Fender Precision Bass

This one is an '05 Mexican in the 'upgraded' blond ash body. Rosewood neck, standard configuration.

The sound is pretty good. Rolling the tone off tends to be mushy and not very pleasing with these electronics, but when it's bright it's nice.

The factory setup was a travesty, but that's no surprise. That said, I have my gear professionally set up for me, and he couldn't even get this thing right. It's badly and sloppily assembled - the string spacing is off at the nut, the neck doesn't *quite* fit the body right, one of the tuning pegs isn't properly seated, there's a mysterious bulge in the pickguard where the p'up sits (bunched up wires underneath maybe?) and the jack makes poor contact with the cable. How didn't I notice this in the guitar store? I have no excuse, but BECAUSE of this bass I've really slowed down when making a purchase to inspect the gear more closely.

Since it looks and feels so sloppily built, I doesn't give me confidence about it's durability. That said, it still works although the jack is not long for it.

The bright clear sound sold me in the noisy guitar store, but I regret not looking this thing in the mouth because it's poorly made. It also weighs A LOT! I've played so many nice basses that are so much lighter; I realize you don't need this immense weight to get a rich sound.

2007 MIM model, in a creamy white finish. 20 frets, one volume one tone knob. All the stock parts of a MIM Fender P-bass, and it's got just the one split coil pickup.

One thing I really like about it is the satin finish, but I'll address that in detail later.

It's simple, no frills, but still classy, and it screams "play the **** out of me" to which i oblige heartily

I guess I would dig having a bridge pickup on it for more variation in tone.

I suppose I play all sorts of things on bass (it's not my main instrument; guitar is), but I really love the style of King Crimson era John Wetton. He's just got this monster tone which is pounding, punchy, and crunchy as hell, but that's mostly due to his huge tube amps which broke up amazingly. The best description of his tone and playing style I remember seeing was "bruising funk". This bass delivers in spades. I've got this plugged into a Yorkville Stage 120B and I run it through an Ibanez TS-7 tubescreamer to get some nice drive on it (occasionally a dunlop wah also). I also prefer to play inbetween the pickup and the neck; it gives me a more punchy tone (I love the neck position on my strat as well... so go figure)

I learned from one of the guys at my local guitar shop that most of the more recent fender guitars to come out of mexico (2006 onward, i think) have higher output pickups, and it's noticeable here. When I crank the volume and/or tone knob, there is a noticeable leap in bite and crispness. Therefore I love cranking them both, but I tend to roll back on the tone about 1/4-3/4 depending on what i'm doing.

I can really coax a bunch of different tones out of this bass, although some people see P-basses as one-trick ponies. I think having a good amp helps in that regard (and so does a pedal or two), because the lack of frills on this bass does restrict your options somewhat. However, it delivers the sweetest trick possible for bass to deliver, so it gets full marks

I've heard some horror stories of mexican made fenders, but I've been lucky I guess; I've had only great experiences (I'm 3 for 3). The action is pretty low, although I'm considering lowering it just a smidgeon. The neck seems to be well bolted on, and i've yet to find any rough edges on either the frets, the bridge, or the rosewood fretboard itself.

As mentioned earlier, I really love the satin finish on the neck. It feels super smooth and I can glide my hand effortlessly. Occasionally when I'm playing a poly finished neck for a while and my hand gets sweaty, i find i may stick a little on the neck when moving. This problem does not exist on this neck; it's classy all the way.

I also raised the pickups slightly from the stock setting, but only under the E and G strings, as I felt they needed a little more mid rangy punch that the middle two strings get from the centre-tilted pickups

The only problem I've had so far was having to get the input jack replaced, but that was due to the fact that I have a ridiculous planet waves cable which is just slightly too large for some input jacks and has caused them to come loose. I actually had the same problem on two other guitars with this cable, so I guess i never learned from my mistakes. Point being, I don't hold the bass responsible for this; I mismanaged it

Apart from this problem, the bass has been perfect in every way. I would definitely gig (and have done so) without a backup

haven't contacted fender in regards to the bass yet, but i have in the past for other things, and they've been pretty helpful. i'll use that as my benchmark here

I've been playing for almost 7 years, but playing bass seriously for only a year or so. Honestly, I was looking for that big thumping P-bass tone and I found it in the natural place to look. It's a no frills ***-kicking machine which, with a couple small tweaks to pickup height, has some amazing tone. While some may call it blasphemy, I think I like it more than my buddy's '79 model; it just rings in a special way to my ear. Considering how much I paid for this thing, it's one of the best guitar purchases i've ever made

1975 (USA). Ash body. Clear nitro finish - I removed the ugly
thick flaking poly sunburst paint when I got it in the 80's. I don't
regret it, it looks and feels great as it is now. This is a very
heavy body.

Maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. Poly coated, as usual with 70's
Fenders. I prefer a worn nitro coated neck. The neck is a bit more
narrow at the nut than the older Precision bass I have (a '66).

Bridge pickup added, tone control converted into volume for the bridge
pickup. It has Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder hot pickups (Basslines).
These are passive.

Stock bridge and tuners. The tuners are not that good quality (ears
get easily bent), but they are OK.

I got it with a '65 beige tolex case.

I play mostly rock, rarely jazz.

I use a SWR 350 W red face bass head, together with an Ampeg 1015 cab.

The sound is very colorful thanks to the bridge pickup, thin neck and
heavy body I think.

You can choose bassier sound by turning down the bridge pickup (and
vice versa). There's no tone control anymore.

I haven't recorded with this bass, but it works great live. The
sound of the bass is more audible compared to the stock Precision
thanks to the bridge pickup.

The polyurethane coating on 70's Fenders is not very nice.

This is a well proven work horse of course.

I have not had to change out any hardware.

The polyurethane coating does not wear out easily, but chips off ugly.

The strap buttons are stock, no strap locks. So you need to watch out.

I last adjusted the truss rod 15-20 years ago, don't remember.

I've used it frequently on gigs without a backup.

I got the bass used, out of warranty.

I've been playing for about 25 years. I also have a '66 P, a '95
5-string J (rarely used), and a cheap Frankenstein fretless. Also
a Jasmine semi-acoustic.

I'm about to receive a beater '87 JB special any day now, which could
fill in for this bass in case I lose it I guess.

The bass sounds great, it is just a little heavy. I'd prefer nitro
coating before the polyurethane.

Made in february 1966 (USA). The body is alder, all paint has been
stripped. It used to be white, overpainted with red metallic from what
you can see in the neck pocket and pickup routes. Apparently Fender
had a lot of older white bodies in stock, that they re-painted
according to the changing fashion trend.

There is one volume control and one treble reduction control.

Neck is maple.
Fingerboard used to be rosewood, was replaced by ebony in the 70's -
it was fretless for about 10 years, but is now fretted. Jumbo frets.

Badass bass II bridge, stock split coil pickups (excellent).
It has those really solid riveted tuners.

The bass is really light, yet it has a deep solid sound.

I got it with the original beige tolex case.

I play mostly rock, rarely jazz.

I use a SWR 350 red face amplifier, and one large Ampeg 1015 cabinet.

The bass produces one great bass sound. You can roll off the treble if you like.

I haven't been to the studio much (one LP and a couple of demos).
I'd say it's great both live and in the studio, at least for the music
I play.

I sometimes use my other Fender P (a '75) because it has a bridge
pickup added, i.e. when I prefer to have more midrange.

I bought it used. It was flawless when I got it.

I've used it live lots of times. Never needed a backup.

The finish is mostly removed, from the neck by playing, body paint
removed by a previous owner (in the 70's).

I adjusted the truss rod 15 or 20 years ago, can't remember.

Usually only the G string needs tuning.

Strap buttons are the old kind (no strap locks), so you need to
watch out with them.

I once drove over the neck with my BMW (the bass was in a softcase)
No damage whatsoever.

It was out of warranty when I bought it.

I've been playing for about 25 years.

I also have a '75 P, a 5-string '95 J (don't use it much), and a cheap
(but pretty good) fretless Frankenstein P-bass. Also a semi-acoustic
Jasmine (by Takamine).

I would replace this bass by a similar one if I lost it.

I love the solidness of this bass, both sound and dependability.
I hate that It's becoming valuable, which means replacing it would
be difficult.

It could use a bridge pickup.

This review refers to an MIM model, probably made in the mid- to late 90s. I'm really not sure about the woods used, but we're basically talking about a no-frills workhorse. No pointless "make 'er sound like a jazz-bass" buttons or nonsense like that. If a 10 here means "tons of features," I'll give it a 3, and in this case, I'd rather own a 3 than a 10.

This bass doesn't have that growling tonal quality you'll often find with Jazz basses or Rickenbackers, but it's still a fantastic utility bass. I played it in a power-pop group, often through a cheap Ibanez TS5 overdrive pedal into a Crate combo amp with a 15" speaker. The result was a nice clean tone that was always prominent in the mix of the band, and a really nasty, punk-like tone with the fuzz on. I will describe the sound as 'warm leaning toward dark.' It's great for stage or studio - I had decent results with both, though given its lack of growl, I personally think it's better suited for gigging.

I enjoyed the action just as it came out of the box. It was a little high, but really didn't tend to hinder anything too much. And hey, if you don't like it, adjustments are no big deal. I have no qualms with the pickup, and the overall finish appeared flawless.

