TLDR: In search of my main recording bass. Dove into five Precisions and made some measurements, charts below.
Hey everyone,
So, a mate of mine suggested (probably as a tease, knowing him) that I throw my recent obsession onto basschat. Been neck-deep (pun intended) in specs of different P-Basses, and thought, why not. Might be fun to see what others think.
I’ve embarked on a quest to find a new bass that I can call my main, especially for recording. I want to downsize, so I’m being quite picky, particularly about the feel. I turned to the specs and made some measurements, focusing mainly on the neck to understand why some of them just click while others are meh. I’ve recently had the chance to compare five models: MIM Deluxe Active Special, MIM Classic 50s, Player, American Performer, and Professional II.
What really struck me was discovering that the Player and the Performer have very similar neck specs on paper. However, when I got my hands on the Performer, it surprisingly felt more akin to the Pro II neck. I'm wondering about the consistency between the US models (Performer, Pro II, Ultra even). I know for a fact the neck lottery is a standard "feature" on Gibson guitars...
Speaking of the Pro II, it’s a fantastic piece of craftsmanship overall, but the neck is quite chunky. It made me question whether all Pro IIs are like this or if it's a lottery as well. Anyone else have thoughts or experiences with the Pro II specifically?
The Deluxe Active Special has a Jazz neck. It’s pretty comfortable, and I tend to prefer slimmer, narrower necks. However, the rolled edges on the Pro II are something else; I wish that Jazz neck was finished like that.
Attached some graphs for y'all, hopefully useful for a few of you. Shoot if you have some insights!