Fender Precision American Performer: the best American Precision for quality/price?

Hi,
I have it since 1 month ago. Having an Am Pro I Jazz, I only can say I'm happier with the Performer. Yes, different basses but different prices too. The Performer sounds great (split coil with a bit of bridge, most of times split coil only) and I personally prefer the Precision neck.
And the LPB finish is

 

The good AP I played sounded better than my 1997 Lake Placid American Standard and as good as my Highway 1 Precision . The new AP Precision is the passive Fender I would get.

 

My first question, Dave, is how you gonna start a thread of you butt kicking bass and not even include a pic???? You know the rules.

 

There are a lot of differences between the Performers and Professional II lineups. Whether or not they are significant to you is a matter of opinion.

Differences:
Pickups (Yosemite vs VMod II and PJ configuration option)
Tuners (weight and shafts)
Necks (finishes and profiles)
Frets (jumbo vs narrow-tall)
Neck plate and screw hole patterns
Body (contoured neck heel and matte vs gloss finishes)
Wiring (Greasebucket vs standard)
Bridge (Std vs high mass string through)
HSC vs gig bag
Price

In the end, they both seem pretty nice to me. Really comes down to preference and value in the eyes of the consumer. I ultimately went with The Pro II.

 

There it is. Noyce! All that and it looks great too!

 

My Am Pro is a JazzBass but:

I do prefer the Yosemites vs Vmod I. I swapped to Nordstrands in my JB after 2 years of use.

I thought they were the same

I like both

I like Greasebucket tone. Maybe it is a bit early to say.

I agree

I hardly ever use the HSC (I'm a Mono Vertigo guy)

 

Mine

 

Fantastic basses. I almost picked up one when they first came out and I test drove one. Loved it! But I made a different purchase instead at the time. No regrets, but the GAS never went away for me for this bass and I finally picked one up (new old stock, 2018) about 2 months ago. Gigged with it immediately (twice) and it sounded, looked, and played marvelously.

I love the Greasebucket circuitry and the incredible amount of control you have over the tone. I have test driven American Professionals, and PRO II's, which were very solid instruments, but for the money, the American Performer is THE bass.

P.S. Mine's the same color too. Love that Lake Placid blue and satin finish.

 

I saw you a few days after I buyed mine. Nice test

 

I think that's quite a claim. Fender have become very good at making sure there is something for everyone and I think many feel, like you, that their particular model is grossly underrated. I have an Ultra Precision and Jazz and could happily eulogise about them all day despite the rest of TB politely shuffling away. That said I tried a Deluxe Precision for the first time last week and and was shocked at the quality and sound. No it wasn't as sensuous as mine and didn't sound as rich but you could do exactly the same job on it just as comfortably for a thousand pounds less. Bet there are plenty of owners wondering why no-one's making a big enough fuss of that model.

 

Really nice. love those Pjs. Have one myself and it’s going to the grave with me.