Linus27

Nice and good choice. Remember to post pictures when you get everything up and running.

That will be a nice bass if mine is anything to go by.

Yes, passive is an option by flicking the small switch. In passive mode, you only get volume, pickup pan and tone. In active mode, you get volume, pickup pan, tone, mids, bass and treble.

Here's a few pictures of my Fender Player ii Modified Active Precision in Metallic Forest Green. Despite it not really being the sort of bass I would gravitate towards, its actually a really fun bass to play and I'm super happy with it ...... for now (More on that later). I'm typically a fretless player, a Japanese Fender fanboy and a passive only snob. However, I was asked to play bass with a new artist and this included doing four shows at Glastonbury this year. I already had my gorgeous Fender Japan 60's Classic Precision which sounds and plays beautifully but because of the big occasion, I thought I better pick up a backup bass. I went back and forth from buying a Japanese Fender 62RI or 75RI Jazz, an American Vintage ii 54 Precision, a Japanese Stingray SR4 EX, a Fender Vintera ii Telecaster bass, a Squire 40th Anniversary Precision to sticking a fretted neck on one of my fretless basses. I had a week to go before heading to Glastonbury and the Fender Vintera ii Modified Active Precision in Metallic Forest Green was on my radar, not because I liked the look of the bass, I didn't because it wasn't a Japanese Fender but simply because I like the idea of a PJ configuration but more so that green is my favourite colour and a green bass would be my dream bass. I decided to head to Andertons to try a few basses out, probably with the intention of coming home with a Fender Vintera ii Telecaster bass as I liked the one I played when they first came out, I adore the look of them and it would make a fun and interesting back up. So I first tried one and mmm, yeah, I liked it again, but I didn't remember the neck to be this chunky or the bass to be this heavy so I had a slight doubt now. I then tried the American Vintage ii 54 Precision and what a bass. The tone, the playability, the build quality, it was simply on another level. I couldn't afford it but needed to make a decision so it was on the list and man maths was in full flow. I then tried the Fender Vintera ii Modified Active Precision, expecting it to be a bit nasty and I was massively surprised at how good it was. The neck was wonderful and the tone out of the box was really strong and punchy. I had no idea what half of the controls did and if I was in active or passive (I was in active) but it just sounded and played so good. My head was still doing man maths on convincing myself to buy the American Vintage ii 54 Precision and telling myself it's not a Japanese Fender but it was such a great bass that I couldn't fault it. As a reference, I tried a Fender Standard Jazz and it lasted less than a minute, it was horrible. Thankfully my wife was with me and she has amazing logic and reasoning and basically decided for me. If the artist I'm playing with at Glastonbury goes on and does a lot more afterwards then that's justification to trade up or buy the American Vintage ii 54 Precision but for now, it's not the time. Not the answer I wanted but I knew it was the smart decision. Don't buy a Stingray, you always sell them and never happy with them. Harsh but fair. The Telecaster bass is ugly (her opinion, not mine) but is heavy, chunky, I'll probably never play it when I have my Japanese Fender Precision which is fabulous and I'll get fed up lugging it about and never playing it. She's right .... again. That left the Fender Vintera ii Modified Active Precision which she said sounded really good but it would make a great bass for what I need right now, could be good enough as a fun alternative but could also easily be sold if things go no further or traded in for the American Vintage ii 54 Precision if they do. So that was that, a decision was made. So here it is and isn't she a beauty. The funny thing is, after all of this, it was decided not to take two basses to Glastonbury as space was premium and I just took my Japanese Fender Precision in the end which performed magnificently. Either way, I have no doubts and I'm super happy I still bought it. I did struggle a little to get a tone I was happy with but changing to a set of light gauge LaBella Deep Talkin flats pretty much fixed that. However, it looks like the artist I played Glastonbury with is going to go further so the American Vintage ii 54 Precision is still on the cards. However, I have plans for the Fender Vintera ii Modified Active Precision but we will save that for another post when the time comes. For now, here's some pictures along with my Japanese Fender 60's Classic Precision.

