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Anyone know if these having the front pickup swimming pool rout or manufacturing dimple under the pick guard like the series I? I like to remove the pick guard on my jazz basses.
But... PINE? "Roasted" or not I don't care. Maybe I should mill down and glue up 2x4's from Home Depot.
Don't like pine?
I just bought the Roasted Pine. Will let you all know how it works out and post some pictures.
Leo Fender originally used pine on early Telecasters I believe.
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I'm digging the jazz in Dark Night with the maple fingerboard. My only issue is the pricing just to get that combo.
The only time I was in the market for a bass thats $1000 or more was when I bought my Matte Black Rickenbacker and that was only $200 more than what Fender wants for the Dark Night w/ maple combo.
The only time I was in the market for a bass thats $1000 or more was when I bought my Matte Black Rickenbacker and that was only $200 more than what Fender wants for the Dark Night w/ maple combo.
D
I said in a previous thread that I needed 3 things to even consider these basses:
1) String retainer for the A-string.
2) ANY other type of tuners than those horrible ones with the tapered shafts that keep breaking strings during setups.
3) A pickup that sounds more like a classic P-bass and less like the original V-Mod.
I guess the jury is still out on 3) but it looks like I'm getting 0/3.
Even if they had fixed all these flaws I'm still not sure I would pay that much for a mass manufactured instrument with (based on AmPro I) inferior crafsmanship and abysmal QC compared to competing models like Yamaha MIJ BBs or Sandberg California VS/VT. Still, there's nothing that feels quite like a Fender (if you can find a good one). I would definitely have been interested if I didn't already own a number of Ps and Js.
I like the new finishes. The Dark Night finish looks very cool... but they kinda ruined the whole "dark" theme with the regular non-matching headstock. If it had a matching headstock I might have considered getting one and changed the tuners+pickup and installed an A-string retainer. But on seconds thoughs I could have gotten 3 Warmoths for that price!!!
1) String retainer for the A-string.
2) ANY other type of tuners than those horrible ones with the tapered shafts that keep breaking strings during setups.
3) A pickup that sounds more like a classic P-bass and less like the original V-Mod.
I guess the jury is still out on 3) but it looks like I'm getting 0/3.
Even if they had fixed all these flaws I'm still not sure I would pay that much for a mass manufactured instrument with (based on AmPro I) inferior crafsmanship and abysmal QC compared to competing models like Yamaha MIJ BBs or Sandberg California VS/VT. Still, there's nothing that feels quite like a Fender (if you can find a good one). I would definitely have been interested if I didn't already own a number of Ps and Js.
I like the new finishes. The Dark Night finish looks very cool... but they kinda ruined the whole "dark" theme with the regular non-matching headstock. If it had a matching headstock I might have considered getting one and changed the tuners+pickup and installed an A-string retainer. But on seconds thoughs I could have gotten 3 Warmoths for that price!!!
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Here's the Andertons video on the new Pro II series, and this is where they talk about the V-Mod II pickups:
So they should still be alnico II and V, but wound differently - apparently wound as they should have been in the first place.
So they should still be alnico II and V, but wound differently - apparently wound as they should have been in the first place.
So if the V Mod I pickups were a screwed up version of the design, and the V Mod II pickups a mere correction of that, Fender will be giving free I to II pickup upgrades to everyone who bought an Am Pro I, yesss? 
So if the V Mod I pickups were a screwed up version of the design, and the V Mod II pickups a mere correction of that, Fender will be giving free I to II pickup upgrades to everyone who bought an Am Pro I, yesss?
Sure thing, absolutely, I don't see why not
It's worth saying that there's pine, and there's PINE... there are quite a few subspecies.
Fender is probably using high grade Southern Yellow Pine, cut and dried to select furniture grade standards.
SYP can be as hard and dense as ash. Many other woods used in solid body guitars, like alder and basswood, aren't exactly exotics.
What you see in Home Depot is not high grade material, not selectively milled, and it's not dried to anywhere near furniture grade standards. Most construction lumber is usually SPF, which stands for spruce / pine / fir and is mix of the various species milled for maximum yield from the tree. The trim aisle is usually white pine, far softer and lighter than SYP.
Personally, I'd like to try one of the pine basses and see how it sounds, as well as where the weight comes in.
Would really like to know if the Vmod II pickups are better or louder. I have a pro jazz V and do not like the original Vmod pickups, low output, and too wooly on the D and G and unfocused on the BEA strings.
Just got an answer from Fender - same body routs as the original series I. Bummer.
According to the website, the new Jazz pickups will be slightly overwound. Hopefully this will cure some of the huge mid scoop from the original V Mod, give them some low mids, and tame some of the brittle high end.
Very interesting. I had the opposite experience, they were not wooly enough for me, too focused, and medium output. I think they were the cleanest sounding pickups I’ve used but maybe too much, to where they sounded sterile. I gigged the original V Mod for a year before swapping, so the tone was very usable in a mix, usually the engineer asked to take the tone knob down a bit. Regardless, let’s hope the next iteration is better!
A bit off topic, but this pretty much sums up my thoughts on any bass anymore. Fender and nearly all other bass manufacturers haven't really provided the market with any groundbreaking new features in a long time. I just can't justify buying a new bass when I can get an identical or near-identical one on the used market, in excellent condition, for a far lower price. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
The American Series/Standard/Pro's have been string-thru since 1995. Plus the original '51. This particular bridge has been in use since 2008.
Weird thought: this is the first time that new American Series replacement necks will no longer be suitable new drop-in replacements for older instruments.
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Curious what the percentage of bass players use rounds vs flats is.- Latest: Dana R Gregory
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