NBD - Incoming - FENDER PLAYER II PRECISION

[ClassicJazz]

Could I ask a question about that 5-string Rick looking bass in the back? Is that a custom? Who built it? I'm looking to get a Rick custom bass from someone. Thanks!

Oh that piece of crap! It’s a cheap Chinese knockoff. I ordered another bass and they shipped me the wrong bass. So got a full refund. So got a free bass! It’s just good for wall art. Has a bad back bow and a useless truss rod. So stays on the wall.

 

[P. Aaron]

Nice Bass similar looking to one of my favorites Bruce Thomas used with Elvis Costello

Thomas' bass lines made moving from guitar to bass an enjoyable transition. So many great lines that are easily recycled into much of pop & rock music.

 

[Pocket Dave]

UPDATE - new Player II passed the sniff test & is incredibly light weight. Will install the Lollar split P and a set of D'Addario 50-105 nickels this afternoon. Also have a dark brown tort pickguard to try on for that Pino look. Hopefully will be a relaxed afternoon tinkering on the new bass. I can use the peace and quiet after organizing and hosting an all-day, 10-band (played with 3) event yesterday.

 

[SharpCat]

50s! There's your problem right there! JK!

Tort should look mighty nice.

 

[SJan3]

Expected to deliver today while I play house rhythm section on an all-day, multi-band annual event - will have to wait until the wee hours tomorrow to unbox.

I sold my Player I P earlier this week with the hopes of finding something significantly lighter-weight - I'm an old dude with a permanently separated shoulder. My J bass is a nice 8 lbs, 5 ozs, and I've worn it comfortably for similar events as today.

I was about to pull the trigger on a nice sunburst 8 lbs, 6 ozs used P on Reverb, but when shipping from CA was included, the price was within $20 of a brand new Player II at Sweetwater, which doesn't charge shipping. I watched a couple days and found one that weighed 8 lbs, 5 ozs. When I called to place the order, my rep told me the weight was a typo - It's actually 8 lbs, 3 ozs.

Incoming - Trigger Warning - It's not a quiet color:

View attachment 7368911

I love that look, Dave. Enjoy!

 

[Pocket Dave]

Replaced pickup with Lollar, replaced PG with tort, new strings, did a setup, dialed in the pickup height.

Feels good, sounds lively. Will take it to a gig Tuesday and see how it performs out in the world.

 

[thefaceofbass]

A P and a J. The P is 2018, the J is new last month. I love them both, stock pickups sound great! Both bodies are on the lighter side which I also prefer.

 

[Jaco Taco]

Oh that piece of crap! It’s a cheap Chinese knockoff. I ordered another bass and they shipped me the wrong bass. So got a full refund. So got a free bass! It’s just good for wall art. Has a bad back bow and a useless truss rod. So stays on the wall.

Bummer! Well, it looks cool!

 

[Pocket Dave]

I guess that congrats are in order at this point. So, what do your think?

So far, so good - incredibly lightweight & no neck-dive.

I did some planned changes yesterday - put on fatter strings, reset the truss and set intonation, lowered action a bit, replaced pickup with a Lollar I took out of another P before selling. It plays like a dream - super comfortable neck with no fret buzz or fret sprout.

The real test will be putting it through its paces in a live band mix on a gig tomorrow night - stay tuned.

 

[LAPetrarca]

Got mine about three months ago. Absolutely love it!......

 

[MadJack]

Ordered a restock today. I've tried them in my local GC, but they didn't have one in the color I liked or was a victim of Guitar Wreckers.

The restock I ordered has issues I should be able to fix with little effort.



I'll look into why the pickguard is lifting. I have a few others to compare it to.

 

[Micha84]

I absolutely love the Player II Series, everything you need and nothing you don't.

That perfectly incapsulates why I love the series! I have one of the "old" Player Ps and it is just that: alder body, maple neck, alnico 5 split coil. Nothing stands out, but everything comes together very nicely to make a classic P bass for a very reasonable price. I'm a big fan!

 

[Pocket Dave]

OP here - I've had 4 gigs with it now and I'm a happy camper. On the first one, I found my pickup and string height settings to be pretty wonky - settings that worked at home didn't really pan out with a live band (big shocker, IKR).

After some tweaks it was on to the second gig. Still needed to dial in the amp EQ for this particular bass. By the 3rd gig, it seemed mostly right,

Here's the 3rd gig - Player II P with Lollar Split P (standard wind version) straight into a Tone Hammer 500 with two 210 vertically stacked cabs - backline volume only:



4th gig, jam host opening set opener, same rig, only with the TH-500 driving a single 210:

 

[SharpCat]

That red color is popping so nicely in the stage lights.

 

[MadJack]

Sounds great.

As SharpCat said, that red really pops under the stage lights.

I'm not sure what, if any mods I might make. I will play it and see how it sounds before I make any changes.