Fender 50s style P bass

The official name of this bass is the "Fender Classic '50s Precision." It was built in Fender's Ensenada Mexico plant in April 2007, according to the inspection tag. The neck is the traditional one-piece maple with the walnut stripe on the back; the body is glossy poly-finish alder. Twenty frets, one passive split-coil pickup, volume and tone. The pickguard is gold-anodized aluminum, just like the real thing.

About the color: it's available in sunburst, black, white and "fiesta red." I wanted a white one, but I was trading gear in toward it and had to deal with the local Fender seller, who told me that white was no longer available. He ordered fiesta red, which is You-Gee-Ell-Why! It's a pinkish orange that (I understand) was a Ford factory color for the 1956 Thunderbird. Paint doesn't make any difference to the sound, so I went with it.

The bridge has four saddles, in the familiar Fender barrel style, which adjust for height. Strings attach to the bridge. The output jack is mounted on the pickguard, along with the control knobs.

The tuners look and act like the original Klusons, but have a finer thread for more precise tuning. Like the originals, they turn "backwards" from the modern standard, meaning that, if you use a string winder to install new strings, you'll quickly unscrew the assembly because they are designed to turn in the opposite direction. Otherwise they are sufficient to the purpose. It had round wound strings when it arrived, which were immediately swapped for Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Flats, which are now on all of my basses.

All in all, it is similar to the original -- most like a '58, factoring in the colors and so on -- which was Leo Fender's first big upgrade to the primeval single-coil Precision. It deviates from the original in the precise color called fiesta red, in the lack of a thumb rest and pickup and bridge covers, and (so I am told) the dimensions of the neck, which is slimmer and narrower than the originals, but retains the high-crown 7-1/2" radius.

In other words, it's an affordable alternative to the very pricey originals or the more expensive '57 Reissue, which costs around 2-1/2 times as much.

It has the most important attribute of the Precision, which is its present, penetrating sound. I have owned other basses that sounded "like" a Precision, but once I heard this one I started trading them off. More about this later.

Players who need lots of knobs and switches and whatnot will not be satisfied with this bass. Me, I think the simplicity of it is a measure of Leo Fender's greatness. So much from so little!

There's nothing this beast needs; if you want a different sound, then you'll have to get a different bass. Score: "9" because it doesn't have - or need - tons of features. It's a bass, not a space rocket.

This is why I bought it. The P sound sits in the mix, jumps down off the stage and dances with the folks, and makes me grin. It has more punch than a Jazz bass, with a deep voice that still has a lot of midrange. I run it through an Ampeg B100R solid state amp, which allows me to run a line out into the PA so the subs can do the heavy lifting. No noise apparent in any of the funky honky tonks and dance halls I've played it in. I don't use effects, or any add ons. A lot of the appeal of a bass like this is that it is elemental. If I want to plug in a lot of gizmos, why, then, I pull out my Les Paul Deluxe and have at it.

Note that the P is widely known as a one trick pony; but that one trick is worth several hundred others. There's limited tonal range. You can roll off the treble via the tone control, or change the position of your hand in relation to the bridge, and alter your attack and touch, and that's it...which is by no means a bad thing. It directly replaced another bass I gigged with that had active electronics and tremendous versatility -- but nothing I could come up with ever sounded as good as this one did out of the box.

When I first got it, I brought it to band rehearsal. I left it there and, when next I went to the practice space, I heard a loud, present, terrific bass line coming through the door. The lead player had picked up the bass and was playing it with a big grin on his face.

Another time I showed up at a gig with a different bass and used it during sound check. The singer and lead player both insisted that I return home to get the P before we started our set!

There are people who, strangely enough, don't like the Precision sound. I pray for their souls, but they won't be happy with this bass.

It came decently set up. I had to tweak the truss rod after a week in humid East Texas, but haven't touched it since (about a year). I intonated the bridge when I installed the TI strings, and that pretty much took care of that.

The finish on the neck and body is like glass. The neck has a slight tint to it, easily noticed when it is placed next to an untinted one, but it looks better than the unstained maple, in my opinion. I happen to love maple fingerboards, so that's a real plus.

The high crown on the fingerboard was awkward at first - I changed to this bass from one with a 12" radius - and playing the bass line to Black Magic Woman was a bit of a workout, but I adapted. The action is probably about medium. I'm not real picky about either high or low action, so it suits me fine.

Fit and finish, overall, are excellent. I've found no flaws. It's now a year old and looks the same as the day I bought it...and this is a bass that earned its living over that year. It's a "9" because, well, it's just not "fabulous" (but it's very nice). Save the "fabulous" for basses that - unlike this one - need the frou frou to generate appeal.

Sixty years of Precisions playing in bars should say something about durability. Leo didn't build wimpy instruments. I never took a backup, only an alternative voice (a '51 P Reissue or a fretless Jazz), and as the band made its preference for this one known to me, the others just sat at home.

