nilebodgers Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 After a long lay off from playing Bass and never owning a Fender P-Bass I just had to find myself one. Being both a bit stingy and not liking owning brand new things (leave the pain of the first scratch to someone else) I went looking for something s/h in the £300-£375 bracket and found a very nice 2012 MIM in Candy-Apple Red with a rosewood neck. I prefer rosewood and really like that colour, so was keen. I managed to get a good deal at a decent price so here it is: It was essentially unplayed and had never been set up (massive relief and high action) so there was a bit of work to do. I adjusted the relief, action and intonation and then played it for a couple of weeks to see how I liked it and work out what really needed doing. Turns out I really like P-basses :-) Hmmm... slightly rough fret ends, a couple of high frets up the dusty end (not enough to buzz at my preferred action, but high none the less) and first fret action a touch high on the D and G. Nothing that was a big deal. So - In to the shed, on to the workbench and get out the toolshop... This is the everything laid-out-nicely-at-the-end shot :-) Glosses over the tedium of fret end filing, levelling, crowning and polishing. I'm pleased with the result, play-ability is excellent now and the edge of the fretboard and fret ends feel lovely. The MIM Fenders seem to get a lot of flak, but I don't really see why at the price point. Mine played fine before I did any work and the fret ends could have been done quickly with something cheap like a fine emery board nail file. I'm quite critical and like to get the best out of an instrument, so I put a lot more effort in, but I'd always expect any mass-produced instrument to need some work. (my USA Tele did too) If I was being hyper-critical I'd upgrade the tuners, they work fine but are a touch agricultural-feeling. Got to keep something to do when mod fever strikes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 I think the MIM Fenders are fine instruments. I know a good few pro musicians who gig MIMs. Don`t know if they use them to record with or not, but gigging wise they always sound fine. I just wish I didn`t have the "must play a US Fender" hoo-doo. Sure, they`re not as good as the US ones, but they`re not meant to be. Good instruments in their own right, especially the 2012 onwards ones, imo (of which I still have one, and have had a good few others previously). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danuman Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 Nice work! I have a 2008 MIM, which I bought for very similar reasons. Not too terribly fond of the tuners, but the neck is really comfy. Admittedly, though, I swapped out pretty much everything else (including the body, which I made myself out of curiosity) so I guess levelling and dressing the frets is next... Which tools did you use? I used one of those hollow three-in-one crowning files before, but it was a bit crude. Anything you recommend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nilebodgers Posted November 17, 2017 Author Share Posted November 17, 2017 59 minutes ago, Danuman said: Nice work! I have a 2008 MIM, which I bought for very similar reasons. Not too terribly fond of the tuners, but the neck is really comfy. Admittedly, though, I swapped out pretty much everything else (including the body, which I made myself out of curiosity) so I guess levelling and dressing the frets is next... Which tools did you use? I used one of those hollow three-in-one crowning files before, but it was a bit crude. Anything you recommend? Yes, the tuners are the weak spot - at least in terms of feel. They work ok though, they just don't feel as nice as expensive ones. For levelling and dressing I used a 400mm levelling beam (from GMI in Greece - ebay) with 320 grit sandpaper and then a Stewmac diamond crowning file (300 grit - the double-sided offset one). I have tried lots of different crowning files. The absolute best results I think are with an 8in triangle smooth or 2nd cut file with the edges ground safe (I made that myself), but this is slow and takes practice. The fastest results are with the diamond profile file I used as it cuts both ways and leaves no chatter marks/scratches so it is easy to proceed on with the rest of the polish steps. It's expensive, but easy to see why pros use them. I have had no success with the non-diamond profile files, they are quite coarse and seem to really chew the fret up. [I haven't tried the more expensive Hosco ones that are available in different widths - may be better/finer?] Beyond the crowning, I masked up the fingerboard (low tack masking tape) and polished up through the grits from 400 to 2500. I didn't bother with an extreme final mirror-finish polish as I will do that when I change the strings next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danuman Posted November 17, 2017 Share Posted November 17, 2017 4 hours ago, nilebodgers said: Yes, the tuners are the weak spot - at least in terms of feel. They work ok though, they just don't feel as nice as expensive ones. Yes, I admit it’s a bit peevish, but fitting strings can be a bit awkward. The holes in the shafts are only just large enough, so you have to be really careful when crimping the strings. I’m actually quite surprised by how much this annoys me. (Anyway, I still haven’t swapped the tuners out, so I guess until I do they cannot be all that bad...) Cheers for taking the time for such a detailed answer! I’ll take a look at your suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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