Fender American Professional Series

[PotsdamBass8]

Sorry for the newbie questions

Vmods have DC resistance: 6.3K
Custom Shop 62s pickups and SD Antiquity have DC resistance: around 10.5K

Is that means Vmods have lower output and its harder to hear them while playing in a gig? Also do using alnico 2 magnets on E and A strings makes the bass lose punch and particularly low output on those particular strings?

The other day, I tested this out because it sounded like the EA side was running out of room. At soft to medium plucking, the volume is balanced, but when I dig in, the DG pickup gets louder whereas the EA hits a wall. I just put a Model P in mine.

 

[tzohn]

The worst was a Fender American Original 60s P-bass. I've had really poor luck with MIA Fenders lately...

Also big disappointment the fact that they are not 2-piece body at this price range.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

An update to my previous post: After about 6-7 months my AmPro P-bass started buzzing around the 5-7th fret on the E-string. I figured it would be easy to fix with a truss rod adjustment/setup. Wrong. Turns out the neck has a bump around that area that won't straighten out unless the neck is adjusted for a severe bow on the treble side. Basically it's warped: Bowed on the bass side and backbowed on the treble side. The dealer kinda fixed it with a fret job but I'm not convinced it will hold up. Very disappointing.

I've also had problems with the fluted tuning posts. Basically that they can't handle TI Superalloys. The Superalloys are relatively short for a long scale string and the G-string will only make about 2 windings around the tuning post. The fluted posts drag these two windings all the way down and creates far too much pressure on the point where the string enters the tuning post. I kept breaking G-strings several times every week and finally just gave up on the Superalloys on this bass. I might replace the fluted tuners with normal ones at some point but I'm not sure I want to spend more money on this piece of junk. Very poor design IMO. It would have been far better if Fender had installed a string tree for the A-string instead. Then the whole problem with angle over the nut wouldn't be an issue at all.

The bass also arrived with wires lodged under the pickguard so it's permanently disfigured and bulges outwards.

Needless to say I'm not happy. Probably my second worst bass purchase ever when considering the price I paid. The worst was a Fender American Original 60s P-bass. I've had really poor luck with MIA Fenders lately...

Dear, it seems that you have been right under the scope of bad luck as I have an Am. Pro. P-bass which has got nothing I may complain about whereas my AO ‘60s jazz bass is simply outstanding, surely pulverising any Am. Std. or Pro. put against it tone-wise ..
To be honest, after having experienced the AO series quality, I’m now trying to sell the Am. Pro. to fund an AO ‘60s P-bass, but this is just a matter of tone preferences

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

Also big disappointment the fact that they are not 2-piece body at this price range.

... assuming that a whatsoever 2-piece body may better contribute to the instrument’s tone than a 3-piece one, which may not necessarily be the case .. i don’t know how many pieces of alder form the body of my AO ‘60s jazz bass but it sounds exactly as a ‘60s jazz bass should sound

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

That's why I bought an American Vintage '58 Precision bass a few years back: nitro finish, 1.75 bone nut, '58 spec pickup with raised A string pole pieces, vintage tuners, ash body, maple fingerboard, white blonde with a gold anodized aluminum pickguard. This model was based on 3 prime original 1958 P basses and made on the original tooling. I gotta tell you - it KILLS, and sits in the mix, live or recorded, like nothing else. It will never leave me until I die.

there is definitely a jump in the instrument’s tone, I agree ..

 

[Deleted member 271037]

Dear, it seems that you have been right under the scope of bad luck as I have an Am. Pro. P-bass which has got nothing I may complain about whereas my AO ‘60s jazz bass is simply outstanding, surely pulverising any Am. Std. or Pro. put against it tone-wise ..
To be honest, after having experienced the AO series quality, I’m now trying to sell the Am. Pro. to fund an AO ‘60s P-bass, but this is just a matter of tone preferences

Watch out for the non-centered truss rod in the AO60 P. Someone at Fender doesn't know how to program a CNC machine. I would NEVER had purchased one if I knew. I have no idea how (or IF) it will affect long term stability but even if it's only cosmetic it's still SHOCKING quality control from Fender, AGAIN! And it's not just mine, there's a thread about it here on talkbass. Maybe they've fixed it in later batches... My AO60 has other issues too but I won't go into that again.

