that California Blue Tele with the Rosewood might be more your style.

Already got the Dolphin Tele so that is why I’m looking at Strats. Excuse the bad photo
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Already got the Dolphin Tele so that is why I’m looking at Strats. Excuse the bad photoView attachment 5253766
I remember you saying that but theirs a few reasons I mentioned it.
1. You mentioned you really liked the Blue but not with the maple board.
2. The SSS strat didn't scratch that itch when you played ( albeit many factors at play ) and you know you like Teles.
3. The California Blue Tele has a Rosewood board so it's different enough to justify owning both!
 
This P-Bass is my first P.

The tone knob - is it extremely subtle? When I turn it on full bore the higher strings such as D and G have a slight difference in tone. Nothing drastic, but very very subtle. If I fret G at the twelfth fret and swing the tone knob I can hear a little of the glassy shrill get cut.

I did a little reading and found other threads of guys asking if their tone knob was broken due to how little it impacted tone.
 
This P-Bass is my first P.

The tone knob - is it extremely subtle? When I turn it on full bore the higher strings such as D and G have a slight difference in tone. Nothing drastic, but very very subtle. If I fret G at the twelfth fret and swing the tone knob I can hear a little of the glassy shrill get cut.

I did a little reading and found other threads of guys asking if their tone knob was broken due to how little it impacted tone.
I mainly play my Ps tone off and let me tell I wish I could turn this one down just a bit more. It's overly drastic the difference in tone between full off and half and even more so between full off and full on but I mainly attribute it to the modern voiced pickups and more so the stock Fender strings being Bright/Zingy and harsh when breaking in. My aerodyne P also has a maple board vs my other P with Rosewood so maybe the extra brightness is just that. Your issue sounds to be the exact opposite of my findings so could just be a preference thing but I'm sure others will chime in to help determine what it could be.
 
I mainly play my Ps tone off and let me tell I wish I could turn this one down just a bit more. It's overly drastic the difference in tone between full off and half and even more so between full off and full on but I mainly attribute it to the modern voiced pickups and more so the stock Fender strings being Bright/Zingy and harsh when breaking in. My aerodyne P also has a maple board vs my other P with Rosewood so maybe the extra brightness is just that. Your issue sounds to be the exact opposite of my findings so could just be a preference thing but I'm sure others will chime in to help determine what it could be.

do you happen to have any audio recordings of the tone change? A video or audio clip of you playing a high note and swinging the tone knob so I can hear how drastic it is?
 
do you happen to have any audio recordings of the tone change? A video or audio clip of you playing a high note and swinging the tone knob so I can hear how drastic it is?
I actually don't. I haven't been playing very long and I only play through my amp so no digital recordings. I would have to use my phone and at that point theirs too many other factors affecting sound there.

Other than my initial opinion I'm not of much help here. Maybe check some YouTube videos to see if you notice anything. Worst case you'll have to take it to a tech.
 
Honestly I didn't hear much of a difference but again theirs alot of factors at play that could affect that. Your amp and eq, the way the bass is set-up and also me listening through my phone.

Personally I think it may very well be a dead string. It could possibly need set up better to your specs or since it's your first P maybe it's just like hearing a foreign language after speaking Jazz bass or whatever else for awhile.
 
Honestly I didn't hear much of a difference but again theirs alot of factors at play that could affect that. Your amp and eq, the way the bass is set-up and also me listening through my phone.

Personally I think it may very well be a dead string. It could possibly need set up better to your specs or since it's your first P maybe it's just like hearing a foreign language after speaking Jazz bass or whatever else for awhile.

thank you for listening. I’ll bring it to my luthier to have it looked over.
 
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I mainly play my Ps tone off and let me tell I wish I could turn this one down just a bit more. It's overly drastic the difference in tone between full off and half and even more so between full off and full on but I mainly attribute it to the modern voiced pickups and more so the stock Fender strings being Bright/Zingy and harsh when breaking in.

My White with Rosewood board is really bright for me as well.
I’m waiting for the strings to break in, but I suspect I’ll swap them out for some mellower ones. As it is, I keep the tone at about 50% because wide open, it’s too shrill for me.

My MIM Classic 50s Pbass is noticeably mellower, and lower output. It has older D’addario rounds that still have some snap but are not zingy anymore.

I like the way the Aerodyne plays though. The neck is very different than the vintage style fattie on the Classic 50s, but it is really comfortable to play.
If I can’t get the tone to my liking with string swaps, I’ll try some other pickups. I think I have a set or two of Dimarzios kicking around.
 
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Doesn’t the tone cap value have something to do with this?

probably and I haven’t looked at how many microfarads each one has.
Probably worth looking at if I can’t get the tone I want with strings.

