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P5 Club?

#401
I appreciate the assistance and help. The guy that is working on my bass is Master Luthier Larry Brooks. He was the designer of the Fender Logo as it is on my bass. He does rewinding and all repairs. We were just exploring all the options. Found a new pickup from North Carolina for $75. They are not expensive. However, because the pickup is 2+3 and not 3+2, it differs from the standard 5'er P pickup. Either than or it is just a different design. Can't really find anyone to give me an answer on that.
But, I digress - Main option is to have it rewound to keep it original. In second place would be to buy a factory replacement and third and very last resport would be to find an EMG or the like to replace it with.
 
#403
How do you guys like the B on your P5? When I 1st bought mine, I actually took it back as it seemed to lack some fundamental, overtones sounded metallically, hollow. The sales guy played it, told me to play it, maybe the string needs breaking in, and see how it goes. They have a 30 day return policy. He gave me another B, and when I got home, it seemed like it improved, but that just might've been me hearing what I wanted to hear as I really love the bass otherwise and wanted to hear it with flats. With the flats it's much harder to hear, but I'm thinking I'm hearing the same problem on the B with the flats. Any opinions on whether this will go away as the string breaks in? Is this a quality you've noticed with the P5, and I just have to accept that it is what it is or return it? Any input appreciated, thanks!
 
#405
I had a 2008 AmStd Fender P5. It sounded good, very vintagey, but the B string lacked impact and fundamental. I put Chromes on it and it was better but not great.

I had a 2012 AmStd Fender P5. It sounded great, vintage but a bit more modern. The B string was pretty good with rounds, very good with flats.

I now have a Nordy VP5. It sounds just pure awesome. The B is excellent, although like any P B-string, it is very thick sounding rather than focused sounding. But it has lots of fundamental and attack, and sounds really good in the mix.
 
#408
The B on mine improved a bit when I replaced the original tapered string they used to come with. Like has been mentioned, the fundamental may not be as strong as some other basses' B-strings, but mine does sound like a natural extension of the other strings. It leaves nothing to be desired for me when I want the P tone. If I were to play a song that relied heavily on the lowest notes, I would probably play one of my other basses.
 
#409
Agreed. I have LaBella flats on one of my P5's and it sounds awesome. Yes, it is missing some fundamental, but the overtones are so righteous and blend so well with the other strings that I don't mind it one bit. This bass is for traditional walking bass lines. The B fits right in with that tone and style.
 
#410
My Squier Vintage Modified P5 had a big, fat-sounding B-string out of the box, but I thought it could be better. Plus, I didn't like the tension imbalance across the five strings. The stock B-string isn't tapered on the Squier.

A set of BT (balanced tension) D'Addario nickel rounds made a huge improvement. The set I chose was 45 to 145. I think that Bass Strings Online actually makes up these sets, as the D'Addario catalogue only shows them in 4's.

Anyway, they worked for me. They could be a good upgrade for your Am Standard as well.
 
#411
Mine has a good B string. It has a maple board which I've always found to give a more focused B, it is also strung with light guage Sadowsky black label steels which probably also helps. It is still my go to bass even though I also have a Zon (very good B) and Roscoe (excellent B), and had a maple board 55-94 (also an excellent B) for 10 years that it replaced. I hang out on the B quite a bit in my Country band and am going to keep thumping with the PB
 
#412
Jason Brown said:
The B on mine improved a bit when I replaced the original tapered string they used to come with. Like has been mentioned, the fundamental may not be as strong as some other basses' B-strings, but mine does sound like a natural extension of the other strings. It leaves nothing to be desired for me when I want the P tone. If I were to play a song that relied heavily on the lowest notes, I would probably play one of my other basses.
Click to expand...

My B doesn't match - that's part of the issue. I 1st & 5thed the E & B open as well as the 1st 4 frets, & that metalically hollowness was there on the B most noticeably when comparing the open E/B. Maybe I'm being too picky, but the reason I got a P5 was so I could make good use of the low B to D# (ie. raggaemeister). I've got over 3 weeks to decide. It would be tough to give this one up....
 
#414
bachlover said:
My B doesn't match - that's part of the issue.
...I've got over 3 weeks to decide. It would be tough to give this one up....
Click to expand...

Have you considered taking it to a tech? I'm a tech myself, and IME, about 75% of the time a weak b string can be fixed with a careful setup. Arching the string heights to match the fingerboard radius, pickup height, adjusting the neck angle and various other tweaks can make a huge difference.

Another issue: Is this your first 5-string?

When I went to fivers back in the mid 80's, I struggled endlessly trying to get a good low B, until I realized that my problem was my amp EQ and cabs, not my basses...
 
#416
I think with the Fender P5, string choice & setup play a major role in having a good B - it's there, you just have to find it! :D

Here's the famous Ed Friedland video in response to his initial P5 review video, where folks said the B didn't sound strong:

The original clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THITANX322E&feature=youtube_gdata_player

The follow-up:
 
#417
steve_rolfeca said:
Have you considered taking it to a tech? I'm a tech myself, and IME, about 75% of the time a weak b string can be fixed with a careful setup. Arching the string heights to match the fingerboard radius, pickup height, adjusting the neck angle and various other tweaks can make a huge difference.

Another issue: Is this your first 5-string?

When I went to fivers back in the mid 80's, I struggled endlessly trying to get a good low B, until I realized that my problem was my amp EQ and cabs, not my basses...
Click to expand...
One of the things this circumstance has shown me is appreciation for the quality of my other 5's Bs. I'm playing through B15N and SVT, so amps aren't a problem, and in fact, is one of the reasons I want to keep the P5! It sounds great through my tubies! I am going to take it to a tech, that's really good advice I think. If I'm still left with a B that lacks a little fundamental, I might keep it anyway. But I will be trying others if that's the case. Already googled Nordy. I might even be able to find something cheaper in a MIM, MIJ, Squier, etc. Thanks again everybody!
 
#418
This.
Yup.
Combine attentive setup to the right strings, and this will solve problems almost every time.

steve_rolfeca said:
My Squier Vintage Modified P5 had a big, fat-sounding B-string out of the box, but I thought it could be better. Plus, I didn't like the tension imbalance across the five strings. The stock B-string isn't tapered on the Squier.

A set of BT (balanced tension) D'Addario nickel rounds made a huge improvement. The set I chose was 45 to 145. I think that Bass Strings Online actually makes up these sets, as the D'Addario catalogue only shows them in 4's.

Anyway, they worked for me. They could be a good upgrade for your Am Standard as well.
Click to expand...
 
#419
Played it this a.m. to see if It really warrants spending the $, and it doesn't seem to be that bad in that context (lol). Seriously, it seems to be getting better, so maybe it was a matter of the strings wearing in. At any rate, I think my plan B (no pun intended) will be to get a set of feeler gauges and learn set up myself. Since I've joined TB I've gone from one Fender J that I played for over 15 years to 7 basses (maybe a connection there?), so it's high time I learned that anyway. I'll start on the P5.
 

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