I'm really a Fender P-bass fanboi but the stuff I've gotten from Fender USA lately hasn't even been worthy of a Squier price tag.

 

[tzohn]

... assuming that a whatsoever 2-piece body may better contribute to the instrument’s tone than a 3-piece one, which may not necessarily be the case .. i don’t know how many pieces of alder form the body of my AO ‘60s jazz bass but it sounds exactly as a ‘60s jazz bass should sound

Yeah

 

[Deleted member 271037]

Also big disappointment the fact that they are not 2-piece body at this price range.

My AO60 P is Olympic White so I have no idea how many pieces but if I got a 3 piece sunburst at this price... yeah, that would be very disappointing.

 

[Kro]

My AO60 P is Olympic White so I have no idea how many pieces but if I got a 3 piece sunburst at this price... yeah, that would be very disappointing.

It all depends on how it looks. I've seen 3-piece bursts where the seams were completely camouflaged by the wood grain, and others that stood out like a sore thumb. Conspicuous seams with a transparent finish are a pet peeve of mine, but I couldn't care less as long as they're well hidden; I don't believe it affects the performance at all.

On a bass with a non-transparent finish, it wouldn't bother me one bit. Having a multi-piece body bass is historically true to the brand.

 

[ElectricBass72]

Eventually, I'd like to compliment my bass arsenal with either an American P bass or one of the $700 Mexican Ps. I really like the vintage olive color available on the American P with maple fretboard. Most of my basses are either active, dual or single humbucker... or passive dual single coil (Rick 4003). The P bass would be a perfect addition.

I'm surprised at some of the bad reviews on the USA Ps. Sounds like they may not be worth the extra $800.

 

[tzohn]

My AO60 P is Olympic White so I have no idea how many pieces but if I got a 3 piece sunburst at this price... yeah, that would be very disappointing.

This is how I know it is a 3-piece body, I have seen sunburst finishes that were not even nicely matched and that was the deal breaker when I was out for buying one. A 2-piece body, more attention to wood matching, wood grain etc are features that somebody is looking for when paying at least x3 the price of the today's excellent MIMs. They are even more expensive than the pros that technically cost more to produce than the AOs.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

It all depends on how it looks. I've seen 3-piece bursts where the seams were completely camouflaged by the wood grain, and others that stood out like a sore thumb. Conspicuous seams with a transparent finish are a pet peeve of mine, but I couldn't care less as long as they're well hidden; I don't believe it affects the performance at all.

On a bass with a non-transparent finish, it wouldn't bother me one bit. Having a multi-piece body bass is historically true to the brand.

+1

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

This is how I know it is a 3-piece body, I have seen sunburst finishes that were not even nicely matched and that was the deal breaker when I was out for buying one. A 2-piece body, more attention to wood matching, wood grain etc are features that somebody is looking for when paying at least x3 the price of the today's excellent MIMs. They are even more expensive than the pros that technically cost more to produce than the AOs.

yeah but they definitely sound better according to my experience .. at least the jazz bass models .. I’ll buy an AO ‘60s P-bass and I’ll report back but something tells me that it will be the best sounding P-bass in my arsenal and I will have nothing to complain I’ll buy a nice Olympic White or Lake Placid Blue finish and I’ll be fine for years to come in a nice and fat Paul Jackson mode

 

