Buying New Fenders In 2022 - Where & How To Try Them?

[BenTunnicliffe]

Hey Folks,

 

So to get right into it, I might be in the market for a new (yes I know, boo, hiss) Fender precision and upon searching our forums here on BC as well as youtube etc on how modern Fender basses perform out of the box (from cheap-ish to pricey) I've heard some worrying grumbles about quality control. In fact, I've read a few people point out that quality control is something that needs a lot of consideration from a buyers' perspective when buying any brand's instruments new off the shelf. I've never bought new before so this is all news to me.

 

So my questions to you folks are:

A) when comparing allegedly identical Fender basses in the shop, what have your experiences been?

and

B) Where on earth is there a bricks & mortar store where you could try even one of each of the current Fender line of basses let alone to be able to ask for them to fetch an 'identical' model in the pursuit of finding the best representation possible?

 

I'm based in Hereford but regularly drive Bristol way and further afield for gigs.

 

I ask because if this fear mongering about quality control is all guff then I can order online and wait for the post person to make my day.

On the other hand, if it's worthwhile trying numerous serial number variations in store then there's a problem because from what I can see online (GAK, DV247, Andertons, PMT) most stores have only a couple of items from Fender in stock so the chances of them having three or four different serial numbered basses of the same model & colourway seem slim to none!

None of the above stores seem to really have any of the American Professional series' in stock, for instance.

 

I'd appreciate anyone who can share their experiences or give a shout out to your local store to point me in the right direction.

 

Cheers!

 

P.S. So there isn't an 'American Standard' line any more?

 

P.P.S. I'm after a precision with a maple neck that doesn't have a black or sunburst body.

Edited July 5, 2022 by BenTunnicliffe

[Lozz196]

You’re right, there are no American Standards anymore, the US Professionals took over in 2016.

 

The only range I’ve experienced QC issues with was the Players, I had 2 new ones that had “bulges” in the neck so were returned. That said I’ve had 2 others with no issues at all.

 

As with anything it’s worth a visit to a shop and trying as many as you can out, and include the Vintera & Performer as well, you might find the right one in a range you’d not thought of.

 

Then order online the colour scheme you’re after if the shop doesn’t have one in stock.

 

 

[jd56hawk]

With so many ever-changing Fender P basses...Fender Professional I and II, Fender Performer, American Ultra, American Vintage, American Original, American Original 50s, American Original 60s, and whatever they decide to go with next time they make an unnecessary name change, the best advice is to forget Fender and go G&L.

Edited July 4, 2022 by jd56hawk

[chris7273]

My personal experience: I bought a new mim fender P player and it’s a really nice instrument. Maybe I was lucky but it’s a good one. Maple fretboard, ocean turquoise with tort pick guard. 

The pickup is well balanced and louder than my Custom Shop PJ and sounds less vintage but still a P character .  
I bought it online, the return policies are really on the customer side, so you risk nothing if you don’t like what you get.

but if you have the budget for a G&L, then go for it 🙂  
 

[BenTunnicliffe]

1 hour ago, Lozz196 said:

You’re right, there are no American Standards anymore, the US Professionals took over in 2016.

 

The only range I’ve experienced QC issues with was the Players, I had 2 new ones that had “bulges” in the neck so were returned. That said I’ve had 2 others with no issues at all.

 

As with anything it’s worth a visit to a shop and trying as many as you can out, and include the Vintera & Performer as well, you might find the right one in a range you’d not thought of.

 

Then order online the colour scheme you’re after if the shop doesn’t have one in stock.

 

 

How easy was it to be sending models back with those two bulging basses from the Player series? Care to name the shop who were clearly on your side enough to be sorting that out?

[Wilco]

Will just put this on your radar as an alternative. Will not give you the option to try one out of course, but do some research on the brand instrument quality & there are very few complaints. Bonus are the configuration options obviously.
 

https://www.public-peace-customshop.de/basses/jake-c/jake-c-type

[bloke_zero]

12 hours ago, BenTunnicliffe said:

B) Where on earth is there a bricks & mortar store where you could try even one of each of the current Fender line of basses let alone to be able to ask for them to fetch an 'identical' model in the pursuit of finding the best representation possible?