As noted, it took one tweak of the truss rod in its first year, unlike other basses I have owned (one seemed to need adjustment every time I took it out of its case). This is a good place to point out that the neck must be removed to adjust the rod: the slot head is at the body end of the neck, and can't be reached due to the aluminum pickguard covering it.

I replaced the strap button with a Schaller quick-disconnect type, as I have on all my basses. There was nothing wrong with the original.

No experience with Fender, but the local dealer will do what he needs to keep a customer happy. Since there are no issues with any of my Fender basses (I own four) I'll probably never know.

Thirty+ years on guitar, nearly as long on bass, harmonica and Dobro. I own a project studio and have been in and out of bands and I hardly ever sell or trade anything, so I've got a lot of gear. Right now I have nine guitars, resonators and basses, and I use 'em all.

The only thing I wish I had done was insist that the dealer find me a white one...but I'm getting used to the fiesta red, Mexican edition. It's different, that's for sure.

If it walked, I'd immediately get another one. I love everything (except the color) about it. It's comfortable, relatively light, and easy to play - but I'd put up with some issues just to get that P sound.

I have owned nine basses since 1981: Carvin, Ibanez, G&L Tribute, cheap Jazz copy, a Squier P, and the current stable of Fenders: '51 P Reissue, fretless Jazz, this one, and a fretless Precision. In addition, over the years I have played many borrowed Fender Jazz basses back in the day when I was usually the lead player.

This one's it. I like fretless for certain things, the '51 for other certain things, but the Jazz fretless is on the block because, for me, the Precision is everything a bass should be. It doesn't hurt that it's available for a low price. Note that I traded gear and a small amount of cash for this one...but if I lost it I'd gladly buy one for the $650 they are going for.

Maple finger board with WIDE spacing!!! Thats the star of the show! Anodized gold aluminum pick guard, reverse chrome plated clover style tuners, split center position p bass pickup. 1 volume control, 1 passive tone control,
old fashioned two tone brown sunburst on my bass, also available in black, fiesta red, and honey blond. Finish is polyester, flawless and tough. Neck has high gloss finish, very smooth, just keep it clean. The clear finish on the neck has an amber look to the maple; looks fresh but like a well aged finish. Bridge is typical old school fender; the bridge pieces are individually adjustable for each string. If you keep the original bridge , after you set it where you want it, put a dab of lock tight to secure the screws. (In case you didn't know.)

I wanted to "come home" to that P bass sound after lots of high end basses. I still play the others too, but sometimes the P is just the right one for the style of music I am playing. Because we have modern strings and amps available, what we end up with is in many ways better than the way they actually sounded 50 years ago.( It would be comparable to putting radial tires and modern fuel injection on a 57 Chevy.)My bass has a very growly spanky tone. The low mids are so much of that P bass tone as well. I play finger style, and can emulate an upright bass. Slap style is really cool with this bass. You can get lots of body thump with your thumb, and because it's passive, you can get crazy aggressive without clipping your input level. Also the brightness on the slap has a much better midrange.

Set up from Fender was CRAP. One string was completely dead, needed truss rod adjustment, harmonics were off, fret ends were left sharp. Tuners were so stiff I replaced them. On the plus side the finish is BEAUTIFUL! And flawless to boot. Neck is bolt on and fits well in it's pocket, feels solid. The gold anodized pick guard is flawless, nicely made. There are some extra holes in it where the original bass had a cover over the pick up, and also for the thumb rest, not included with Mexican made bass.
I think what you can expect if you buy one of these basses new is that it will function well without having to replace anything other than the factory set up. Spend a few extra bucks if you don't know how to do it yourself, have the bass professionally set up. Many bass players that buy these basses replace the pick ups, bridge, tuners. I did too, but only because I am obsessed, spoiled, and besides I can afford it!

I play this bass without a back up regularly. It will last a life time with a little TLC. The finish is tough as nails, Neck and body woods have been tried and tested, and should outlast me! Truss rod on my bass has been stable as you can expect for this kind of construction, ie other basses have multi laminate necks that are more stable. Once the correct adjustment was made I haven't had to do it again. (By the way, you can loosen the strings, and then remove the pick guard to gain access to the truss rod; you do NOT have to remove the neck, as noted in another review. It takes about a half an hour.)

I haven't had to contact Fender for anything other than to register the bass on line for it's warranty.

I have been playing for over 40 years. It is still my full time work. For me this bass was an addition to my arsenal of basses. I missed my old original P bass and this was pretty affordable. Now that I have the bass it has turned out to be a favorite for me to play in certain situations. I would not want to do without this bass and would replace it if it were lost somehow. It is not as versatile as some of the more modern and more expensive basses. Because it isn't as versitile, it's not my main work bass. And yet it has that unmistakable P bass sound, no matter what strings, pick ups bridge etc you might like to try. I think if you are jonesing for that P bass sound, this bass is for you IF you don't have to have a narrower neck, or maybe that s-1 switching they have on the American basses. Great bass, good price.