Fender Steve Harris Blue Japan

[Lowness]

Blue is MIJ, white is MIM so cheaper.

Pricewise, I'd reference the MIJ basses as a starting point - whether it sells higher lower will depend on the market for outlandish colours.

 

[Lowness]

They sound really, really good.

I have a blue SH P-Bass - my go-to bass for blues.

It is heavy but is has a lot of other things going for it.

 

[Gluvhand]

I see you are a fellow Spector lover as well, so we both know we will look the other way at weight when tone is at stake. This is interesting, I figured the maple would give it a different tone that what he runs. I'm not really looking for his sound, rather I like the feel and sound the blue P's have. I've not had the chance to play one of the white ones, as they aren't stocked at any music stores in my general area.

I just can't get past the blue hilighting on his new one. Not my cup of tea at all

I believe 'Arry's Precision is a maple body.

 

[tavesd]

i think you can just put the steve harris neck on a lake placid blue fender p

I had similar, yet different thoughts. I bought a loaded white body, and plugged a Mexixan Fender P neck on it. No way around it though, that body is an anchor.

 

[slagheap]

i really dug the japanese blue ones, yeah. wouldn't touch one of the white ones with a 100' pole.

 

[superdick2112]

I believe 'Arry's Precision is a maple body.

Per Fender, the reason they did the white Harris Ps in maple was to replicate the weight of his original, which is most likely a very heavy ash body.
Maple adds a touch more brightness & low end than ash, which works well if you're shooting for the Harris tone.
I do play the occasional Maiden cover (at home) on mine, but mostly I play original metal with it in my band.
It sounds good with flats or rounds, and on rock, metal or Motown - in other words, its what you would expect from a good old P-bass.

 

[DDXdesign]

Anybody bought one and chambered the ever-living F out of it from the back yet? The white one with the pinstriping and crest (football or no) just looks bad ass.

 

[superdick2112]

Anybody bought one and chambered the ever-living F out of it from the back yet? The white one with the pinstriping and crest (football or no) just looks bad ass.

I've had nothing but positive comments about mine when I play it live, but it's looks sure are polarizing with the TalkBass crowd - most either love it or hate it, with very few in between.

 

[TN WOODMAN]

Just an aside but I recall two versions in blue . The earlier had a quarter pound pickup and the later the SD Harris sig pickup . Different shades of blue and possibly different pickguards as well. I haven't played any version or actually seen one in person.

 

[tavesd]

yeah, the original had a lake placid blue body, and wine red mirror pick guard and 1/4 pounders. I think it was Japanese made too, but can't be sure. Don't remember it being as heavy as the other two though.

 

[Jack Butler]

Just an aside but I recall two versions in blue . The earlier had a quarter pound pickup and the later the SD Harris sig pickup . Different shades of blue and possibly different pickguards as well. I haven't played any version or actually seen one in person.

Also, I'm pretty sure the blue one's came with different necks depending on when they were made? some are 1-5/8 and some are 1-3/4.

 

[bassstrangler]

I built my own. Features include a MIJ SH neck and MIM replacement body, SH signature pickups, Fender Hi-mass bridge (replaced with a Hipshot now) and I've replaced the guard with a pearloid blue. Total with all parts was $675. MIJ neck is awesome and differs from MIM SH neck as the MIM neck only has the vintage tint on the headstock and not the fretboard.

 

[BurnOut]

Just looked for these on GC used last night. A white one, think for 650-700 range. We had a used one here for like 600 little over a month ago. Picked it up and was noodling on it a bit, a heavy beast. A small female checked it out after I went around to look at the rest of their basses. I heard her around the corner saying how heavy it was. I'd get one if the opportunity comes my way again.

 

[JGbassman]

Per Fender, the reason they did the white Harris Ps in maple was to replicate the weight of his original, which is most likely a very heavy ash body.
Maple adds a touch more brightness & low end than ash, which works well if you're shooting for the Harris tone.
I do play the occasional Maiden cover (at home) on mine, but mostly I play original metal with it in my band.
It sounds good with flats or rounds, and on rock, metal or Motown - in other words, its what you would expect from a good old P-bass.

Very interesting information. I like the sound of the ash bodies, and I'm suprised the maple bodies and necks don't make them really bright, but maybe the sig pickups calm the combination down a little. I'd like to put a set of emg geezers in an ash body, kind of curious if the midrange would be too much or just right. That would be a cool direction to go on my next p build.

Thanks for the info regarding the two different basses. Now I'm interested in trying one of the new ones to see what they sound like.

 

[Lowness]

Very interesting information. I like the sound of the ash bodies, and I'm suprised the maple bodies and necks don't make them really bright, but maybe the sig pickups calm the combination down a little. I'd like to put a set of emg geezers in an ash body, kind of curious if the midrange would be too much or just right. That would be a cool direction to go on my next p build.

Thanks for the info regarding the two different basses. Now I'm interested in trying one of the new ones to see what they sound like.

It has taken me a while to like mine, but I am there now. Amazing passive pbass tone.

I pretty much only play it for quiet gigs sitting down

 

[Malak the Mad]

I string mine with Cobalt flats - I prefer their lower tension vs. Rotosound flats, and they seem to retain their brightness longer.

We may have talked about this before, but just in case we didn't, you might want to try a set of D'Addario FlexSteels. Personally, I suspect they might've been D'A's answer to the EB Cobalts. They're similarly bright, maybe just slightly less-than, and have even lower tension.

True Story: I unintentionally put this to the test when I was restringing an MIJ Jazz that would've required me to remove the neck to adjust the truss rod (re: no truss rod route on the body). It originally had a set of Roto's, but they had a small, annoying side effect…black fingertips! So, I put on some .100 FlexSteels I had used before, but then the neck got all kinds of buzz-buzz-buzzy. Rather than going through all the fuss an' bother of removing the neck and hoping one adjustment got it right, I threw on a new set of EB Cobalt .100's and the buzz disappeared.

 

[Kikegg]

Sounds like the old blue ones will be the basses to have.

Supposedly Steve Harris' P-bass (his own real bass) body is maple, not alder, so the white is the one to get

 

[socialleper]

The Lake Placid Blue version is out of production, but I'm sure there are some out there.
The football club colored model is pretty similar. The new Harris pickups have some serious grunt. It is a pretty solid hunk of wood.

 

[superdick2112]

yeah, the original had a lake placid blue body, and wine red mirror pick guard and 1/4 pounders. I think it was Japanese made too, but can't be sure. Don't remember it being as heavy as the other two though.

They were Japanese-made - I had one as well.
They were much lighter (basswood body) than the current model, and the nut was a little more narrow.

 

[superdick2112]

The Lake Placid Blue version is out of production, but I'm sure there are some out there.
The football club colored model is pretty similar. The new Harris pickups have some serious grunt. It is a pretty solid hunk of wood.

Only used ones.
I searched high & low before settling on a white model.
The first version (the red mirror pickguard "Iron Maiden" model) was Lake Placid Blue, while the more recent second version (chrome pickguard "Steve Harris" model) was Royal Blue Sparkle.