The joy of the P

[Lozz196]

3 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

They were making US Standards in 2016 with the CS pickups. 

Yeah I can never remember fully if it’s 12-15 or 13-16 as I’ve had basses from all those years that were US Standards with CS pickups. Probably Fenders usual crossovers as I’ve also got a US Professional 1 from 2016.

[FinnDave]

Reading this thread is not good for my financial stability! My favourite bass is the olympic white 2012 US Standard Precision I have had since 2013. A perfect bass that just feels like it's part of me. 

So why on earth did I start looking at ads for similar basses? And when I saw a lovely 2010 US Standard in sunburst, rosewood & tort, I couldn't get the damn thing out of my head. Then I noticed that the seller was open to offers, so of course I had to find out how low he'd go…and before I know it, I've paid for it and it should be here next week. I checked the specs on the Fender serial number look up and they have everything except the colours in common.

That's three Precisions I've bought in the last 4 weeks or so!

Edited June 4, 2022 by FinnDave

[ezbass]

7 minutes ago, FinnDave said:

Read this thread is not good for my financial stability! My favourite bass is the olympic white 2012 US Standard Precision I have had since 2013. A perfect bass that just feels like it's part of me. 

So why on earth did I start looking at ads for similar basses? And when I saw a lovely 2010 US Standard in sunburst, rosewood & tort, I couldn't get the damn thing out of my head. Then I noticed that the seller was open to offers, so of course I had to find out how low he'd go…and before I know it, I've paid for it and it should be here next week. I checked the specs on the Fender serial number look up and they have everything except the colours in common.

That's three Precisions I've bought in the last 4 weeks or so!

There seems to be another thread you might want to add to (if you haven’t already).

 

[Bunion]

15 minutes ago, FinnDave said:

That's three Precisions I've bought in the last 4 weeks or so!

A couple more and you’ll have enough for a ‘pod’

[thewebow]

15 minutes ago, FinnDave said:

Read this thread is not good for my financial stability! My favourite bass is the olympic white 2012 US Standard Precision I have had since 2013. A perfect bass that just feels like it's part of me. 

So why on earth did I start looking at ads for similar basses? And when I saw a lovely 2010 US Standard in sunburst, rosewood & tort, I couldn't get the damn thing out of my head. Then I noticed that the seller was open to offers, so of course I had to find out how low he'd go…and before I know it, I've paid for it and it should be here next week. I checked the specs on the Fender serial number look up and they have everything except the colours in common.

That's three Precisions I've bought in the last 4 weeks or so!

How low did he go?

 

just also looking to shift a ‘96 MIM jazz bass which And am looking for a USA Pbass.

 

 

[thewebow]

I saw a p bass go on here for £800. Has now appeared at bass bros on @ £1099..
 

 

[FinnDave]

About 10% down on the asking price. A good used US bass for little more than the cost of a new MiM has to worthwhile. Still glad I bought my MiM recently, but looking forward to a second US Precision.

[FinnDave]

11 minutes ago, Bunion said:

A couple more and you’ll have enough for a ‘pod’

When this one arrives I'll have four Ps and two Js - does that qualify?

[thewebow]

On 03/06/2022 at 20:08, Lozz196 said:

I’ve had many a Precision, so my observations are:

 

Late 90s/early 00s - thick chunky deep neck

 

04 - 08 Series - thick deep neck, S1 switching

 

08 - 12 Series - flatter neck, not so much depth 

 

12 - 15 Series - thick chunky deep neck, Custom Shop pickups

 

Professional 1 Series - slimmer shallower neck than 12 -15, modelled on the 63 neck which is meant to be the holy grail of P necks

 

All can take flats without a problem

You say the can all take flats. But which would you say sings best in a more vintage way. Because although I could put flats on my 09 p bass I think it suits roundwounds because of the neck and brightness.. I mean is it foolish to specifically get a usa p bass for flats? Should I go Mexican vintage range- or is there a sonic reason to go for a specific age p bass?

