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Fender American Std Precision V: Which color?
- Thread starter monkeyfinger
- Start date
Doug Parent
Supporting Member
Beautiful. Thanks for sharing. I would love to see Fender offer this bass with replaceable pickup covers.
this quite possibly might trump my 25 year desire for a Lake Placid Blue/Maple neck. I love the Cola Red color...
That looks to be non original pickups/pickguard. Care to share how that came together?
Doug Parent
Supporting Member
Bart 58CBP pickups. Used Fender P-Bass pickguard for a 4 string P Bass.
Dremel tooled a wider neck slot (from 4 to 5 string)
Voila!
Dremel tooled a wider neck slot (from 4 to 5 string)
Voila!
Hey folks!!
I been playing for about a week now. I wanted to wait a bit before I posted my initial thoughts here. My overall impression is very good. For a bass that cost me $1150, I don't think I could have done better.
The bass weighs 9.2 lbs. A decent weight for a mass produced 5 string. With the right strap it is comfortable and balances well. I could see wearing this most of the night, but maybe not all.
The neck profile is very good. Not too thin and not too thick. Keep in mind, I like a chunky neck, especially on a four string. This 5'er seems a little thinner than my 60th Anniv. four string, but this seems right for this wide neck. (I grip it differently than the four, less thumb wrapped around if you know what I mean.) Anyway, it has been very easy to adjust too. Probably easier than any other 5 I've played.
Action is superb. Neck is pretty flat, with low action. I wouldn't want it any lower. If you are someone who really likes to dig in, the action may be too low for you. Fretting action is very consistent.
Pickups are excellent. Good definition and punch. Great p-bass sound. I don't see any reason to replace them.
Tuners are just fine. They turn easily, perhaps a little too easily, but not really a problem.
Overall fit and finish is very good too. Everything straight, shiny, and even. The only complaint is a little over-gluing of the nut. Nothing about the bass fit, finish or components are top shelf, but they are all very good. Top shelf is usually reserved for much more expensive custom basses, so this is not a complaint.
The case is from SKB. The same one that came with my other Fender P. The best case I ever saw, IMO. Light and strong, with positive latching. This may not seem that important to some, but I think it says a lot about how the company thinks of their product. Compared to the shabby case I got with my $1800 MM SR4 classic, this one really exudes quality.
The one area Fender really falls short on this bass is the strings. They are just plain awful. The E string was pretty dead right out of the box. The output was very unbalanced. I had to play with pickup height a lot to get some balance. The E string was useless no matter what I did. Fortunately, this is easy to remedy. I put a set of Thomastik-Infeld jazz flats on it. I am happy with everything except the B. It just does not ring out like the others. However, they have been on for less than an hour. TI's take 10-20 hours to break in. I remember hating them on my StringRay for the first week, now I love them. So I remain hopeful about this 5 string set.
So overall, this bass is an excellent value in a 5 string. I am sure you would have a better instrument from Lull, Sadowsky, and others, but they are going to run you two to four times the price. Even if you own one of these, I think you will find this bass to be a great backup. Besides, this it's a precision, as simple as it gets. (That is part of its appeal IMO.)
(Sorry about the poor quality pics.)
I been playing for about a week now. I wanted to wait a bit before I posted my initial thoughts here. My overall impression is very good. For a bass that cost me $1150, I don't think I could have done better.
The bass weighs 9.2 lbs. A decent weight for a mass produced 5 string. With the right strap it is comfortable and balances well. I could see wearing this most of the night, but maybe not all.
The neck profile is very good. Not too thin and not too thick. Keep in mind, I like a chunky neck, especially on a four string. This 5'er seems a little thinner than my 60th Anniv. four string, but this seems right for this wide neck. (I grip it differently than the four, less thumb wrapped around if you know what I mean.) Anyway, it has been very easy to adjust too. Probably easier than any other 5 I've played.
Action is superb. Neck is pretty flat, with low action. I wouldn't want it any lower. If you are someone who really likes to dig in, the action may be too low for you. Fretting action is very consistent.
Pickups are excellent. Good definition and punch. Great p-bass sound. I don't see any reason to replace them.
Tuners are just fine. They turn easily, perhaps a little too easily, but not really a problem.
Overall fit and finish is very good too. Everything straight, shiny, and even. The only complaint is a little over-gluing of the nut. Nothing about the bass fit, finish or components are top shelf, but they are all very good. Top shelf is usually reserved for much more expensive custom basses, so this is not a complaint.
The case is from SKB. The same one that came with my other Fender P. The best case I ever saw, IMO. Light and strong, with positive latching. This may not seem that important to some, but I think it says a lot about how the company thinks of their product. Compared to the shabby case I got with my $1800 MM SR4 classic, this one really exudes quality.
The one area Fender really falls short on this bass is the strings. They are just plain awful. The E string was pretty dead right out of the box. The output was very unbalanced. I had to play with pickup height a lot to get some balance. The E string was useless no matter what I did. Fortunately, this is easy to remedy. I put a set of Thomastik-Infeld jazz flats on it. I am happy with everything except the B. It just does not ring out like the others. However, they have been on for less than an hour. TI's take 10-20 hours to break in. I remember hating them on my StringRay for the first week, now I love them. So I remain hopeful about this 5 string set.
So overall, this bass is an excellent value in a 5 string. I am sure you would have a better instrument from Lull, Sadowsky, and others, but they are going to run you two to four times the price. Even if you own one of these, I think you will find this bass to be a great backup. Besides, this it's a precision, as simple as it gets. (That is part of its appeal IMO.)
(Sorry about the poor quality pics.)
Doug Parent
Supporting Member
BFunk, that was a very concise and straightforward review, maybe one of the better ones I've read in awhile.
My Candy Cola version is everything you described. I think with the stock pickups, my B string sounds a little thin, but overall it's workable. The Barts that I had in there for a little while were stronger in the lows but not so cutting in the upper mids.
My Candy Cola version is everything you described. I think with the stock pickups, my B string sounds a little thin, but overall it's workable. The Barts that I had in there for a little while were stronger in the lows but not so cutting in the upper mids.
