Has anyone played a fender precision pro ii AND a sandberg california vs4?

[Martyin3d]

I sold my american pro (1) precision some time ago and it's my biggest gear sale regret by a long shot. I absolutely loved everything about that bass but things got tight financially for a while and it had to go. 

I've been watching a few sound comparisons between the new pro ii and pro i and I'm just not sure I like it quite as much as the old one. With that in mind I've been looking at some other P bass options, and I'm wondering if anyone has tried a california vs and if so how it stacks up to the real thing in terms of tone? 

I'm currently living in the middle of nowhere in the balkans so trying either out is going to be very impractical. 




 

[HeadlessBassist]

I've never really been a Precision player, but I also regret selling my American Pro Precision. Mine was the white one with mint guard that featured in a couple of Andertons videos with Nathan King and Lee. These Basses definitely had something about them, especially with that V-Mod Pickup with the Alnico 2 magnets on one side and the Alnico 5 on the other. You got a really warm and rounded bottom end combined with great clarity on the G & D strings. I think most P-Bass purists hated the idea of them, but I loved mine, despite mainly playing Jazzes.

 

I've played one of the "Dark Night" Pro II's briefly and didn't think much of the sound. It's the usual Fender method, same as the 2008 American Standard vs 2012 American Standard - get the sound just right and then four years later flatten it out to please everybody. (I guess they want to sell as many instruments as possible. It is, after all, what they are in business for!)

 

As for the Sandberg's, I've only ever played one, which was one of the high end models with a P/H pickup set and a two band preamp. That was a really nice bass, but it's as far as I can comment on Sandbergs.  

[Martyin3d]

Thank you! Glad to hear I'm not alone in my love of that particular bass! Mine was the typical olympic white affair, strung with labella flats. I do like the idea of the heel shape on the new ones but I just don't know if I can get my head around paying that much for something that just doesn't sound quite as good to my ear.

[HeadlessBassist]

That's what it's all about - How it sounds and how it feels in your hands. If it fights you and your technique, it's not the bass for you.

 

The American Standard/Professional range always goes through these cycles. One generation really stands out, then the next dumbs it down to appeal to everybody else.

 

Good job we're not all the same, eh?

[Martyin3d]

Yeah exactly. 

I was looking at the new american vintage ii, it sounds great, but I'm not sure if I'm going to like that neck having spent so much time on the american professional i, and making that leap blind feels like not a good idea. 

I'm actually starting to think about getting the pro ii and sticking some custom shop 62 pickups in. Something decidedly different to what I had before, but still a tone I'm likely to love, and feel I'll be familiar with.  Saying that... Does anyone know if there was any change to the necks from the professional i - ii? 

Edited Tuesday at 09:05 by Martyin3d

[HeadlessBassist]

One piece of advice I always give is never to buy a Fender without playing it first. They can be so variable. Some are utterly fantastic and some are just meh.

 

As goes pickups, I have the American Original 60's Jazz with the Pure Vintage 64's. Best Jazz tone I've ever heard, but that probably has something to do with the Nitro Cellulose finish.

 

Btw, BassBros near Leamington Spa had a nice Pro II Precision when I was there the other week. It might still be there...

[goonerjoe]

I currently own the Am Pro II and used to own a California VS4

I don't need to talk much about the Fender - it does what it does and does it very well. Mine is easily the nicest Fender I've played and is a keeper. 

I owned the Sandberg from new. Firstly, it was without a doubt the best constructed bass I've ever seen and the neck was lovely but I just didn't bond with it  I also realised i'm not a massive fan of active basses and even though the controls were simple, it turns out i'm even more simple-er. In hindsight I should've chosen a passive model with a more vintage voiced pick up. Despite that, it was a beautiful thing.

 

You can't go wrong either way

 

[Martyin3d]

Thanks for this, after a lot more research I'm pretty set on an AM pro ii, and dropping in the pure vintage '60 pickup.

 

I know for sure I love that neck, and I'm inclined to agree with you on the simplicity of the controls being a massive plus. My main bass is an active 6 string, and the simplicity is something that I always loved about my old P bass.

 

The only thing that gives me pause is that I'm living so far away from anywhere where I can demo ANY higher end basses so I am going to have to buy blind. I've heard of people having a few issues on the am ii's where the neck needs a shim out of the box, or the nut hasn't been cut quite right. The plan is to look around for some websites of smaller shops in the EU who might be able to do an honest QA assessment / set up prior to shipping.