thegummy

[quote name='kodiakblair' timestamp='1480979530' post='3188776']
Well the necks on Mexican Fenders are made at the Corona factory so they're nearly 50% USA built as is [/quote]

See I don't actually care about the country it's made in. To me that seems like some deep rooted American nationalism to assume that being made in that country is itself going to make something superior. Of course, that would make no sense to me being from the same country as you.

If Fender made both their lower end range and their higher end range in Mexico (or both in America) I'd still have went for the one that's currently known as the American Standard.

[quote]"Rolled edges" ? Don't see that as a major factor to aid bass playing and £250 for an extra pass with the router seems a tad excessive.
Still if it works for you, then it works for you.
[/quote]

You tried the American ones? The rolled edge neck definitely feels nice. £250 is a huge amount just for that difference; I'm not saying not to upgrade a Mexi to save money over an American. In fact, I'm going to buy a P shortly and not going for the American. I'm going for a 50s MiM model and I don't actually know if the neck is rolled or not so it's obviously not a deal breaker for me but my strat's rolled edges undoubtedly feel nicer than a non-rolled strat neck.

[quote name='kodiakblair' timestamp='1480976218' post='3188725']
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]£600 for MIM Standard P-bass, £99 for CS pickup. Plenty change left to try tuners and bridges.[/font][/color]
[/quote]

I went through the comparison in my head many times before purchasing a Strat a few weeks ago. Once you do change the pickups, tuners and bridge then you're getting close to what you get from the American Standard minus the rolled fretboard. But you're also getting closer to the price (of the old Am Std, not these new Pros).

For the Strat, once I added pickups, tuners and tremolo, the Mexi was about 100 quid less than the American but with the American I got rolled fretboard, much nicer colour (purely IMO of course) and as an added bonus a very nice hard case where I don't think the Mexi even comes with a gig bag. Also the prestige from having the American one which may be silly to some people and doesn't really mean anything in reality but is undeniably something a lot of people feel.

For the P Bass where the pickup is a lot cheaper, there's a bigger difference - something like 250 which is a lot of money, though you still don't get the rolled edges.

My point was really that it's an exaggeration to say that a "good" Mexi is better than a "bad" American. Unless it has some rare serious manufacturing defect, the American is going to be better.

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1480974986' post='3188701']
Massive neck pocket, pickup routes too big for the pickups, pickups not screwed in the right place within the route, loose pots, poor paint finish, bad fretwork, all things I've seen on US fenders and I say this as a Fender fan,owner and regular user of their products!
[/quote]

I've only played a handful of Americans but never seen any of those, would be very disappointed if I found that.

Having said that, other than the poor fretwork, none of those would make it worse than a Mexican. I'd rather have a bit of space around the CS pickup (that you can't see under the pickguard anyway) than a snugly fitting standard ceramic pickup for example

[quote name='rhcp128' timestamp='1480974378' post='3188683']
I am sure these are lovely basses, but they seem extremely similar to the outgoing US standards and that's one hell of a price...
[/quote]

What was the post-Brexit price of the Am Std before the end-of-line discounts?

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1480964310' post='3188500']
The thing with Fenders is a good mex is better than a bad US, heck even a good squier is better than a bad US, a good US is a nice thing to own IME though.
[/quote]

The "bad US" is still going to have custom shop pickups compared to the mexi's bottom of the line ceramic ones. It's still going to have higher quality tremolo and tuners (and I think maybe nut) and rolled edges on the fretboard. What would it be about the US model that made it bad?

[quote name='Numerov' timestamp='1480966364' post='3188519']
I have read that in the [i]The Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar Bass® Special SS (Short Scale) the output of the P pickup is [/i]6.54K and the J bridge pickup is 4.65K.
I do find the P bass sound is definitely in charge with both pickups at 100%
Ideally should the outputs of these 2 pickups be more closely balanced to get more tonal variety?

Also I would prefer pickups hotter than these.

Anyone out there who can advise on the ideal balance between these 2 pickups and how hot you can go without sacrificing tone and character?

Thanks!
[/quote]

Just turn the amp up?

[quote name='Tee' timestamp='1480947046' post='3188273']
I guess as this is not the 'Standard range' anymore, rather 'Elite' like 'Deluxe' etc, hence new noiseless pickups.
[/quote]

Is this range replacing the American Standard or in addition to?

Can't believe you were even considering a bass that didn't match your living room furniture

It's annoying that there seems to be nothing on the fender website about these. Or am I not looking right?

P.s. The sonic grey jazz is a thing of beauty

If you think you might get into bass and buy more in future, I'd say get a P rather than PJ. One you have an actual jazz you'll wish the pj was just a real p

[quote name='gareth' timestamp='1480877091' post='3187759']
honey blonde is my fav finsh. Single ply solid white wud look great and is one if the cheapest they do
[/quote]

Man I've been pretty set on tort for months but the white looks amazing

Even better, they have a 4-ply version that won't have that translucent problem.

