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P-Bass Showdown

#41
An analogy ......... Mercedes Benz , Audi, and BMW are all German luxury cars but all have different purposes and appeal to different drivers. All are high quality but provide different driving experiences. Each will last a long time and serve its purpose, but which one is the right product for you ?

The only reason to spend high dollars for a bass is to get one that is personally right for you ---- hand size, tones, weight, color, intangible factors. Only the bassist can decide this for himself .

When spending so much for a bass , the cost of a plane ticket and a demo weekend in Seattle is cheap insurance for making the right purchase. Better yet, spend a week enjoying the area and make it your vacation for the year.

As an aside, it took me a long time to realize I play best and am most inspired when using a mass manufactured bass which cost surprisingly little . For some reason I connect with it and play most emotionally when using it. If it had a 3000 dollar price tag I would pay it because it's the right one for me.

The inspiration of the player is more important than the equipment.

While in Seattle you might come across a much less expensive bass which is perfect for you .
 
#42
jkudding said:
Would the '08 Standard P truly compete with the others on that list?
Click to expand...

I would say so. I was looking for a nice 70's P bass and I found the prices kept going up. I checked out the 2008 Fender P's and bought one. I'm very happy with my P bass. It sounds great and it's fairly light weight (I haven't weighed it but it's less than my other basses) and after a couple hour gig I don't have a back ache. Check them out.
 
#43
jkudding said:
Would the '08 Standard P truly compete with the others on that list?
Click to expand...

When demoing basses, I try to remember that a 1962 P-bass or stack-knob Jazz was an off-the-shelf, mass-produced instrument once upon a time.

And I've owned many basses -- almost all Fenders -- and I believe that the '08 MIA Fender basses are something special.

The nice thing is that you have the opportunity to try a selection till you find the right one. Believe me, one WILL jump out. And it'll be an instrument that you'll love to play, and IMO perhaps a future classic, too.
 
#44
Lowbrow said:
When demoing basses, I try to remember that a 1962 P-bass or stack-knob Jazz was an off-the-shelf, mass-produced instrument once upon a time.

And I've owned many basses -- almost all Fenders -- and I believe that the '08 MIA Fender basses are something special.

The nice thing is that you have the opportunity to try a selection till you find the right one. Believe me, one WILL jump out. And it'll be an instrument that you'll love to play, and IMO perhaps a future classic, too.
Click to expand...

me thinks you're right...
 
#45
funkifiedsoul said:
but i tried a Sadowski P/J while I was there, from Japan and yes, it was very nice and I am a p/j guy but honestly it didn't come with the bag of chips. The frets were rather sharp, and the neck/fret feel was somehow brittle, & dry?.
Click to expand...
This is very normal and can happen to any bass when kept in wrong - in your case "dry" - conditions. This doesn't indicate a problem in production quality.
 
#46
I recently tried out several of the 08 American Standard Ps, and I really want one.

So what, right? Well, no: I have a long history of being an anti Fender guy *and* not liking the good ol' P. These are that good.

There was a question earlier about whether they can hang with the bigger guns of the boutique makers, and I have to say that the difference between a $1200 axe and a $3000 one is noticeable from way up close, but not $1800 noticeable.

I also don't buy the 'classic' tone of a Sadowsky. In my experience, Sadowsky axes have a fabulous tone, but not a classic Fender one, no matter what VTC magic you turn on.

Not a Sadowsky hater, by the way. I'm in the midst of organising the finances to get one. I'm just not buying it with the intent of copping a convincing Fender tone. I'm hoping for a convincing *Sadowsky* tone. And another factor in my intent to buy is the fact that they're freaking exquisite. If you end up not caring so much for the classic P thump, then why not? Otherwise...

I've never tried out either an Alleva-Copollo (sp?) nor a Mike Lull, but I've heard many, both live and on recordings, and I think that you can't go wrong with either. Somewhere, there's some tape of a Jamiroquai show where Paul's using an A-C and the sound is just fabulous.

I'm a Lakland guy, and I haven't seen anything by other makers to make me change that philosophy. Both Lakland P models nail the Fender tone right to the wall, and I find that Lakland neck are the best I've felt over the past two decades I've spent playing. There are others on this board who've been playing longer, and they might have found something better in that time, but for my money, you can't go wrong with Lakland.

To the OC: I know that Calgary essentially sucks for this kind of search. And of course, it's so far from the rest of the world that if it weren't for Big Oil, there'd be no one there, so a quick drive to NYC to try out a few basses is out of the question. That hurts in cases like this.

The Lakland you can buy sight unseen. The Fender less so, even with the new Am Stds. I'd play a Sadowsky before buying as well, but definitely not for QC reasons. I'd say that if you ever get a chance to come Eeast for any reason, maybe a jaunt across the border to NYC to check out a few of the other basses would be in order. Otherwise, there's always Vancouver. And I'm pretty sure that you can find at least a Sadowsky Metro over there.
 
#47
From the P basses I've tried (and owned), my Lakland US Bob Glaub P/J with skinny neck is the best. By a large margin. The 70's P basses and my 08 Fender P don't touch it. I've never played a Sadowsky or a Lull, so take it for what it's worth.
 
