US Fender Playability?

[bubinga5]

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1357655661' post='1926070']
Not necessarily. Mass production doesn't appeal to everyone. It's not always about making mega bucks. It is actually sometimes about making the best guitars that you can which is how Leo started out, although he did turn to labour division and machines to increase production which is how it all starts to go horribly wrong. imo!
[/quote]i cant see your view that it went horribly wrong..? tell that to the millions of people who made hit records and the other people who enjoyed those hit records who played on Fenders... dont get me wrong, i love boutique built instruments, but there only so much engineering that can go into a bass guitar when it comes to sound.... boutique instruments were never meant for the hearing public i guess, there for the player... lets face it its about the music, not the instrument


. love your instruments by the way...

Edited January 8, 2013 by bubinga5

[spongebob]

I've got a 2012 P, and it's a fantastic instrument.

Only had one US P before, and that was equally great - stupidly sold it, only to be replaced with the above!

Also had a US Jazz (had to sell due to medical finger-based fretboard radius issue.....!) which I loved.

As you can tell, this is a positive post - I for one have had an excellent time with US Fenders!

In fact, compared to my experience with Rics (which I still love despite my numerous 'build' issues) Fender have been the opposite. Excellent from straight out of the box, playing and sounding like a dream.

[ambient]

I own 2 Fender basses, both USA basses and I think they're excellent instruments.

What bass would have great playability after being shipped halfway across the world, spending probably weeks inside a container onboard a ship, without a decent setup and maybe new strings ?

I know what producers, engineers, MD's and bandleaders like to see, and it's not some strange shaped, pointy thing looking like a conservationists nightmare.

Any bass can be setup to play and sound good, I've played Squire basses that sound and play amazing, with stock hardware and electronics, (that's another thing, people spending a fortune on replacement pickups....why, can they hear the difference when playing live ?)

I only joined here a couple of days ago, but I can't believe how obsessed with gear everyone is. It's the player, not the bass. One of my tutors at ICMP told us a story a while back, something about Jaco and a fan who was raving about the sound of Jaco's beat up fretless '62 jazz bass. Jaco took off his bass, leant it against his amp and said something like "does it still sound amazing now ?".

Edited January 8, 2013 by ambient

[Black Coffee]

[quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1357651011' post='1925951']


I don't think this is accurate in any way shape or form. This post, to me, says more about the poster than the reality of the situation.
[/quote]
Does it make it wrong though?
I know i had a dreadful car.
Sorry im a disappointment to you.......

[White Cloud]

The last Fender I bought was about 5 yrs ago or so for a gig that required it.

I set out to buy a new US P bass, but once in the shop I tried all four new US models in stock and compared them with two highway 1 P's & out of interest a used mexican classic 50's fiesta red P. To my utter surprise the classic 50's P blew the rest away. The US P's were set up like dogs and the highway 1's werent much better.

I bought the 50's classic and for £290 it did me a real turn. Despite having a neck pocket that was slighly oversized it was really quite a good workhorse.

The nicest P bass I have ever played was a Lakland Bob Glaub....lighweight, killer tone, amazing neck, faultless construction/fret job.

What else is there?

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1357596210' post='1925228']
Find a bass [i]you [/i]like and forget names and image.
[/quote]
Yes, I did exactly that and it's a Fender.

[Musicman20]

[quote name='kerley' timestamp='1357654213' post='1926047']


Good point. The argument trotted out many a time is that we must use the bricks and mortar shops otherwise they will dissappear. However, the shops may not be helping their cause if they remove the main reason for going to a shop (i.e. play before you buy)
[/quote]

I agee in a way, but its inevitable that eventually most normal guitar shops will either change their presence and have a better online presence, or just go out of business.

It's not the fault of those who buy from the big box shifters! It was inevitable as its happening to virtually every industry. It's a modern world. If they don't adapt, they have themselves to blame. Again, this is happening in many industries!

Edited January 8, 2013 by Musicman20

[Hank]

I own a usa P bass with the S1 switch and its great, I love it. However many years ago before I owned the usa (my bass at the time was a Squier P bought new in 97) I was in a guitar shop on the look out to buy a new amp.
The guy in the shop asked what type of bass I played, I just said a precision and he handed me a usa p. Plugged it in for me and I thought Yes here we go. It was terrible, to my hands anyway. I was really disappointed that I'd got my hands on a usa p and it felt rubbish. I asked if I could try something else and tried a usa jazz which was miles better but the neck was too thin for my liking so tried a mexican p which was no where near as good as the jazz but better than the usa p.

I then saw this red bass, I thought it was a really ugly bass(just my taste-sorry) but thought i'd try it anyway. It was amazing better than all the others but maybe just edged by the jazz. There was no price on it so I thought this one must be really expensive. At the time I had no idea about this brand of guitars so I asked the guy how much it was. He said he didn't know but he'd go and find out. I thought "I'm right, its gonna be pricey. He returned and it turned out it was an Ibanez gsr 200 at £179. Ha I nearly fell off the stool.