[tzohn]

yeah but they definitely sound better according to my experience .. at least the jazz bass models .. I’ll buy an AO ‘60s P-bass and I’ll report back but something tells me that it will be the best sounding P-bass in my arsenal and I will have nothing to complain I’ll buy a nice Olympic White or Lake Placid Blue finish and I’ll be fine for years to come in a nice and fat Paul Jackson mode

There will always be a cheaper and better sounding bass than yours

 

[VIRGOMONKEY]

Hi everyone...new to talk bass and need some advice. Got one of these pros...black one in avatar. I suspect after i loosened the strings one day to tension up the neck joint plate etc, because i got the odd creak when moving it around, i think im getting the slightest chocking/ fret buzz on only the e and a string from about fret 15 to 22...is this possible that it has changed the relief curve and is possible cause and god, how hard is it to find official tightening torque or any real expert literature on this procedure? If i back it off could it solve or have i bulged the neck?. I didnt do it tight but half a turn was needed when to make it firm tight?.have i rooted it?. Additionally it has 105 85 70 50 d addario roundwounds Ps love this site regards from aus. Cheers

 

[VIRGOMONKEY]

The other day, I tested this out because it sounded like the EA side was running out of room. At soft to medium plucking, the volume is balanced, but when I dig in, the DG pickup gets louder whereas the EA hits a wall. I just put a Model P in mine.

I will check mine out and get back to ya if same

 

[Kro]

Hi everyone...new to talk bass and need some advice. Got one of these pros...black one in avatar. I suspect after i loosened the strings one day to tension up the neck joint plate etc, because i got the odd creak when moving it around, i think im getting the slightest chocking/ fret buzz on only the e and a string from about fret 15 to 22...is this possible that it has changed the relief curve and is possible cause and god, how hard is it to find official tightening torque or any real expert literature on this procedure? If i back it off could it solve or have i bulged the neck?. I didnt do it tight but half a turn was needed when to make it firm tight?.have i rooted it?. Additionally it has 105 85 70 50 d addario roundwounds Ps love this site regards from aus. Cheers

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If you're not comfortable working on it yourself, I'd recommend just taking it to a pro for a setup.

Eventually I do recommend learning how to do setups on your own, but ease yourself into it as you become more and more familiar with your instrument. Learn to crawl before you try to walk and run.

 

[devo1]

The other day, I tested this out because it sounded like the EA side was running out of room. At soft to medium plucking, the volume is balanced, but when I dig in, the DG pickup gets louder whereas the EA hits a wall. I just put a Model P in mine.

I feel the same way on my 5 string jazz. Everything is nice and even at light playing but digging in really shows the difference of the magnet properties. I'll probably eventually replace with HCs anyways.

 

[707GK]

Hi everyone...new to talk bass and need some advice. Got one of these pros...black one in avatar. I suspect after i loosened the strings one day to tension up the neck joint plate etc, because i got the odd creak when moving it around, i think im getting the slightest chocking/ fret buzz on only the e and a string from about fret 15 to 22...is this possible that it has changed the relief curve and is possible cause and god, how hard is it to find official tightening torque or any real expert literature on this procedure? If i back it off could it solve or have i bulged the neck?. I didnt do it tight but half a turn was needed when to make it firm tight?.have i rooted it?. Additionally it has 105 85 70 50 d addario roundwounds Ps love this site regards from aus. Cheers

In my experience, buzzing above the 6th fret is typically related to saddle height, not neck relief. Not saying they don’t affect each other, but you may be able to solve this by raising up those strings just a tiny bit.

 

[Tazziedevil]

In my experience, buzzing above the 6th fret is typically related to saddle height, not neck relief. Not saying they don’t affect each other, but you may be able to solve this by raising up those strings just a tiny bit.

Probably a combination of Relief and saddle height. I really doubt tightening the neck joint would cause the neck to bulge - you'd probably strip the screw long before you put enough pressure on it to cause structural damage.

If raising the saddles and maybe giving truss rod a tiny tweak doesn't solve it and it's really concerning you, take it to a luthier or repair shop.