#48
You owe it to yourself to try out the new Fenders. I own a 78 precision and a 78 jazz bass, also have owned and sold several recent p and j model fenders. I really don't play the vintage ones anymore since I bought the New American Standard Precision. I was looking for a real aggressive and punchy p bass tone and I found it in the new Fender. They are really resonant with no deadspots in the usual places. The fretwork is much improved as well. The new bridge is nicer too. Owning so many Fenders in the past I would swear that they reworked the pickups on the new models but there is no mention of that being done. They just sound more articulate, with more complex mids than I'm used to from previous Fenders.
I have some songs posted with just bass and drums for now so you can really hear the bass tone.
Link Removed
If your into the old school thumpy p bass sound your going to hate my tone but it is a good representation of how bright and punchy the new models can get.

Here's a link to my previous post.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=462149
 
#50
Hi mntngrown
I play strictly fingerstyle but i love the pick tone so thats the tone I go after with my fingers. The new Fender precisions really let my fingering technique achieve the tone I'm after. If you click on the link to my past thread it will give some specs on how those tracks were recorded.
You can get a pretty mellow old school tone out of the new precisions but I like the sound with the tone control all the way up and roundwounds.
Mine's sunburst with a rosewood fretboard and I got it at G center out the door for $950 with the new style ATA case. I like the boutique p style basses but I cant justify the price, especially with the new Fenders out.Lakland Skylines are made in Korea and for around the same price I would rather have an American made instrument.
With the other basses mentioned, if he went with the Fender he could have $1000 to $1500 left over to promote his band or experiment with other equipment or effects or maybe a different kind of bass, like maybe an upright, acoustic, fretless, obscure vintage, etc...
 
#53
stingray68 said:
Owning so many Fenders in the past I would swear that they reworked the pickups on the new models but there is no mention of that being done. They just sound more articulate, with more complex mids than I'm used to from previous Fenders.
Click to expand...

Based on my experience with my 2008 Jazz V and 2003 American Series Jazz four, I also could swear Fender did something with the pickups. The 2008 sounds just amazing, and I have no urge to replace the pickups. My 2003 now has noiseless Fralins. The 2008 has more high end sparkle, as I would expect from the pure single coils, but the lows and mids also match the Fralins, which really surprised me. I e-mailed Fender about this, and the rep said the pickups are the same, but that the better woods and acoustic resonance make all the difference. Maybe -- who knows?
 
#54
The 08 Fenders have floored me, they're that nice.

I have tried lots of modern takes of the P, but the moderns all have a more focused sound to them...they're so tightly focused they seem like slap machines, if you will.
My 72 alder bodied Precision just has the old wooly-old skool round thump I can't find elsewhere. And at 7.5 lbs I think it's a major part of that wooly tone.
 
#55
I know it's been a while since I've been able to check this thread out. I REALLY appreciate everything that you people had to say. The insight and wisdom is brilliant and has, if nothing else, sparked me to take the time to try out these basses before buying. I'm going to try to plan a road trip down to Seattle to check some stuff out at Bass Northwest and see what else is in the area.

Thanks again everybody!

-Justin
 
#58
If you have the money to spend, I'd steer clear of the Fenders (except *maybe* the custom shop).

I've purchased two MIA fenders in the last two years since I began playing. A Hwy1 P-bass, which had to have pickups replaced under warranty 6 months ago. (the extreme amount of attack I had to use to get any sound for the last few months I had it, certainly didn't do a newbie any favors as far as technique goes...:scowl:).

While the Pbass was gone, I bought an '08 MIA Deluxe Jazz V. I'm now playing the P-bass again because the MIA's neck is warped/possibly broken truss rod (ill find out soon enough) and the strap post pulled out. Mind you, this was all in the comfort of my home... less than 6 months after I spent over $1200 on it.

I've put in serious hours learning this instrument, and am now trying to RE-re-learn it so to speak... Busted pickups, necks, action, etc, and no frame of reference to notice anything is really wrong for a while.... taught me to attack the strings hard and really dig in (my strings were so floppy that I lightly gouged the fretboard in many places) if I wanted to get any sound, and keep the strings from flopping around.


It wasn't until I started lurking here last month and reading up on technique and set ups that I started to realize that my bass was ****ed up. I had my saddles on the ground, truss maxed, and still high action... battled my intonation for weeks, etc etc. Now I'm waiting for my new bass, and I'm probably going to sell it straight off. I picked through all of the Deluxe J's at GC (friend works there) and picked out the best looking one, with a great looking grain - far better than the rest. It's alder, with an almost ash-like grain. I have a feeling I'm going to get a plain jane in return...


Next time I'm in the market for a bass, it won't be a fenDERRRR:spit:
 
#60
In that price range you do have quite a few options ! 70's P basses are great IF you get a good one, they can be a pig in a poke. If you go vintage try before you buy. I have a 73 P, fit and finish by todays standards are dodgy but it plays and sounds fantastic. I have a '08 American Standard Jazz that I love, fit and finish are excellent. I think the new USAs are a good bargain. Here is my 73 P
74pbass003.jpg
and my '08 J
img_0728.jpg
 

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