Fender American Professional Series

[tombowlus]

The AP Precision V they sent me is super light. I will try and get an official weight measurement tonight.

8.8 lbs, but it feels lighter. It killed at practice tonight (though I apologize for the low lighting pic).

 

[garciawork]

8.8 lbs, but it feels lighter. It killed at practice tonight (though I apologize for the low lighting pic).

Good to hear! Mine will be picked up from UPS on Thursday... I don't know what it is, but if I am excited about something and order, it is 9 times out of 10 a Friday... and a lot of them time with a holiday on Monday. Almost never fails.

 

[Down_Low]

Disregard last post . I pulled the trigger View attachment 1029173

I'd be seriously tempted to get one of these new Pros, if the Precision came in this colour.

 

[bass71]

Olive drab eh?...that is the worst looking guitar finish Fender have ever done!......and why no Shoreline Gold or Translucent Wine, a la 1979, you know, colours which are nice etc....

 

[alack]

8.8 lbs, but it feels lighter. It killed at practice tonight (though I apologize for the low lighting pic).

I'm not a 5 string guy. But if I was...........
One of those with a high C string would be some fun! Having seen that color in person, its tough to do it justice in a photo.

 

[Wisebass]

don't missunderstand me but:

not the right colours?
not the right pickguards?
limited options?
Pro- Series (everyone playing standard or vintage is just a clown?)

I love my bass (a Jazz Bass built in 1973) and I will forever but Fenderpolitics?

may the bass be with you

Wise(b)ass

 

[chris_b]

I played a Am Pro Jazz V just before Christmas and I liked it, a lot. Nearly as much as the Mike Lull M5V I bought a week earlier and a lot more than my Am Std Jazz V.

IMO if Fender are getting that close they are on the right path with these basses.

 

[Herrick]

8.8 lbs, but it feels lighter. It killed at practice tonight (though I apologize for the low lighting pic).

Nice. I ordered a black and maple one from Sweetwater last night. I was thinking of waiting to see if they would get some lighter ones in but I figured any 5-strings Pees won't be much lighter than 8.10 pounds so I went for it. What kind of strings came with yours?

Edit: Nevermind. Fender site says Fender Bass 7250M.

 

[jnumme]

Bass weighs in @ 8.5lbs. So far I'm liking it need some more together time.
Before.....

After..... with genuine Fender black moto pg.

 

[Jeff K]

Bass weighs in @ 8.5lbs. So far I'm liking it need some more together time.
Before.....

View attachment 1037680

After..... with genuine Fender black moto pg.

View attachment 1037681

Since seeing the "Professional" Series, I've been intrigued by the Sonic Gray color. Looks more blue than gray to me. One of my concerns was that I couldn't think of a replacement pickguard that would look good on that color other than Pearloid. But you NAILED it with that Black Moto! That looks excellent...

 

[stevenA800]

After..... with genuine Fender black moto pg.
View attachment 1037681

Looks great!

 

[tombowlus]

Allen gave us a walk-through of the American Pro basses at the NAMM Show.

 

[petrus61]

So I gotta admit that I was writing these off but now I'm interested. I played a gig this weekend and the guitarist had the new AP Tele and it sounded great. He brought it over to my place for me to throw a different bridge pickup in it and the first thing that blew me away was the weight;holly crap was this thing was light! The neck felt amazing and other than a fair amount of clear coat on the frets (maple board, easy to fix) the fit and finish was pretty decent for a Fender. No more stupid jumbo frets!

Of course my local GC has the same, unplayable American Standard Jazz and Precisions they've had hanging there the last 5-7+ years so I doubt they will get any in. Hopefully Fender figured out how to reduce the dreaded ski jump in the fret board, reduce the dead spots and open A string buzz that the last generation of American Standards all seemed to feature.

What's up with Fender's AP Jazz demo? Was that tone pot stuck in the rolled off position or what? Can't believe they would even put that out....wait a minute...no I'm not.

Anyway, the Olympic White and Olive basses all look fantastic but "Grey is my favorite color, I felt so symbolic yesterday, If I knew Picasso, I would buy myself a grey guitar and play"..........

No ski jump or A string rattle on any of the 4 AmStd's I've owned. As far as dead spots go, good luck with that.

 

[rmars]

No ski jump or A string rattle on any of the 4 AmStd's I've owned. As far as dead spots go, good luck with that.

Glad you've had good luck with them but out of the 30+ post 2012 American Standards I've played (and a few I've owned) that has not been my experience. The ones that have been hanging for years at our local GC are essentially firewood.

 

[petrus61]

Glad you've had good luck with them but out of the 30+ post 2012 American Standards I've played (and a few I've owned) that has not been my experience. The ones that have been hanging for years at our local GC are essentially firewood.

Wow...30+ basses with the same two issues across every one of them. It's a wonder Fender managed to sell any at all. I suppose either I am very lucky or Fender is just shipping all its turds to your neck of the woods.

 

[MMiller28]

Olive drab eh?...that is the worst looking guitar finish Fender have ever done!

You are definitely in the minority on that one.

 

[Herrick]

What's a ski jump?

 

[dedpool1052]

What's a ski jump?

Getting the Facts about Ski Jumps

 

[rmars]

Wow...30+ basses with the same two issues across every one of them. It's a wonder Fender managed to sell any at all. I suppose either I am very lucky or Fender is just shipping all its turds to your neck of the woods.

Never said every single American Standard I tried had those same two problems.

If string rattle hasn't been an issue then why have Fender tried to address it? They even talk in the promos about the new tuners on the Professional and earlier they tried that retainer on the anniversary Precision. Not enough setback on the head stock and putting that tuner with the big nut on the front of the head stock will do that.


Ski jumps are fairly common with bolt on basses. Fender is not immune or the only manufacturer with this issues but I've played/setup/owned some bad late model rosewood board American Standards. Real repair guys will remove the hump with heat or pull the frets and level the board but I'm a hack so I cheat and compensate with leveling the frets and/or creating some fall away above the 12 fret if it hump isn't too bad. My buddy (a substantially more accomplished/trained player) just bought a 2014 AmStd Jazz that has the worst bump I've seen and he loves it. It totally frets out above the 14th fret but he plays with such a light touch he doesn't care. He also loves his '66 Jazz that has a such stupid, obvious twist in the neck that I can't stand to play it.

There was an interview with Will Lee and he said "I hate every bass. There's always something wrong with each one.". That pretty much sums it up how I feel and not just about Fender (there are few other manufacturers and "boutique" builders that bug me much more). That said I love the Jazz Bass, it's the be all, end all of bassdom for me. God rested on Sunday because He an Leo finished building the J Bass on a Saturday. If Fender can get it right or even a little better than good on them. If you're happy with yours and they are getting the job done then I'm envious....no sarcasm intended.

 

[Herrick]

Getting the Facts about Ski Jumps

Interesting. I've never noticed this phenomenon before. I'm not very observant though.