Want the ultimate Fender P under $2k

[mojomike001]

The bottom line is that if you are a struggling musician, a solid $300 instrument will do the trick and get you the same payday as one that cost 6 or 7x's more. However, if you can afford the luxury of a finer piece, there is often the added pleasure of pride of ownership. If it makes you feel good and can afford it, there nothing wrong with it. Life is too short to deny yourself certain pleasures if you can afford them.

 

[Bajo Clarkko]

The above TBers who have suggested used Fender Custom Shop are on the money. There are a lot of trust fund babies who stocked up on those, and are now thinning the herd. Their loss is your gain.

 

[Pet Sounds]

I also would recommend the American Standard or American Vintage basses, or a used custom shop piece. Another great option is a used American Select, which can be had at silly low prices.

 

[bassbully]

Even though I'm not a fan of the P, it is a consistent instrument no matter what. Pickup placement will have a small effect on the tone, and of course fret board wood, but that's kinda it. Even P basses made by other companies sound a lot like a Fender P.
Really all the OP has to watch out for is neck comfort, finish availability, and the care taken in the building of that particular bass. Aside from that a MIM P made two weeks ago will sound almost exactly like a MIA P from 30 years ago.

I will add the pickups can make a big difference. I like old school vintage P tone and play only flatwound strings. Even with that setup some P bass pups are to focused in the upper mids or sometimes plain muddy. I like to swap pups sometimes. So far Duncan Antiquity II pups are my sound with Fender 62 RIs second. Those Duncan pups made a simple MIK P bass sound like one from the 60's.

 

[sikamikanico]

Depends what you like. If a guy prefers a bigger vintage 1.75 width neck the 44-64 would be a less than ideal choice with its jazz width neck.

Nope, 44-64 (aka Bob Glaub) is 1.75... that being said, Lakland necks are very comfortable to play, even when wide. I would definitely recommend the Glaub as a fender P-bass For a Fender P-bass, I had good experience with a Japanese (CIJ) Fender, with a slightly narrower (1.625 inch) but chunkier neck. Sounded awesome, but the Glaub won (more comfy neck).

While both these were Asian made (the Glaub is a Skyline), I never felt I was missing anything. One could get up to 3 such basses for $2k... That being said, looking for one P-bass on the same budget, I would look at their American counterparts, or perhaps even a Dingwal (those really intrigue me).

 

[socialleper]

There are plenty of reasons why somebody would spend more than a grand on a fender... They aren't all the same and a $300 one doesn't feel or play like a more expensive one. I've tried, believe me. I started at the bottom and worked my way up the line, and in my experience you get a better instrument with less hassle at a higher price. But everybody has different wants and needs and financial situations, so a $300 Squier might be just the ticket. Or a $2k vintage reissue might work for the OP. Only he or she knows what is right for them.

As I said, the fit and finish of the instrument will vary depending on price point. But being the simplistic, alligator like instrument that it is, the tones won't change greatly between these models, all the hardware is the same, and the colors available are the same almost all the way around.

 

[Linnin]

get the first second hand USA Bob Glaub you find.

Here's an interesting quote from an interview with Bob Glaub on forbassplayersonly about his newly acquired Fender AVRI '63 Precision:
"Over the last few decades, he's also had the good fortune to assemble a collection of nearly 60 basses. Glaub recently retired his favorite P-bass, a rosewood-necked 1959 Fender "Mary Kaye" that he's been playing on the road with Browne. In its place, he's substituting a US-made Fender 1963 P-bass reissue he bought off a friend.

"It's a fabulous bass," he says. "I just started playing it a few weeks ago, and I'm in love with that thing."

Invalid Link Removed

 

[hsech]

A good old American Standard ought to do it with cash left over.

 

[Antisyzygy]

So Im thinking about offing my EBMM Stingray 5 HH cuz Ive got 2 Carvins that kill it and it never gets played. Ive got the vintage bug and want a re-issue or something... I want a P bass preferably under $2k. Any suggestions? Of coarse I want great tone and butterly / awesome playablility.

Consider a G&L. You can order one with a variety of options and it's usually cheaper than a Fender Custom Shop. 2k is absolutely doable. The necks are very nice, partially because you can pick what's comfortable for you, but also because they're well made, Plek'd and all that. The fretboards feel like they aren't a separate piece of wood, they're perfectly matched to the rest of the neck.





