Here's mine, which I built myself using Mighty Mite body and neck. I have since put on a parchment pickguard and downgraded the bridge to a standard old-school Fender-type. Sounds and plays killer.
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What P Bass should I get?
- Thread starter SafeHands83
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- precision bass
My absolute favorite "P bass" is an MIA Peavey Fury.
Then again, internet opinions are basically worth what you pay for them....
Then again, internet opinions are basically worth what you pay for them....
I like it beautiful! I've been real tempted to a build Mighty Mite Jazz. Did you have any problems with the build?
You could pick up an Alembic Elan with P-bass style pickups for a sensible price on the used market. I got this from a seller on the alembic forum almost 10 years ago.
As someone else mentioned, a stock Precision neck might feel chunky and hard to play if you're used to a jazz neck, so that's something to keep in mind...fortunately, swapping the neck out is easy and you'd be able to flip the P neck easily -- I actually just did this with a parts P (flipped a Roadworn 50's repro neck, which felt like a 2x4 to me and put in an Allparts jazz neck).
The other thing to consider is if you want an active bass. The new Fender Elites can go between active and passive if that capability is important to you, but I find them to be pretty overpriced...if you wanted to go this route, I would suggest trying to find a used American Deluxe from the last few years or so (2010 or later) -- they can also go between active and passive. The other good thing about them is that you get the J pickup on the bridge, which you might like having.
I've only ever played Fender Precisions, none of the copies, but a lot of people have good things to say about the G&L's and Yamahas. If it were me, I'd try to find a good used American Standard, anywhere from around 2006 to now...but you really have to play as many as you can to figure out what works best for YOU. Since you have limited opportunity to try stuff, I'd probably order something from somewhere with a good return policy, like Sweetwater or Musician's Friend, so you can at least try it out for a little while and make an informed decision...and then buy used, as long as you can try it out first.
The other thing to consider is if you want an active bass. The new Fender Elites can go between active and passive if that capability is important to you, but I find them to be pretty overpriced...if you wanted to go this route, I would suggest trying to find a used American Deluxe from the last few years or so (2010 or later) -- they can also go between active and passive. The other good thing about them is that you get the J pickup on the bridge, which you might like having.
I've only ever played Fender Precisions, none of the copies, but a lot of people have good things to say about the G&L's and Yamahas. If it were me, I'd try to find a good used American Standard, anywhere from around 2006 to now...but you really have to play as many as you can to figure out what works best for YOU. Since you have limited opportunity to try stuff, I'd probably order something from somewhere with a good return policy, like Sweetwater or Musician's Friend, so you can at least try it out for a little while and make an informed decision...and then buy used, as long as you can try it out first.
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I've learned here on TB the most important thing is that it must have a tort pickguard. 
Thanks for all the replies guys. I really appreciate it. It's given me some food for thought. I suppose the best thing to do now, is to take my time and make sure I get the right bass for me. It should be a fun few months bass hunting. I'm looking forward to it.
About half of our tunes I play with a Jazz and the rest with a Precision, I love them both, my P is tuned E flat.
Only with pickup selection. I tried a SD QP, hated it, tried the Lawrence P, found it to be the least P-sounding P pickup ever, and then remembered that I wanted it to sound like a classic Fender P; meaning, I bought a CS '62 Fender P pickup and it sounds perfect.
I stuck with all Mighty Mite parts to be sure everything fit properly. I build things, including basses, and can mod pretty much anything, but for that bass, I wanted a straight-up, no-frills basic P. And I was curious about MM parts.
One thing i did though - I bought the parts from GC, and ordered 3 necks and 3 bodies. I found the neck and body that fit together the best, and took the rest back.There was definitely some variation.
My guess is that the whole deal cost me under $500. But a used Mexi would probably have been cheaper and just as good.
Also, Mighty Mite makes a Jazz neck, so if one wanted a P with a jazz neck, it's easy to do.
I just played one of these when I went home on Vacation. My buddy Chase got one and it is VERY nice and sounds great!
Which P should you get ? Squier. SQ series ( or JV but not as much bang for the buck considering there worth $1000 + SQ's can be had for less then $500) all three of mine were made in 1983. A blk/RW strat 3tsb/RW P bass and a blk/RW P bass. The strat is the best strat I have ever played held in my hands quality 11/10 fit and finish. 3 tone sunburst P was my fav before the blk one showed up at my doorstep .. Quality built and heavy awesome finish awesome playability. The black one ( a pawn shop owner brought it along to show me thinking i might be interested in buying it when he was at ,house looking at a 1982 Oldsmobile cutless I have for sale he pulls it out of the trunk it absolutely Beat to hell and bjack 4 times ( natural play wear....actually ) all the chrome hardware has turned nickel/grey the pickups are alnico 5 vintage correct with correct brass grounding plate ( thick , concave edges ) my black SQ feels like my friends 59 transition in every single way possable 1. Pic a 62 spec build and .2 pic my SQ's
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Sounds like you know what your doing! I've never put one together I should pull the trigger!
I use a passive Mike Lull PJ5 in all genres from acoustic duo's to rock, reggae, blues, soul, funk and cover bands. There isn't a song that I've played on it in 5 years that has sounded less than stellar.
My suggestion for a 4 string P bass is a good used Fender AM Std P that you like the feel of and upgrade the pickups and pots.
