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Post subject: New to P basses....buying advice
Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 7:12 am
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Hi, Steve here. 1st post on this forum.

So, I'm an experienced bass player but never played P's.

I'm about to join a band and the P sound is what is needed. So I want one.

I was looking for a used one, but I'm pretty focused about exactly what I want...MIM (price range), arctic white and rosewood fingerboard.

Unfortunately there's not much knocking about in white/rosewood next in my price range in the UK....this may seem really fussy but I've always preferred rosewood necks to maple, and they look tons better as well IMO...I don't really want to compromise and get a sunburst or have to travel to the other end of the country to check out, so I'm thinking of ordering a new MIM from my local store. Guaranteed for 2 years and free set ups, etc etc

So...questions are:

– I've read the necks are now Pau Ferro rather than Rosewood....is there much difference in playing? I've heard not....I've heard there can be difference in colour, with the Ferro being lighter...I wonder if I could darker using lemon oil

– What are the standard strings like that the P's come with? Ideally I am going for a very heavy low end Jameson sort of sound, so was gonna try flat wound...

For the price I get a brand new MIM I could perhaps get a second hand MIA, but I'm always skeptical about customizations, damage over time from gigging, etc...

Any advice much appreciated...

Steve


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Post subject: Re: New to P basses....buying advice
Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2017 11:54 am
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Hi Steve and Welcome to the Fender Forums dead as they are. Congratulations on your new gig. If you haven't bought one yet, the Ensenada made Precisions are an excellent choice.

I tend to doubt that in a blind comparison you would be able to tell the difference between rosewood and pau ferro by feel or by sound. If you really want the fretboard a darker color just stain it. Lemon oil by itself isn't going to do it.

For flatwounds try either Fender Flats or GHS. LaBella's are just too high in tension.
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/fender-9050m-stainless-steel-flatwound.1296485/
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/praise-report-ghs-precision-flats.1009326/
Good Luck!

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2016 Rumble 200 Combo
One day they shall name a GREAT city after me, and they shall call it LINNINGRAD


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Post subject: Re: New to P basses....buying advice
Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2017 11:44 pm
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SteveLondon is a cool handle. You are right about a lot.

Pau Ferro is currently only offered as an fingerboard option on the Brown Sunburst Standard Precision Bass while all the other colors will lock you into a maple fingerboard. That is the present case in the USA and possibly also there, wherever you may be. There are however new instruments still in inventory at some dealers with old specs. Additionally there are FSR (Fender Special Run) models made for individual dealers or dealer collectives to specs that are vastly different from the Standard Series offerings.

The rosewood to pau ferro switch came about because of a new law which went into effect banning the use of Brazilian rosewood. this law enacted to protect rosewood could backfire and lead to it's demise though. People were aggressively growing it to harvest for the guitar biz will not be doing so anymore. So it either grows wild to survive or vanishes entirely on its own now.

Lots about P-Bass tone is subjective. What I like you hate and what I hate you like. Also tonal flavors can depend on who is playing and how they are playing. Your technique, style, strength and stamina will have more to do with the tone than the fingerboard material.

Rosewood sounds a bit more muted or tamer than Pau Ferro. Maple sounds more lively than either and can improve sustain with brighter overtones but also can result in increased fret clank. Rosewood and Pau Ferro are different but have more in common with each other tonally than either has with maple. Should point out that maple wins for durability. Rosewood can actually wallow out over decades of aggressive use with roundwounds while the maple will just discolor but not actually wear away much at all. I use rosewood and maple Precisions.

Mexican Precision Standards are good values. Some people prefer them. You can not say one certain USA model that is the most expensive is actually the "best" for everyone because for some players they actually feel more comfortable playing a Standard. or even a Squier. A Fender Standard does make more sense for gigging and are splendid upgrade platforms. There is a lot to be said for TRYING BEFORE BUYING because you can play 10 or 20 of them and then find one or two of them to be clearly better that the others. That is the result of the luck of the draw in the mass production sweepstakes.

No stock strings are much good on any instrument. I would change strings first thing. What strings to try is yet another subjective decision. Strings right for me will disappoint you and vice versa. I have my own favorites just like most people. You seem to be looking for a fundamental tone with few if any overtones and less sustain, so flatwounds sound right. I could suggest the USA made GHS 3050 Precision Flatwounds (0.055, 0.070, 0.090, 0.105.) which delivers a percussive fundamental tone similar to the Labella 760M set but without the ultra high tension. They are not low tension by any means, but not as high tension as the Labella 760M Jamerson set. They are also affordable in the USA at about $28 street price. The catch is they are hard to find with way more dealers selling the M3050 set with is more vanilla sounding. I have tried every 4 string set in the Precision series from GHS and each set sounds very different from each other! The GHS 3050 set is not perfect because it seems a little unbalanced at first but settles down after about a week or so of daily use to be perfect and stays that way for a long, long time. I keep one Precision set up with these exclusively.

Another set to consider for old school is The Rotosound Jazz Flatwound RS77LE set which measure 0.050, 0.075, 0.095, 0.110. Since they are made in the UK they are a little pricier in the USA at $35 a set street. (Strings have gone up more than instruments percentage wise in the past ten years.)

Both these string sets are available at Just Strings Dot Com's website. There is usually some online Just Strings discount coupon codes you can find if you just do a google search. Another way to go is nylon wrapped strings. There are several different brands. I have not used them in decades but quite old school sounding. They seem to go dead quick back when I was using them a lot which is why I stopped using nylon wrapped sets.

