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Fender Steve Harris Precision Bass

#61
Thunderitter said:
OK, take a $550 MIM bass; add a $60 p-up, a $100 bridge, $35 strings, $50 pickguard, $300 (minimum(?) custom paint) gives you $1095. SH sig at $1299 without all the hassle of buying, organizing assembling the parts (and not considering shipping) as a fan.....probably worth it!
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Woah, talk about wasting money!!!

If your going to buy a bass and completely strip it down, don't buy a fully loaded bass, and especially not new. Buy a used Squier or MIM, or you can just buy parts.

Here's how anyone planning on DIY should space out the cash:

Alder P-bass body (very good unfinished body from Allparts or Warmoth, or a stripped MIM/MIJ): $100-$200

Maple Precision neck, tinted & with gloss finish (Allparts or Ebay): $200-$300

Seymour Duncan SPB-1 (QP) & wiring/pots: $60

BadAss bridge: $100 (or lower if you find a good deal)

Vintage style long-stem tuners (eBay): $50

Mirror Pickguard: $50

Knurled Chrome Knobs: $5

Paint/finish (StewMac or a hardware store): $20-50

Vintage Fender Precision bass headstock decal: $10-$20 (optional)

Build time: Just a few days. The only thing that would have to be done is paint the body.

Estimated Total: $580-$800... and that's if you want a high quality, exact replica. Then you can use the rest of your money for something useful, like a good case.
 
#64
Played it at Sam Ash and milked it for an hour. Against other P's I paralleled it to it is a friggin' monster. Heavy, huge and insanely thick neck, and very easy to play. My whole hand was filled with the neck as I played it, not like those tiny new Fender Ps, Jazz, Spector and Ibanez basses. The strings are at a very high tension which facilitates attack and speed. There was no give. Those wimpy MIM P's will not stand a chance against the Signature Roto 110 flats installed on this bass... however I would install DR 100-40/45 High Beam round wounds if I ever got one and put in a Gotoh's copy or DiMarzio DP122. For a MIJ/CIJ Fender it is worth it. This is not a one trick pony bass and I never played any Fender bass like it in the past 10 years.
 
#65
To those of you that are saying a copy would be a better deal,
I've got a few questions for you.

Where will you find a quarter sawn, 70's profile, 7.25 radius, vintage tint neck?

How much will you have to pay to make sure the body you get is right around 5/6 pounds?

How much is your time worth?

As someone who is picky as hell about p basses, has built several basses from the ground up, and has played hundreds of p's.
I not only think this bass is a worth it, I think it's a good deal.

As well I'm not a iron maiden fan, just someone who sees details that apparently most don't.

~Samantha.
 
#66
buchananbass said:
To those of you that are saying a copy would be a better deal,
I've got a few questions for you.

Where will you find a quarter sawn, 70's profile, 7.25 radius, vintage tint neck?

How much will you have to pay to make sure the body you get is right around 5/6 pounds?

How much is your time worth?

As someone who is picky as hell about p basses, has built several basses from the ground up, and has played hundreds of p's.
I not only think this bass is a worth it, I think it's a good deal.

As well I'm not a iron maiden fan, just someone who sees details that apparently most don't.

~Samantha.
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With all do respect, most people aren't quite that picky. In fact a large amount of buyers just either want it for the looks, or they're Maiden fans. If that's the case, I feel the money could be spent better elsewhere. Also if one is so picky about the neck, they could do what people who like the Geddy Lee necks do, buy the bass and sell the loaded body for a huge wad of cash.

I believe you may be exaggerating a bit on the exact weight of the body. Not many will care if it's not exactly 5 or 6 pounds. In fact many might think that's a bit heavy, and it's more about how the wood in that particular body sounds, not just the weight, and since all P's aren't the same, I'm sure one could find a Precision body with that approximate weight somewhere.

My third point though, is that all with just a small amount of DIY work, one could easily build a satisfying copy of this particular bass. Did I say one had to, no, but it's a good alternative for those who don't want to spend over $1,200 for a freaking P-bass.
 
#67
MOTORHEADBANGER said:
With all do respect, most people aren't quite that picky. In fact a large amount of buyers just either want it for the looks, or they're Maiden fans. If that's the case, I feel the money could be spent better elsewhere. Also if one is so picky about the neck, they could do what people who like the Geddy Lee necks do, buy the bass and sell the loaded body for a huge wad of cash.

I believe you may be exaggerating a bit on the exact weight of the body. Not many will care if it's not exactly 5 or 6 pounds. In fact many might think that's a bit heavy, and it's more about how the wood in that particular body sounds, not just the weight, and since all P's aren't the same, I'm sure one could find a Precision body with that approximate weight somewhere.

My third point though, is that all with just a small amount of DIY work, one could easily build a satisfying copy of this particular bass. Did I say one had to, no, but it's a good alternative for those who don't want to spend over $1,200 for a freaking P-bass.
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To each their own I guess.
The details mean a lot to me, as well, something I hadn't mentioned in my earlier post, resale value is very important to me as well.

Apart from making a neck and body from scratch or buying another 70's p I couldn't get this bass or anything I would find comparable.
My time is worth a lot, a lot more then Fender's.
If I where to build such a bass for someone, I'd be charging quite a bit more the $1300.
 
#69
buchananbass said:
If I where to build such a bass for someone, I'd be charging quite a bit more the $1300.
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Well, I know who's not building me a bass anytime soon.:smug:

Actually, a Badass II can still be had for under $100. You just have to know where to look, or just scan eBay often. As the old saying goes "If you are patient enough, you can find anything on eBay."
 
#70
MOTORHEADBANGER said:
Well, I know who's not building me a bass anytime soon.:smug:

Actually, a Badass II can still be had for under $100. You just have to know where to look, or just scan eBay often. As the old saying goes "If you are patient enough, you can find anything on eBay."
Click to expand...