For reference G&L is Leo Fender's third company. Although for MusicMan I believe he was a consultant.

 

[LowEndWooly]

I've lusted after some of the Nash P basses I've seen...

 

[Alexander]

There are plenty of reasons why somebody would spend more than a grand on a fender... They aren't all the same and a $300 one doesn't feel or play like a more expensive one. I've tried, believe me. I started at the bottom and worked my way up the line, and in my experience you get a better instrument with less hassle at a higher price. But everybody has different wants and needs and financial situations, so a $300 Squier might be just the ticket. Or a $2k vintage reissue might work for the OP. Only he or she knows what is right for them.

I absolutely agree with this (having owned 2 Squiers, an MIM, 2 MIAs, 2 Am Deluxes and a Custom Shop). With Fender QC being a bit all over the place, could you find some Squiers that outperform some MIMs (or some MIM that outperform MIAs)? Sure you could. Could you buy a "lesser" model and upgrade pickups/hardware to outperform some of their more expensive siblings? Of course. But, overall I think you get what you pay for.
If you really want a vintage look/feel/tone, I'd go for a used Custom Shop - I've seen them go for just over $2K used. If that's a bit rich still, the AVRI line is next closest, IME.
Like others have said, the Vintage re-issues have some pretty massive necks on them (mine does!). You have to figure out if you're ok with that. I am. The CS59 I have is bigger and warmer sounding than the American Standard P it replaced. I think the solid neck is part of that equation.

 

[Red Four]

Buy the best actual '70s Fender you can find in your budget. Get a B neck if you like it a little wider, or an A neck if you like the Jazz neck size.

Compared to new ones, they sound different, they feel different, they look different. To me, they're superior.

 

[Bassmann79]

Here's a pretty good USA vs MIM vs JAPAN p bass comparison video to check out:

'77 hands down, not even close IMO

 

[Tom Henry]

Good tone can be subjective and should be the top priority in picking a bass.

I got my hands on a '11 highway one p-bass, and it sounds amazing. (Or at least according to engineers in the 3 different studios i've used it for recording in.) It can sound very aggressive, or very smooth, depending on how you play it.

I like the look of an old p-bass, with wear and tear, but I'm not a fan of the marks not being my own. The Highway One is nitro, so the it will wear like the old vintage basses, but it will be my story.

They are discontinued, but you can find them in the 500-700 dolllar range, which is incredible for a US made fender.

 

[Linnin]

Buy the best actual '70s Fender you can find in your budget. Get a B neck if you like it a little wider, or an A neck if you like the Jazz neck size.

Compared to new ones, they sound different, they feel different, they look different. To me, they're superior.

I have the exact opposite opinion. Today's American made Fenders coming out of the Corona factory are far superior to anything I ever personally played coming out of CBS owned Fender from the Fullerton plant during the 1970's. I bought a '72 Precision brand new, but it fell short of my friend's Pre-CBS '58. I switched to lefty with a custom ordered '76 Precision (which I still have). It was worse. Needed its frets dressed straight form the factory. Wood was very good. The stock pickup died silently in it's sleep one night in 1985 (and not at a gig thankfully), so I modified it. Radically. It's a good bass now.

 

[I am Soma]

lots of posts here with "bottom line" and "period" in their replies. its all opinion based.

if you want a fender thats top-notch under 2k id go with a fender american select p which you can find used for around 1200. owned one and it was freaking great - im just more of a jazz guy.

if you just want a p bass and are considering other brands id recomend sandberg.

 

[zombie1965]

Here's a pretty good USA vs MIM vs JAPAN p bass comparison video to check out:

That USA 77 blows the rest away, the MIJ is a good one. why so much more definition with the 77?

 

[mpdd]

i've had good really luck with my g&l lb100, but i wouldn't say it's way better than my skyline glaub, or my highway one p, it just fits my hands perfectly, holds a setup really well, and is really easy to eq, i do think tb makes you kinda super picky about your instruments if you have some disposable income

 

[moreblues]

my vote goes to the fender select precision. if you want a vintage 7.25 radius vs. the 9.5 on the select then i would go avri...all used of course....great deals on here...

 

[TripleDouble]

Much like JimmyM is to Ampeg, where is Nobody with his omnipotent wisdom of all things P?