NBD Fender P Lyte

[lel]

Well after having to sell my gear 3 years ago to fund other hobbies i'm back, and very rusty!

I came across this Fender on ebay and it rang all the right bells for me, i was originally looking at a Squier VM PJ but i'm not a huge fan of the colours (or lack of) so i had to have it.

It plays very nice indeed, the neck is slim and fast without feeling too small. The pickups are clear and the range of tone from the pre-amp is nice for someone like me who likes to play a wide range of genres. I absolutely love the fact it's quite similar to Duff's Jass Special which is a big deal for a massive GN'R fan like me!

It was obvious that it had been well used and slightly neglected, the strings must have been years old and i could write my name in the dust. A fresh set of rotosounds and a good thorough clean has gave it a new lease of life.

To say i'm very happy with it would be an understatement

[HowieBass]

Now that's a nice looking bass

[Lozz196]

I reckon with that new set of Rotos you can really coax some good Duff/GN`R tones from that lovely bass, congrats.

[Paul S]

Cracking basses - absolutely great necks - that looks a beauty.

[Chiliwailer]

Beauty, and just in time for November Rain...I'll get my coat....

[Lynottfan]

Fender P lyte was my first proper bass, has two at one point, a sunburst and the same colour as yours, great basses, nice and light but plenty of punch. Nice one mate.

[Geddys nose]

My first proper bass too, Same colour but gold hardware, Quite expensive when they came out £410 in 1989 As I remember.

Great necks and decent P/U's too.

[lel]

thank you's all!

It does indeed have some very convincing Duff tones, especially with a little bit of chorus dialed in.

I was thinking about changing the hardware to black but i'm a bit unsure of that now.

[theyellowcar]

Very nice! I always wondered what the 'Lyte' referred to - is it because it's a smaller body than a regular P?

[lel]

I believe it's slightly smaller but I'm not sure how much by, I haven't got a regular P to compare it to, yet!

[Paul S]

Yes, smaller - it is very approximately the size of a Strat, the upper horn finishes around where the 13th fret is. Headstock is also slightly smaller. Also made of very light wood. Mine weighs around 7.5lbs.

[lee4]

It's on my want list.
Looks perfect for a shortar*e with a bad back like me!

[JPJ]

I had a candy apple red one with the gold hardware. Was a lovely bass and covered the active sound perfectly (could sound like flea's modulus with a bit of careful eq'ing). I loved the neck but found it to be a little to 'flexible' for my tastes, requiring frequent setups to keep the action where I liked it. Great bass all the same and your shoulder will love you for buying it.

[lel]

i have a shoulder that likes to dislocate itself a lot so this is a very handy piece of kit to have


Last night i adjusted the P pickup, it's always had a bit of a boomy E and shallow A so the E side was dropped and the A side was raised. I now have even volume across all strings and no more mushy, boomy E. The rotosounds are coming off too seeing as the D and G are pretty much dead after about 3 hours use, don't know if i've got a bad set but the quality seems to have dropped since i last used them 3 years ago. EB nickel rounds have been ordered, I've never had nickels before so its trial and error to see if i like them.

[dudewheresmybass]

Contact their customer service- they are normally very helpful

Totally love my p lyte. Had it since new, and records really well. The skinny neck makes it a breeze to fly around on

Edited October 28, 2014 by dudewheresmybass

[Lenny B]

I got my Lyte in 1989, still playing it, great basses.
I read once that the bodies were made from spare strats, so laid my strat on top to measure and they are pretty much identical

Edited October 28, 2014 by Lenny B

[Simon.]

[color=#222222]Like [url="http://basschat.co.uk/user/176-geddys-nose/"][color=#282828]Geddys nose[/color][/url], my P Lyte was my first proper bass too! Got mine in 1989 as well, which looking through the thread, seems to have been a common year for them, although it's dated as an '86. Frost red with the gold hardware. I love mine - the light body and super skinny neck make it such an easy bass to play. I find it great for trying out chords, 2-handed tapping and general noodling. The only down side is a tendency to eat batteries. I did once read about a mod that could be done to replace one particular chip in the preamp which was responsible for the high power consumption, but have never actually managed to find out what the mod is.[/color]

[interpol52]

I had one of these in the mid nineties. I played it through a Trace rig. It was a great sounding setup. Did a gig once at The Duchess in Leeds and even the soundguys complimented the bass sound. That doesn't happen very often does it?!

[lel]

I didn't realise these were so popular, I honestly had never heard of a Precision Lyte until i saw this one on ebay


I'm really glad i bought it, i haven't been able to put it down! I laced up some EB nickel slinkys today and i must admit they're nowhere near as bright as the rotosounds (as expected) but the bottom end clarity has improved, the mushy E string problem i had has been solved which turned out to be the string not the P pickup height.

It has a real nice low end 'thump' now!

[TransistorBassMan]

I bought mine brand new in 1995. It's been my No1 bass ever since. Plays great, sounds great. And mine has never had that problem with battery consumption.

Edited October 31, 2014 by TransistorBassMan

[Painy]

As someone who was never much of a P bass fan, this was the exception for me. There was a gun metal grey one in the music shop next to the bus stop where I got off the bus coming home from school and I used to go in to play it on my way home from school about once a week. After a while the guy in the shop used to start getting it off the peg ready when he saw me at the door. Couldn't afford to buy it at the time but I did buy a cheap Aria Magna series from there which hopefully made up a bit for my being such a nuisance.

[spectoremg]

My first bass was one of these; the deluxe model with gold hardware and 3-band eq. You could get any tone you liked out of that bass and the small body was lovely. If you love the one you have now keep an eye out for one of these.

Edited October 4, 2015 by spectoremg

[Donnyboy]

Nice one lel - I'm sure you won't be disappointed - I had one similar but with the gold blingy hardware -

[lel]

thanks!

I've had it for a little while now and its pretty much perfect. I've strung it with some Dunlop nickels and its so punchy and versatile

[quote name='Donnyboy' timestamp='1417974441' post='2625654']
Nice one lel - I'm sure you won't be disappointed - I had one similar but with the gold blingy hardware -



[/quote].

i wish mine had the matching head, it really stands out!

[lel]

here is a photo of it beside my P for people asking about the body size difference