Probably still worth a trip down to Denmark Street - there will be enough variety there to at least get a feel for what you would get. I used to go down to Wunjo at lunchtimes (when we still worked in the office) and playing a bunch of basses back to back really gives you a feel for individual basses - they are all different! You can check their stock on line.

[chris7273]

1 hour ago, Wilco said:

Will just put this on your radar as an alternative. Will not give you the option to try one out of course, but do some research on the brand instrument quality & there are very few complaints. Bonus are the configuration options obviously.
 

https://www.public-peace-customshop.de/basses/jake-c/jake-c-type

 

custom order => no option for return... or be prepared for an "interesting" conversation...

[Lozz196]

11 hours ago, BenTunnicliffe said:

How easy was it to be sending models back with those two bulging basses from the Player series? Care to name the shop who were clearly on your side enough to be sorting that out?

One was def PMT as I took it back myself, I think the other was GuitarGuitar

[LeftyJ]

12 hours ago, jd56hawk said:

With so many ever-changing Fender P basses...Fender Professional I and II, Fender Performer, American Ultra, American Vintage, American Original, American Original 50s, American Original 60s, and whatever they decide to go with next time they make an unnecessary name change, the best advice is to forget Fender and go G&L.

 

Seconded, but my opinion is coloured by being a lefty, as G&L have a much wider selection of models available left-handed, in almost any finish available rather than just a few.

I've owned an American-made SB-2, a Legacy Special and two ASAT Specials (I bought one again just last week, after regretting my decision to sell my earlier one for over 10 years and finally finding an affordable lefty again) and they've all been rather excellent! The first three were all 1990s models which still had a 3-bolt neck joint and the bi-cut neck. My latest acquisition is a 2001 model with a 4-bolt neck plate, but still with the bi-cut neck. I couldn't be happier!

 

...well, until my next GAS attack kicks in and needs tending to 

[MacDaddy]

 

Another option for fully customised (plus fun to do even if you are not buying )

 

https://bite.guitars/configurator/

 

 

[NancyJohnson]

15 minutes ago, MacDaddy said:

 

Another option for fully customised (plus fun to do even if you are not buying )

 

https://bite.guitars/configurator/

 

 

 

"So what would you like to do with your custom configured BITE bass?"

 

Change the shape of that absolute munter of a headstock for starters.

[Woodinblack]

14 hours ago, BenTunnicliffe said:

A) when comparing allegedly identical Fender basses in the shop, what have your experiences been?

and

B) Where on earth is there a bricks & mortar store where you could try even one of each of the current Fender line of basses let alone to be able to ask for them to fetch an 'identical' model in the pursuit of finding the best representation possible?

 

I dont' think I have ever tried identical basses in a shop, there always has been some variation (colour etc), but there is often some difference, even down to the setup on each bass. Last time I did try identical (and non identical) fenders in a shop, I tried 2 american P basses, 2 mexican P basses, 3 squiers and 2 jazzes because I am not a great user of P basses, so I wanted to find one I could live with (and did). None of them 'felt' or sounded the same in every way, although there were no specific QC issues with any of them.

 

I would have thought that almost uniquely with fender, it is easy enough to find a shop with a lot of the current fenders in.

[chris7273]

1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

"So what would you like to do with your custom configured BITE bass?"

 

Change the shape of that absolute munter of a headstock for starters.

 

This brand name is not very popular in France, nor in Belgium.... no one wants to have "bite" written on a headstock... ok, well, maybe a punk rock bassist 🙂

 

 

 

 

Edited July 5, 2022 by chris7273

[Kev]

I'll just float an idea out there.  If you are looking to buy a bass but want to compare several of the same bass before making the purchase on the basis of QC, consider a different bass manufacturer.

