Fender Pino Palladino vs "Regular" Fender CS

[Mastermold]

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What people fail to realize is that "Custom Shop" is not really another step in quality. Sure, you can get rolled edges or something, but I can do that (I have) in 15 minutes, and for far less than they'd charge you to do it. The Custom shop exists primarily for Fender's convenience, and yes, it makes them a bit more profit per instrument than a normal one. But the parts they use are made from trees just like the stuff on the regular production line, and they're made in the same CNC machines, with the same programs. There isn't an identifiable thing that a custom shop instrument has the a regular production one doesn't, other than colors, how beat up it is, etc.
....

Well no actually that's not true, Fender CS instruments have better quality lumber and offerings not otherwise available from their standard production instruments. A luthier friend works there and we were recently talking about it (I was asking if the lumber shortage was hurting them—it's not). The CS gets the best wood and first choice and the rest goes to the regular production instruments. Nothing wrong with it but it's not the choice lumber.

 

[PJ Muzikmansky]

Brace Stiffness: Quarter-sawn vs Flat-sawn[/URL]

If you really think that quarter sawn is denser than plain sawn, ponder the fact that rotating a quarter sawn square piece of stock (as this guy did) makes it flat sawn. How does the same piece of wood gain density by turning it in space?

We're not talking about square pieces of wood for guitar braces that can be viewed interchangeable as flat sawn / quarter sawn depending on which edge they're resting on. We're talking about stock having a width double that of its depth fashioned into a bass neck. In that configuration, the quarter sawn piece will always be stiffer than the flat-sawn.

 

[micguy]

We're not talking about square pieces of wood for guitar braces that can be viewed interchangeable as flat sawn / quarter sawn depending on which edge they're resting on. We're talking about stock having a width double that of its depth fashioned into a bass neck. In that configuration, the quarter sawn piece will always be stiffer than the flat-sawn.

You're confusing geometry and grain orientation. Both play a role, but the geometry works the same, whether the wood is quarter sawn or flat sawn.

We're obviously not going to agree here. You are free to believe as you wish. I'll stick with the Science I know. Have a nice day.

 

[PJ Muzikmansky]

Whenever I've bought Fenders I've just played as many as possible and picked the one I liked the most. Even within the same model line there are variations.
I did an A/B with a Pino and my '75 years ago. I preferred my '75 in every way, which surprised me!

That's interesting

The guy I bought my BB3000 from last year had a '75 Precision { which he's since sold }.

I asked him why he was selling the BB { it's so good } and he said "because I'm cutting back to one bass", to which I replied "and what bass is that? It must be pretty good !", and he whips out this sunburst '75 Precision. He let me try it out and it remains to this day the best fender bass I've ever put my hands on. Better than my custom shop '59 Precision. Impeccable build quality. Fantastic sound.

He put it up for sale a couple of months later and quit playing bass...

 

[Mastermold]

That's interesting

The guy I bought my BB3000 from last year had a '75 Precision { which he's since sold }.

I asked him why he was selling the BB { it's so good } and he said "because I'm cutting back to one bass", to which I replied "and what bass is that? It must be pretty good !", and he whips out this sunburst '75 Precision. He let me try it out and it remains to this day the best fender bass I've ever put my hands on. Better than my custom shop '59 Precision. Impeccable build quality. Fantastic sound.

He put it up for sale a couple of months later and quit playing bass...

You should have bought it!

 

[PJ Muzikmansky]

You should have bought it!

It was better than my '59 CS Precision - which I paid $3200 for, but at his asking price of $4500 { cheap for a good '75 here, and he wouldn't budge on the price }, I didn't think the additional $1300 wasn't justified. Had I not already owned the CS '59, which is a great bass in its own right, I might've done the deal.

The thing the really hit home was this: I could scarcely believe this '75 Precision had been made in the same factory as the '78 Jazz I bought in '85, and sold in 2005, after having played it as my only bass for those twenty years. My '78 Jazz was an absolute pig. His '75 P was an absolute gem. The difference in quality was like night and day.

 

[SteveC]

Sorry to resurrect...I played a PIno a couple weeks ago. I would never have thought that I'd even debate buying a $5,500 bass, but man, everything I played on it felt and sounded amazing. That said, a new American Vintage for $2,300 has very similar specs. Sweetwater is selling American Pro II's for $1,4685! IDK, sometimes an instrument is more than the sum of it's parts.

 

[Dogswamp]

View attachment 4340003 I can't answer your question, but I have a Roscoe "Pino" that is an amazing bass for 1/3 the price.

 

[Dogswamp]

I had my Daphne Blue American Vintage II 1960 Reissue resprayed.