Here's me at the Cat's Eye Pub in Fells Point (Baltimore, MD) playing with the Pete Kanaras Band using my numero uno workhorse P ...
It's a bone stock * (rare for me) 2013 Fender American Standard Precision. It was a floor model from some store that was closing it out very cheaply on eBay. Alder body in that super cool Jade Pearl Metallic finish with a mint green pickguard, Fender Custom Shop '62 pickup and maple/rosewood neck. I have it strung with a killer set of 105 - 45 Sadowsky flats. 8.5 lbs, plays like a dream and has that quintessential P-Bass thud that works so well with the Blues, Soul and R&B that I find myself playing most of the time.
Here's me at the Columbia Pike Blues Festival (Arlington, VA) with the Chris Polk Band with my Franken50thAnniversary P which has also seen a whole lotta action over the years ...
This one's a Fender 50th Anniversary Precision that I purchased offa eBay for $500 in its all original form back in 2001 with a special "petite" contour vintage tint maple/maple P width neck, ash body with see through butterscotch finish and black anodized aluminum pickguard. The original neck is probably the best playing neck I own, but didn't fit very well in the neck pocket of the 50th Anniversary body it came with and was also too bright sounding for most of the gigs I play. I eventually paired it up with a very bassy sounding Warmoth mahogany P-Bass body that ended up being a match made in heaven from both a playing and sound perspective (and would probably be my #1 if it wasn't such a lunker @ 10 lbs). Anyway, I found a "to die for" American Standard maple/rosewood P width neck from a 1999 Hot Rod Precision that is a great player, fit in the 50th Anniversary P's neck pocket like a glove and has been stable as a rock for me. I also replaced the original pickup with a Fender Custom Shop '59 Precision pickup, strung it with a nice set of 105 - 45 Sadowsky flats and routed the black anodized aluminum pickguard for easy truss rod access. * A little on the heavy side @ 9.5 lbs, but just a killer bass that has served me well. NOTE for all you Ampeg fans ... pictured behind me is a brand spankin' new all tube monster SVT head w/matching 8x10 refrigerator cab. The backline company for the festival had just pulled it out of its shipping crate that day. We were the second band up so I got to be the second bassist to play through it. Glorious ... just glorious.
* Except the OCD demons I have to grapple with on a daily basis compelled me to install a "tug bar" on both basses even though I've never used one in my life. ;^)
