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Post subject: Fender 1974 P Bass
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 7:17 pm
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I found this at guitar center today. seemed pretty good sound and feel wise. One problem seemed that one of the top pickups seemed pushed in a bit and the hardware seems a bit worn (hopefully not a problem do to fender quality). I was wondering if this is worth the price of $1600 or should i try to make an offer or skip and look for a different bass. Also are pbasses good for slap?


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Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2009 10:36 pm
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P-basses are great for beginners because there are only two controls. Simplicity is part of the beauty of a P-bass! That price sounds a little high if the bass has issues. It is so high because it is 35 years old. If it was like a 9 our of 10 then yeah it would be an OK price.

The pickup can be adjusted or the foam underneath the pickups might need replacing. That is a minor issue. The hardware is a different matter. Especially check the frets as they should not be worn too badly. If you decide to buy it, only do so with a return-for-refund policy and immediately take it to have a tech at another guitar store check it out and give you their opinion. If it has a boatload of problems, take it back for a refund. I wouldn't pay a premium price like that for a dud. And yes you can make a lower offer, but I wouldn't expect them to budge more than about 20%.

A P-bass is not usually noted as being a slap bass. Jazz basses are better for slap, even passive Jazz basses. If you want a slap bass you'll probably want to go with an active bass like the Deluxe Active Jazz, Jaguar, Deluxe P-Bass Special, American Deluxe Precision Bass Guitar or the American Deluxe Jazz or either of the Aerodyne models. As a general rule active basses with stainless roundwound strings are better for slap style. I prefer passive basses but I don't ever play slap style...at least where anyone but me can hear it because I'm a lousy slap player.

All of these active basses cost less than that '74 P-bass except the American Deluxe models which are slightly higher. The Jaguar is switchable between passive and active making it quite versatile. But the Jaguar has lots of knobs and switches that could be distracting to a newbie. GC usually has some of each of the Fender active basses in stock. Check them out. Don't let where it was made influence your decision. When you find "the one" you'll know it is the right one and it won't matter whether it was made in the USA, Japan or Mexico or how much it costs. You'll just know.

Also look at the STING model and the Precision 51 Reissue. Both have brighter sounding pickups than the modern day P-basses and can sound much like a J-bass.


Last edited by brotherdave on Sun Apr 26, 2009 11:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 7:17 am
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okay thanks i will have to look into the deluxe active jazz bass. If I wanted to get it I would get a full refund deal thing right and get it looked at by another guitar store right?


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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 10:02 am
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brotherdave wrote:
Also look at the STING model and the Precision 51 Reissue. Both have brighter sounding pickups than the modern day P-basses and can sound much like a J-bass.


I agree with brotherdave on those.

Also, if your choice for Fender is not exclusive, have a look at the Classic Vibe models of Squier. The Classic Vibe '50's P-Bass goes on the path of the STING signature model and the Classic Vibe '60's Jazz sounds much like an actual Fender model - both sound great when slapped. (Not by me, obviously, I'm not a slap-type person. :P)

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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 11:49 am
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skippy94 wrote:
okay thanks i will have to look into the deluxe active jazz bass. If I wanted to get it I would get a full refund deal thing right and get it looked at by another guitar store right?


If you buy a brand new one, you'll have a Fender warranty so a refund policy isn't necessary at all. Then for any warranty issues see your dealer first.

When dealing with supposedly "vintage" instruments for the kind of money you were initially talking about I'd want to have it checked out to see if it really was what the dealer represented it to be.


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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 5:05 pm
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Would a vintage instrument be considered new? I would think used unless it was a new old stock thing like on MM SUBs. Would I buy the instrument and then have it checked out or some other idea?


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Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 5:23 pm
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skippy94 wrote:
Would a vintage instrument be considered new? I would think used unless it was a new old stock thing like on MM SUBs. Would I buy the instrument and then have it checked out or some other idea?
\

Sorry, I thought you said you were going to look in to the Deluxe Active Jazz. You can buy a brand new one of those for half what the 74 P costs.

New instruments come with a warranty. Used ones don't.


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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:47 pm
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oh I get you now brotherdave. By the way now that i am here what is the difference between active electronics and active pickups. Also is the fender Jazz active have active electronics or pickups.


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Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:04 pm
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Active electronics or more correctly an active tone circuit gives a greater ranger of tone control with a higher output.

Active pickups do pretty much the same thing but in a different manner because the signal is hotter before it gets to the tone control circuit.


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