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Fender La Cabronita Precision Bass

#182
Just joined this a few days ago and as my first post, I'd like to know if I should order this through musiciansfriend.com or sweetwater. I've never ordered through sweetwater, but have seen good posts about it since joining and would like to know if my Fender '51 bridge and pickup covers would be legit on this sweet CAR Cabronita. Respondan!
 
#184
I experimented with caps and went with a pretty large value .1 ! Going any higher than that got even more 'dubby', but started to lose punch. Thte .047 was an improvement as well. I like how the .1 really kills the high end though. :bassist:

I also tried some different right-angle plugs in the bass. G&H will not fit the stock output jack - Planet Waves Custom and American Stage series do. (I'll still be putting a longer jack in though...)
 
#185
.1 cap, long-thread jack & a set of D'Addario coated EXP's & I'm loving this thing! Minor tweaks to adjust the intonation and it's ready for prime-time. I love doing higher-end professional shows with a $600 bass!

It's very quiet, lots of midrange grunt without losing any punch & looks like it's going fast even when standing still.

I don't love larger frets (I suppose these are medium-jumbos), but the fretwork on this decidedly budget bass is really good! There are some slight tooling marks parallel with some of the frets in the neck finish, but you have to start getting out the inspection glass to notice. Frets are level, crowned nicely and even have a cursory round-over on the edges. Somebody actually is bothering to sand over the edges of the frets and polish them out at this price point. I still can't find a single flaw in the candy apple finish.

Neck pocket is tighter than many MIA Fenders! I couldn't even slip a piece of thin notepad paper in there!

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The paper won't go in!

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Nut is ok. E string and G string are perfect, but the A and D could go a hair lower. Still, overall, way better than I had expected for less than a grand! Tuning machines are vintage reissue quality, pickup is mounted solid and everything was tight and clean out of the box.

The body has a forearm contour (thankfully), but the body has less of an edge-route than a MIA Fender. It can be uncomfortable if you rest your arm towards the neck - very much like a bound Telecaster or older slab-body. Weight is average & the body thickness seems full (as compared to Mexican Fenders from previous decades). There is some neck-dive if played without a strap, but not more so than any of my other Fenders.

The bolt-on neck dead spot (harmonic node that exists on virtually every bolt on Fender style neck) is at the 'D' note on the G-string on my bass. It's not particularly bad, but it is there if you listen closely.

The Badass-type bridge functions perfectly with more than enough adjustability for intonation. I've swapped a bunch of Badass bridges in for people & never noticed any difference over the standard bent bridge. I honestly think it's a lot of placebo effect (ymmv) - still, this instrument does sustain more than 1/2 of my other Fender-style basses.

Wiring was only so-so: entirely functional and quiet but there is excess wire and the shielding paint doesn't meet the foil-lined compartment cover. It's still perfectly quiet in my home studio with only a nominal amount of background environmental noise. It's just as quiet as any of my P-Basses.

The stock strings were fine (I believe Fender strings are made by D'Addario these days), but I've been favoring EXP's lately.

The included gig bag is light-duty but servicable. I don't trust the quick release strap clips for much more than a few years of touring though - I've seen them fail a dozen times on mine and colleagues bags! Still, for the price it's a nice 'extra'.

I was fully prepared to order a TV Jones pickup. I'm not going to have to though! The Fender Fideli-Tron really kicks butt! Like a 50's single coil P pickup in tone, but more output + quieter and with more aggressive mids. I'd call it grunty, punchy and with slightly subdued ultra-highs. If you want to get cool Geddy bite, it does it no problem! Just don't expect any Stanley Clarke treble 'sheen'.

The stock .022 tone cap is not matched well in my opinion - do yourself a favor and spring for a .04-ish (will sound and respond more like a typical P bass tone control) or .1 cap (get's more into 'dub' bass territory).

Where you rest your thumb will change if you rely on thumb-resting on the pickup or a ramp. I employ floating technique equally as much as anchored playing so it's not an issue for me. If you have to anchor on the pickup, just be aware that it feels like you're playing a little closer to the bridge than a traditional split-P design.

The Cabronita responds well to fingerstyle, pick, slap and palm muting. I find myself trying all 4 techniques and being satisfied with each.

Great job, Fender! The Cabronita Precision is a winner in my book! It's a great choice for rock, alt-country, power-pop, rockin' blues and possibly even metal (I wouldn't really know whats best for metal to be honest). It's not the ideal Motown sound, but great for greasy R&B!
 
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#199

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