First, these are truly excellent instruments and probably the best bang for buck deal on a USA Fender. I've owned some nice P basses (a couple of cool Fenders and a Lakland Glaub Skyline) but this one tops them, much to my surprise. I bought it up a couple of months ago because it felt right in my hands played great- the whole bass vibrated and resonated like it was alive and I simply could not walk away from it. The neck is killer- perfectly straight, level frets, and no deadspots which I thought was very impressive for a production line Fender. And that super resonant body thing- whew! It's good wood, a thin finish, and an amazing neck- not unlike the recipe for the best of the 60's Fenders. After spending some time with the bass though, there were a few small things that bugged me:
1. I noticed that the E and A strings didn't have the same tonality as the D and G. After some experimentation I realized why- it's the bridge saddles. The new BadAss slotted saddles are a great idea, but the E and A strings don't make solid contact with the bridge because the strings are too wide to fit properly in the saddle groove. Instead, the string rides high in the slot making contact only with the upper edges. Not good!! I re-slotted the bridge saddles to suit the string width, which made a tremendous difference. Now the bass sounds even from string to string. Ah...much better.
2. The Greasebucket Tone Circuit. Some people might like it but I wasn't able to get that big fat pillowy P bass tone that we all know and love. People have complained that the Hwy Ones are too bright and while it's true that the pickup included could be better, losing the Greasebucket circuit and rewiring it like a normal P bass will make a big, big difference in being able to warm up the tone. The stock pickup sounds pretty darn good- clear open lows, smooth musical mids, and while it's still a little "toppy" sounding, it's no where near as bright as it was with the stock wiring. I'm considering a Duncan Antiquity for it but I'm not in a hurry- the bass sounds really good right now.
...and finally, one very minor "matter of taste" issue:
The BA bridge is a great design, but it's not ideal for all basses. I love it on my thick dipped poly finished Fender Jazz because the enhanced midrange response that the extra mass of the bridge brings makes up for the negative effects of the thick finish. It's a perfect match-up on that bass. Thinner finishes usually mean that the wood gets to vibrate freely...more resonance and punch! The Hwy One with it's thin nitro finish has that in spades-- and to my ears, the BA bridge kind of pushes the midrange response over the top to the point where it might be too much for some people. I did install a "vintage style" Fender bridge for a while which definitely brought out the traditional P tones and sounded really lovely. I recently put the BA back on the Fender so I could use the vintage bridge on a different bass-- I think the sound I'm looking for lies in a compromise of the two bridge designs. The Gotoh maybe?
As for strings on this bass, I experimented with a few different .105-.045 sets: GHS Boomers, DR Nickel Sunbeams, R.Cocco Nickels, Sadowsky flats, as well as GHS Pressurewound Mediums- all great strings that sounded good. Just for kicks I tried the .100-.045 D'Addario Chrome set and despite them being lighter than what I'd normally use, they really sound excellent on this bass.
The satin finish is already starting to shine up a little from normal use and I'm considering buffing it out to a nice nitro glow. I added a Fender tort pickguard and the thumb (finger?) rest- check it out:
TalkBass is such a great resource- love it here! Since I've gotten so much from reading everyone elses reviews, I hope you don't mind me posting one of my own. Thanks y'all.
IMO they're the best sounding P pups out there for that awesome round vintage tone with just about the best mids. I also dig SPB-1, which sounds a bit more mellow to me, but really nice for sure.
