sirmuppet

I'll chime in on this since I own a few Fenders. It's my go to brand of bass. Most music stores carry them and you pretty much know what you're getting. Spare parts are easy to get hold of. If you're buying blind online then resale will be better than on most other brands. If you find the model that speaks to you and you're happy to part with the cash then yeah it's worth it. Recently I bought a MIM jaguar for just over £1400. As crazy as it sounds stay with me on this. I'd been following particular bass player and they have custom made Jaguars. For years I wanted one in bright pink but alas no signature model and no bass in this colour. Then after he was getting pestered time again again asking if Fender would release a signature model he went to Fender and asked how many he'd have to order to have them made. Answer was a minimum of 50. I missed out on the first run but got one in the second. Had to buy it from the states so shipping and import on top came to a little over £1400. On paper, it seems mental but to me I have a great playing bass that I've wanted for a long time, something a little rare and it means something to me. So to me, it's worth it. That's just one example of a Fender I own. I mean my USA standard cost me £999 brand new and that was my go to since I got it in 2017. That was worth it and has paid for itself time and again in gigs I've played with it. If something from Fender came up that I wanted and I felt I could part with the cash for it, sure I'd say it was worth it but to someone else that might not be the case. So it's very much an individual opinion.

Just bought an Ashdown ABM 600 from Rich. He'd had it up for sale but withdrew it. Took a chance and emailed him. Deal was done quick and the amp here in less than 4 days. A true gent and a pleasure to deal with. Very happy with the amp, just as described. Hope to deal with Rich again. Thanks man.

Seems reasonably priced 👍

I did think about that but wasn't sure if the luthier would be willing to work on just the neck or would be happier with the whole instrument. Again, something I've never had to do.

Fair point. I think it would be closer to say would you spend the money repairing an engine or replace it with a different new one but I get the sentiment 🙂. I'm just wanting to know the sides as it costs roughly the same to replace the neck as to refret it. Is there any down side to refretting? 100%, would never get someone to do anything like that who didn't do it professionally. I do have my eye on one of 2 luthiers to do the work but it means travelling a fair distance or shiping the bass. I don't know of anyone local to me who does this.

Nice! Yup, looks to be the same. They were offered with Rosewood or Maple. I always wanted mine to be maple but in the years of owning have come round to liking the rosewood more now. Also red and gold is the best colour combo (Iron Man!).

More than likely is. For the first 2-3 years they were all passive. It should be a Jazz profile neck. Mine is glossy on the back. I also modded it to have rolled fingerboard edges which =just made it all the nicer. It makes me feel a little better knowing you own the same bass and if were in the same position would refret. Just it would cost more for a neck or refret than what I originally paid (£220 I think) which is why I'm not sure which way to go with it.

Hi all. I have a Fender Precision Bass Special MIM from the deluxe series. It's one of the original ones from 2000 that were passive (see picture). I got this used in about 2012 for very cheap and the frets were pretty worn back then. Recently I've noticed a buzz on the A string around Frets 2 & 3. I've taken it to have this fixed by having a level and crowning done on the neck but this hasn't solved the problem. I was told the next option was a refret but that the bass would need sent out to have this done. Since the bass isn't vintage or vastly high value it occured to me that it might be cheaper to buy another neck though this might leave me with a vastly different feeling and maybe sounding bass. So I'm torn as to what to do. I've never had a refret done and was wondering if any of you had some insight into this? I've had a look online but most of the posts I can find are those with vintage instruments which mine isn't (well not quite yet 😆).

They had supply issues at Fender for them so they put in the stock Alnico 5 you get in the Player series. I was skeptical it would be similar. Gigged it last Sat and was amazing at how powerful it was. I wouldn't say it's the same as it lacks the low end in my opinion of the SPB3 but certainly it's hot. So much so I took the pickguard off to see if I'd been given the previous generations ceramic bar version but no. Watch though, that pickguard is super sharp, slice my finger open on it. Have never had that happen before. I have an SPB3 on hand to go in when I get the replacememt. May look to put a cap in to reign in the output a little but will see. Have to say though the Pau Ferro is really nice to play. I was unsure I'd like it since I'm such a fan of rosewood. Feels very similar to Ebony but I'm not convinced on the grain of it visually.

No worries. If you have any questions at all give me a shout any time. Are you on the HMNIM Discord? If not you should as you get a heads up on special runs and release dates ahead of everyone else.

Not at all. That was a question I kept asking so I knew too 😁. I remember the import fees were £273.56. $129.21 for shipping but not sure what that is in UK pounds.

I did think about this. Since it's coming direct from the states I didn't know if I should contact US or UK customer services.

