Fender P. How does this look to you?

[solo4652]

I'm looking at this on Saturday. I am by no means a Fender expert and I just thought I'd ask for people's opinions, please:

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The serial number dates it to 2008. Seller says it's "as new", with case and case candy. Seller says it's been played fewer than 10 times. I reckon I could probably get it for under £500.

Worth a punt?

Steve

[Noisyjon]

If it all looks ship shape when you view it then go for it.

[basshead56]

Looks good to me.
If you can get that for under 500, I rekon you are doing quite well indeed!
Get a black p/guard though-if you´ve got a black P bass with maple board, you HAVE to get a black guard too!!!
Best of luck.

[dannybuoy]

All looks pukka to me. Has the new style bridge and hard case they introduced in 2008. £500 is a very good price, I paid £520 for a 2005 model a few months ago and I thought I was getting a good deal! The 2008/2009 models are a step up in quality apparently, and have carbon reinforcement inserts in the neck for example to make them stiffer.

+1 to the black pickguard, it's the law.

Edited December 17, 2009 by dannybuoy

[GreeneKing]

+1 to everything including the pickguard

[Soloshchenko]

That looks lovely mate. The deal sounds excellent to me.

Personally, I'm gonna go with a gold scratch plate but I am a flash bastard.

[bh2]

Loverly... Gold anodised or white pearl...

[solo4652]

Great! Sounds like a runner, then.

I'll take my G&L Tribute for an A/B comparison. To justify buying it, the Fender is going to have to be noticeably better then the G&L, with the G&L on just the front pup, set to "Valve" on my Roland amp. Should be interesting...

Steve

[mrcrow]

looks arent everything...to me this looks man in the street
but if it plays well and the finish and neck joint is tight...good!!

you can always tart it up...as for another scratchplate...why?

i would think you may want to do the bridge first and leave it at that

[Cat Burrito]

It looks good to me and especially at that price. If it plays as well as it looks it's worth going for

[aznbass]

Wow, it looks like a beast, the New standards are indeed very very nice, hope you get on well with it mate!!

:):)

[OutToPlayJazz]

Looks like a new style American Standard. Yes, if you can grab that for under 500 you'll have yourself a bargain there.

[Clarky]

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='687864' date='Dec 17 2009, 11:31 PM']Looks like a new style American Standard. Yes, if you can grab that for under 500 you'll have yourself a bargain there. [/quote]
Agreed, looks like a pukka 2008/9 model with the new SKB case and case candy. Bargain at that price. Go for it as long as it feels right in your hands!

[solo4652]

Couldn't wait until Saturday, so I went to see it this this morning. Looked "as new", neck felt lovely ( a bit shorter than the G&L) and,well, it's Christmas. So I bought it. My other half hasn't been home yet today, and I've got 3 hours to think up a justifiable reason for buying it.

Steve

[simon1964]

[quote name='solo4652' post='688374' date='Dec 18 2009, 02:24 PM']Couldn't wait until Saturday, so I went to see it this this morning. Looked "as new", neck felt lovely ( a bit shorter than the G&L) and,well, it's Christmas. So I bought it. My other half hasn't been home yet today, and I've got 3 hours to think up a justifiable reason for buying it.

Steve[/quote]

Congrats - looks a nice bass at a good price.

And +1 to the black pickguard suggestions!!

[sixshooter]

Right now, what you want to do is

Replace the bridge with a Badass, change the pickups for EMG active, put a mirror scratch plate on it and join a Thin Lizzy tribute band!

Think you got a nice bass for a reason price there....

[Rayman]

+1 to the pickguard, just like everyone else points out, then you'll have a black/maple Precision, [i]THE[/i] sexiest bass in the world bar none.

[GreeneKing]

This bass doesn't need a replacement bridge as several folks have said it's got the new bridge.

Not that a P bass can't sound absolutely glorious with a bit of bent tin.

Congratulations on an absolute bargain.

Edited December 18, 2009 by GreeneKing

[Clarky]

Great pickups and hardware on the new MIA Precisions. I wouldn't change a thing apart from the scratchplate - another vote for black from me!

[mrcrow]

[quote name='GreeneKing' post='688490' date='Dec 18 2009, 04:05 PM']This bass doesn't need a replacement bridge as several folks have said it's got the new bridge.

Not that a P bass can't sound absolutely glorious with a bit of bent tin.

Congratulations on an absolute bargain.[/quote]

that is the acid test...do you want it to sound like the original
and some of those were through body stringing

the badass thing is good but not absolutely necessary unless you can really hear and improvement...you will hear a difference of that i am convinced...but tonally is it what you want

[solo4652]

Initial impressions:

The strings needed changing, so I offered up a set of Status halfwounds, my current favourite strings. But, they're too short for the the through-body stringing option. So, just for now, I've strung them from the bridge. The action was unbelievably high, with the saddles standing on tippy-toes. So, down they came. Higher notes sounded more rounded and boomy than the G&L and the lower notes sounded a bit more woody too. Perhaps that's the difference between the active G&L and the passive Fender? Bit of fiddling with the amp EQ soon produced some gloriously rich tones.

What is the tone knob for on the bass? Doesn't seem to do much at all. I have no intention at all of changing the bridge - I have no DIY skills at all and, besides, I'm already hugely impressed with the sound of the bass.

Then I started playing a few songs. I kept hearing "wrong" notes. Hmmm, must be out of tune already I thought - but no - tuner said it was bang-on. The problem is with the Fender that the notes are soooo clear! Already, it has forced me to check the accuracy of some songs because it's so easy to hear what you're playing. Easier to hear the bum notes too, however.

So far, so good then. I'm very pleased with the richness of the tone and also the clarity of the notes - I'm not getting muddiness at all, quite the reverse in fact. I'll keep fiddling with the action over the next few days. Already looking forward to trying it at next rehearsal on Monday (partner's birthday - am I in trouble, or what).

Steve

[bh2]

Sounds great Steve! I always have my tone set to the halfway position so I can easily roll off or on some top or bottom, but use the amp for the main eq... enjoy.

[Rayman]

Post us some pics in the porn section when you have that black plate on it, I'll look forward to it. Every bass I've ever bought (and that's been quite a few I can tell you) has needed tweeks on the action etc, and your favourite strings always do the trick too. Black/maple Precision.....marvellous.

[solo4652]

Yes, but to change the pickguard means I'll have to unscrew screws and suchlike. Massive undertaking for me, that.

[rjb]

Very impressed with my 2009 P5. The new bridge and tuners are great. As for the tone knob, well compared to a Warwick's active circuitry it is very quaint in its limitation, but I find it useful as a tweaker.