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Looking for that Fender P bass - help wanted

kas_lar

kas_lar

Jan 12, 2005
120
0
Denmark
#1
Hi everybody here at TB. It's been quite awhile since I've been here, I'm just back for the time being.

3 weeks ago I received my first P bass and OMFG - It's great. I've been a Jazz kinda guy all my life (24 years old, played for 11 years) and just recently used the Stingray 5 to. Nice bass, but not great for styles in my opinion.
So this P bass from 76 is the ****, it's loud and gritty. It fill the room and the mix everywhere. There just one problem - It needs that low B :help:

I've seen 5 string Precision basses on the net, but I haven't seen them with maple neck and passive pickups like my sweet darling.

Do anyone here know if it's possible to get a 5 string version of the sweet old beat up P-bass?
Thanks!
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#4
Warmoth has a P version of their "deluxe5" but it is unclear if there is a rear route version, and the pickguard they offer is pretty weird looking. And they don't have a 5 string P pickup on their list of routs (and for that matter, I'm entirely sure that you can get vintage style 5 string p pickup from anybody off the shelf, I looked around a bit and duncan, riogrande, fralin, nordstrand, and delano only seem to do 4 string P pickups). I would imagine nordstrand or delano probably would make you a pickup for the right price.
 
#5
My friend's dad has a '57 or '59 P. I can't remember which. He bought it here in Louisville original and has been the original owner for half a century.

I got to play it a few years back. It's a bit beat up but all of the original equipment is there, including the case and the tag that was on it at the store.

There is no way you can buy that sound today. I know there are a ton of theories out there as to what makes a vintage instrument sound that way, but the fact is you've got wood that was grown 50 years ago, cut in a factory that probably doesn't exist anymore by craftsmen who only partially communicated the secrets of their art to their successors, and wired to standards we wouldn't tolerate today. It's different, almost irreproducibly so. So unless someone was making 5-string Fender basses in the 1970's you won't be able to get exactly what you're after.

I mean, it might be close but you'd have to pay a premium for a custom shop to build it for you.
 
#10
Thanks for the quick answers. I know that I can't buy a vintage 5 string P bass, but maybe some of you heard about a product like the Nash 5 P (thanks I'll check it out the next couple of hours on the net:-)) or maybe just a plain old American Deluxe Presicion 5 string from fender. As far as I know, they haven't made them with Maple fretboard and passive electronics... buuuuhuuu... Wait, and thou shall have soundclips...
 
#11
I've seen an older fender P (70's era) modified to a five string. If you are in love with the old P-basses, I'm guessing that would probably be the best way to get a five string version. The neck is probably big enough as long as you don't mind a little string crowding. As far as pickups go, though, you would probably have to go with some high end custom pickup to allow for the fifth string...

That said, If I was lucky enough to get my hands on an old P-bass (I currently play a new standard P) I would probably not be messing with it...
 
#13
I would tend to disagree - it doesn't need a low B. That's what people played in 1976. Maybe you could restring it so BEAD - that way you would have a low B.

There are plenty of 5 string basses out there in the world, including versions of the P bass. If you are looking for a 5 string P bass in the mid 70's, then you are looking in the wrong place....
 

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