It's not a limited number run, it's a run based upon interest. They did 50 but a lot missed out so they did another 300. If there's enough interest they will do more. They've said as long as people want it they will keep doing runs albeit small ones. So no guarantee there will be more or not. I actually got an email from HMNIM last night saying they're awaiting the delivery of the replacements to the California factory. So sounds like they're already made which is was, way quicker than I thought (less than 2 weeks). So when they get in touch about delivery I'll maybe ask the question then. Thanks. The one pickup thing without a tone makes it sound really agressive. So as long as you set up your tone for that bass you're fine. The colour is weird as it's way brighter and pink in person.

It was a long shot but if I'm going to ask and someone is going to know then here would be the best place.

Haha. Yeah, nice and simple. One pickup, one volume. The neck is lovely. The brand was HMNIM. They got in touch with Fender to produce the bass. There's talk of another run but nothing solid yet. They were talking about doing one in Sonic Blue. So that might be more likely. The plan is exactly that. I know I'm getting a replacement but until thet tell me what's happening with this I'm not pressing it. I'm guessing unless there's another run then Fender won't be able to reuse the body and neck, nor the neckplate or gigbag. So the value to them would be in the remaining parts. I just wanted to know if I was right in my thinking or if there was something Fender may do with it that I hadn't thought of. This would have an affect on the offer I made to them or counter offer to any made to me I guess.

It's not to everyone's taste but I like it. The colour is hot pink

No gaurantee they will make another run. There is talk of it but nothing as yet. There were more than one damaged in this batch, I think someone said 10 in total.

This is the odd thing. Another store can't sell it as it was a specific custom design for this particular store. The store I bought it from isn't even a guitar store, they're more of a clothing store. So they wouldn't want to sell a B-stock bass I would think. If they did they'd still have to get it uplifted back to them. From what they said, Fender are replacing the bass and taking responsibility for it, but it would take some time since it would need to be worked into the schedule and is below the minimum 50 for a factory custom order. To give a little insight the bass normally features a PJ configuration but in this instance has only a P pickup that is reverse. The birdge is normally top loading but has been spec'd with a USA string through version. The neck is normally a J style with do inlays but is spec'd to have a P-bass with block inlays. Neck plate and gig back have company logo on them. Even the pickguard is a custom shape. I'm going to make them an offer to keep this one but if it's gonna be junked and just reuse the pickup and tuners then I'll make a lower offer. I think this will probably be the case. The only other option is they fix and respray what's damaged and hope that the store order more. I'm just trying to get a grip on what might happen so I can go in with all the info.

Yeah, I'm not contacting them first. Am doing exactly what you're saying. Just if/when it comes to that I'd like to know all the info. If Fender can't reuse/resell it then it will be a greater loss for them so I would have that on my side which I think it the case here. Certainly unless they reroute and also fill the body, they couldn't use that. The neck is a 63 p-bass with block inlays but labelled under a different model of bass. So they'd have to re-badge that to even have a chance of reusing it. So I'm guessing it's just hardware value.

It's similar still. I know my local store can go on and see items that have either been demoed by Fender or may have a blemish etc... The specific thing here is Fender wouldn't be able to do that. This bass was ordered specifically for one store and only to be sold through them. So I can't imagine Fender could take it back and resell it like that.

So I'll give you a little backstory. A company in the US comissioned a custom Fender bass. The neck is specific to this instrument, the body colour is only available on this bass, the pickup routing is unique to this bass. They made a short run and I got one. It arrived and had been damaged. The headstock has taken a little bash causing the hole where the nub of the back of the tuner where it sits in the split through and the body has a large dent and crack on the lacquer. All that aside it's a stunner, plays wll and sounds good. The dent/crack is more to the back and only cosmetic and the tuner issue is fixed by tightening the nut of the tuner and making sure it's set correctly. I've been promised that they will replace it with another but this will need specially made. My concern is does anyone know what happens to an intrument like this? It's not like the neck or body can be reused on another model as it's specific to this. I'm going to offer to buy this one as well if I can but I'ld like to know all the information prior to discussing this with them. If it's going to be destroyed then I don't want to offer too much. Since it's a custom order I can't see if being reused, perhaps the hardaer but not the neck and body. There will also be return shipping at their cost to consider. Any one know what happens to something like this or had experience of this? Thanks.

This blew my mind. Had no idea they came in paper wrapers and had backing cards. I'm old enough to remember the logo change and also before the gold drop shadow.

It's a fair point about the cost of things at the moment. Fender will likely be feeling the strain just as any other company is. Cost of labour, power, materials, shipping (It's through the roof and at one point was 8 times as much as it was pre pandemic). Though it's the first time I've seen the dollar amount for say a Super Bassman head lower than the pound amount. Lets not forget right before Fenders "price increase" they were found guilty of price fixing in Europe and fined £4.3 million. That could also explain the high price this side of the pond. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jan/22/guitar-maker-fender-fined-45m-for-price-fixing-in-uk#:~:text=The guitar maker Fender has,online discounting for its guitars.