My band trucked this bass all over the country for the better part of two years and it never let me down once. The hardware is quite durable, the finish, as on all newer Fenders, seems impervious to wear and tear. The strap buttons never let me down. I might also note that this thing keeps excellent tune. Now and then in times of drunken stage jitters I wouldn't even remember to tune it before a gig, but it was usually right in tune from the night before. I don't really know of any bassists who bring more than one bass to a show. I never did, and I never needed to.

dunno

I'd love to own a Rick one day, but until I wind up with a grand to just drop on a bass, the MIM precision bass will be just fine. As I mentioned, it lacks the "growl" you tend to hear from the Who or Yes (favorite bass tones of mine) but the P-bass DOES sport the signature Motown sound - subtle, yet clear and prominent (James Jamerson laid down some of history's greatest basslines on one of these and NEVER changed the strings once!). It's a practically indestructible workhorse that'll do justice to your music while being thoroughly dependable and thoroughly affordable. This bass is perfect for any bassist, really, and furthermore, if looks matter to you, it's the most dignified-looking bass you can buy. No meticulous Amish woodwork or lame extra strings on this machine, just the basics. This thing comes especially recommended if you're a young bassist who might end up taking some twists and turns in your musical preferences and styles - you may never need to buy another bass as long as you live.

1983-87 production, made in Japan. Sunburst, rosewood fretboard, probably an alder body, but I'm not sure. I wanted to add some info here for people looking at the 80's Japanese-made basses. The quality of these instruments is excellent. It was very light and rang out nicely even when unplugged. The neck had a nice nitro-cellulose finish and was thin, but not too thin. Frets were the right size and installed well. It's hard to mess up a P-bass, but Fender did a good job with these.

The original pickup had a vintage-y tone that didn't fit my style (poppy-punk) so i installed a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounder and it dramatically beefed up the sound. More output, more tone, more bite, more attack. I highly recommend this upgrade, or any similar upgrade.

I played this bass through an Ampeg SVT-350H, Ampeg 210, and Mesa 115 and it made the perfect rock rig, except for that the 350H wasn't quite loud enough and lacked real tube tone ("tube emulation" is a fictional term).

I bought it used, so I can't comment on this. But I will say that the paint is a little on the thin side. It chipped easily, and when it did, i could see that the finish wasn't very thick.

It's a P-bass. Throw it out of a moving car and it will stay in tune. Set the intonation once a year and you're fine.

No idea.

These basses hold their value well. Buy one to play out, keep it a few years, and sell it what you bought it for. It should not lose it's value as long as you take care of it. I sold mine only to change up my sound, but i think one day i will end up buying another one. I've been playing about 15 years and have owned a number of basses, and played dozens more, and this one belongs in everyone's collection. It's an affordable way to get the classic P-bass sound in a light-weight package. With the action set low you can do anything on this bass - pick quickly, slap, use your fingers, whatever. But like all P-basses, it has its limitations, namely in its one pickup and two knobs.

I own five 70's precision basses all made in the US. Just wanted to offer a few observations to explain what to look for if you are buying a 70's bass. All are 20 fret basses, body woods are alder, ash and mahogany. They all have the standard split pickup from Fender or Seymour Duncan. One has been modified with a SD vintage Jazz pickup for some extra pop.

Even if it may sound a bit flat or boring when playing in your bedroom, play it with a loud band and you'll see why the Precision is king. You'll have no trouble keeping up with a loud drummer, not because you play loud, but because there is so much bottom in the pickups. The Standard 70s pickups are normally great, I have no idea why people changed them back then. They go for 200 USD on Ebay these days. On one of the basses I have a SDuncan quarter pounder which is a great pickup, but not that different sound, just louder. The Fender reissue '62 pickup is actually a great sounding pickup, warm and woody, suits my 1970 very well. Why they have to wrap them in the shiny plastic pickup shields that makes it look like crappy Squier PUs, I'll never know. This bass also has a SD vintage Jazz bass pu near the bridge, but don't do this to your 70's bass. (I am talking about carving out a hole for the J pickup.) Get an already mutilated body or buy a newer Hot rodded bass instead.

The PJ setup actually sounds great when practicing, but out on a gig, I find myself turning off the J pickup to get the clean P sound.

Just remember that all P- basses have a dead spot at C# or D on the G string. It is just a quirk of the design, nothing you can do about it, play the D string if you want endless sustain. Marcus Miller loves his 77 Jazz bass with the same dead spot.