A couple of flatwound sets I use are NOT what you are looking for and you should avoid them. They are the GHS Precision Flatwound 3025 (I love this set but not for your purpose,) the Thomastik-Infeld JF344 Jazz Flat set which has are too bright and have little in common with old school.


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Post subject: Re: New to P basses....buying advice
Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2017 12:46 am
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Wow, great answers, a load for me to digest there - cheers guys.

Rock Star they do produce Pau Ferro in other colours rather than sunburst - I’m picking up a white one in the next few days (sticking a tortashell scratchplate on it ;) so will feedback on it...

The band typically plays British sounding rock n roll - The Who, Small Faces, Stones, Beatles, with some ska and reggae and a bit of soul, so quite a diverse sound required, but I don’t like ‘bright’ bass tones or any buzz which is why I thought flats...will try and feed back in this thread..

Thanks fellas


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Post subject: Re: New to P basses....buying advice
Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2017 2:45 am
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stevelondon wrote:
...they do produce Pau Ferro in other colours rather than sunburst...

I am positive that right now in the USA you can not order a Standard Precision Bass with anything but a maple neck unless you order it in Brown Sunburst. Judging by the way you spell "colours" you are in the UK and unable to access sections of the site limited to the USA web visitors. Maybe they are shipping all the pau ferro fingerboard white basses to the UK? Doubtful.

As I mentioned restrictions in the USA will not immediately impact existing dealer/distributor inventory in your area. In the UK dealers order not from Fender but from the UK Distributor which inventories quite a bit of new instruments. Fender announced in January the phasing out of rosewood. Apparently their inventory of pau ferro is not so huge right now either.

After the 2014 law enforcement raid at Gibson I bet there isn't even any Brazilian rosewood sawdust at Fender USA in Corona, California or at Fender in Ensenada Baja Mexico. If you are eyeing an instrument with Brazilian rosewood in it I suggest you purchase it as quickly as you can. There will be no more coming from the USA from any guitar maker except in very limited numbers of "certified" by CITES instruments which will add several hundred dollars to the price of the instrument.


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Post subject: Re: New to P basses....buying advice
Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2017 3:12 am
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I'm not sure mate, all I know is I ordered a white MIM on friday and it's going to be in my guitar store, Wunjo basses in Denmark St, London, today. White body with Pau Ferra fretboard. All the other stores I spoke to did not express any issues with getting the pau ferra neck with body in white, black or any other existing Fender P standard MIM colour...


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Post subject: Re: New to P basses....buying advice
Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2017 4:09 am
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stevelondon wrote:
I'm not sure mate, all I know is I ordered a white MIM on friday and it's going to be in my guitar store, Wunjo basses in Denmark St, London, today. White body with Pau Ferra fretboard. All the other stores I spoke to did not express any issues with getting the pau ferra neck with body in white, black or any other existing Fender P standard MIM colour...


That is because it is coming from existing inventory in the UK, not from FMIC USA. Fender Musical Instruments Europe Ltd is the distributor in the UK, not FMIC in the USA. It would have to have been made prior to the model fingerboard switch. The instrument you are buying will predate the production switch.


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Post subject: Re: New to P basses....buying advice
Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2017 4:14 am
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...meaning it will actually be a rosewood fretboard?


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Post subject: Re: New to P basses....buying advice
Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2017 4:22 am
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stevelondon wrote:
...meaning it will actually be a rosewood fretboard?


While possible, I'm guessing not. Probably pau ferro if that is what you ordered. Standard Precisions were available with PF fingerboards here earlier this year. Then POOF you can not get one with a PF fingerboard in any color but brown sunburst. This did not effect any USA made model really, just MIM Standards. Guessing they were outstripping their supply and naturally the USA models get preference on better woods.


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Post subject: Re: New to P basses....buying advice
Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2017 1:06 am
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Well here she is. Lighter fretboard than I expected but I really like that - it’s got character. Was thinking of staining it but i guess it’ll darken over time and I like it. Will bed her in then get some flats on her.


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Post subject: Re: New to P basses....buying advice
Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 1:37 am
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Pau Ferro combines rosewood warmth with maple brightness. It was originally used as a fretboard material on many 5-string bass guitars until 2006.


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Post subject: Re: New to P basses....buying advice
Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 1:58 am
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https://ibb.co/jXEsGR

Here you can see the colour of the pau...it’s got a lot of streaks and grain but I like it and do t think I’ll stain it - gives it warmth and character I think...

When in the music store wanjo in Denmark st London I tried a ‘66 P with La Bella flats on...it was amazing - £9000 though...


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Post subject: Re: New to P basses....buying advice
Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 4:55 pm
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Lovely!
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2012 Lefty American Standard Jazz
2017 Lefty American Professional Precision
2018 Rumble Studio 40 Combo
2016 Rumble 200 Combo
One day they shall name a GREAT city after me, and they shall call it LINNINGRAD


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Post subject: Re: New to P basses....buying advice
Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 5:06 pm
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linnin wrote:
Lovely!
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Bless you man....


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Post subject: Re: New to P basses....buying advice
Posted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 5:24 pm
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stevelondon wrote:
linnin wrote:
Lovely!
Image



Bless you man....

Please think nothing of it as you are more than welcome Fender Precision Brother!

_________________
2012 Lefty American Standard Jazz
2017 Lefty American Professional Precision
2018 Rumble Studio 40 Combo
2016 Rumble 200 Combo
One day they shall name a GREAT city after me, and they shall call it LINNINGRAD


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