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Fender converts
- Thread starter Quadruple Jay
- Start date
Well, you are right, of course. The original P-bass is most definitely Telecaster-inspired. Even down to the finish.
But, as we move into the later 1950s and the strat-like body contours come to the fore, coupled with the strat-like double cutaways of the P...you see what I mean. I'm not arguing at all, but IMO the modern P-bass looks much more like a strat than a tele.
I used to be VERY anti-fender as well (turned off by their guitars i suppose), but I must confess, i just sold my Ibanez SRX3EX-QM1 for a Squier VM P-bass and I couldn't be happier. Although I don't own any REAL fenders, my first fender was a brown sunburst MIM Fretless J and I was thoroughly displeased with it. Needless to say, this set me back for a while on my fender prejudice.
After a while, I started to play some Geddy Lee J-basses and finally tried the Squier VM j-bass and fell back in love with Fenders and the tone you can only get from passive pickups. As soon as I get a VM Fretless, I'll have all my basses covered...pun intended =)
After a while, I started to play some Geddy Lee J-basses and finally tried the Squier VM j-bass and fell back in love with Fenders and the tone you can only get from passive pickups. As soon as I get a VM Fretless, I'll have all my basses covered...pun intended =)
My first bass was a MIM P-Bass and I hated it. I didn't like the way it sounded and the neck felt too big (I have small hands). I went to return it and get my money back. When I was there they had 2 70's MIJ Re-issue Jazz basses, one had a maple fretboard, the other one had a rosewood fretboard. The neck felt so smooth in my hand and because it was thinner my hand sort of felt like it was gliding over the fret board. I bought it right then and there.
Got into some money troubles and sold it with the intentions of buying it back, but someone scooped it. This was 10 years ago.
After reading a lot of the posts here it seems as though the quality of lower end fenders has gone up so I'm seriously considering looking at a MIM Fender rather than spending more cash on a MIJ or MIA.
Got into some money troubles and sold it with the intentions of buying it back, but someone scooped it. This was 10 years ago.
After reading a lot of the posts here it seems as though the quality of lower end fenders has gone up so I'm seriously considering looking at a MIM Fender rather than spending more cash on a MIJ or MIA.
Hey, I too was in full denial. I was playing a Yamaha BB450 that I had to gut and put in EMG's to get it to sound good. My band then went through a full on acoustic phase back when MTV Unplugged started, so I sold everything and bought a Guild B-30. Once we got that our of our systems and came back to electrics, I went to Drum City Guitarland here in the Denver area and started playing all the basses they had without plugging them in to find a couple that felt and sounded right to me. I knew if I found a couple that sounded good w/o an amp that they'd thump when I plugged them in. It's been five years now and I haven't budged off of my two Fenders. Both are MIM and my main axe is a 5 String J Bass w/ active electronics, the other is a 4 string P Bass Special, the one with the J Bass neck and a J Bass pick-up in the bridge position. Both of them totally crush through my old Trace Elliot AH300-12 head and I constantly get comments from soundmen and other musicians on the tone of my rig. Now the only thing I want (other than a Hamer 12ver) is more Fender basses...
Dude, now take that fender and plug it in to a vintage svt and 8x10 cabinet and listen to it sing. It'll be all over after that. I used to think the same way you did about ampeg untill I got my svt.
Back in the 80,s when I started to play, I had a Hondo P bass copy. It was OK but I wanted something better. I knew someone with a late 70,s P bass with maple neck. I didn't like it much. Same with other Fenders that I played. Back then I also hade a chance to by a Telecaster bass for $200. I wish I clould go back in time but I was dumb and I didn't like how it played. When it came time to buy a real bass I got an 85 Music Man Sabre with maple neck. Great bass and I always felt it was like a better Fender. What a Fender should be. And the active pickups, you cant go wrong. That was my main bass for years. A few years back I decided that I wanted a Fender so I built one from parts. A MIM rosewood P bass neck, a non Fender P bass body, Bad Ass II and DiMarzio split pickups. Ones I got it set up right, it played real nice and it was a bit lighter than the Sabre so it's not as much of a back breaker than the heavy Sabre. I swaped the pickups for a set of EMGs that I had on a cheap Yamaha fretless that I never use and now the bass is very gigable if I still giged. Now I realy like the Fender P basses. A buddy of mine that use to play many years ago had a 76 P bass, natural with rosewood neck and a Bad Ass. Well, he gave it to me. Wow! Once I set it up and put a new set of .40 DR Hibeams like I use one my Sabre, it played great. I also like the neck finish of both my Fenders better than my Sabre since the Sabre's neck gets sticky when I play it a lot. Now I have 3 P basses. My wife gave my the Sting bass for my birthday this year. It's a bit too old school for me with that crappy bridge and the noisey single coil pu, but it's a real nice bass to play. Not only that, I'm a big Sting and Police fan so it's cool to have. But don't get me wrong. I still like to play my Sabre the best and I still think they are better, but I love my P basses too.
Well, not exactly - the Tele did not have a double cutaway. The Strat shape was modeled after the P bass in 1954, the same year they gave the P bass body contours, and in 57 they gave the P bass a more Strat-like pickguard as well.
My first bass was a franken precision and I loved it because it was my first bass. Then my local guitar tec/friend phoned me and told me that he had a seller for a vintage P bass and I scraped enough money to purchase it. That was my main bass for years (and I still own it).
While I did like the P I was always lusting after some of the more exotic (to me) basses like Warwicks, status, etc. I was also into slapping at the time and I could not get my P bass to sound like the slap sound I was hearing on records at the time. Also, whilst I like the P sound, and I like it in certain situations, I feel that it is not ideal for many of the projects in which I'm involved - funk, fusion, jazz, etc. (great bass for rock though).