I played through an old Trace Elliot GP7 combo at Glastonbury this year. I was so excited to see it on stage and it sounded absolutely incredible.

Just goes to show how much I know, I said to the wife, that's a Fender Jazz Marcus Miller bass, really nice bass but didn't really realise they were out in 1985. She said, it looked really new so maybe they'd just come out. Didn't realise it was actually Marcus Miller playing 😆

No worries, I was interested as I believe you and I live in roughly the same area and the way you described the drummer reminded me of someone who I was wondering if it's the same person. More recently he was playing in a really good female fronted 3 piece playing 80's covers.

Can you say what band?

Another vote for Bartolini Originals. Best pickups I've ever used.

I wouldn't say fretless sounds dated. Pino obviously has his sound which he's showcasing here but in the hands of another player, its going to sound totally different.

Yeah, that's actually a good point, they don't really go in for the signature models as much.

As a fretless player, Pino and then later on John Giblin were my hero's when I was learning bass and I've even had punters say my playing is similar or they can tell the influence. I've had fretted and fretless Stingray's in the past and I really struggle to get on with them. The fretless worked the best for me and despite sounding great, played great with incredible build quality, when I pick up a fretless Jazz, it just sings more and suits me better. I am simply more comfortable and creative with a fretless jazz. I still wouldn't say no to one of the cheaper fretless Pino Stingrays as they are going to be wonderful basses but its not something I am willing to spend £3.5k on. The fact EBMM have released these bases, despite being between 20-40 years too late is a huge positive as they will be out in the field and available second hand which is when I may go for one.

Amazing, thank you

I've just bought a Fender Player II Active Modified Precision in Forest Green and I must say, its beautiful. It plays really well, is very well built for a Mexican bass and does sound quite punchy. I've changed the strings to a set of La Bella Deep Talkin flats and it has improved the tone. Not sure I'm fully settled on these strings for this bass so we will see but my only minor gripe is the pickups sound a little thin, certainly compared to my other PJ and P-Bass. So I'm toying with the idea of upgrading the pickups. As the bass is active and passive, the pre-amp is quite detailed with a volume, pickup pan and tone in passive mode and volume, pickup pan, tone, mid cut/boost, bass cut/boost, treble cut/boost along with a active/passive switch. It also runs on 18v. So my question is, can I just leave the pre-amp alone and change to any PJ pickups of my choice or do I need to find a set of pickups that can be used with the pre-amp and the 18v power?

My mind is made up, this will suit my band no end and allow for more creativity. I can get rid of my Octave pedal and use this as well as some of the other presets and features. I'm sold, take my money 😆

Me neither 😆

I think the only difference between the V1 and V2 is the mute button and the dimmable blue colour light strip along the front.

All of our gigs were in the Greenfields area apart from one which was on the main drag down to the West Holt stage I think. We played at 12pm, 2pm and 5pm and for all four gigs, we played to probably anything from 100 people to a couple of hundred people. Our guitarist quickly counted on one of our gigs and there were about 60 inside the tent and a further 100 sitting outside on the benches or the grass listening. I witnessed on most of the larger stages and tents, there was a very large crowd watching that could range from a a few thousand to 10's of thousands, depending on the artist and the time of day. For some artists, the crowds were so large, for example Kneecap and Tom Odell, they had to close access as there were simply too many people wanting to watch. Some of the smaller fringe tents did suffer from only a handful of people watching but this could depend on the time they were playing, the music they were playing, the quality of their playing and if anyone big was playing elsewhere. For example, one of stages we played at, we played at 12pm and had a couple of hundred watching, however, if we played at 5pm, it would of been anything like 500 plus.