Good luck,
I would recomend buying as many as you can at that price, and selling them for $200 a pop.:p
 
#74
I finally bought one of these and got it from a fellow TB'er earlier this week. I've seen them in stores and instantly fell in love as soon as I got it in playing position. A lot of people either love it or dislike it because of the weight, thick neck and not to forget colour.

This bass really is built like a tank. I am sure you can dig a hole in your garden with it and it will still be in tune. My bass was shipped body and neck separately and I put it together without having to make any major adjustments at all. Only very minor intonation, and that issue might have been there before the shipping for all I know.
Hardware is good and solid, nice body and neck finishes, good frets and it just feels all over solid.
The special designed SD pickups sounds great from the deep to high end and lots of mids. The bass is very versatile and it'll be great for any genre.

I prefer a heavy bass with thick neck. This one is exactly what I want.

My cons are: High sale price, no hard case included (a bass at this high sale price and quality deserves an equally high quality hard case), plus I want my tuners and neck plate with Fender logo. These ones are blank, which I find is a bit odd. It also hums a bit so I want to copper shield it.
 
#77
Just got my Fender Steve Harris Bass today and it is AMAZING!!! Samanthacay had the best reply in this thread and she is so right!!! Yes you can make a cheap copy of this bass and if all your into is the look then go right ahead but this Bass is way beyond just looks!!! If your only into it for the looks and your a maiden fan then you should probally save your $$ and make a clone. I'm not even an Iron Maiden fan and I bought this Bass after seeing the review on youtube "Basswhisperer'...I mean I like some Iron Maiden but I'm no diehard...I Love "WrathChild" and appreciate Steve's playing...He's freaking AMAZING!!! I Bought this Bass for the craftmanship behind it and the sweet P Bass Thump and woody tone. The first thing I look for in a Bass is the comfort of the neck...thats most important to me! Then tone...you can easily change pickups if you hate the tone of them but neck feel is #1 for me! I happen to own a '75 P Bass (my birth year) and this Bass neck feels the same as my '75....Nice and chunky...not quite a C profile....not exactly a V and not a U but a hybrid and thats whats so cool about mid '70s P bass necks. I happen to LOVE V Profile necks and '50s style P basses the most but I also love the '70s and I know a lot of people say the '70s era Fenders sucked but I Love them!!! They got unique neck shapes and have that nice chunk that feels just right in your hand (at least to me). I Love '57 P Basses most (they are the ABSOLUTE HOLY GRAIL as far as I'm concerned) but after that I love mid '70s and early '80s Vintage Series Reissues....AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Believe me I understand the do-it-yourselfers out there that rather make their own clone....I'm broke as a joke myself and have to scrape to get by and when I started playing my first Bass my parents bought me was a 1992 Mexican Made fender P (that I still own and Love)...will never sell that. I'm proud of it! Nothing wrong with Mexican made!!!! I LOve my Road Worn and Fender Classic '50s in fiesta red!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hell, The pre-CBS Fender guitars and basses were mostly made by Mexican/Americans and they are the greatest instruments EVER in my oppinion!!!!!!! So I'm not at all knocking Fender Mexican Made!...They are AWESOME!!! All I'm saying is this Steve Harris Bass has a feel to it that does not feel like the typical CNC machine made quality of nowadays even if it may be. I happen to own a '83 Fender 'Fullerton' '57 Reissue P Bass (The original Reissues that were handmade like the Pre-CBS ones) and this Steve Harris has the same DEEP body contours as my 'Fullerton'....I compared it to my 'fullerton' and my road worn and original '92 mexican-made bass and the Steve Harris has the same very deep body contours as the 'fullerton'...and the neck is nothing like what is beig made and sold nowadays so what i'm getting at is you are paying extra for a unique work of art...not some "cookie cutter" bass that everyone has!!! This Bass may not be for everyone but it is definately NOT just for 'Maiden Heads'!!! I respect Maiden and Steve Harris and even like some of their music but I'm not even a Metal head! My favorite styles of music are Punk/Rockabilly/Psychobilly...Ramones, Bouncing Souls, Rancid, Social D, Stray Cats to name a few but I'm eclectic...also love me some metal when in the modd...Love ska, reggaue, jazz, blues, motown, old R&B, '70s Funk and much more and this Bass is versatile and delivers for that old-school P Bass Thump!!!!!!!!! I Love it!!!!!!!! Trust me...I'm all about leveling the playing field and making a clone cheap but in my oppinion it would not be the same as this...to get this tone and feel would cost close to the price of this bass so it would be pointless in my oppinion. I aggree with the ones who say it should have a hardshell case! I think any Fender Bass over $1,000 should automatically come with one. Anyway I had to repsond after reading Samantha's reply because I totally agree with her! Most people or I should say a lot of people esp young/new bass players dont care about the subleties like neck profile and body contours but to me they matter and make all the difference in a Bass....with that said this Bass is a heavy chunk of wood but weight was never an issue to me....most '70s P Basses are heavy ash boards so I'm ok with it as long as the neck feels right and the tone is killer and this Steve Harris Bass has both of them. I actually never even weighed a Bass or ever even asked a seller what a Bass weighed...for some reason that was never an issue for me but I am 6'2" and 200lbs lol. IDK...I can care less about the weight...to me WOOD IS GOOD!!!!!! Hope this helps the original dude that had the question but I think I may be a year or two late haha. Peace!!!:bassist:
 
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#80
I have to say, I saw the Steve Harris signature at the NAMM show and the Royal Blue Metallic is stunning! Very cool color, if you like blue. I also saw the Mystic Blue models that everybody was ranting and raving about and those are equally stunning, if you like blue. YMMV
 

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