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P-Bass: older vs newer.
- Thread starter Swamp_Ronin
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- 80’s fender precision
I'd do a hard evaluation on the thing. If the neck is straight, and doesn't have pronounced dead spots, I'd be inclined to hold on to the thing. If it's a twisted mess with a huge dead spot, I'd flip it and look for something that was a better instrument. If the neck is good (and the truss rod still works) an older instrument has one significant advantage over a new one - you know what it's going to be like when the wood settles.
I see no reason why a new Fender MIM bass wouldn't be as good or better than and older bass. The years of Fender pushing out complete crap are over. There is a bottom value on any playable bass. Is there added value for age? maybe, but then you need to worry about all the other luggage that comes with that appraisal.
my 2 cents...
Keep it. If that bass is your jam, no need to buy another if it works properly and gets a workable tone. If you're not happy with how it sounds, there's so many P bass pick-up options out there!
If you really need a new Fender, you also have options. The player and pro series are both solid. They're not game-changers, but will make soild players, and again, with Fender alone you have 4-5 pick-up options. While I really like how the Ultra series sounds on a few recordings I've heard, I haven't played one myself. I'm personally interested in the new Boxer series. The passive PJ tone is enticing. That bass also looks like a modern version of what you currently have.
Keep it. If that bass is your jam, no need to buy another if it works properly and gets a workable tone. If you're not happy with how it sounds, there's so many P bass pick-up options out there!
If you really need a new Fender, you also have options. The player and pro series are both solid. They're not game-changers, but will make soild players, and again, with Fender alone you have 4-5 pick-up options. While I really like how the Ultra series sounds on a few recordings I've heard, I haven't played one myself. I'm personally interested in the new Boxer series. The passive PJ tone is enticing. That bass also looks like a modern version of what you currently have.
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It will become more valuable. Just like the '70s Fenders that everyone dissed. All you have to do is wait.
But that doesn't mean you shouldn't sell it if it's not serving you.
If you have an emotional attachment to it, hold on to it, but if not, I'd say, play a few new basses and see if they speak to you.
But that doesn't mean you shouldn't sell it if it's not serving you.
If you have an emotional attachment to it, hold on to it, but if not, I'd say, play a few new basses and see if they speak to you.
Agreed, as long as you’re comfortable with a 5 piece body that has gears, bridges, and hardware that’s ( I believe) cast in Mexico.
Well, I have a pretty long perspective. For many years (like 50- from age 13 until 2 years ago) I played the same P bass - a 59 maple neck. I loved it and it had huge sentimental value but I sold it because 1) I wanted to buy a nice double bass and 2) I wasn't playing much electric bass and wanted to get the 59 into a player's hands before I got old and decrepit. Replaced it with a Fender Players P that I modified with better pickups (Geezers) and a nicer neck (Warmoth slim profile, closer to the 59). It feels and sounds every bit as good as the 59. Lesson learned -electric basses, unlike hand-carved instruments like a double bass or a violin, are just hunks of wood. They might look cooler as they get older, but the sound really isn't different than a newer bass of good quality.
As said before, play the potential new one before you make a switch.
Honestly, what "improvements" have been made on the precision? It's still a split coil, volume, tone, and chunky neck with a massive Pickguard. Plus the old one is 40 years closer to vintage. If cool colors are the goal, there are plenty of cheap precision basses that will provide that. Just my thought.
Honestly, what "improvements" have been made on the precision? It's still a split coil, volume, tone, and chunky neck with a massive Pickguard. Plus the old one is 40 years closer to vintage. If cool colors are the goal, there are plenty of cheap precision basses that will provide that. Just my thought.
There are winners and losers from all eras of Fender. Play as many as you can and then what fits your budget, collecting old fenders are for people with mucho dispoable fun money.
I wouldn't sell it, keep it and buy a new one but as one who has sold basses in the past you may end up regretting the sale and missing the bass and it is 40 years old, will maybe never be worth what a pre-CBS bass is worth but will probably a least hold its value. Nothing worse than selling a bass and in a few years and more thinking ah, I should have kept that bass.
I'm sure there were people who thought shell pink and daphne blue were goofy at the time too.
Some of us still do.
In early January, I think like the 5th, so the vast majority of 1965 Fenders are CBS Fenders too.
I have a 74 P and an 09 American Std.
The 09 is just amazing. The build quality is much higher and it feels that way the instant you pick it up. It sounds a lot more hi-fi and deep.
By comparison, the 74 seems throw together with cheaper parts and less attention to detail. Like the way the body is obviously made of multiple pieces put together without regard for how the grain lines up, or the big gaps in the neck pocket and need for shims. The parts seem cheaper. The pickup is way more mid forward, giving it a tone towards the AM radio sound of the spectrum by comparison.
But where the rubber meets the road is in the mix. The 74 wins by a mile!!
The 09 is just amazing. The build quality is much higher and it feels that way the instant you pick it up. It sounds a lot more hi-fi and deep.
By comparison, the 74 seems throw together with cheaper parts and less attention to detail. Like the way the body is obviously made of multiple pieces put together without regard for how the grain lines up, or the big gaps in the neck pocket and need for shims. The parts seem cheaper. The pickup is way more mid forward, giving it a tone towards the AM radio sound of the spectrum by comparison.
But where the rubber meets the road is in the mix. The 74 wins by a mile!!
How much was it new? It’s already pretty collectible. You can get easily 3-5x what you paid for it
I’m currently in the situation OP is in so I bought a Fender player and now I own a 95’ and a Player. Can’t go wrong with two Ps!!
That's very true. When I was coming up in the late 70's, I was led to believe that the newer Fenders made then were little more than junk with strings. Now, I see the prices they are going for these days, and I can't help but laugh when I remember that. BTW, I used to own a late 70's fender P for a short time in the early 90's, and it wasn't a bad bass at all as I remember.
No it was 1985 (responding to a post in which it was claimed CBS had sold Fender to the employees by 1981).
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