[Lozz196]

Well I found the pickup in the 09 range to be quite scooped so not sure it would bring out the best of flats. Although I’m a rounds player I still swapped out the pickup in my 08 to a Tonerider, which sounds very much like Fender Custom Shop 62s, but at a third of the price. So really I’d go for whichever Precision feels best to play, put on your fave flats then if there’s anything lacking in the sound look at a possible pickup or string change, changing one or both of these can make a lot of difference. And no, nothing wrong with having another US Precision just for flats.

[thewebow]

Yeah. 09 pickup is quite scooped.

but great for pick/percussive playing and brighter thumb plucking. Very inspiring and has kind of taken over as my number 1 bass.. don’t really want to retire it to just ‘vintage/flat wounds/Motown’ sounds although mainly what I love to play!! 
 

ok. Back to the hunt for USA p bass with preferably slightly chunkier neck. Got to sell off the next Jbass but this forum has already been a great place for selling/buying and realising what normal prices vs retail prices and inflation looks like.. as I say I saw a lovely Pbass here in March get listed retail for £300 added on… so think might stay round here for trades/swap and buying/selling.

 

Thanks again for all your help.

 

 

[ubit]

There is nothing I like better that the P bass with brand new stainless rounds through an SVT. A'la Mark Hoppus but with finger style. Just heavenly.

[shoulderpet]

6 hours ago, ubit said:

There is nothing I like better that the P bass with brand new stainless rounds through an SVT. A'la Mark Hoppus but with finger style. Just heavenly.

+1 to this, I use stainless rounds and change them once a month

[Lozz196]

I used to be the same with Rotosounds but found it a tad expensive so switched to Warwick Reds, got nearly 3 months from them before they dulled down too much.

[Ed_S]

I used to really like the sound of fresh steels on my American Standard, but the frets on that bass were so soft that the steels made an absolute mess inside a few months. That was with ProSteels, which I always found to be relatively kind to everything else. I think Warwick Reds NPS are unpleasantly rough (especially the B string), so if the steels are anything like, I dread to think what they'd have done to that bass!

 

 

[thewebow]

19 hours ago, ubit said:

There is nothing I like better that the P bass with brand new stainless rounds through an SVT. A'la Mark Hoppus but with finger style. Just heavenly.

Used to love just that tone. Now a days I like to have that and something else in my pocket.  Like flats through a b-15 for example..

 

has anyone tried dunlop strings with p bass? Interested in peoples opions

[shoulderpet]

1 hour ago, thewebow said:

Used to love just that tone. Now a days I like to have that and something else in my pocket.  Like flats through a b-15 for example..

 

has anyone tried dunlop strings with p bass? Interested in peoples opions

I've gone the opposite way, I used to love flats and I would use them and very occasionally tapewounds but I find that most bass amps are eq'd to be very bass heavy with much less emphasis on mids and treble even with flat eq and the flats made this even more apparent, add to this that I enjoy the occasional open mic/jam night where you are pretty much stuck with however the host has there amp eq'd

[Ed_S]

1 hour ago, thewebow said:

Used to love just that tone. Now a days I like to have that and something else in my pocket.  Like flats through a b-15 for example..

 

has anyone tried dunlop strings with p bass? Interested in peoples opions

 

I like the string tension I get with Dunlop Super Bright rounds through the body on a US P (or J for that matter) as they're naturally a bit bendy, but the through-body stringing seems to stiffen them up a little so they end up just slightly more flexible than my usual D'addario XLs, which I really appreciate when I'm playing with fingers instead of a pick.

 

If you meant just their flats, sorry, I've never tried theirs and I'm not likely to. I really don't mind flats as much as the next statement might suggest, but every bass I've ever put flats on has sat completely unused after the initial novelty period - several to the point of selling them on!

[thewebow]

anyone own a 2013 p bass? What are the stock pickups and neck like.

 

as we have figured out earlier it’s a thicker neck but not the holy grail of the ‘62 neck profile of post 2015.

 

just wondering if I hold out for post 2015 used or American pro II used.