I pretty much solely play Fender basses and have had high end American Vintage, Standard US, Japanese and Mexican Fender basses over the last 40 years. As already said, it can be a hit or miss across the board but personal choice is that the Japanese Fender basses are the very best at playability and quality. However, you need to pick the right ones. Japanese basses made in the 80's are consistently incredible, certainly with Ash and Alder bodies, US hardware including pickups. They feel and play like a really good original vintage American Fender bass and are sublime to play. I have two and they are amazing with so much mojo. Saying that, some of the more modern Japanese Fender's made with basswood and non US hardware are not so good and seem thin and lacking to me. I personally would not touch them. I also had a Mexican 70's Classic Jazz that came out around 2008 I think and that was one of the nicest Jazz basses I ever played and I really wished I'd kept it. I also have just picked up a Mexican Player II Modified Active PJ and that is really nice. Superb quality and plays very nice but I do have a few doubts on the pickups sounding a bit thin. I've also played and toyed with the idea of getting the Mexican Telecaster bass as the ones I have played have all been excellent for the money. I would happily say, the Mexican Fender basses are superb these days, especially the more high end, signature and re-issue models. I've also had many US made Fender basses and I found the standard US basses to be ok but nothing special. Clinical and a bit lifeless but good quality and functional. I've also had two 75 AVRI basses and one was out of this world and the other was dull and lifeless with no personality. I also recently played the AVRI II 54 P-Bass and that was really special. Sounded fabulous and the quality was on another level. It is on my list of basses to buy at some point.

I have no idea, I just know my wife likes Marilyn Manson, Linkin Park, 90's grunge and dance. Some of the jazz I've played her she has liked and some has just been disjointed noise. I suspect this might be the latter. Not sure if that answers your question.

I've got tickets and really can't wait. Not sure my wife is going to enjoy it though, I think the level of musicianship will go totally over her head 😆

So an update on these questions. It's too early to say and I'm not in a position to say because I only joined the band a few months ago. The main person in the band, Andrew who's band it is and named after, spotted me at a gig and basically said he needs me in his band, approached me and here I am. However, I am just his bassist and no more. Andrew has however played Glastonbury for about the last 13-15 years and has supported Marrilion, released albums and written music for TV and adverts. That is as much as I know. So financially I can't say but from what I know artists do have to pay for tickets (I didn't) and Andrew did but I'm not sure if he gets any for free or reduced rates. I don't know if every artist has to or if it's just the smaller artists. Maybe the big named artists do as well but I really don't know what their arrangement is with the organisers and getting to play. We did however get treated very well as an artist and get ferried about, fed with our own facilities. In regards to playing 4 shows, we were offered these slots but possibly due to Andrew's contacts. Next time in 2027 if we play, we are aiming for the Greenpeace stage. We sold a few vinyl records but to be honest, nobody wants to carry a vinyl record around with them all day, plus we saw no band, small or large selling any merchandise, it was only the official Glastonbury T-shirts that were for sale.

Amazing thank you. It was super cool to find an old Trace Elliot GP7 combo on stage for me to use. It sounded fab.

I've just got back and I must say it was super enjoyable. It was my first Glastonbury but I was also playing 4 shows so slightly different being there as an artist rather than a member of the public. We did get ferried in and out, fed and in a quiet camping area with only about 20 tents. I will also say our facilities were ace with soap, running water, sinks, toilet paper and food and drinks. Highlights for me were Ash, The Script, Alanis Morissette, Cliffords and Badbadnotgood. Neil Young was also really good, just for his band and the guitar shredding. The best though was a band called The Coronas, they were absolutely incredible. Also watched Alessi Rose and despite not being my thing, she was very good. Her bassist was using a black Fodera. Also saw Tom Odell and again, not my thing but very good. Watched a bit of Kneecap which was interesting and then they sat near our tents today so had a chat with them. Our drummer went to see Biffy Clyro and said they were his highlight and Weezer was also really good according to our guitarist. The worst was 1975, absolutely dreadful and people were walking out. They were so bland and a cross between background music and Busted. Pulp were a bit boring but I've never been a fan so probably wasted on me. The ones I did know were good and Jarvis Cocker is an awesome frontman. Haim were also really disappointing. As for the flags, every other flag was a Palestinian one and it became a bit of a running joke as so many artists were making a statement at some point during their set.

Thank you very much 🙂