The Fender Roadworn basses are an exceptional value. My biggest problem is, I don’t play 4 strings anymore. If I only played 4 strings I would probably stick with the roadworn series.
Nowadays I primarily play five strings. I’ve owned an American professional precision bass, And it was a fantastic instrument. I’ve owned several fender American elite five string basses and my current one is an absolutely stellar instrument.
In my opinion, the Pros are:
1). Both the American Professional and Elite series have better feeling and playing necks. Fretwork is also better
2). The finishes also seem to be of higher quality although the American Performer series has great finishes as well
3). I can usually find lighter weight basses in the US line
Here are the cons:
1). If it has a preamp, you’re better off swapping it out. I’ve never been happy with the preamps on the American basses, and I recently swapped out mine with the Sadowsky pre and it sounds 10 times better.
2). May be a good idea to also swap out the pickups. I’ve found more than one American elite model in a music store that didn’t have functioning pickups. I’ve also talked to a few people here on TalkBass whose pickups ended up malfunctioning. One guy told me that when he pulled the pick ups out to test them, some of the wires that wrapped around the magnet were falling off. These facts don’t exactly endear me of Fender’s quality assurance standards.
In conclusion, if you just want to play a passive 4 string bass I would suggest sticking with the Roadworn series or American Professional.
If you want the five string or active models, be prepared to invest in electronics upgrades. But having said that, my fender is an amazing instrument that I love playing.
Nowadays I primarily play five strings. I’ve owned an American professional precision bass, And it was a fantastic instrument. I’ve owned several fender American elite five string basses and my current one is an absolutely stellar instrument.
In my opinion, the Pros are:
1). Both the American Professional and Elite series have better feeling and playing necks. Fretwork is also better
2). The finishes also seem to be of higher quality although the American Performer series has great finishes as well
3). I can usually find lighter weight basses in the US line
Here are the cons:
1). If it has a preamp, you’re better off swapping it out. I’ve never been happy with the preamps on the American basses, and I recently swapped out mine with the Sadowsky pre and it sounds 10 times better.
2). May be a good idea to also swap out the pickups. I’ve found more than one American elite model in a music store that didn’t have functioning pickups. I’ve also talked to a few people here on TalkBass whose pickups ended up malfunctioning. One guy told me that when he pulled the pick ups out to test them, some of the wires that wrapped around the magnet were falling off. These facts don’t exactly endear me of Fender’s quality assurance standards.
In conclusion, if you just want to play a passive 4 string bass I would suggest sticking with the Roadworn series or American Professional.
If you want the five string or active models, be prepared to invest in electronics upgrades. But having said that, my fender is an amazing instrument that I love playing.
