Fender Player Series bass has the wrong pickup

[Flat Stanley]

FWIW - Paul Newman would only refer to his upright bass if it were asked if he'd enjoyed contemporary music.
So... obviously Upton Bass is turning the screws on those p'ups.
What more is there??

Nah - I'm just jiggling your bits... I think.

The largeness of Fender Instruments would prove shipping-containers filled with parts for the instruments having ambition to them, likely put on order w/o physical-inspection of if at all. Proving intent is derned impossible.

On the other hand, Fender is plenty capable of not allowing these deviation(s) in consistency.

Just like Gibson USA doing something about the pickguard screw near the lower-bout.
oooohhh - that's a thread for another Forum...

 

[huggernaut]

Just picked one of these up and my first thought was “man...that pickup lacks a lot of clarity”

:\

 

[ThingsAbove]

Just picked one of these up and my first thought was “man...that pickup lacks a lot of clarity”

:\

That was the opposite experience I had with mine. The OT Limited Edition MIM Player Precision (what a mouthful) had a very clear, scooped modern sound and chords up the neck sounded great with great clarity but adjustment of the tone control didn't result (for me) in pleasing mids. It went from very scooped to under a blanket sound with little in-between. Swapping out strings helped but I couldn't get the tone from it I was hoping for. I think it would probably give a good slap tone for those looking for that vibe.

It also had a great neck and excellent fretwork.

I've since purchased one from TB classifieds for significantly less $$ so I won't feel bad if I need to swap pups and pots.

 

[ThingsAbove]

I agree about the great neck and excellent fretwork. I don't hear the scooped tone you describe though. It sounds pretty gnarly to my ears...

Yes, I know others have been very happy with this bass, so it's likely my damaged hearing. I'm likely just too accustomed to flats or very dead strings on my basses.

 

[Axstar]

I agree about the great neck and excellent fretwork. I don't hear the scooped tone you describe though. It sounds pretty gnarly to my ears...

If they've improved the fretwork on Mexican basses then this is a great tradeoff for a poor pickup. On all my Mexican Fenders I've had to level the frets, crown them (not a given from the factory), finish of the fret ends and polish them out.

...and I've stuck the pickups on Ebay every time...

 

[Iridescentone]

I can't understand some of the replies I've read, honestly.

"It doesn't matter, I play Fenders and Fender will always be the greatest brand of all time".

I must have missed that reply. In which post did you read that?

 

[Kro]

They are different pickups for sure. Like people in the thread I made were saying, these Special Editions have hotter pickups than the other Player basses. Now we know why, ceramic pickups.

I have a quote from Fender stating that the ceramics actually had less output than the newer Player Alnico 5 pickups:

"Thank you for taking the time to reach out to us! The Player series P-Bass utilizes Alnico 5 Magnets and is wired hotter then the ceramic pickups in the old Mexican Standard."

 

[tpaul]

I must have missed that reply. In which post did you read that?

Here, I'll say it: It doesn't matter, I play Fenders and Fender will always be the greatest brand of all time.

 

[Hypercaffium]

I must have missed that reply. In which post did you read that?

Did you really searched 8 pages of thread just to check?
That wasn't a literal quote, I was just making fun of some people who thinks and acts like that. If you read between the lines, you'll understand.
I hope you're not trying to start anything here, peace.

 

[Iridescentone]

Did you really searched 8 pages of thread just to check?

"Just to check"? No, I've been following the thread from the beginning.

That wasn't a literal quote...

Thanks for clarifying that you didn't actually read it, because your syntax reads that you did.

I was just making fun of some people who thinks and acts like that.
I hope you're not trying to start anything here, peace.

Being asked to clarify comments means someone is "trying to start something"? You're projecting. Reasonable folks might interpret "making fun of some people who thinks and acts like that" (your words) as trying to start something.

Anyway, thanks for replying. Peace.

 

[mbell75]

If they've improved the fretwork on Mexican basses then this is a great tradeoff for a poor pickup. On all my Mexican Fenders I've had to level the frets, crown them (not a given from the factory), finish of the fret ends and polish them out.

...and I've stuck the pickups on Ebay every time...

They haven’t. The two new Squiers I bought, a 2019 Affinity PJ and a 2019 CV 60s Jazz both have better fretwork than the Special Edition P I bought and any of the 3 Players Series in the store I played with sharp fret edges. Even the $199 Affinity has a better fit and finish than the $674 Players. Pretty sad for Fender but great for my pocketbook.

 

[Iridescentone]

If they've improved the fretwork on Mexican basses then this is a great tradeoff for a poor pickup. On all my Mexican Fenders I've had to level the frets, crown them (not a given from the factory), finish of the fret ends and polish them out.

...and I've stuck the pickups on Ebay every time...

Yeah, I've upgraded the hardware and sometimes the pups/pots on MIM Fenders almost every time. Fortunately I haven't had any fret issues so far. That said, I mostly buy used, so I can't be sure a PO didn't previously massage them. My one and only brand new MIM Fender came from Willcutt Guitars. They asked me how I like my setups before they shipped it. It arrived exactly as I requested. I'm assuming they went over the frets too, as they were perfectly leveled and polished.

