Old Horse Murphy

Not for me sadly, but one for my Fretless Jazz. I really can't get on with Jazz Bass bodies as they always sit awkwardly on me and I look like I'm Clay Pigeon Shooting. I really don't like the sound of Fretless P Basses though, so decided to order a P Bass body with Jazz Bass pickups from Guitar and Bass Builds. It's a 2 piece swamp as body, so is very light and I decided I'd go for the lacquered body rather than make an awful hash of it myself. It's only been dry fitted at the moment as I need to order a new EMG loom to fit in it (the Jazz one won't fit sadly) but it's gone together very easily and the build quality is excellent and it didn't require any significant fettling. I need to cut some proper slots in the Badass Bridge as it's the unslotted version and the G string is just slightly out of line for me but other than that, I'm delighted.

My new JJ P Bass body arrived today. I've done a dry fit but am waiting for the loom to arrive before I can plug it in and get it working properly. Im really pleased with it and glad I went for the lacquered option.

I'm pretty certain it's IKEA, from their carpoultunnoul range

Nice one Marc, I've always fancied one of those

True, although surely a lovely Status graphite neck wouldn't be worried by such small things as weather!

To loosen it turn it anti-clockwise Lefty Loosey, Righty Tighty 😉 You may not even have to give it a quarter turn. It may be fine with less than that.

Yep, sounds like the truss rod needs to be slackened a tiny bit. I have to adjust mine roughly twice a year due to changes in the season, humidity etc. As JLP says, nothing much to worry about

I've ordered exactly the same body (P Bass shape with Jazz bass pickups) from Guitar and Bass Builds for a Fretless build as I don't like Jazz bass bodies but equally I don't like P Bass pickups for Fretless basses. It's due to arrive imminently so I'll post some pics once it's arrived.

So anyway, from the ridiculous to the sublime.... The first P Bass was packed off from whence it came and the very next day I had a meeting in Cardiff and happened (ahem) to find myself arriving about an hour early, so a visit to PMT was in order. PMT isn't usually my first port of call, especially for online orders but I've always found the guys in Bristol particularly accommodating and have been on tot eh Cardiff store a few times. I always find the store a bit lacking in the Bass department but I knew they had another American Professional in stock in my favoured colour scheme. After playing on it for five minutes I really really liked it but was still very wary given the issues with the first bass. Fortunately, Gavin who was looking after me was game enough to see if the truss rod would adjust properly and was then kind enough to let me adjust the saddles to get closer to the sort of action I prefer. After 15 minutes or so of fettling I fell in love with it and decided it was coming home with me. I love the colour (Mystic Surf Green), I love the neck and the dark rosewood fingerboard and it plays beautifully. What's more, it's very light too. It couldn't be more different to the first one I tried and really is in my opinion a vast step up from some of the more recent US Fenders over the last 10 years or so. My thanks to PMT too and especially Gavin who really went the extra mile for me.

Well if you're up for one more journey Jake, drop me a line. My last band has folded due to COVID and I'm currently all dressed up with nowhere to go.

Agreed. The bass was gorgeous and the neck felt really comfortable but it was not fit for purpose, well, fit for my special purpose anyway

I've asked for a refund and will then pop along to a guitar shop when I can rather than buy online. I think if I'd tried it in a store I'd probably have assumed it was Fender's usual ropey setup and taken it home thinking I could tweak it to my liking. Such irony, eh, Alanis?

So I thought that I'd order one of the new Fender Professional ii P basses in the lovely Surf Green colour they've brought out. I got a good deal and it duly arrived this morning as arranged. Upon opening the case it looked absolutely stunning and when I picked it up it was a very comfortable weight. The action however was awful and the strings were way above the fingerboard. Now I've had new Fenders before and I know they generally set the actions high in the factory and usually after a bit of adjustment to the saddles and the truss rod gets it to whether I want it. This one however, already had quite low saddles but I duly took them down a bit lower to such an extent that they were pretty much bottoming out. The action was still pretty high. I thought I'd check the truss rod out and when I went to give it a bit of a tweak, it felt like it had already been maxed out and I felt uncomfortable in trying to turn it any further. Usually when I've had new Fenders in the past the truss rod has been no more than half-way screwed in and there's plenty of play either way. I contacted the retailer and there's no issue in returning it but I was really disappointed on how this arrived and was very surprised that a bass would have been set up this way at the factory. The retailer confirmed it hadn't been sent out to anyone prior to being sent to me and hadn't been looked at by any of their staff, so it all seems a bit strange to me.

Well, I've fallen in love with the colour and sound but sadly not the weight. It's a bit over 9 and a half pounds which unfortunately is no good for my shoulders and neck. I'm afraid it will be up for sale shortly