 

I found that the 48 neck depth a little thick and hard to handle. Little bit like ‘50s style and industrial.

 

can anyone shed some light on 12-15 range and neck profile. As in how thick is thick?

 

[Lozz196]

I’ve a 13 (and 14 and 15) the necks not super thick, but a good portion shall we say, deep but not too wide. I prefer the 2013 neck to the “holy grail” sized neck of the US Professional which I find a tad slimmer in all dimensions. Pickup wise the Custom Shop 62s are my faves, this vid is probably one of the best illustrations of it.

 

 

[shoulderpet]

On 06/06/2022 at 09:42, Ed_S said:

I used to really like the sound of fresh steels on my American Standard, but the frets on that bass were so soft that the steels made an absolute mess inside a few months. That was with ProSteels, which I always found to be relatively kind to everything else. I think Warwick Reds NPS are unpleasantly rough (especially the B string), so if the steels are anything like, I dread to think what they'd have done to that bass!

 

 

Honestly I would invest the money in a refret, maybe stainless steel frets, might not be worth it on a cheap bass but on an American Standard I think it is worth it

[Ed_S]

45 minutes ago, shoulderpet said:

Honestly I would invest the money in a refret, maybe stainless steel frets, might not be worth it on a cheap bass but on an American Standard I think it is worth it

 

Yeah, totally agree if you've got a real attachment to the instrument. I didn't in that particular instance so I moved it on before it got any worse - pointed it out of course, but ultimately left it to the next owner to decide whether to get that job done. I actively prefer the sound of NPS rounds these days, though, so whilst I didn't switch to them to avoid fret wear, it's an added bonus that they're a bit kinder in that department.

[bnt]

One of my pivotal P-Bass epiphanies was seeing this video:

 

 

It was kind-of an open secret that Billy Corgan played bass on many early Smashing Pumpkins tracks, especially on Siamese Dream; not that there was any problem with D’Arcy’s playing, it was more to do with Billy being a workaholic control freak who would decide to track a bassline at 3am rather than wait for the rest of the band. This studio video is from around 2000 when D’Arcy was gone and they had yet to recruit Melissa. 
 

What struck me is that you can hear a bit of Billy’s naked P-Bass at the start, sounding like a P-Bass sounds, but the final result on the track is a bit more processed. Not heavily, but the compression is smoothing out the attack and increasing sustain. It showed me that the P-Bass is a bit more versatile than I originally thought and can sit well even in a modern, dense mix like this. I bet it wasn’t even Billy’s own personal bass, more likely one that belongs to the studio, always there in case there’s a job that needs to be done with minimal fuss. 

Edited June 8, 2022 by bnt

[FinnDave]

My new (to me) 2010 US Standard Precision (sunburst/rosewood & tort) arrived today extremely well packed. Once I had extracted it from the packing & included Fender case, I tuned it to pitch and the set up was spot on - played it through my headphone amp as a little late to fire up one of the ABM combos. Sounded and felt just right - exactly the same as the 2012 US Standard that has been my main bass for the last nine years.

 

Not sure what the strings are, 45-100 flats with red silks and felt very smooth. Didn't feel or sound like the Rotosound flats I have on another P bass (also red silks though), certainly didn't sound like the La Bellas I also have on other basses - I was wondering whether they might be Chromes - but all of the Chromes I have previously used have had a grabby/sticky feel. 

 

Whatever they are, they sound good, but not sure they will be appreciate being strung through body, which is how they arrived, for too long.

 

I'll try to stop playing it long enough tomorrow to get the obligatory pictures taken.

Edited June 8, 2022 by FinnDave

[Lozz196]

On 01/06/2022 at 22:21, FinnDave said:

Remember, it's not about how many Precision basses you need, it's really about how many Precision basses need you.

I like that Dave, my current Precisions being used herd is 3 x US & 1 x MIM

 

My current Precisions in the cupboard for a rainy day herd is 3 x US

 

And my up for sale herd is 2 x US & 1 x MIM