Precision bass questions

[StayLow]

^ Good call. And Geezer did, or still does(?), play the Lakland... which is a P bass, really. The 2015 Thunderbird has the EB (2012, 2013, 2014) pickups in it.

IMO/IME it's a tone you can pretty much cop with technique (play on the neck), and maybe flats if need be, on virtually any bass. EQ too.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

Oh just buy the damn thing and be done with it.

 

[pedroims]

Check the N Mendel bass, the neck is great, SD pickups, badass bridge. The other Fender P that I like is the RW.

Lakland P are also great.

 

[Dbassmon]

Joe - congrats on very good decision to expand your arsenal to include a Pbass. Its about time, don't you think?
Regarding the standard P bass neck profile, here is what I have found FWIW.... The caveat here is that you have solid technique and good hand position but the Pbass neck is actually easier on the hand because it is actually less fatiguing to not have to close your hand as far as say the jazz neck. This makes for a more relaxed hand position. That may take a while to get comfy but let me know if you don't agree after you get used to it.... just one bass players opinion of course.

Mexican vs American, pre 2012 etc... At the end of the day, variations in pick up windings and tone circuits will effect the sound minimally, split coil pick in the Pbass position is gonna sound like a Pbass. Quality amplification in the hands of skilled player, its gonna sound awesome!

 

[AMJBASS]

The American Specials have one of the nicest feeling necks IME. The profile is slightly less chunky than the MIA Standards, and has a really nice satin finish on it. I dig them! Not a big fan of the machine heads(same as the MIM standards). If you can find one at a good price, I'd grab it and do what JimmyM said. Put an EMG GZR in($100), and it will turn into a killer bass.

 

[AMJBASS]

Should just mention the pickups in the 2013 and up MIA Standards are excellent. They are Fenders custom shop 60's pickup. I still like the EMG GZR best, but a brand new stock MIA Standard is a perfect workhorse bass. Doesn't need upgrading anywhere.

 

[leto]

These days I am mainly a Spector guy. But when I had my last P Bass it was a MIM and I replace the PUPs with Duncan quarter pounders. I thought it sounded awesome. I to am hearing great things from the Spector folks about the Geezer EMG's.

 

[Joe Nerve]

Oh just buy the damn thing and be done with it.

Tried, they won't let me . Exercising patience, in order to get the best price and a color I like (black). Pretty sure I'm going for the American Special. If musiciansfriend doesn't come up with one, then a MIM might be an option again.

Although I've said it more than once already, I'll say it again. Not looking for anything other than a Fender P bass. I'm very happy and content with my bass collection. Not looking for my holy grail or anything like that. Just want the Fender P bass vibe, inspired by a recent gig opportunity where the band specifically wanted a Fender P player. Yeah, I know how ******** that is and I know all about the people who would never play in a band that required you to use a certain instrument, but I would. Some of those bands make lots of money playing great gigs. And I welcome any excuse to buy a new bass (I'm running out). If I get myself a P bass, I truly feel I have it all. A Jazz, a P, a Stingray, a Big Al, a Bongo, a Gibson, a Warwick, a Fenderbird, a Dano... plus a handful of other less notables. What more could a bass player possibly want.

Not looking for the perfect P. Looking for a Fender P that I'll enjoy playing.

As far as neck profile goes, I'm sure I'd be comfortable with the thicker neck... possibly even MORE comfortable. Thing is, just about all the basses I'm playing right now have thinner neck profiles. Big Al, my Gibson EB, my Jazz, and an old wenge Warwick. When I switch to thicker necked basses (Stingray), I feel it now, and it takes a short while to reacquaint myself. Makes it easier if I can just pull the bass out of the closet without thinking about it for a gig. When I first got my Big Al, I had been playing my Stingray exclusively for a while. I thought, dang, don't like this neck. Not sure if I ever will... then a month later the Stingray felt odd to me. Anyhow, that's my deal with that.

Gonna give MF a call again in a bit to see if they got any info on the black special. It's looking like that's going to be the one. I'll only know if the pickup works for me once I get it in a band situation. If I like everything else, and I feel it doesn't cut, then I'll consider swapping it out. Again though, I'm hearing only good things about it from everyone but Jimmy. Even in some PMs I've received. So many things go into our likes and dislikes that we can only really ever know once we hear something with our own ears. Strings, amps, how we EQ those amps, playing styles, musicians we play with... the gear THEY use all make a difference IMO.

I plan to keep this thread updated .

 

[petrus61]

Yes, the pickups in the AmSpec are the same as the pre 2012 AmStd's and I agree with Jimmys assessment that they aren't the greatest. They're not terrible...ok, they are, but the 2012's and up have the better CS 62's. These are not to be confused with the 62 Originals that used to come in the AVRI's and are still sold by Fender. The CS's have a rounder sound while the Originals really accentuate the high mids. The pre 2012 pickups are pretty generic sounding with a mid scooped quality, just as Jimmy said.

I like the Originals, but remain devoted to my Lindy Fralins.

 

[lowphatbass]

Based on your wanting a neck profile that's "J friendly" and not wanting to spend a ton of cash.....if I were looking for a P bass....
...I would pick-up a used MIJ from one of the handful of EBay sellers out of Japan. There are 90's-2000's listed regularly around the $600 range shipped. You're bound to get an accurately described bass with a comfortable neck at your door in 2-3 days. The hardware will be solid/serviceable, you might end up swapping the pick-up for something a bit more forward which it sounds like you're prepared to do anyway. At any rate, I don't think you will a better quality P bass for the price.

 

[Jeff K]

All I can tell you about my Am. Special is that it feels AND sounds great. Both the guitarists in our band love the tone as well. I have two other P-Basses that have been swapped out for Duncan SPB-1's. (They're my P-Bass replacement pickup of choice for a vintage tone.) I even have a brand new set laying around just in case. But I've found absolutely no reason to replace the pups on my Honeyburst Am. Special.