Eventually I guess I got lucky and bought a usa p off ebay without trying it first. I have had a few back up basses but no only have the usa as not been playing bass so much recently. The two best back ups I had were a 51 reissue and a Squier classic vibe 60's p. The fiesta red one if anyone is interested. Tried some jazzes and even tried a Hofner bass. Think i'm gonna get another classic vibe p as back up now i'm playing more bass again.

H

[kerley]

I am pretty sure that if you took a Classic Vibe and replaced the word Squier with Fender and put a Made in USA sticker on it people woudl think the bass was worth £600.

As I am not a nationalistic American I don't care if an American or a Chinese person made the thing and not sure why having it made in America is such a big deal. Manufacturing and QC are the same all over the world and if the processes in a Chinese factory are better than those in an American factory the better bass will be the Chinese one (assuming parts used are the same)

[6v6]

[quote name='kerley' timestamp='1357716878' post='1927045']
I am pretty sure that if you took a Classic Vibe and replaced the word Squier with Fender and put a Made in USA sticker on it people woudl think the bass was worth £600.

As I am not a nationalistic American I don't care if an American or a Chinese person made the thing and not sure why having it made in America is such a big deal. Manufacturing and QC are the same all over the world and if the processes in a Chinese factory are better than those in an American factory the better bass will be the Chinese one (assuming parts used are the same)
[/quote]

Well it's largely a historical thing isn't it - the quality of far-eastern manufactured instruments has improved dramatically over the last few years, and whereas previously USA == good QC, skilled workers, premium materials, and China == less-good QC, unskilled workers, budget materials, nowadays this is no longer true, so it seems the country of origin has much less relevance as a metric for evaluating the quality of the finished product than it once did.

[6v6]

[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1357673705' post='1926537']
The nicest P bass I have ever played was a Lakland Bob Glaub....lighweight, killer tone, amazing neck, faultless construction/fret job.

What else is there?
[/quote]

I keep reading this - I wish there was somewhere I could try one - don't seem to be able to find anywhere which stocks them (apart from GuitarGuitar who don't have any of the 44-64 models in stock).

I've also seen hardly any available used. I guess that tells you something..

[Hank]

I did gig my classic vibe ahead of my usa on a number of occasions.

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='kerley' timestamp='1357716878' post='1927045']
Manufacturing and QC are the same all over the world and if the processes in a Chinese factory are better than those in an American factory the better bass will be the Chinese one (assuming parts used are the same)
[/quote]

Thats why they put better parts in the USA ones. Otherwise nobody would buy them.

[LiamPodmore]

[quote name='Hank' timestamp='1357685612' post='1926901']
I then saw this red bass, I thought it was a really ugly bass(just my taste-sorry) but thought i'd try it anyway. It was amazing better than all the others but maybe just edged by the jazz. There was no price on it so I thought this one must be really expensive. At the time I had no idea about this brand of guitars so I asked the guy how much it was. He said he didn't know but he'd go and find out. I thought "I'm right, its gonna be pricey. He returned and it turned out it was an Ibanez gsr 200 at £179. Ha I nearly fell off the stool.
n.

H
[/quote]

I had a GSR200 as my first proper (Not dying) bass and i still love it 5 years later. They're incredibly robust, and with a good setup, as you say, they play extremely well. Mine's taken a hell of a beating and it's still going (Albeit now a completely passive P/J covered in permanent marker, but it still works!)

I haven't played many US Fenders, though the one's i have tried haven't been too bad at all. Not as good as my Japanese Fender does, but i've had a year to adjust to that and adjust it to my tastes a lot more, which obviously helps, plus the monstrous sound the EMG pickup has. I wasn't even after a Fender when i bought it either, was just given a good deal on a bass i knew played and sounded good. Although i prefer MM nowadays (After playing a few) i'm still keeping hold of my trusty Precision. Must admit i want a Squier VM Jazz in Natural though, played one in Dawsons and it was just luurvelllllyyy.

Liam

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited February 16, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Musicman20]

Agreed, the P5 I played was lovely.

[peteb]

[quote name='lettsguitars' timestamp='1357596210' post='1925228']
Dont listen to em mate. Find a bass [i]you [/i]like and forget names and image. I would say it's a status thing but that would just confuse everybody
[/quote]

In an ideal world you are, of course quite right, but……

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1357666082' post='1926343']
I know what producers, engineers, MD's and bandleaders like to see, and it's not some strange shaped, pointy thing looking like a conservationists nightmare.

[/quote]

Unfortunately the above is true!

Image is important, like it or not, and in many genres plenty of bandleaders, producers and especially punters think that an electric bass should look like and (to a lesser extent) sound like a Fender....!

