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Happy Birthday to Me!!
- Thread starter monkeyfinger
- Start date
I wanted to follow up on my experience with the Fender American Deluxe Fender V HH. I returned the bass to Musician's Friend. The truss rod was defective. They sent me a new bass. This bass is much better than the first. I noticed the neck felt very different. But knowing that necks can very quite a bit from sample to sample, I just assumed it was a final sanding issue. I just learned that is not the case. The first bass had a width at the nut of 1.8125". I am sure Fender listed that as the spec and it sure felt like it. Fender now lists the nut width at 1.75". Sure enough, I measured the replacement and it has the narrower neck. Plus the new neck is not nearly as deep. So if you are shopping for this bass, be sure to check the neck width.
My impressions so far:
The bass sounds amazing. It has great punch, clarity and definition. The electronics offer a great selection of very useable sounds. It's got plenty of modern rock and roll guts, but has a far less baked-in sound than a music man. I think this is a good thing. It responds well to different strings. (I've tried 3 or 4 sets already.) So dialing in a tone I like is pretty easy.
The neck is awesome. It is comfortable and fast. The fret work is fabulous. The board on the new bass is a very pretty rosewood with nice variation.
The electronics can be noisy when I am not touching the strings. It was not like that originally, but seems to have developed in the last few days. The first bass was worse. This may be fixable.
The truss rod adjustment of the american series is very good. However, if the HH version was available in the Mexi series, and the only difference was this feature, I would be perfectly happy with the Mexi bass.
The B and G string saddles have bottomed out. The setup is very good, but I think it could be better if there was more room for adjustment. Overall, I feel the bridge is not that great. I may replace it.
The last issue, and this one is a big one for me, the bass is neck heavy. The new one is not as bad as the first, but it is still there. I know Fender basses have a reputation for that. And I will agree that Precisions have some of that. I have two American Standard Precision V's. They are a little neck heavy. My recently acquired Fender Roscoe beck V is superbly balanced, so I am keenly aware of the difference. The Dimension is uncomfortably neck heavy, even with a 4" wide Moody strap. I am shocked that Fender would make such a terrible blunder with this bass. It seems like such an easy issue to resolve. I love the shape of the body, but wouldn't it be possible to extend the upper horn just a little more? I am considering moving the strap pin at the bridge up about and inch or so. I think this will change the center of gravity enough to make it balance well.
If you have read this far, I am sure you are asking yourself why would someone keep a pricey bass with these issues? The answer is because I love the sound and playability! It does sound that good. But I may still change my mind and just send it back.
My impressions so far:
The bass sounds amazing. It has great punch, clarity and definition. The electronics offer a great selection of very useable sounds. It's got plenty of modern rock and roll guts, but has a far less baked-in sound than a music man. I think this is a good thing. It responds well to different strings. (I've tried 3 or 4 sets already.) So dialing in a tone I like is pretty easy.
The neck is awesome. It is comfortable and fast. The fret work is fabulous. The board on the new bass is a very pretty rosewood with nice variation.
The electronics can be noisy when I am not touching the strings. It was not like that originally, but seems to have developed in the last few days. The first bass was worse. This may be fixable.
The truss rod adjustment of the american series is very good. However, if the HH version was available in the Mexi series, and the only difference was this feature, I would be perfectly happy with the Mexi bass.
The B and G string saddles have bottomed out. The setup is very good, but I think it could be better if there was more room for adjustment. Overall, I feel the bridge is not that great. I may replace it.
The last issue, and this one is a big one for me, the bass is neck heavy. The new one is not as bad as the first, but it is still there. I know Fender basses have a reputation for that. And I will agree that Precisions have some of that. I have two American Standard Precision V's. They are a little neck heavy. My recently acquired Fender Roscoe beck V is superbly balanced, so I am keenly aware of the difference. The Dimension is uncomfortably neck heavy, even with a 4" wide Moody strap. I am shocked that Fender would make such a terrible blunder with this bass. It seems like such an easy issue to resolve. I love the shape of the body, but wouldn't it be possible to extend the upper horn just a little more? I am considering moving the strap pin at the bridge up about and inch or so. I think this will change the center of gravity enough to make it balance well.
If you have read this far, I am sure you are asking yourself why would someone keep a pricey bass with these issues? The answer is because I love the sound and playability! It does sound that good. But I may still change my mind and just send it back.
Happy Bithday! I'm not much of a Fender guy, but that is truely cool - the trans red over a nice wood grain is gorgeous, and with buckers even!
I bet it does sound good.
I bet it does sound good.
