bassbiscuits

I think the 137 refers to the type of pots. As for the pickups yes the last two digits are the date i think - mine end in 70, and its a 1970 bass.

But back to the OPs original point - I guess it depends on what music you play, your individual playing style and the sound in your head that you want, which all adds up to make some basses appeal to you more than others. I liked all my jazzes and would happily own one again in the future. But in meantime I've come full circle and realised that the bass I had to start with - a P - pretty much nails most of what I want.

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1478934417' post='3172766'] Let's get this straight, no one tells me what I should play, but if I take both J & P basses with me, play both, and then ask which sound the band prefers, the answer is always the Precision. The same thing happens with guitarists, they may try a strat and a les paul on a certain number and ask which sounded better. In that case it may one or the other, depending on the song and musical style, but with my basses, the answer is always the Precision. Which makes me wonder why I have over 2 grand's worth of J basses sitting upstairs unused! I only play in bands, never record at home or noodle in my bedroom. [/quote] I hear you. I took my old P and my new Mike Lull to a biggish (for me anyway!) dep gig last weekend in front of a few hundred people. I was itching to use the Lull and it sounded fantastic in soundcheck. Then I got the old P out for comparison and it just sounded great - big and full, just right blend of thump and attack, and the band basically said "yeah use that one!" That's not being ordered around - that's just offering a choice to people. I'd have been happy too if they'd preferred the Lull but for that particular music, the P has always fitted it better.

I'm a P man thru and thru. I've had three jazzes which were all good basses (two Fenders and a Sandberg California) and currently have a Lull PJ4, but the bass that just sounds fattest and fits best with 90 percent of the music i play is just an old P bass. Jazzes are great for having those extra sounds, more articulation etc, but if i had to have just one bass, it would be a P every time. I play in a couple of different bands ranging from blues/rock originals to alt/acoustic stuff and just pop/rock covers and the P just always sounds better.

That's a stunning looking bass - I've always loved the look of T birds, tho never owned a real one. (I too grew up on late 80s rock in which T birds were a major source of drooling by my teenage self! Motley Crue, Tesla and even early Aerosmith.) Well done chap. Enjoy the new bass!

I try to be sensible like not using them with filthy/greasy hands etc, and i keep them well cased when travelling to gigs etc, but i'm not overly OCD about avoiding the usual wear and tear that any gigging instrument is bound to get.

The stripey spandex will be a bugger to source tho...

I love Explorer shape for guitars, but on basses the proportions all look wrong. All the beauty in the guitar version doesn't seem to translate to bass for me. Hmm.

P basses are the ultimate plug in and play bass. I've got some other basses which all sound good, and do more variety of sounds etc but need a bit more EQ'ing etc to get them how i want them. The P on the other hand just sounds right as soon as you plug it in. It does just one thing, but very very well. Love 'em.

I usually use round wounds at 45-105, and recently i've switched to La Bella flats 760FL which are 43-104, and feel pretty much the same tension as the 45-105 rounds. But I have had Rotosound flats before which were only 40-100 and felt really stiff compared to the same tension round wounds. La Bella 760FL probably a decent middle of the road gauge, which handle being tuned down to E flat too. Don't know what they offer as an equivalent five string set tho.

[quote name='Chiliwailer' timestamp='1477502881' post='3162668'] I couldn't agree more, that's far from my kind of bass yet in the shop it really is breathtaking, looks stunning. And whilst I'm here, I've had two visits there in the past 3 weeks and have enjoyed both of them very much. First visit, I was there for nearly 2 hours I think, but ended up not buying the bass. Their response was very understanding, professional and welcoming. Yesterday I went to check out a different bass, which I bought (that makes 3 happy purchases from them now). I was mostly helped out by Marcus both times, who it was a pleasure to deal with. Ashley and Mark were also great to chat too. I like straight talking no nonsense shops, if I wanted people crawling up my backside and faking pleasantries I'd go to my local car dealership No complaints and I'd go back again without hesitation. [/quote] This is like my experience there too - i spent a good two hours there a week or so ago, trying out a secondhand bass and comparing it against my existing one. They were cool to let me get on with it, and even though i didn't end up buying it, it was time well spent. Marcus was helpful and happy to let me noodle away.

Im pretty sure he did have one that looked like that in a feature in Guitar and Bass Mag about 10 years ago. That's not hard proof that its the same one tho!

Yep i saw them about two years ago, and went along as a bit of a nostalgia thing with a mate. But with PRB on drums they were a proper kick-ass live band, and he in particular blew me away too. What a drummer. Looked like he was thoroughly enjoying himself too!

A 1996 US Fender P bass i owned for 10 years and did hundreds of gigs on. Best all round bass I ever owned, but got to be too heavy for me, and I had to part-ex it to afford a nice light Lull bass. The P was on the shop's website for about three weeks afterwards, taunting me every time i visited. It was a relief when someone actually bought it to put me out of my misery. Shame it had to go. We'd done a lot of gigs together.

Those T4s and T5s do look incredible. I've got a PJ4 and its lovely - regular precision bass size, but just a lot lighter and more ergonomic.

Some good stuff here - cheers. I think if i change the p/ups i'll get the wiring upgraded too. saying that, I'm quite liking the sound as it is at the moment so i'm just gonna get on with playing it.