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Post subject: Re: The best Precision bass
Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 10:03 am
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Aspiring Musician
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I wouldn't for a minute suggest it was the best P-Bass (if that's a possible statement) but by far my personal favourite is my own '70 RI (model PB-70 US, the one with American Vintage pickups). I just stumbled on it in my usual music shop, 10 years old, but hardly marked at all. It was a fair price, not expensive for what it is, but not silly cheap either. But when I picked it up I knew it was something very special indeed - and once I'd plugged it in there was no leaving the shop without it. It's all I've ever wanted in a bass, and the sound with everything set flat on the amp is the one I spent years tweaking and fiddling to find.

There really is no substitute for just finding instruments in music shops and trying them out. The love of your life is out there - you just have to meet her :D


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Post subject: Re: The best Precision bass
Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 7:32 pm
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PVTele wrote:
There really is no substitute for just finding instruments in music shops and trying them out. The love of your life is out there - you just have to meet her :D


+1...This is how I came to own my 50's Precision. I've got an MIA Jazz and MIJ Jaguar, and the build quality and tone is on par with them both. Plus the anodized aluminum pickguard look is just plain cool. I played an MIA '57 reissue back-to-back with the 50's P, and the 50's P sounded and felt too good to leave at the store. Can't beat the tone through my 2x12 Mesa combo.

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Post subject: Re: The best Precision bass
Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 8:23 am
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Location: Rhode Island
I have a 1953 P bass & I have a 1966 Custom Color White. Both have distinct sounds & feel. I think for sound & feel the '66 is more to my liking. I have a 2004 Mexican P Bass that just doesn't compare. I have the same Fender.105-.55 set on both & the '66 plays effortlessly. The Mexican fretboard does not respond the same at all. I know people talk about vintage "vibe" & that may all be bull but this '66 just plays & sounds so much better than any Japanese or Mexican Fenders I have had. If you compare maple fretboards my '53 has it hands down.


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Post subject: Re: The best Precision bass
Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2010 8:27 am
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Aspiring Musician
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If I buy something as a compromise, I end up spending extra time and money modifying it. Ends up costing the same, I can't sell it cause its modded, and I'm still unhappy. My wife finally convinced me its cheaper and more satisfying to get what you want. BUT, make sure you KNOW what you want.

In other words, decide which bass you want and would make you happy without needing mods, case upgrade, etc. And go with that choice.


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Post subject: Re:
Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2010 1:51 am
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will pumpkin wrote:
Isn't the deluxe active? I don't really want to have to pop bateries in her every month or whatever.


This is not the case for the 2010 models, which had an active/passive switch with a good 'ol passive tone for the best of both worlds. You'll no longer worry about dreaded batteries during a gig.

My only gripe is the missing 22th fret, which was a standard feature on all American Deluxe basses produced between 1989 and 2009. Also, the colour choice on the new deluxes is very limited.

Many customers reported a couple of problems with the new basses such as a lack of shielding paint on the bodies, bad wiring, nasty 60-cycle buzz from the N3s and many more.

Brother Dave told me on a recent post that the American Deluxe Series has been "standardized" to eliminate production costs and save money.


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Post subject: Re: The best Precision bass
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 2:35 pm
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any Vintage re-issue w/ nitro finish, 7 1/4" radius, stock bridge, vintage fret wire, and stock p/ups is the real tone IMO...and use flats.


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Post subject: Re: The best Precision bass
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 2:49 pm
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+1 for the flats, MT :wink:


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Post subject: Re: The best Precision bass
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 3:24 pm
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Just save your money and get an American Std. The new ones (late 2007 to present) are the way to go. I have 2 of them, and while they're not stock, they are solid basses. I actually prefer the sound of the stock pickup in one of my P's, than the SD 1/4 in the other.

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MB cmd 102p & 410hr
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http://i853.photobucket.com/albums/ab92/RaginRog/0164b2a08afb2dac99b8f82fcd6ac8c6_zps7f4874d4.jpg


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Post subject: Re: Re:
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2010 3:27 pm
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chromeface wrote:
will pumpkin wrote:
Many customers reported a couple of problems with the new basses such as a lack of shielding paint on the bodies, bad wiring, nasty 60-cycle buzz from the N3s and many more.

Brother Dave told me on a recent post that the American Deluxe Series has been "standardized" to eliminate production costs and save money.


I still love the look of the new ones much better. I never liked the look of the humbucker in the older models.

