Fender Nate Mendel P vs Fender American Special

[DSBass]

As the title say. Anyone have experience with both. What do you think? If we forget that one is Mex and the other is American.

I have an American Special P and really like it but i cant drop the thought of trading it for a Nate Mendel P. I just love the color of it. Im also a big Foo fan. But that's not the reason for me gasing for this bass. I just love the color and specs.

Would it be stupid to do the trade?

Best regards/Daniel

 

[Bass4LifeRS]

Buy it fanboi

 

[fisticuffs]

The slight relicing on the Mendel makes it pretty comfy to play. It sounds like thats the one you want.

 

[DSBass]

Well, first of all I'm not a fanboy in that sence. I'm more interested in the specs.
And I cant afford to have both. Do you have any constructive comments about them? Otherwise dont bother.

 

[DSBass]

The slight relicing on the Mendel makes it pretty comfy to play. It sounds like thats the one you want.

Thanks. Im not sure really but I like the badass II and quarter pounder specs. As well as the ash body and color.

 

[StevieMac]

I played a Nate Mendel P at GC a couple weeks ago and was impressed. If I didn't already have two nice pbasses I would have left with it for sure. Do you have an opportunity to play both back to back to compare them?

 

[DSBass]

I played a Nate Mendel P at GC a couple weeks ago and was impressed. If I didn't already have two nice pbasses I would have left with it for sure. Do you have an opportunity to play both back to back to compare them?

Thanks. I see it get lots of positive words. Have you tried the american special too?

 

[Dbassmon]

If you have a great playing, great sounding bass, why on earth would you trade down for color?

I guess whatever makes you happy. Seems to me that if you spend more time perfecting your craft and not chasing fashion you will at least be a better bass player when all is said and done.

FWIW, my opinion only.

 

[StevieMac]

Thanks. I see it get lots of positive words. Have you tried the american special too?

I picked one up while I was there but wasn't inspired enough to plug that one in. It's a subjective thing of course but the NM felt nicer in my hands, sounded better to me unplugged and made me want to plug it in.

 

[DSBass]

If you have a great playing, great sounding bass, why on earth would you trade down for color?

I guess whatever makes you happy. Seems to me that if you spend more time perfecting your craft and not chasing fashion you will at least be a better bass player when all is said and done.

FWIW, my opinion only.

Thanks for your opinion. I do spend a lot of time playing bass thank you very much. And most of the time I play my American Standard Jazz.
Im not chasing fashion but I do love the color of the NM bass. As I said if you read all of my previous posts I like the Badass II bridge and quarter pounder bridge.
Why would that be a downgrade? Because its made in Mexico?
I'll tell you, I've played a 60's classic Mim jazz and that was a really good bass.

 

[DSBass]

I picked one up while I was there but wasn't inspired enough to plug that one in. It's a subjective thing of course but the NM felt nicer in my hands, sounded better to me unplugged and made me want to plug it in.

Thanks for your answer.

Best regards/Daniel

 

[Fencing Fan]

DSBass,

I've just done a couple of posts about this bass, but I was actually going to get an American Special P as a second to my '72 P. I wanted the narrower neck, and a sound to compliment my other bass.

The American Special has a very nice neck and is fairly light. But to me, it sounded kind of 'hollow' and 'cupped'. It just wasn't giving me the 'oomphf' I wanted; even seemed to be missing the extended frequency range that I know a P can have.

I played a number of basses over several visits, including the American Standard P, other '50's replicas, and some $2K basses. Then I tried the Nate Mendel. Immediately the neck felt familiar, like it was the neck my hands wanted to play. And the sound was all over the American Special P. Stomped it, to my ears. The tone control is apparently carefully designed to roll off the treble without affecting the bass, but I felt it made almost no difference to the tone.

Here's the thing: I traded an EBMM Sterling for the Nate Mendel. I love the MM basses, and the quality of them, and a small part of me expected to get a MIA bass (if a Fender), but the NM is a killer. Or at least this one is. Straight out of the box it was perfect. I love it so much, I'm typing this one-handed.

It is hugely better made than my '72 MIA bass, and remarkably close in sound quality. Big, fat, full range, great sustain. Certainly brighter than the P Special, to be sure, but there is also more bottom extension and fullness; almost like it is revealing more of the sounds. To my ears, at least.

I'm over worrying about MIA vs MIM; each bass is different, but my Nate Mendel is superb.

Very highly recommended.