I've kinda been on this sitE as more of a reader than a poster but I came across this thread and wanted to share my impression of this new Tele Bass.
Two words to sum it up? Love it!
Seriously, I cannot believe how much I love this thing. Again, I don't post much here, but to give a little background into my tastes, I am a 20+ Veteran player who up until now played exclusively Fretless basses for their low action, the tone and my playing style ( I prefer to "shift" to different notes rather than "skip" to them if that makes any sense...). Over the course of time I have had a few, but not really a ton of different basses, and most of the ones I bought are still in my arsenal. I also have an affinity for Carvin Basses, of which I still own all (3), a 95' BB75F, a 98' AC40F and a 2012 SB5000F.
I have also been thru a couple of other fretless models, but I have also owned a pair of Stingrays, a couple of MIM and MIA J-basses an old Squier P-bass, a Peavey Foundation and some other oddities. So I have had Fretted basses in the lineup before.
Still, it's been probably 3 years since I sold (actually traded) my last Fretted bass, my final Stingray so I have been without frets for quite some time. Then recently, I have listening to some vintage Geddy, Squire, Geezer and Guy Pratt and it got me itching to get another fretted bass. So low and behold, the ZZounds site had a "blemished" Tele Bass Special for sale and I jumped on it.
TO be honest, I really wasn't expecting much. I actually wanted to grab another Fender J bass and be done with it because I liked them a lot when I had them. Would have loved to buy a Lull (one of my dream basses) or a DJ4 but they were well outside of my price range. I also wasn't sure how comfortable or enjoyable it would be going back to frets so I didn't want to cough up a grand or 2 to get one. I also thought about getting a straight up P-bass because I wanted a something different in my arsenal (Already have a J-bass with the Carvin SB). But this Tele really was intriguing. I have always loved the look of the 51 P, but never a fan of it's limited tonal range. The Tele has the aura of the 51' but with the pickup selector combined with the the Humbie at the neck and Duncan at the bridge, this thing had some real potential to be cool and definitely a useful addition.
The Bass? Incredible. The sounds are phat, the tone is kinda grindy, it's got grit, bite, all those things that I have been missing. Right to the point, the thing just cuts. Got a nice tight bottom as well, not as much sustain as I get from my Carvins, but it's tight. I haven't played it in a band setting yet, but just jamming over a some RUSH on the speakers in my studio it cut right thru the mix. I actually think came close to capturing some of the tone you get from Justin Chancellor of TOOL. And while I have fingers that are more on the short side, the neck feels just right. It's not a slick J neck, but it is plenty quick. My only mod that I will need to do is add a thumbrest and definitely Straplocks. Oh, and it never went out of tune, even after about 2 hours of playing. There is a smidge of fret buzz at the 1st and second frets, so I plan on making some adjustments, but otherwise, the thing showed up flawless. I couldn't find a single thing that I would call "Blemished" on it. I haven't put it on a scale, but I would put the weight at around 9, maybe even 10 lbs. It's hefty, but I found it to be pretty balanced when it was propped up on my knee.
Anyways, just thought I would share. Unfortunately, I haven't seen a ton of reviews on these, but I highly, highly recommend it if you are looking for a P-bass type instrument. The quality of this Squier is excellent, I would seriously pay twice, maybe even 3 times as much as a paid for this one.
Anyways, thanks for reading. Cheers!
