Review of the new Fender Precision 2008

This is my second 2008 Precision bass. There was nothing wrong with the first, it was just stolen. I've had it for a few months now, and now I feel I'm able to write a review on it.

This bass is Olympic white, tort, with a maple board. I'll post pictures sometime tomorrow hopefully.

Consistancy
The first 2008 P-Bass I played in the store without any intention of buying it. I was buying strings and decided to give the new P-Bass a whirl. Holy Crap! I put it on lay away, and came back a week later with the cash for it. When it was stolen, I was worried I wouldn't find as sweet a bass as the first one. Well I did. The quality control is very consistant, both P-basses were winners, and they rank up there with the best Precisions I've played. In my opinion, they're on even keel with the Lakland basses.

Fit and Finish
In terms of fit and finish, the quality was top notch. The neck pocket fit was nice and tight. The Olympic white finish was even with no thin spots in it. Sometimes you see bits of the wood grain on lighter finishes where it was unevenly applied. It was very glossy and smooth. The neck finish was smooth and my hands didn't stick at all.

The Neck
A very nice feel due to the satin nitro finish. The finger board has rolled edges which also makes it a dream to play. My criticism of the neck lies in the use of Jumbo frets. Thats just a personal thing though. The frets were dressed very nicely, even, and were all seated properly.

There is only one imperfection on the neck. Between the D and G tuners, on the flat side of the bass side of the head stock, there is a blemish in the wood. Its just a small black line a few millimeters long and is about as thick as a heavy sewing needle. You wouldn't notice it unless you ran a careful eye over the entire bass, which I did. I'm guessing its a mineral deposit in the wood.

The tint on the neck is a nice touch, and it isn't pale like some of Fender's past basses. It should be noticed that it doesn't have any neck dive, but hey, since when do Ps dive, amirite?

The Body
The finish was nice and smooth with no imperfections. When I got the bass I noticed a blueish compound near the treble side of the neck pocket. It brushed off. I have no idea where it came from, but it was gone in when I flicked at it with a Q-Tip.
I hate Poly finishes, but this one is very nice. The body is very resonant and I can feel it vibrate when I pluck a note. Its a tad on the heavy side overall (the bass, not the body) and it comes in at almost 9 pounds. The contours of the bass are nice and comfy.

The pickguard was nice, vibrant, and has a great tort. shell pattern.

The Hardware
The new tuners are great. Lightweight and they turn easily. My bass can keep in tune for several days of play time. My only gripe here is one of aesthetics, I like the bigger old fashioned Fender tuners. Wait, I forgot, those tapered ends. They're kind of annoying when I put its current set of flats on, but they don't affect anything except when you're changing the strings. For me, it was only the E string, which turned out to be fine in a day after the string settled.

The new bridge is top notch as well and I really like it. It doesn't look out of place to me, unlike BadAss Bridges, and the adjustments are quick and easy to make. I haven't had any problems with it at all and I can't wait till they start to sell these.

The Electronics
I like these pickups. With rounds the bass has lots of growl, with flats you have smooth lines everywhere. Its not so much a thumper with the current strings, GHS flatwounds, but it sounds like a P-Bass with a hint of modern bass sound in it.

The pots turn smoothly and there is no crackly areas. The treble knob turned up didn't make the bass sound thin and you can hear noticable differences when you turn the treble knob in either direction. A common problem is that you can only hear a difference when its all the way off or on.

The bass was also well grounded and there was no humming.

Case
The new SKB Fender case is pretty great in my opinion. Its form fit with soft feeling lining. For some reason, it has new car smell. It has a side compartment as well, which is quite roomy. I fit my pocket tuner, my Fulltone BassDrive, and two cables in there comfortably. The case is also built like a rock. I left it on the top of truck bed cover, and drove off, only to hear it fall off when I was doing about 25-30mph. That was dumb. But, the case was still in great shape with no dents or gouges. The bass was still as snug as a bug, and was also still in tune.

It comes with the standard Fender case candy, the manuals and registration cards, etc. But it also comes with every tool you'll need to adjust anything on your bass. This might not seem like a lot, but its very handy if you ask me. The truss rod tool is also quite nice, due to its size, and its ease of use. Its also good for other basses with a similar truss rod set up.

The bass comes with a very nice cable, and a dinky Fender strap (which I swapped out) It also comes with that annoying Fender bumpersticker, and all that jazz. It also came with a box of Fender Extra Heavy picks. I don't know if the shop happened to toss them in both times, as I got free strings and a Levy's strap as well.

Comes with a Fender polish cloth and a tiny sample of Fender's Mist & Wipe IIRC



Overall
This is a very nice bass.
Alot of people say "well XXXX is fantastic for the money" I think thats a cop out. Its good or it isn't. This bass is fantastic at almost any price point for a Precision bass. Fender has a winner here for 2008 as many people on this forum know.

 

I didn't post the price. These retail for about $1000 or so. I got mine for $800 off the door. It comes in a tasty new SKB case and some nice case candy.

If this bass cost $1500, it'd still be a good buy.

 

Ugh... fine... I'll edit the review...

 

Har. Har.

I'll have pics tomorrow when I get my digital camera back from my room mate. Hopefully tomorrow night.

 

I had posted a thread about it awhile back in OT. I got mugged on the subway on the way home from a gig in Midtown. It wasn't a happy day.

I've just been keeping my eyes on CL and eBay, and I gave my friend's heads up. If it turns up, I hope someone sees it.

I didn't know we had a stolen gear thread.