Fender American Professional II or Elite/Ultra Precision?

[Nebadon2000]

One thing I don’t like much of my Ultra P are the saddles of the high-mass bridge; the each saddle forces the user to put the strings at one location only .. I like the traditional bridge with threaded saddles more .. you can place the strings where you want ..

Fortunately I don't know what I want but I am fine as is

When I bought my '75 Precision I was only 1 year in on my Bass Playing and left strings in slot as is.
So did service personnel at my favorite Music Stores up to year 2000 when I brought it in every 6 months for set-up.[demanding Job and 3-5 Gig's a week] Feels same as Ultra but I can't be absolute about that.

I didn't Start doing my own setup's till about 2010; before that I just tweaked it a little after Store setup.
I am still a little insecure and somewhat OCD about my setup's

 

[TrevorG]

Fortunately I don't know what I want but I am fine as is

When I bought my '75 Precision I was only 1 year in on my Bass Playing and left strings in slot as is.
So did service personnel at my favorite Music Stores up to year 2000 when I brought it in every 6 months for set-up.[demanding Job and 3-5 Gig's a week] Feels same as Ultra but I can't be absolute about that.

I didn't Start doing my own setup's till about 2010; before that I just tweaked it a little after Store setup.
I am still a little insecure and somewhat OCD about my setup's

I think being able to place strings where you want would be a nice addition but the differences to what it is now would be tiny for me.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

I think being able to place strings where you want would be a nice addition but the differences to what it is now would be tiny for me.

Of course this is somehow a small detail but I come from vintage-style J and P basses and it’s something I’ve noticed; even the bridge of my Frankenstein-P made with an Am. Pro. P body and an Am. Std. J neck has got the newer bridge with the three-position saddles and it allows for some flexibility in this regard ..

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

Getting back to AP II; Saw this on Bass Chat

"So I thought that I'd order one of the new Fender Professional ii P basses in the lovely Surf Green colour they've brought out. I got a good deal and it duly arrived this morning as arranged.

Upon opening the case it looked absolutely stunning and when I picked it up it was a very comfortable weight. The action however was awful and the strings were way above the fingerboard.

Now I've had new Fenders before and I know they generally set the actions high in the factory and usually after a bit of adjustment to the saddles and the truss rod gets it to whether I want it. This one however, already had quite low saddles but I duly took them down a bit lower to such an extent that they were pretty much bottoming out. The action was still pretty high.

I thought I'd check the truss rod out and when I went to give it a bit of a tweak, it felt like it had already been maxed out and I felt uncomfortable in trying to turn it any further. Usually when I've had new Fenders in the past the truss rod has been no more than half-way screwed in and there's plenty of play either way.

I contacted the retailer and there's no issue in returning it but I was really disappointed on how this arrived and was very surprised that a bass would have been set up this way at the factory. The retailer confirmed it hadn't been sent out to anyone prior to being sent to me and hadn't been looked at by any of their staff, so it all seems a bit strange to me."

Hi .. post is old but I generally turn the truss rod head in order to give the neck a slight upward bow before installing the strings.
The compression exerted by the tensioned strings on the neck, once installed, should make it straight (this is known in statics as “superposition of the effects” ); after that I proceed with adjustment of the strings action acting on the bridge saddles.
Have you managed to achieve the setup you were aiming for?

 

[Nebadon2000]

I adjust neck relief after strings installed then Action and finally pickup 'height's.
It took me from purchase in 12/19 till recently with trying constant 'Tiny' adjustment's to achieve setting's I am now content with[not that far from original set up]

I tweak by Ear and Feel then take measurements.

I am at; Action 4/64 E & 3/64 G; Neck Relief .008; Pickup's P- 6/64 E & 4/64 G; J- 7/64 & 5/64 which give's me same 'perceived' Volume when blend control is at full P, Full J and 12 O'clock[full blend]

PS; My pickup number's are with 16th fret fretted not last fret since in what I play 99% of time I don't go up past 16th fret

 

[Norman Hunter]

First post! I just got my Am Pro II P-Bass (Olympic White, RW board) last week and it arrived with the highest action I’ve ever seen on a new bass. I had to adjust the truss rod, lower the saddles significantly, lower the pickup significantly and adjust the intonation massively. After these adjustments, the Bass plays and sounds fantastic. The neck on the these Pros is insanely comfortable and that satin finish is a dream. I really like this bass. I got a great deal, so I’m not too bent out of shape having to correct the maladjustments. But I’m astonished that Fender QC could allow this total cluster of a setup to leave their Corona shop.

I had the exact situation as you did and the same bass, color, rosewood fingerboard etc. I wouldn't rely on Fender to make sure that everything is as it should be. I took the bass to an instrument repair shop for a complete setup which fixed the bass but I think that this is what you might expect from Fender. As for a bass with active electronics, I would only buy if there was a liberal return policy. Personally, I think that they nailed the vintage Precision Bass tone with the new formulation of Alnico with the Professional II. I vote for buying a passive bass.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

Guys, maybe it’s time to learn how to set your instrument up?
What do you do when you change the strings type?
Transitioning from, for instance, a set of D’Addario nickel rounds 40-100 to a set of Labella DTF 760 45-105, requires a bit of truss rod, saddles height and intonation adjustment .. what do you do?
Do you bring your bass to the repair shop blaming Fender for not making basses which automatically adjust themselves to the strings we install onto them from time to time?
Repair shops are for repairs, not for carrying out routine and unavoidable interventions which, moreover, we are provided with a nice tool for ..
If you think I’m harsh .. I don’t care ahah .. these are my 2 cents.
PS
By the way I got and Am. Ultra P in a trade; the neck relief was set up for previous owner, I couldn’t blame Fender for having to adjust the truss rod so I blamed him but it took to me only 5 minutes ..