_________________
`12 Select Jazz bass
`06/08 American Std Jazz-blizzard prl
`12 Ric 4003 Fireglo


MB cmd 102p & 410hr
MB LM Tube 800

http://i853.photobucket.com/albums/ab92/RaginRog/0164b2a08afb2dac99b8f82fcd6ac8c6_zps7f4874d4.jpg


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Post subject: Re: The best Precision bass
Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2010 10:11 am
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So the debate continues....Since I last posted here, I have replaced my well-loved Classic '50s (that had a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound and TI Jazz Flats) with an AV '57 P in sunburst: all I did to it was to change the strings to TIs and it blows the Classic '50s away. Of course, it cost over twice what I paid for the other one, but I love it to death. In January I sold my Les Paul to finance a Mesa/Boogie Walkabout Scout, and now I get compliments everywhere I play (including outdoor gigs).

I still have the fretless and the '51 RI, and they are not going anywhere. The '51 is the Thump King -- when I play either the '57 or the '51 I'm in tone heaven.

If I were on a budget, though, it'd be the Classic '50s hands down. That's the one that introduced me to true Precision tone.

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Post subject: Re: The best Precision bass
Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2010 12:37 pm
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I love my Roadworn P, bought it in spite of the relic finish. Lightweight body, great neck, overall mucho mojo. I put a Dimarzio Model P pup a few months ago, strung it with Ernie Ball Group II flats. Really dig the vibe.


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Post subject: Re: The best Precision bass
Posted: Fri Dec 31, 2010 10:07 pm
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Guitarist1983 wrote:
If I buy something as a compromise, I end up spending extra time and money modifying it. Ends up costing the same, I can't sell it cause its modded, and I'm still unhappy. My wife finally convinced me its cheaper and more satisfying to get what you want. BUT, make sure you KNOW what you want.

In other words, decide which bass you want and would make you happy without needing mods, case upgrade, etc. And go with that choice.


I agree 100%. I spent quite a bit of time and money buying everything but an American Standard thinking that I would be happy. I finally found a used one (2007) and feel I am finally satisfied.


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Post subject: Re: The best Precision bass
Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 11:37 am
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In all honesty you should just go to a music store and physically play one of each if at all possible. Reviews and asking others helps get a better understanding, however in the end you make the final choice and you are the one who has to play it. So it is best to get something you know you like the feel, look, sound because you held it, seen it, and played it.


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Post subject: Re: The best Precision bass
Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 6:03 am
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The whole SEE IT, PLAY IT, BUY IT thing does NOT hold water.

Here's why.

Back when we saw someone play a bass and we thought....THAT IS THE ONE.

SO THEN WE ORDERED IT.

It came sight unseen in a hard tolex case, so it must be good, about 6 weeks later.

The best basses I ever had were bought SIGHT UNSEEN and in fact a few weeks before they were even made! I must point out that I had NO idea back then that 40 years later they'd be considered relics of value!

That is true and any Fender player from the 60's and a 70's can probably say the same thing.

The best Fenders I ever bought were bought SIGHT UNSEEN before they were even MADE. SO all this PLAY IT BEFORE YOU BUY IT stuff is CRAP!

Your mileage may vary if you've bought a new Fender since 1971.


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Post subject: Re: The best Precision bass
Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 7:21 am
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It's a point of view, Br. Dave :P

I think anyone who bought a Fender new pre-1971, and still owns it, is a special case, a member of a particularly blessed minority. In any case, the choice was far less in those days. Back in the day, there were 2 kinds of Fender bass you could have, Precision or Jazz, at least until the V and VI, the Mustang and the Musicmaster came along, but they were kind of sidelines compared with the P and the J. No other choice, other than a smallish selection of colours. Now, the Fender website lists 55 different Fender basses: 20 Precision, 33 Jazz, a Mustang and a Jaguar - and that's not counting the Squiers, of which there are 29 basses: 12 Precision, 12 Jazz, 3 Jaguars, a Bronco and an MB. Not, I submit, a fair comparison with the days you and I bought our first Fenders!

It's not, for me, a question of whether it's a bad bass or not - very few if any Fenders sold these days are bad - but whether it suits you personally. And the only way now to know is to try, when there are 55 different kinds of Fender, not to mention those 29 Squiers, and the Laklands and G&L's and Fret-Kings and Vintages and Nordies and Sandbergs and, and... who knows how many respectable Fenderalikes? :D


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