Joe, I'd try one to see if it feels comfortable to you. If so, I'd snag one and see what you think about the pickups. You might be pleasantly surprised. I found/bought mine used, which made it even more of a pleasant surprise...

 

[Joe Nerve]

Based on your wanting a neck profile that's "J friendly" and not wanting to spend a ton of cash.....if I were looking for a P bass....
...I would pick-up a used MIJ from one of the handful of EBay sellers out of Japan. There are 90's-2000's listed regularly around the $600 range shipped. You're bound to get an accurately described bass with a comfortable neck at your door in 2-3 days. The hardware will be solid/serviceable, you might end up swapping the pick-up for something a bit more forward which it sounds like you're prepared to do anyway. At any rate, I don't think you will a better quality P bass for the price.

Any chance of linking me to some of those you speak of? Not much of an ebay guy and actually have a rough time navigating there - or finding any good deals at least.

 

[ticol07]

My Precision is an American Special. I enjoy it espaecially for its neck which is very smooth and not too thick.
The pickups are labelled as "Vintage Pickups" so I don't think they're the ones which were on the pre 2012 American Standard. And they sound normal, not especially scooped.

The Greasebucket is something easy to remove if you don't like it. You have to find a classic Precision wiring drawing and rewire the things. You can keep the greasebucket capacitor which is a 0.1µF if you want a really dark tone when tone knob is cut or replace it by the classic 0.047µF. Easy and cheap mod.

The tuners, even if the same as MIM work well.
My only problem was with the bridge : the screws are a little bit thin in the saddles and when I played a bit hard, my strings were lowering during gigs or rehearsals.
As I didn't want especially to change the bridge, I just wraped the sadlle screws in cigarette paper, which tightens them well. Again, cheap mod.

The main difference I found with the American Standards I played is the thickness of the neck and the fact that it is not glossy and sticky. I felt more happy on the American Special, and since, it's my regular player.

 

[Kmonk]

I would look for a used MIA Standard Precision. I picked up a 1982 Precision last year for $750 from a fellow TB'er.

 

[electracoyote]

My jazz is an antigua MIM and I like it a lot more than 4 highway ones I owned which were MIA.

My .02 cents, FWIW:

I own a couple contemporary (2009 or newer) Standard MIM Jazzes and Precisions with maple boards.

I think you would find the Standard P Bass similar if not identical to the quality, playability, and tone of your Antigua Jazz (but with the tone of a P bass, of course). The most recent MIM Standards experienced a significant bump in quality, best run ever in my opinion.

I do like basses with stiffening rods in the neck, and the MIA Fenders are really nice (I own one of those too). If money wasn't an issue, I'd go MIA. But personally, I could not justify the cost differential compared to what you actually get in terms of playability and tone.

 

[Eublet]

Just want the Fender P bass vibe, inspired by a recent gig opportunity where the band specifically wanted a Fender P player. Yeah, I know how ******** that is and I know all about the people who would never play in a band that required you to use a certain instrument, but I would. Some of those bands make lots of money playing great gigs. And I welcome any excuse to buy a new bass (I'm running out). If I get myself a P bass, I truly feel I have it all. A Jazz, a P, a Stingray, a Big Al, a Bongo, a Gibson, a Warwick, a Fenderbird, a Dano... plus a handful of other less notables. What more could a bass player possibly want.

Yep, I've been where you are now. It's been a number of years back. I wish someone had really told me to get a P bass myself way back and learn to use it, even if it wasn't my thing back then. Now it's about all I play, and everyone I play with have never been happier with what I bring. I've since found this video below from perhaps one of the best session and bass-for-hire players in the business. He attempts to answer the question "Why the P bass?" If you have time, I suggest you watch it start to finish. Then maybe watch it a few times more. His words and advice in this video is practical, simple but so easily missed by everyone. When I first saw it, I was kicking myself because it was sage advice that I had to learn myself the hard way.

 

[Eublet]

I'll throw in my hat for buying an MIA P bass. It's worth the extra money. They play and sound wonderful. Feel is dead on. Neck is super stable. Truly a fantastic instrument.

 

[CatSquare]

The tone pot is Fenders Greasebucket version, which rolls highs off without adding lows. Some people love it, some don't notice it, and some people hate it.

I've heard people mention this before and I don't understand why it's a thing: doesn't every passive tone pot either cut highs or cut lows? What makes this particular one any different?

 

[Eublet]

I've heard people mention this before and I don't understand why it's a thing: doesn't every passive tone pot either cut highs or cut lows? What makes this particular one any different?

Fender's description is poor on this. The pot uses some extra resistors in it that change the way turning the pot effects the tone. I've heard some say it removes a resonant peak that can happen with traditional pots at the rolloff point because of the way it loads the pickups. Not sure how accurate that is. I've also read that the extra resistor functions to start attenuating the lows slightly around the midway point to create a more mid oriented tone. This seems to jive with what I hear using it. But it's definitely different than a standard tone pot. Better or worse is subjective.

 

[Doublesixes]

I have the 2012 Hand-Stained Honeyburst. It also says "American Special" on the back of the headstock. I love this bass. One of the most comfortable necks I've ever had on a P-Bass. (Like you, I actually prefer Jazz necks; but this one feels great.) I had a couple '08> Am. Std. P's. I like this one better than any of them. I do love the '08> Am. Std. Jazzes though.

As you can see, I replaced the parchment pickguard with a gold anodized.

OT. Congrats on that bass. Question: how heavy is it?....This may sound funny but by the looks, I can tell it's easily under 8.5 lbs.