My next purchase was a Tobias Toby Pro 6 string bass (also because I wanted to get into six strings). That became my main bass and I still gig it regularly and think it sounds great. Then came a Yamaha TRB-6P - great bass but not my sound. By then i had tried a Fender Highway jazz and I loved the sound and figured that the fender jazz bass, with 2 single coil pickups was the sound that I had been hearing in my head for a long time and that I needed to get myself a Jazz.
So I went and purchased a Sadowsky, thinking that I would be getting the fender jazz sound that I had in my head, only in its ultimate format. I even ordered the single coil pickups.
When I received the bass I was disappointed because I did not quite get that fender jazz bass sound that I had in my head and that I got when playing a good fender jazz bass. After a couple of days I grew to appretiate the sadowsky and I now love it more than any of my basses and I think that its the best thing since sliced bread. And after some fiddling with the settings I can get remarkable close to the fender jazz sound. But not quite (more jazz bass on steriods, even in passive mode). So I still find myself lusting after a real fender jazz.
While I did like the P I was always lusting after some of the more exotic (to me) basses like Warwicks, status, etc. I was also into slapping at the time and I could not get my P bass to sound like the slap sound I was hearing on records at the time. Also, whilst I like the P sound, and I like it in certain situations, I feel that it is not ideal for many of the projects in which I'm involved - funk, fusion, jazz, etc. (great bass for rock though).
My next purchase was a Tobias Toby Pro 6 string bass (also because I wanted to get into six strings). That became my main bass and I still gig it regularly and think it sounds great. Then came a Yamaha TRB-6P - great bass but not my sound. By then i had tried a Fender Highway jazz and I loved the sound and figured that the fender jazz bass, with 2 single coil pickups was the sound that I had been hearing in my head for a long time and that I needed to get myself a Jazz.
So I went and purchased a Sadowsky, thinking that I would be getting the fender jazz sound that I had in my head, only in its ultimate format. I even ordered the single coil pickups.
When I received the bass I was disappointed because I did not quite get that fender jazz bass sound that I had in my head and that I got when playing a good fender jazz bass. After a couple of days I grew to appretiate the sadowsky and I now love it more than any of my basses and I think that its the best thing since sliced bread. And after some fiddling with the settings I can get remarkable close to the fender jazz sound. But not quite (more jazz bass on steriods, even in passive mode). So I still find myself lusting after a real fender jazz.
When I began an interest in guitars and basses I was a big Fender fan. But when I began an interest in basses in 1986, I really didn't want any of their basses at all, it took some years until they had some basses that renewed my interest in that brand. That was when they redesigned the American Standard and American Deluxe basses in 1994.
i used to be very anti-Fender also, I have been playing for more than 20 years and always avoided Fender style basses, I have owned Spectors, Warwicks, MTD's, etc. and recently I got a 1975 P-Bass and to make a long story short it is the only bass I use. I'm planning to get maybe a Lakland Bob Glaub with PJ pickups or a Fender Tony Franklin (fretted) because the only thing I'm missing in the P-bass is the back pickup...
I love my P-bass...
I love my P-bass...
For the longest time I swore off Fender basses... however hard I try to stay away... I always come back.
My first bass was a 83' Guild Pilot (full PG ones)... started to pick up some Westones (mid 80's). One night at a "jam" (local musicians got together to play live... all unrehearsed), a fellow bassist loved the tone of my Westone 5'ver and asked if I would trade him for a Fender he had. The next jam he brought it by... '69 Fender P body (P & double J routed) with a '72 Fender B&B jazz neck... it was love at first pluck.
That Franken Fender was my primary bass for many years and many gigs (no backup). (later sold it to pay for college... $350.00 
... but this was before "eBay" and "vintage" basses going for $$$$).
I owned a few other Fender basses before Fender bought and dismantled Guild's bass line (I've owned about a dozen Pilots over the years)... due to this I swore them off.
It wasn't until finding TB (a year ago) that I rekindled my love for Fenders. Bought a P Elite II from a TB'er... it was like comming home... there's just something special about a Fender bass that I never found in another (Guild Pilots are close... but not close enough
).
After trying and trying to find the perfect bass for me (sound wise and feel).... it was Fender all along.
My first bass was a 83' Guild Pilot (full PG ones)... started to pick up some Westones (mid 80's). One night at a "jam" (local musicians got together to play live... all unrehearsed), a fellow bassist loved the tone of my Westone 5'ver and asked if I would trade him for a Fender he had. The next jam he brought it by... '69 Fender P body (P & double J routed) with a '72 Fender B&B jazz neck... it was love at first pluck.
That Franken Fender was my primary bass for many years and many gigs (no backup). (later sold it to pay for college... $350.00 ... but this was before "eBay" and "vintage" basses going for $$$$).I owned a few other Fender basses before Fender bought and dismantled Guild's bass line (I've owned about a dozen Pilots over the years)... due to this I swore them off.
It wasn't until finding TB (a year ago) that I rekindled my love for Fenders. Bought a P Elite II from a TB'er... it was like comming home... there's just something special about a Fender bass that I never found in another (Guild Pilots are close... but not close enough
).After trying and trying to find the perfect bass for me (sound wise and feel).... it was Fender all along.
Muddslide, I bet you've probably been playing for a minute it sounds like to me. I felt similar to Gibson and some other brands, and he to Fender for awhile, and I stated on a P-bass.
I play a Ric now, because it is my ultimate bass, for many reasons, but man I could do it with a P-bass, a Jazz, a SX a damn Hondo.
You eventual learn how to play and whatever that core sound that made an impression, cause you to pick that instrument up, mostly likely is in the vicinity you will end up. Once you've found the perfect neck for you hand and amp for your sound