[bloke_zero]

For the OP - I think it's ok to want a modern Fender and sensible to want to find a good example.

[TrevorG]

I was in the same boat and just went for the best in the shop which was the Ultra series. Tried several in PMT and GuitarGuitar. All were ready to play out of the box. All sounded fab. A couple had factory faults but still nice basses. I didn't want to mod or search for an old model so the Ultra meant I could just buy and get on with it.

[NancyJohnson]

About 20 years ago I visited a Guitar Center in Las Vegas, to this day it's the only time where a salesman didn't have a problem opening boxes to just show me stuff.  He knew full well I wasn't going to be buying anything, but his mindset seemed to be more global than local (if I didn't buy there, I'd buy from home).

 

Interestingly, my mate was with me, a drummist.  I could hear him playing one of our songs from deep in bowels of the store; I started playing with him and then a guitarist joined in.  The shop went quiet.  We stopped a few minutes later and a little ripple of applause went round the store.  Nice memory. 

[BenTunnicliffe]

Thanks folks. Lots to think about here but at the moment it's looking like a trip to Denmark Street or at least that neck of the woods is going to have to be on the cards.

 

I've a friend of a friend who works with PMT and has verified that the wildly limited Precision stock that the website shows for my nearest stores (Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff) is in fact accurate and as much as I'd like them to converge the company's entire P Bass stock to one store for my own pleasure I don't imagine they'd go for that... Nor can I afford to put a deposit on every P in their inventory to force them to do so!

 

How helpful any given shop will be in terms of opening up multiple boxes to find 'the one' is still yet to be seen but for the time being I'm gonna get through this week's gigs then hop on a train.

[Geek99]

If you stated your location you’d probably get more input on bricks and mortar 

[BenTunnicliffe]

15 minutes ago, Geek99 said:

If you stated your location you’d probably get more input on bricks and mortar 

My bad, I've included my location (Hereford) in the original post now. Thanks for the heads up!

[jezzaboy]

At the moment due to supply issues, there seems to be a very limited stock of Fender models so the chances of trying a few examples of the same bass might be limited.

 

I have owned a Player Jazz and P and they were both really good but the Mexican Vintera models were a step above but they are getting pricey.

 

I don`t know if you are in a position to buy used from here but a US Standard from 2008 ish onwards from a trusted seller on here would be my choice. For £900 to £1000 you can get a nice US model and if you feel like moving it on in the future, you won`t lose anything.

 

Re the G&L models. If you look on Talkbass they are getting a bad rep for their quality control at the moment but if you get a good one, they are superb.

[BillyBass]

Peach Guitars near Colchester has possibly the best selection of Fenders in stock in England at the moment.  Bit of a trek from Hereford though.

 

https://www.peachguitars.com/guitars/bass-guitars/

 

[Highfox]

21 hours ago, Wilco said:

Will just put this on your radar as an alternative. Will not give you the option to try one out of course, but do some research on the brand instrument quality & there are very few complaints. Bonus are the configuration options obviously.
 

https://www.public-peace-customshop.de/basses/jake-c/jake-c-type

Oh no!

I built something I really like on the configuration. Really don't need another bass

[FinnDave]

11 hours ago, jezzaboy said:

At the moment due to supply issues, there seems to be a very limited stock of Fender models so the chances of trying a few examples of the same bass might be limited.

 

I have owned a Player Jazz and P and they were both really good but the Mexican Vintera models were a step above but they are getting pricey.

 

I don`t know if you are in a position to buy used from here but a US Standard from 2008 ish onwards from a trusted seller on here would be my choice. For £900 to £1000 you can get a nice US model and if you feel like moving it on in the future, you won`t lose anything.

 

My main basses are a pair of US Standard Precisions, a 2010 and 2012 model, both acquired second hand, one from here nine years ago (didn't actually buy it, but swapped a similar spec Jazz bass for it) and the other bought on Reverb recently. Both excellent basses, and feel and sound very similar to each other.