I wonder how the Tort/mint green/black/mint green will look on a Honey Blonde bass

[quote name='gareth' timestamp='1480870283' post='3187686']
try WD UK then

[url="http://www.wdmusic.co.uk/pickguards-c62/fender-basses-c111/precision-bass-50s-road-worn-series-c311"]http://www.wdmusic.c...orn-series-c311[/url]
[/quote]

Oh weird, I went on the UK site before but when I clicked buy it was still charging the extortionate international shipping. I must have clicked something wrong.

Thanks for making me look again!

[quote name='Numerov' timestamp='1480866765' post='3187652']
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]3. On the long scale version would it be possible to add a physical switch on the body of the bass that would switch on the active pre-amp or switch it off completely to allow passive mode use even if there was no battery inside the instrument?[/font][/color]
[/quote]

Never actually worked with active circuitry but it sounds like a very easy mod to make.

You could just remove the active preamp completely

I bought some screw extractor drill bits. You're supposed to drill a hole in the screw with one end then flip it round and use the reverse thread to take out the screw but that wasn't working for me so i tried reverse drilling with the drill end and it came out! So good to have it out!

[quote name='gareth' timestamp='1480854736' post='3187543']
I think that fender only do the anodised on in a 10 hole so you have to go to WD who do the 10 hole in other colours
[/quote]

WD would cost about 160 quid including shipping and even worse it is translucent so you can see the control cavity through it

[quote name='AlpherMako5' timestamp='1480814606' post='3187331']
Definitely a different colour scratch plate. Possibly some Aguilar pick ups but these are fine.
[/quote]

Nice man.

I was initially pining for a honey blonde 50s to which I'd add a tort pickguard but it seems nigh impossible to get a guard that will fit so thinking I'll go for that black/maple Standard and get a black pickguard and replace the pickups with BKPs

Nice one. Think I might be buying that exact one soon.

Any mods planned?

Anyone know where to get a tort 10-hole P-Bass pickguard that fits the 50s Precision?

Can only find an American site WD Music. Can't see any Fender ones or any in the UK at all.

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1480353115' post='3183629']
Can't Fender US start making more inventive shades?

That looks awesome!
[/quote]

That new American Pro range has a colour - Sonic Grey - and mannnnn it is beautiful.

Annoying that the Fender website (which is dreadful anyway) doesn't have any info about the Pros

[quote name='Mattmit' timestamp='1480715858' post='3186757']
. I expect people all experience glossy finishes differently. They don't feel bad to me, I had a glossy bass [b]before I knew it was considered an issue[/b]. satin does feel smoother though, no denying it.
[/quote]

See I think that may well be the thing here.

In general I don't think trying an instrument in a shop for 15 minutes is that effective for finding out how good it'll be in the long term. I wasn't just playing it naturally and the gloss was an obstacle, I was purposely trying to inspect various elements of it and glossy necks being possibly problematic is one of the things that I was considering.

It was when I realised my favourite guitar had a glossy neck all along and I never even thought about it I realised I might be fine with it.

Plus, I really really want this specific bass lol

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1480713833' post='3186732']
You can solve the glossy neck easily with some wire wool
[/quote]

I like how often this is mentioned. Gives me confidence to buy the 50s P I so desire, safe in the knowledge that if the glossy neck annoys me there's a fix

[quote name='Numerov' timestamp='1480713235' post='3186719']
I tried out a Squier Vintage Modified Precision PJ bass today.
Definitely a well-made instrument.
Wasn't keen on the glossy neck.
Don't know if this was because of a bad setup but with both the p and j pickups on full - to my ears there was only a subtle difference in tone.

I've seen youtube videos with both Squier infinity and Vintage modified precision PJ bass where with pickups on full there was a definite difference in tone.
Would I be be better off trying to buy an Infinity PJ second hand at the best possible price and then do pickup upgrades if I'm not happy?
Something like an EMG set can be had for £140 and a Bare Knuckles set for £160.
Getting them fitted would cost me £40-£50.

If I could get the Affinity PJ for say £120 - would the approximately £320 total outlay give me a better sound than a new Vintage Modified PJ for around the same money?
[/quote]

I suppose only you'd know if you were happy with the feel of it. I'd personally stay well clear of Affinity, those are the proper cheapo Argos ones. Some may think that's ignorant of me and they may be right but I wouldn't buy one.

Aside from the pickups, they will have cheapo tuners and bridge.

Don't sleep on the Yamaha BB424 suggestion, they're £340 brand new. Never played one myself but they're highly regarded and cheap Yamahas are generally very good for the price

Something I've found from buying basses/guitars is that compromises never really work and there's rarely a "best of both worlds" option.

Even if you turn the bridge pickup's volume all the way off, the P pickup isn't in the same position as it is on just a P, it's closer to the neck to make room for the bridge pickup

I'm watching Jools Holland and just as I read this thread an act came on playing a honeyburst MM. Very good looking bass. It's such a shame when companies discontinue good products.