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fender USA nitro p bass
- Thread starter kenbert
- Start date
So, you're saying you scraped off the Greasebucket and replaced it with the conventional circuit?
Otherwise, any .047mFd cap is the same as any other .047mFd cap in this application, irrespective of composition or brand.
The bass I bought did NOT come with the Greasebucket circuit, as I said. Changing the stock cap to Sprague opened up high end of the Lollar pickup. The Sprague is the same value as the previous cap, and I'll swear there is a big difference in the sound. My two cents.
Good to know! I had a GAS attack for this bass the other night before I even received my flyer and then immediately felt a slight panic when I couldn't find it on MF or Sweetwater. Hopefully someone here will sell me one or I will get that tax return while GC still stocks them.
Edit: In b4 cap wars
First, I want to make it clear I'm not picking on you personally.
But...this is simply not true. Changing that tone cap to a different one of the same measured value had exactly the same effect on your tone as carrying a rabbit's foot. No more, no less.
Go here. See if you can get anyone to believe you. I don't, as it violates known physics and engineering, and has never, as in NEVER been duplicated in innumerable controlled tests.
Yet people continue to believe this, after decades of it being conclusively disproved.
I've been working on gear for over forty years and can give you a bunch of these musician fantasies about magical properties of stuff (indeed, they make up a large minority of TB posts), but few are as easily debunked by simple experimentation, even in the absence of the relevant academic background, as these assertions of magic-tone caps.
Yet two days don't pass here before someone doesn't post about "upgrading" his caps. Capacitor composition makes an audible, measurable difference (though usually a small one) in high-voltage active audio circuits, and that's where this superstition has its roots. If I'm working on an amp in a circuit maybe running over 400VDC, I'll use Orange Drops or other fairly high-quality plastic capacitor if only so I don't have to do the repair twice. But it makes absolutely no (0) difference in a passive mVAC bleeder circuit. It can't, and testing very quickly confirms this...and always confirms this. Every time.
This is why FMIC uses the cheapest ceramic disc capacitor they can source, even on >$2000 instruments -- because it simply doesn't matter. They use an old-fashioned .050 ceramic disc for mojo, just because cheapskate Leo did.
I'm not saying that changes in sound (however exaggerated in the imagination) don't happen when people screw around with their instruments, but the source of the change is usually misattributed. Simply taking strings off and putting them back on can change how an instrument sounds, at least temporarily, and people don't usually do just one thing when they work on an instrument, nor do they usually know the various possible effects of the work they perform. Maybe your bass really did sound better after whatever work you performed on it, but it had nothing to do with that capacitor, because it couldn't have.
But above all, the power of suggestion reigns supreme.
I've never taken these various wild gear forum claims that seriously because they lack apparent objectivity and seem improbable.
Some time ago, I started doing very tightly controlled A/B direct digital recordings before and after doing very careful work or modifications on my own instruments. The results were surprising even to me. Even when I knew there were going to be changes, the actual audible differences monitored in the studio playback environment were virtually always much less apparent when switching back and forth between the tracks than I expected -- and I didn't expect that much.
The inescapable conclusion I came to was that most "upgrade" modding was not worth the time, effort and expense -- even when it had some basis in fact and wasn't totally delusional. It's a poor investment.
With the increasing affordability of digital recording front ends, I recommend this course to all -- even if it leads you to less expensive "magic" in your life.
[not related to the capacitor discussion but] I bought one of these at GC this morning. Hoped to get there on my birthday last week but weather ruined that notion.
Dragged my family there, walked in, found it, looked at the finish and was disappointed.
The particular bass I was playing was a split body (two halves vs. center and wings) and stain appeared hurriedly applied. The line where the wood was jointed seemed as if it had glue what wasn't taken off before stain. Other places across the body seemed poorly conditioned before the stain was applied. It sounded good enough, was light weight, etc. The guy said it was "all american hardware" (I think I read something that contradicts that).
Was on my way out and the guy says "oh wait, here is another one but it's dropped"; didn't know what he meant, wouldn't you know, somebody bought and returned it so it was being sold as used, 3 piece body, just a few marks here and there but much nicer.
The neck is nice also, I dig the non-one piece maple (no skunk stripe); it's similar to the neck on my Att III except not as big.
Plugged into my Mesa Walkabout (15" Scout cabinet) it sounds great, from muted thump to plenty of high end. I think my '75 Jazz Reissue might be on the chopping block soon as I think I'll be playing this a lot.
If you are truly interested in picking one up, scout out a few Guitar Center's in your area and see how it suits you. I'm a bit particular when it comes to the finish, you might not be but if they have two to chose from, the sooner you get there the better. Two guys that were watching me said they read this thread.
There must be a lengthy debate here around split vs. 3 piece bodies. I like the fact that this has a 3 piece; make sense that the piece from where neck attaches to pickups through bridge be a solid piece of wood but what do I know.
Dragged my family there, walked in, found it, looked at the finish and was disappointed.
The particular bass I was playing was a split body (two halves vs. center and wings) and stain appeared hurriedly applied. The line where the wood was jointed seemed as if it had glue what wasn't taken off before stain. Other places across the body seemed poorly conditioned before the stain was applied. It sounded good enough, was light weight, etc. The guy said it was "all american hardware" (I think I read something that contradicts that).
Was on my way out and the guy says "oh wait, here is another one but it's dropped"; didn't know what he meant, wouldn't you know, somebody bought and returned it so it was being sold as used, 3 piece body, just a few marks here and there but much nicer.
The neck is nice also, I dig the non-one piece maple (no skunk stripe); it's similar to the neck on my Att III except not as big.
Plugged into my Mesa Walkabout (15" Scout cabinet) it sounds great, from muted thump to plenty of high end. I think my '75 Jazz Reissue might be on the chopping block soon as I think I'll be playing this a lot.
If you are truly interested in picking one up, scout out a few Guitar Center's in your area and see how it suits you. I'm a bit particular when it comes to the finish, you might not be but if they have two to chose from, the sooner you get there the better. Two guys that were watching me said they read this thread.
There must be a lengthy debate here around split vs. 3 piece bodies. I like the fact that this has a 3 piece; make sense that the piece from where neck attaches to pickups through bridge be a solid piece of wood but what do I know.
Mine had a split body, I really don't see how a 3 pc wing style body would make any difference. Even on neck thrus' I can't tell a difference besides feel.
Just looked at mine and it is a two piece, right down the middle. Had to take it out into the sun to see the joint. I'm 100% happy with the finish and how it was applied. Sorry to hear you ran into a rough one, but happy to hear another one turned up. Enjoy.
That's a nice finish that always catches my eye when I see one. I'm really not a P Bass fan, but that finish beats all or most of the high gloss finishes except black and candy tangerine. I wish they had a natural finish like that. I'm a 5'er anyway.
American Nitro Satin? Isn't that just a Highway One? That price is also ridiculous, given that the MIM Classic 50's Nitro Lacquer is about $900