This is where the most changes are. The early 70s up to 73 are basically much the same as the 57. The body roting is minimal and the neck fits well. In 73 they started to carve a route between pickups and controls so they could put in the whole harness without soldering with the guitar in their lap. The bodies are still quite nice though, well curved and deep reliefs. In about 76, they changed again, and the bodies turned much more clumsy and heavy due to smaller reliefs and smaller edge radius. Not so nice to play in your sofa anymore. On stage it does not matter too much. The disaster came with the 79 body revision, where the arm relief is practically gone, and the neck pocket is so oversize they had to cover the gap with a foam strip.

The necks are more or less the same, may be a little fatter over the years. The 71 I have is fantastic. In 79 they started to route the neck from the back even on rosewood capped necks. This makes it easier to change the truss rod should the need arise.

These basses can fall off your car without needing a retune. Nothing beats the Fender design in simplicity and puttng the money where it is needed. My '73 Rickenbacker 4001 has a 50$ bridge and the cheapest tuners ever. The Fender has a 5$ bridge and military spec tuners. Guess which one plays the best.

Total Morons. Even in 1979 they were better than today.

I have playeed for about 30 years. I have a 1970 Sunburst with a 78 maple neck, PJ pickups. A 1971 Sunburst RW neck which is totally stock. A 1978 SB/RW which is stock. A 1976 mahogany body with a 1979 RW neck. A 1979 Natural stock fretless. I play through a 1978 Bassman 130 with a 4 x 12 trapezoid cabinet, one cool rig.

If they were all stolen I would sell the Rickenbacker and get a nice 1970-76.

1970 dense american Ash, 4 strings and a 20 fret hard rock maple neck. Single split P/U, bass-ic controls, tone and volume (who needs anything more?) White turned to vintage yellow, crazed and heavily worn. Absolute relic.

Throaty, punchy quintessential P bass sound that defined the genre. Works great with my 120 watt acoustic 140 and 150 amps, and a Peavey 210 cab. Rotosound round wounds, snappy or subsonic, this combination does it all. Badass bridge and steel nut. It can ring like the bells of Notre Dame!

Action is superb - perfect balance and plenty of heft too. Feels like a real bass! Heavy wear, finish ranges from natural ash to white to almost amber color. Real cool.

This bass has exactly 1,976,272,122,856,981.8 miles on it and never needed servicing. It is indestructable.

Never dealt with them.

I have played since 1967. If it were stolen I would be obligated to murder whomever stole it. I could not really replace it . . . Probably I would buy a new Music Man Stingray, or a Peavey Cirrus with a maple neck.

1964 ORIGINAL Vintage Off White, later sanded down to natural finish.Rosewood finger board.Standard Fender P Bass.

What can I say, the Precision is the king of all basses, this is where it all started and in my opinion has not been surpassed!
Back in the 70's I played heavy rock/blues and this bass suited my needs for a bass with punch and tone, both a rich and full sound.
For live performances I used a Marshall 100w with 2x 4-12" cabinets and later a 200w Marshall top. I also used a Fender Bassman with an 18" reverse. This Precision bass was equally good for both studio and live performances. The only dislike I had was the neck nut width, a little on the broad side.

I bought this bass in 1969 from a store in Charing Cross Road, London, it was perfect from day 1 and after many years on the road it never let me down. Vintage Fenders are supreme, the new stuff and the re-issues do NOT come anywhere near an ORIGINAL Fender Precision.

It has all been said before, this bass will last forever, no issues whatsoever. I used it countless times without any back up - could not afford one in those days, a starving muzo!

Never dealt with Fender support so no comment.

I have played for more than 30 years, I also own a Rickenbacker 4003 Jetglo, black fittings, no trim from 85. I used to own a 69 Fender Jazz, Sunburst which was also superb and also a 72 Rickenbacker 4001 FireGlo.All my basses have something special about them.
If my Precision was stolen I would weep, then hunt down the thief and subject hin to slow torture! If I could afford it then I would buy a GENUINE vintage Fender P again. If I was to buy another bass it would be a Precision Special with a J pu and Jazz neck.

1985 STANDARD U.S. made precision bass. Four string fretted. It is Black with a white scratch plate. It has a maple neck.Passive single coil pick-up. Everything works well on this instrument.

I like to play a variety of music with this instrument and it serves me well from country to punk. I generally use a peavey mark 4 bass head through one or two EV TL 15 speakers. Have started to use some distortion types of effects in the punk band.It gives a very full sound through the frequencies so that it does not seem to get lost in the sound of the band. Great for studio and stage. Very quiet instrument.

The bass had a twisted neck when I bought it. I had that repaired and the pick-ups adjusted.

The bass has done about 500 gigs in a twenty year period and has never missed a beat. I use it without a back-up although I always carry spare strings. However I have never broken a string ever in twenty years.

Never needed to return it to the manufacturer.

As my one bass guitar I would not own another instrument. I have thought of buying a Jazz Bass or a Rickenbacker 4001 but neither of these instruments are as pretty as the precision.