FENDER DELUXE P-BASS SPECIAL

[grayn]

FENDER DELUXE P-BASS SPECIAL

This is a Mexican made, Fender, active bass, with a 34 inch scale, a Precision bass body and a Jazz bass neck.
The neck and fretboard are of maple. It has 20, medium-jumbo frets and a modern-C profile.
The fretboard radius is 9.5 inches and the nut width: 1.5 inches.
The neck is a bolt-on (4) and the fret markers are black dots.
The alder wood body has a pearl blizzard finish, with a matt gold scratchplate.
The headstock is a standard precision shape, with standard open-gear chrome tuners.

There are 2 pickups. The bridge pickup is a Dual-Coil, Ceramic, Noiseless, Jazz Bass Bridge Pickup with Nickel Plated Pole Pieces. The middle pickup is a Standard, Vintage, Alnico, Split Single-Coil Precision Bass Pickup.
There are 4, chrome, knurled, control knobs: Master Volume, Dynamic (Pan) Control, 2 stacked knobs: Treble Boost/Cut & Bass Boost/Cut and lastly a Mid Boost/Cut.

The jack input is side mounted. The bridge is an American Vintage 4 Saddle Bass. The nut is synthetic bone (plastic).
The bass came with Fender USA Super Bass 7250ML, NPS, (.045 - 100) strings. And a deluxe gig bag.



I read somewhere that the US made Deluxe models have better pickups. They must be very good then, as these are very good performers indeed. With the full range of active controls and the 2 types of pickup, there’s pretty much any bass tone you want here. With that solid Fender construction and set up, this bass has a full range of tones, applicable to most settings.
I suppose this could be called a mid-priced bass guitar. And the set-up and finish is all you’d expect from that price range and more, I’d say. There is nothing flimsy or shoddy here. The neck is a joy to play and in my opinion, this bass punches above it’s weight.



This is a Fender. It is solid, reliable and very workmanlike. Take it on the road and you’ll not be let down. That’s what it was made for.
I’d tried out a Rickenbacker 4003, just before this bass. Now I know they are very different beasts but this bass, for me, won hands down. For versatility, quality and amazing value, I was seriously impressed. I’ve owned a Standard American Precision and a Fender Precision Lyte before. I’d have this, over those 2, good as they were. And that pearl blizzard body/gold scratchplate combination, make this a Fender to feast your eyes on.

[bigjohn]

Nice bass. I've got a passive one.

Do the US Deluxes have their own pickups then?

[gary mac]

Good review and glad to hear that you are enjoying the bass.

That's my American Deluxe on the left.

Edited January 3, 2011 by gary mac

[ras52]

[quote name='bigjohn' post='1076481' date='Jan 3 2011, 05:06 PM']Nice bass. I've got a passive one.[/quote]

Do they make a passive one at the moment? Scouring the Fender site I could only see this one...

[grayn]

[quote name='gary mac' post='1076613' date='Jan 3 2011, 07:42 PM']Good review and glad to hear that you are enjoying the bass.

That's my American Deluxe on the left.[/quote]

That looks a very cool bass, g.m.

I think the US model has a slightly wider nut.

If I was going to get another bass, I quite fancy the Fender Jaguar bass. The neck looks very similar to my bass and it's a real looker too. perhaps to many controls though.

[grayn]

[quote name='bigjohn' post='1076481' date='Jan 3 2011, 06:06 PM']Nice bass. I've got a passive one.

Do the US Deluxes have their own pickups then?[/quote]

I've not seen a passive one. I'm not usually bothered about active electrics, but they work very nicely on this bass.

I read somehwere, that the US version of my bass has different pickups but I can't confirm that.

I really like the mix of precision and jazz pickups. It gives you so much choice.
Having a pan control is excellent too. I like it, with about 2 thirds P. to 1 third Jazz.

[bigjohn]

[quote name='ras52' post='1076624' date='Jan 3 2011, 06:52 PM']Do they make a passive one at the moment? Scouring the Fender site I could only see this one...[/quote]

Not sure about that. I think the maybe the passive ones were FSRs... mine's an FSR matte black with an anodised aluminum (I think) plate. Lovely it is. And £800 when new in 2002.


[quote name='grayn' post='1077601' date='Jan 4 2011, 06:02 PM']I've not seen a passive one. I'm not usually bothered about active electrics, but they work very nicely on this bass.

I read somehwere, that the US version of my bass has different pickups but I can't confirm that.

I really like the mix of precision and jazz pickups. It gives you so much choice.
Having a pan control is excellent too. I like it, with about 2 thirds P. to 1 third Jazz. [/quote]

Unless the US deluxes had there own unique pups - these are the same. They do two variants of the noiseless jazz pups - a standard and a vintage. These might be the vintage whilst the US has the standard I suppose. Certainly the decal on these is vintage.

[Toasted]

If I got that bass I'd send it back.

[grayn]

[quote name='Toasted' post='1078626' date='Jan 5 2011, 03:48 PM']If I got that bass I'd send it back.

[/quote]

Well spotted, toatsed. I think that's some sort of glitch. Fortunately the reall thing doesn't have that

[groovebuster]

PANTS

[mel.creighton]

mine is perfect

[grenadilla]

Mine has grown on me. It does not have a shielding/buzz-hum . It has hot mids that ought to make it distinct in the band mix.