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Pick the actual Fender
- Thread starter StuartV
- Start date
The Fender / Warmoth is my old bass. Purchased the USA Standard Precision body off eBay and if I remenber correctly, I got the Warmoth Jazz neck from a TB'er. Really a nice combination.
Not for sure how's she's setup now, but when I had it, it had a Fender Original Pickup and Chromes on it. Loved the feel and sound of that bass. Unfortunately, I sold it help pay for Christmas last year.
I would love to have her back one day!
So, I'm going to say #2 is my old bass / the Fender.
Not for sure how's she's setup now, but when I had it, it had a Fender Original Pickup and Chromes on it. Loved the feel and sound of that bass. Unfortunately, I sold it help pay for Christmas last year.
I would love to have her back one day!
So, I'm going to say #2 is my old bass / the Fender.
Sorry I'm a bit late. I had a date last night with a very demanding schedule. 
Bass 1 is .... the Fender. Strung with some flats of unknown origin that were on my G-Bass when I bought it. I didn't like the flats on the G-Bass, but I do really like them on the Fender.
Bass 2 is the Yamaha BB415 strung with brand new TI Jazz flats (with just the P pickup soloed).
There are 2 things that I really think are interesting that I've gotten out of this poll.
1) The Fender American Standard Precision is THE Gold Standard for a Precision-style bass (duh). The closeness in voting in the poll really speaks well (to me, anyway) of what a good job Yamaha has done with the BB415.
One person has already pointed out that my Fender having a Warmoth neck means that it's not really a Fender and doesn't sound like a real Fender Precision. My response to that is that I reckon if it's as hard to distinguish my Fendermoth from the Yamaha as this poll indicates, then I think it would be nigh-on impossible to tell the difference between my Fendermoth and a "real" Fender in a blind test. Unfortunately, I don't have a '62 AV RI with a maple board laying around to use to prove that.
2) There were 3 responses in this thread that indicated which bass they thought sounded better, regardless of which one is the Fender. All 3 responses said they thought Bass 2 (the Yamaha) sounded better (to them, obviously).
I'm surprised also that the Yamaha even fooled flewis, who actually built my Fendermoth.
My personal conclusion: A few months ago, I was really on a quest for a 5-string version of my Fendermoth. I.e. a passive 5-string with a P pickup, and, maybe a J pickup, too. I even started a thread about it and nobody ever mentioned the Yamaha as an option. I ended up getting an MPG Level 5 and love it. But, now I think I can safely say that the Yamaha is a really, really nice option for anybody that is in the same boat I was. And the regular price on the Yamaha, through MF, etc. was only $450! So, used ones are out there now pretty regularly in the $300 range. I just don't think you can beat that (if you want a passive PJ 5'er, anyway).
Bass 1 is .... the Fender. Strung with some flats of unknown origin that were on my G-Bass when I bought it. I didn't like the flats on the G-Bass, but I do really like them on the Fender.
Bass 2 is the Yamaha BB415 strung with brand new TI Jazz flats (with just the P pickup soloed).
There are 2 things that I really think are interesting that I've gotten out of this poll.
1) The Fender American Standard Precision is THE Gold Standard for a Precision-style bass (duh). The closeness in voting in the poll really speaks well (to me, anyway) of what a good job Yamaha has done with the BB415.
One person has already pointed out that my Fender having a Warmoth neck means that it's not really a Fender and doesn't sound like a real Fender Precision. My response to that is that I reckon if it's as hard to distinguish my Fendermoth from the Yamaha as this poll indicates, then I think it would be nigh-on impossible to tell the difference between my Fendermoth and a "real" Fender in a blind test. Unfortunately, I don't have a '62 AV RI with a maple board laying around to use to prove that.
2) There were 3 responses in this thread that indicated which bass they thought sounded better, regardless of which one is the Fender. All 3 responses said they thought Bass 2 (the Yamaha) sounded better (to them, obviously).
I'm surprised also that the Yamaha even fooled flewis, who actually built my Fendermoth.
My personal conclusion: A few months ago, I was really on a quest for a 5-string version of my Fendermoth. I.e. a passive 5-string with a P pickup, and, maybe a J pickup, too. I even started a thread about it and nobody ever mentioned the Yamaha as an option. I ended up getting an MPG Level 5 and love it. But, now I think I can safely say that the Yamaha is a really, really nice option for anybody that is in the same boat I was. And the regular price on the Yamaha, through MF, etc. was only $450! So, used ones are out there now pretty regularly in the $300 range. I just don't think you can beat that (if you want a passive PJ 5'er, anyway).
- Feb 16, 2008
- 21,240
- 23,638
- Disclosures
- John K Custom Basses
not IMO. a vintage fender or an AV RI is. and since your's has a warmoth with a heavy steel reinforced neck, it doesn't sound like one to me. no offense, but for some reason, your's doesn't sound very good. i think it was muddy and unbalanced, and when i think of a p bass, those terms don't come to mind. maybe it was the way that you recorded it.
correction.ALL '62 AV RI's have rosewood fingerboards. the '57AV RI has a one piece maple neck.
I agree that the warmoth neck kind of kills things a bit. When I put one on my p, I felt like it lost that 'hollow' signature sound that p basses get.
I think Yamaha BBs are Fender influenced, and not Fender clones. The original BB basses were neckthrough and were really different.
Yeah, I thought, right after I wrote that, that I didn't think the '62 AV RI came with a maple board. The details weren't really the point, though. The point was that, with a Fender body and Fender pickups, my Fendermoth sounds more like a "real" Fender than the Yamaha does.
In a poll like this, if the numbers had come in at 50/50, that would imply that you really can't tell which one is the Fender. Since the numbers were roughly 60/40, and I would expect the Fendermoth to be closer to a "real" Fender (closer than the Yamaha is, that is), I would expect the numbers in the poll to be closer to 50/50. In other words, with the exception of a very few HIGHLY experienced listeners (like yourself, johnk), I expect that my Fendermoth would be indistinguishable in sound from a "real" Fender (of similar vintage).
In a poll like this, if the numbers had come in at 50/50, that would imply that you really can't tell which one is the Fender. Since the numbers were roughly 60/40, and I would expect the Fendermoth to be closer to a "real" Fender (closer than the Yamaha is, that is), I would expect the numbers in the poll to be closer to 50/50. In other words, with the exception of a very few HIGHLY experienced listeners (like yourself, johnk), I expect that my Fendermoth would be indistinguishable in sound from a "real" Fender (of similar vintage).
It might have been better to run this as 'which bass do you prefer the sound of?' ..... Because you state one bass is a PJ then, when you reveal the basses, you say you turned the J off that bass. ..... Had 'which do you prefer' been the question bass one would have, most likely, got the most votes over the two examples. ..... Factory Fenders are Fenders. After factory Modes I think of as modes. Regardless the instrument they are done on. ....... What's done is done. .....
OTOH, I could just be totally showing my ignorance, since I have not personally owned a vintage P or an AV RI, or even a full-blooded American Standard P.
I said right in the OP that I recorded the Yamaha with the P pickup soloed....
If you did I missed it. My mistake.... The first bass has a better over all sound, to me, the second sounded hollow. Maybe cause the first bass is a Yamaha stock factory bass, is that right?
Now that's my fault, I got to reread this. ..... Since that's the case the Fender mode is better sound bass to me. .....