 

[mbell75]

Yeah, I've upgraded the hardware and sometimes the pups/pots on MIM Fenders almost every time.

If you’re going to do that anyways, you might as well just buy a Squier, upgrade it and save yourself a bunch of money over a MIM Fender.

 

[Hypercaffium]

"Just to check"? No, I've been following the thread from the beginning.
Thanks for clarifying that you didn't actually read it, because your syntax reads that you did.
Being asked to clarify comments means someone is "trying to start something"? You're projecting. Reasonable folks might interpret "making fun of some people who thinks and acts like that" (your words) as trying to start something.
Anyway, thanks for replying. Peace.

Peace.

 

[Ukko]

I'm late to this thread but the magnets on page 1 look like alnico to me. Ceramics are dark graphite to black. Just because it's a design with bar magnets beneath doesn't mean the magnets are ceramic. Gibson and others have been making pickups with alnico bars beneath years before Leo opened up shop.

Alnico conducts electricity, ceramic doesn't. You can check with a multimeter, set at 20 kohms and touch each end of the magnet with the probes.

 

[ThingsAbove]

I'm late to this thread but the magnets on page 1 look like alnico to me. Ceramics are dark graphite to black. Just because it's a design with bar magnets beneath doesn't mean the magnets are ceramic. Gibson and others have been making pickups with alnico bars beneath years before Leo opened up shop.

Alnico conducts electricity, ceramic doesn't. You can check with a multimeter, set at 20 kohms and touch each end of the magnet with the probes.

I've already returned that bass so possibly someone else with an OT Special Edition can test the magnets for conductivity.

In the meantime I've purchased a used MIM Player edition with the Alnico pickups I expected to be in the OT Special Edition.

A few observations comparing the Player P to the OT Spec Ed P.

The pickups in the MIM Player P-bass I just received are hotter than those in the OT Spec. Ed. P-bass. I know this because I always set my Keeley Bass compressor to barely trigger and I've had to raise the trigger point by approximately 3-5 dB above where I had it set for the OT.

This Player P pickup has a smoother, less trebly tone with more wooly mids present and the tone control rolls off to the pleasing thump with a mid-bump that I expect as opposed to what I got with the OT Spec Ed P. Ultimately that's what was bothering me on the OT Spec Ed. I was trying everything to tame the hot-treble nature of that pup. It just wasn't the tone for me. I think if you were simply listening to both dimed, you'd think the OT was "louder" because of the bright pickups but in the case of the two basses I've tried there's more energy coming from the Player pups.

I swapped out the pickguard when I received the Player P because I don't like white pickguards on burst. I did pull a pickup and verify that in the Player P it's using AlNiCo pole pieces rather than bar magnets. On the negative side, the Player comes with a cheaper 3 ply Pickguard rather than the nice 4 ply Tortoise on the OT and only has shielding foil joining the pots and output jack rather than covering the entire cavity. So the OT Spec Ed P comes with an upgraded pickguard. On the other hand this Player actually has shielding paint properly applied in its entire internal cavity rather than that incomplete job in the OT.

Considering I got this used MIM Player for $175 (including the cost of a new Pickguard) less than the cost of OT, that makes me even happier.

So whether that OT Spec Ed P has AlNiCo bar magnets or ceramics, finding the bar magnets in the OT was the push I needed to return it and through serendipity I've ended up with a P-bass I'm much happier with.

 

[petrus61]

They haven’t. The two new Squiers I bought, a 2019 Affinity PJ and a 2019 CV 60s Jazz both have better fretwork than the Special Edition P I bought and any of the 3 Players Series in the store I played with sharp fret edges. Even the $199 Affinity has a better fit and finish than the $674 Players. Pretty sad for Fender but great for my pocketbook.

Didn’t get your fill of Fender bashing in the other thread?

 

[petrus61]

I'm late to this thread but the magnets on page 1 look like alnico to me. Ceramics are dark graphite to black. Just because it's a design with bar magnets beneath doesn't mean the magnets are ceramic. Gibson and others have been making pickups with alnico bars beneath years before Leo opened up shop.

Alnico conducts electricity, ceramic doesn't. You can check with a multimeter, set at 20 kohms and touch each end of the magnet with the probes.

So Fender decided to fabricate special AlNiCo pole pieces that are 100% identical to their SS poles to add to a handful of special edition basses at random?

 

[Ukko]

So Fender decided to fabricate special AlNiCo pole pieces that are 100% identical to their SS poles to add to a handful of special edition basses at random?

No. that's not what I said at all. I was clearly talking about the bar magnets beneath looking like alnico.

You can't automatically assume that any pickup with bar magnets below will be ceramic. That may be unusual for Fender, but it's not unusual to have alnico bars below.

I said nothing about Fender doing anything at random. I only commented on the appearance of the magnets.

 

[Texican]

Just got a LEOT Player P and all the Player Series boxes seem to be checked... Alnico pickups, F stamp neck plate, Player Series headstock logo. I haven’t checked the pots and cap but honestly I don’t know what the Player Series is supposed to come with in that regard.

Hopefully all the old standard mim parts they had lying around have since dried up. I remember playing a LEOT precision a few months ago while passing through Houston and being disappointed... it may have been a standard series, or possibly a cobbled together parts bass like the OP got.