Fender American Professional II P bass

[sonic boogaloo]

maybe it's the pup and bridge covers that have driven down the price?

 

[sonic boogaloo]

I'll update tomorrow once I've had a play and if it makes it home! Quite excited to try it!

how did it go?

did you get it?

 

[Wood and Wire]

The pick up sounds interesting and I've read some folk have flipped the coils as I believe they have A5 and A3 to even out the sound.

FYI there's been a lot of confusion regarding the pickup design.

It was widely reported, during the original launch / promotion / reviews / reactions that the E&A half of the pickup was AlNiCo II, and the D&G half was AlNiCo V.

Some people were so sceptical of that idea on paper, and some seemed so offended by the idea of not having AlNiCo V on the E&A side, that they swapped the halves around - and indeed some people said they preferred the overall tone that way around.

I took mental note, in the event that I ever decide to change the pickup, to swap the halves around first, and give it a try (for the most part I'm perfectly happy with the stock pickup).

Anyway, I happened to notice several glaring errors in the Fender user manual, as well as a description of the pickup that completely contradicted the popular wisdom about the V-Mod II P.

So I contacted Fender, and after an investigation with engineering department, confirmed that in actual fact :

E&A = AlNiCo IV (yes, 4!)

D&G = AlNiCo II


This was a surprise, but actually makes a lot of sense given my experience with the sound.

Whereas AlNiCo V imparts a particular (desirable) character; AlNiCo IV is pretty transparent, without adding any character - which tallies with my feeling that the instrument essentially sounds the same both acoustically, or plugged in.

The AlNiCo II half would, as you say, balance out the tone, with a softened treble response.

Whilst there's no doubt we all like, and are accustomed to, the sound of AlNiCo V pickups, the thing I've noticed with the Am Pro II is that if you pick one up, and it sounds great unplugged, it will sound identical plugged in; if you pick one up and it doesn't sound so great unplugged, it's not going to magically sound any better plugged in - there are no surprises, and you have a good benchmark for the results you'll get if you decide to swap for a more traditional "character" pickup.

View attachment 7472048

All looks legit.

Even if I didn't like the covers - for that price I'd be willing to accept the resultant "vandalism" to the bodywork .

Great score!

 

[krispn]

how did it go?

did you get it?

The guys being squirrely. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. He does have good feedback on a local seller site but I'll reach out again then move on.

 

[krispn]

Great info. I know Nordstrand experimented with A3 magents a wee while back. A local pro who I think is endorsed tried them and felt they were mellow but he liked a more forward tone!!

 

[Wood and Wire]

Great info. I know Nordstrand experimented with A3 magents a wee while back. A local pro who I think is endorsed tried them and felt they were mellow but he liked a more forward tone!!

I think some of the 50's Fender Precisions used AlNiCo II (pretty sure the Seymour Duncan 50's vintage P used AlNiCo II), and the 70's Fender Precisions varied between AlNiCo III, and AlNiCo II - and I think back to AlNiCo V in the latter years (I'm sure one of the authorities on vintage Fenders will chime in to clarify my half-remembered ramblings).