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Rayman

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Why can't I get on with Fender Precisions? Why?

I have a beautiful American Standard, just bought it, determined to love it.... it plays amazing, looks beautiful  (sunburst, tort, rosewood) brand new strings, set up.... but I... just.... cannot.... bond with it. I've tried dozens over the years, but I just love my Jazzes and Stingrays too much....

Sigh.... 

Edited by Rayman
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15 minutes ago, Rayman said:

Why can't I get on with Fender Precisions? Why?

I have a beautiful American Standard, just bought it, determined to love it.... it plays amazing, looks beautiful  (sunburst, tort, rosewood) brand new strings, set up.... but I... just.... cannot.... bond with it. I've tried dozens over the years, but I just love my Jazzes and Stingrays too much....

Sigh.... 

You need time for your ears to adjust. It's like drinking tea without sugar for the first tiime.

At first, it's like.. 'WTF? I need sugar'

After a while, it's... 'mmm... tea is lovely. Sugar just spoiled the taste.'

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Doesn't it also depend on what you're wanting to play on the bass? 

If you're playing bass lines that call for a metallic zing, as with the MM humbucker or the bridge pup on the jazz, then P-bass, won't do that, because the pup is in the wrong location on the body.

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If you're happy with the basses you like to play, why force yourself to play a Precision?  Play what feels and sounds right to you. For me, that's a Precision, but I wouldn't lose sleep over it if I preferred something else. The music you play is what matters, the instrument is simply a tool to enable you to produce that.

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1 minute ago, FinnDave said:

If you're happy with the basses you like to play, why force yourself to play a Precision?  Play what feels and sounds right to you. For me, that's a Precision, but I wouldn't lose sleep over it if I preferred something else. The music you play is what matters, the instrument is simply a tool to enable you to produce that.

^^This. I don't like MMs and I hardly ever use a bridge pup. But each to their own.

I have this, but I could lose the Humbucker and save weight. I hardly use it.

37876305031_14b1018ca4_k.jpg

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2 hours ago, Rayman said:

Why can't I get on with Fender Precisions? Why?

I have a beautiful American Standard, just bought it, determined to love it.... it plays amazing, looks beautiful  (sunburst, tort, rosewood) brand new strings, set up.... but I... just.... cannot.... bond with it. I've tried dozens over the years, but I just love my Jazzes and Stingrays too much....

Sigh.... 

Is it the sound or the feel?  Obviously a PB has a different neck profile and width to a jazz.  I had to force myself to adjust because I wanted the sound. 

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1 hour ago, FinnDave said:

If you're happy with the basses you like to play, why force yourself to play a Precision?  Play what feels and sounds right to you. For me, that's a Precision, but I wouldn't lose sleep over it if I preferred something else. The music you play is what matters, the instrument is simply a tool to enable you to produce that.

Couldn't agree more with FinnDave here. However, I also agree with Wateroftyne! - perhaps it will just take time to "bond" with the sound
Maybe if you've got one you like playing, you just need to take it along to more rehearsals and gigs - hear it more in a live band setting....

For me, I was off Fenders and P basses for years. I wouldn't touch one. I had played some bad ones and some mediocre ones, and some pretty good one (though I was probably a bit reluctant to admit it at the time)
and it seems to me that you need to play as many as you can - just for the hell of it - But when you find one you really like - you will want to take it home with you. Well, that's what happened to me anyway :)

Edited by Marc S
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Have you tried different string types? Flats or tapes? I want my basses to each be as different as possible, personally so I know what my go-to bass is for whatever I'm trying to achieve. I love my precision dearly, but it has a place it rarely steps out of.

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2 hours ago, 6feet7 said:

I'm the same with anything Fender shaped. I've tried various versions from cheapo to bl**dy expensive. I just can't get along with any of them. horses for courses :)

Well for folks who prefer an alternative to Fender shapes, there are some fantastic choices out there, including the much loved (and rather wonderful) Yammy BBs.

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After year of gigging with my Hot Rod Precision I'm now gigging a G&L L2000 (USA)which sounds different but I do like it. It will run active or passive, but I prefer it passive. I still fiddle about with the precision at home and still like it, I just fancied a change but people who see us regularly say the G&L sounds great. I did try and eq the L2000 to be "Precision-like" but it didn't happen so I spent an hour or two at home finding a sound I liked and stuck with it. Perhaps I should try and eq the P to sound like the g&L.....

Only kidding.

Edited by phil.c60
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23 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Well for folks who prefer an alternative to Fender shapes, there are some fantastic choices out there, including the much loved (and rather wonderful) Yammy BBs.

Totally agree, I love Precision's basically it is all I play now, I brought a Yamaha 1024X last year and just cannot bond with it, it plays brilliantly but just doesn't sound like a Precision, I love Precision's and I realise I am wasting my money trying to find something that to my ears betters it, interestingly my next favourite bass is a Precision Lyte which is active but just seems to be able to deliver that Precision passive sound and some!

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It's an interesting topic.  I very first bass was a rough(ish) Squier Affinity P.  Nowadays I do like my ACGs with two p/ups and a filter preamp, probably about as far as you get from a P bass.  Yet I have a black US Std P which I really enjoy playing and gets taken to gigs too.

It seems like sometimes only a Precision will do.  And/or a Jazz of course.

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I’m a reasonably recent convert to the P Lovers’ Club. I guess I spent years loving bass in general but it’s only recently that I’ve truly started enjoying the distinct characteristics of a P vs a J vs an MM etc.

I personally enjoy them all but there’s no shame in realising you only truly love a specific kind of bass. Why force yourself to like an instrument? Life’s too short. We all want a bass to feel great AND sound great but ultimately if we don’t like the basic sound our instrument makes then I don’t think there’s any point in playing it. Music is primarily an aural experience after all. If you’ve found your “voice”, don’t be afraid to stick with it.

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I'm with the OP - I've never found a P that I liked.

Jazzes I can sort of live with but despite nearly every bass player in the world using a P I can't get it. I think some of it must be psychological - playing bass is "different" (not being a geeetareest) so playing a P like everybody else seems to go against my general principle.

Leaves more for you fellas I suppose...

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10 hours ago, Rayman said:

Why can't I get on with Fender Precisions? Why? I have a beautiful American Standard, but ...just... cannot... bond with it. I've tried dozens over the years, but I just love my Jazzes and Stingrays too much....

You must persevere! Had exactly the same 'problem', but with Jazz Basses. I'm a P Bass guy really, but routinely bought a Jazz every couple of years, didn't like it, sold it on... but stubbornly kept at it... in the end I needed to put together a Jazz I liked, so it's a bitsa - but after forty years, finally - a Jazz I like! It does happen... ;)

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