Edited January 9, 2013 by peteb

[peteb]

[color=#222222]To be honest, I have a strange relationship with Fender basses and I don’t think that I am alone in that! [/color]

[color=#222222]When I was younger I had a few Precisions, but I always found that I changed bridges, p/ups, etc to get them to be something like I wanted. Eventually I moved onto more modern designs and ended up playing Warwicks in rock bands quite happily for many years. Then, I got a gig playing in a really good blues band where the Warwick just looked plain wrong! Therefore I got a good quality Jazz clone (Mayones) that played and sounded great, after I had worked on it fora bit (new bridge & p/ups, etc of course)! :-) [/color]

[color=#222222]Then I made the mistake of getting a s/h USA Jazz Bass as a spare. I have to confess that I chose it partly out of sentiment, as it was virtually identical to the bass in a music shop window that I always wanted as a kid when I first started playing (not many other brands can have that sort of appeal). However, I very quickly found out that there were significant issues with it – I couldn’t get a low enough action and there was something about it that just didn’t sound right.[/color]

[color=#222222]However, the bandleader immediately wanted me to use it all the time, saying that it sounded better than the Mayones when it certainly didn't. Eventually I sorted the problems out; getting the frets dressed, changing the pickups, installing an active circuit and putting on a new bridge (it turned out that the main problem with it was that the original factory installed bridge had been fitted badly). It sounded ace, but obviously completely different from how it was when I first got it. The bandleader still thought it was somehow better than the Mayones (it isn’t).[/color]

[color=#222222]I am pretty sure that the only reason that he was so keen on me using it all the time is because it had ‘Fender’ written on the headstock…..[/color]

Edited January 9, 2013 by peteb

[The Dark Lord]

[quote name='iceonaboy' timestamp='1358102149' post='1933172']
There seems to be a lot of Fender haters on here, but I absolutely love my American Precision. The action on these guitars is always high at first. You have to play a guitar in, before you can lower the action so whats the problem?
[/quote]

Yep. Funny how we don't complain about their Fender copies.

[merello]

Pick it up. Play it. Like it. Buy it. Play it until you are sick of it. Sell it. Look for new one. Pick it up. Play it. Like it. Buy it. Play it until you are sick of it. Sell it. Look for new one.Pick it up. Play it. Like it. Buy it. Play it until you are sick of it. Sell it. Look for new one.Pick it up. Play it. Like it. Buy it. Play it until you are sick of it. Sell it. Look for new one.Pick it up. Play it. Like it. Buy it. Play it until you are sick of it. Sell it. Look for new one.Pick it up. Play it. Like it. Buy it. Play it until you are sick of it. Sell it. Look for new one.Pick it up. Play it. Like it. Buy it. Play it until you are sick of it. Sell it. Look for new one.Pick it up. Play it. Like it. Buy it. Play it until you are sick of it. Sell it. Look for new one. ....It's the Circle of Basssssssss!

[spongebob]

[quote name='merello' timestamp='1358105701' post='1933261']
Pick it up. Play it. Like it. Buy it. Play it until you are sick of it. Sell it. Look for new one. Pick it up. Play it. Like it. Buy it. Play it until you are sick of it. Sell it. Look for new one.Pick it up. Play it. Like it. Buy it. Play it until you are sick of it. Sell it. Look for new one.Pick it up. Play it. Like it. Buy it. Play it until you are sick of it. Sell it. Look for new one.Pick it up. Play it. Like it. Buy it. Play it until you are sick of it. Sell it. Look for new one.Pick it up. Play it. Like it. Buy it. Play it until you are sick of it. Sell it. Look for new one.Pick it up. Play it. Like it. Buy it. Play it until you are sick of it. Sell it. Look for new one.Pick it up. Play it. Like it. Buy it. Play it until you are sick of it. Sell it. Look for new one. ....It's the Circle of Basssssssss!
[/quote]

.....and end up back where you started!

[jackers]

[quote name='spongebob' timestamp='1358183249' post='1934437']
.....and end up back where you started!
[/quote]

with a P-bass....

[6v6]

[quote name='iceonaboy' timestamp='1358102149' post='1933172']
There seems to be a lot of Fender haters on here, but I absolutely love my American Precision. The action on these guitars is always high at first. You have to play a guitar in, before you can lower the action so whats the problem?
[/quote]

This is not true - all of the USA precisions I played (as mentioned in my OP) needed at the least a trip to a luthier to re-cut the nut, and since the action was so high there is no way to tell if they would also need fret-levelling too.

So "the problem" is that after playing in the instrument you paid £££s for, you would most likely be in line for a £100+ bill from a luthier to do what arguably they should've done in the factory.

FWIW, I'm definitely not a "Fender hater", I have owned many Fender guitars (I come from a 6-string background) over the years, in-fact I still own three, two MIA strats and a MIJ Tele. None of the 6-string Fenders I've tried over the years had setup issues to the same degree as the P-basses I tried, maybe I was just unlucky or need to try a different shop.

[Lord Sausage]

I've got a CIJ 62 reissue Fretless Jazz. It's beautiful and plays and sounds beautiful. I took it to a shop for a set up. When i returned to pick it up the bass tutor at the shop was playing it, which pissed me off to be honest. He told me that he had a MIA version, whether he meant the same model or just an MIA jazz i don't know, but he said that mine was much better than his and in his opinion CIJ's were better than MIA. Having never played an MIA i couldn't vouch for it but i was glas mine was better. Especially how he was playing it.....twat!