My Ibanez RKB 900 basses have a much darker tone when rolled off , so I suspect they have a higher value capacitor. But the tone sweep is great and I find lots of usable tones with the sometimes disliked SD QP pickups.

I haven’t done much comparison between 0.02 vs 0.047 vs 0.1 capacitors.
 
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Bad news boys, my luthier advised me to return the P Bass. I brought it in to be looked at quick and he started setting it up (such a nice guy). He was taking quite a while and he had some bad news. He said for it to be adjusted to a good comfortable position he’s at the end of his bridge adjustment range and that’s not a good sign.

he said it’s safest to return. I assume this qualifies for free return shipping? I’ll reach out to Franklin on Monday when they’re open.
 
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Bad news boys, my luthier advised me to return the P Bass. I brought it in to be looked at quick and he started setting it up (such a nice guy). He was taking quite a while and he had some bad news. He said for it to be adjusted to a good comfortable position he’s at the end of his bridge adjustment range and that’s not a good sign.

he said it’s safest to return. I assume this qualifies for free return shipping? I’ll reach out to Franklin on Monday when they’re open.
If you wanted to get another one I'd imagine it wouldn't be an issue for them to send a return label. Especially so if their is an actual defective issue. Maybe grab a Hot Rod Burst Precision and join me on the Dark Side! If you didn't want another bass, see if they will send you the Strat you want.
 
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Looking for some mellow nickel replacements strings myself (for my Dolphin J)…heard the Fenders are OK.
What’s better…EB Slinky nickel, Dadarrio XL’s???
I have no experience with either but for nickels I really like the Roto 66s in the blue pack. Definitely worth checking out for $25 a set. I'm actually about to put a set on my Dolphin.
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If you wanted to get another one I'd imagine it wouldn't be an issue for them to send a return label. Especially so if their is an actual defective issue. Maybe grab a Hot Rod Burst Precision and join me on the Dark Side! If you didn't want another bass, see if they will send you the Strat you want.

I actually like the Hot Rod Burst finish on the P-Bass, just wish it had a rosewood fretboard. I think that would look stunning!!!

Ended up placing an order for the Choco Burst SSS Strat today. I believe they're closed on the weekend and I didn't want to monkey around with trying to do an exchange due to limited inventory. I called on Friday and the guy I spoke with said they had 35 Chocolate SSS Strats and 17 White SSS Strats remaining. He thought there's a strong probability they might be all sold by Monday morning.

I messaged them/requested a refund on the P-Bass and that I'd definitely be interested in another White P-Bass if they get more in stock. He said they've been getting random restocks over the past couple weeks.
 
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I have no experience with either but for nickels I really like the Roto 66s in the blue pack. Definitely worth checking out for $25 a set. I'm actually about to put a set on my Dolphin.
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Cool…let me know how those Roto 66’s sound on your Dolphin! Did you find the stock nickel-plated strings bright/metallic?
Also…what’s the weight of you Dolphin?
 
Cool…let me know how those Roto 66’s sound on your Dolphin! Did you find the stock nickel-plated strings bright/metallic?
Also…what’s the weight of you Dolphin?
Well I have a set on my player jazz which has a maple board and they were a bit bright at first which is to be expected with new strings but after nine months or so they have really settled in and mellowed into that warm round sound but still retain that nice crispness when needed without being overly bright or harsh like the stock Fender strings were. I play my Jazz basses with volume full on and tone either full on or full off depending on the song. My Dolphin has the rosewood so I would think the break in/mellow period will be slightly less time but that's strictly my hypothesis and only based on my limited experience. For me another reason nickel are better than stainless steel are because they are alot smoother on my fingers and allow me to dig in without the strings fighting back as much like on the Fender strings.

I'm not sure if they were the same strings on the Player as the Aerodyne but I haven't really enjoyed the stock strings much on any of my Jazz basses. For what it's worth both of my Precisions still have the stock strings but I just got my Aerodyne and haven't swapped them and after almost two years being on my AM Pro II they sound great but I mainly play tone off and like old/dead strings. I have a set of flats waiting to go on it but just haven't felt the need to change yet.

As for the weight I don't have an exact number and I've never been able to do the bathroom scale trick but I would say it's no more than 9Ibs. The Jazz is definitely heavier than the Precision but not a huge difference. The Jazz balances perfectly for me on a strap but I'm also 6'3 and 250lbs so my definition of "heavy" and "perfect" likely varies from yours.
 
As I referenced earlier about my fingerboard having an iffy spot. I know rosewood is porous and not every piece will be perfect but this is just flat out cracked to me. It absolutely effects nothing but I just wanted to point it out as I mentioned earlier. Other than that these are flat out just awesome instruments. I have two and am always itching for another.
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