Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Pound for pound, what's the best P bass?


rushscored4

Recommended Posts

33 minutes ago, MattM said:

Don’t underestimate a good standard USA Precision.   I moved to a 2008 Standard (same as the post 2012s, graphite neck, rolled edges, through body stringing but minus the Custom Shop pickup) from a Limelight.   Mainly because it was slightly lighter and had low mass tuners which made is easier for my 10yo son to learn on.   The tonal variation isn’t as wide as the Limelight, but the fundamental tone is superb.  Was minded to try out the Custom Shop pickup but tbh it sounds great as it is.  I paid a decent price for it used and won’t lose out should I move it on.

Oh and my son loves it...

B68_BB4_F2-8_B6_E-435_B-_A14_C-_A85_E73_

Nice! I asked for a lightweight body and Gotoh res-o-lite tuners on my Limelight. I didn't want anything heavy.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2 March 2018 at 11:13, rushscored4 said:

Fair comment but you knew what I meant! The one on eBay for £1,150 is a 2013 I think which would make me 5 not 55 this year... 

They dropped the price to £999.99 last night and somebody bought it straight away. Got a bargain there I think but makes you wonder how little the poor sod who pawned it must have received.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, gareth said:

rushscored4

Pound for pound, what's the best P bass?

FENDER MIM 50'S PRECISION 

Funnily enough, there's one for sale on here at the moment, bought in haste and then barely used. You can find it among my posts!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I got my Yamaha BB424x for silly low money and I can happily confirm that the label "precision killer" is completely justified. Sounds absolutely lovely with flats or rounds, then you've got the added benefit of having a J pup and a PJ scooped sound. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went through that thing of thinking I had to spend big bucks to get a good P bass so I bought a sunburst 71 but it wasn't great, it looked good, had the vibe and tons of goodly mojo but it was heavyish and sounded dull.

I now play a 180 quid VM Squier P and it trounces the 71 in pretty well every department. Sure the 71 had a tad more 'heft' to the tone  (love those thick necks) but in a band setting its the mid range and playability on the VM that puts a smile on my face every time.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ive just ordered a vintage (the brand) v4 reissue. They seem to have very good reviews and theres an excellent video on youuube comparing it against a usa precision. They sounded very close.

At £230 ish with wilkinson bridge, tuners and pickups it has to be worth considering. Pound for Pound.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, la bam said:

Ive just ordered a vintage (the brand) v4 reissue. They seem to have very good reviews and theres an excellent video on youuube comparing it against a usa precision. They sounded very close.

At £230 ish with wilkinson bridge, tuners and pickups it has to be worth considering. Pound for Pound.

I already have a Vintage Jaco Pastorius lookalikey jazz bass which only cost me £130 second hand but is excellent. Looks cool as f*** too... in fact now I come to think of it I might use it at my next gig on Saturday!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My vintage v4 reissue turned up today.

wow! How do they produce that for the money?!

Very light, but immaculately made. Lovely varnish finish (even though im not a fan of gloss varnish). The tuners (wilkinsons) are fantastic as well as the wilkinson bridge.

The sound is brilliant. Really punchy. Really punchy. Plus the tone pot actually does make a big difference from treble to no treble.

Having owned a usa precision in the past which i gigged for about 10 years, id genuinely struggle to tell much difference between the two. Id say the usa was chunkier and heavier, but the vintage definitely has more tonal control. 

One huge tick in the box was i could tell this bass had been carefully set up before sending. The bridge had been adjusted, the strings play even all across the board and it has a lovely clear low action with perfect intonation.

Very happy with it. Far surpassed what i was expecting.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

29 minutes ago, lojo said:

That's my P bass above , great value for money , I've got 2 other CIJs and there all fantastic , never felt the need to get an MIA . 

Great basses.  I’m the same with my MIJ 70’s Reissue P, best P I’ve ever played.

I must get another SH though 😍

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

I have & have had a few pre cbs P's from 59-65. The only modern instrument out there that hits the P mark square on is the Moollon. The tone and feel is there in spades and better IMHO than a custom shop. Nuff said.

 

 

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a Japanese Fender Precision, a Classic Vibe Squier Precision and a USA Elite Precision.

The Japanese Precision and the Squier have nicer necks  (shallower and better finished) than the Elite. I prefer the passive sound of the cheaper basses too.

The Moral of this story is, spending a lot of money on a bass, doesn't necessarily mean you're going to get a better bass.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's interesting that the posts vary to the point of one person talking about how great a 200 quid bass is while another says that only a bass costing over 2000 really hits the spot.

Not being sarcastic to either, genuinely find it interesting how much opinion can vary. There will be many different reasons for each of their conclusions.

Can be very confusing for less experienced people to really know the market; is the cheapest bass essentially as good as any or is it totally rubbish? What about 500, 900 etc.? Does adding a thousand or two to that get a noticeably different quality? Is anything under this high price going to have compromises?

(They're all hypothetical questions, just a range of varied possibilities that could be true to someone who hasn't had experience across the board.)

Possibly one thing that's certain: whatever the sweet spot is of getting a great bass for the lowest price, going above that gives fewer and fewer improvements for more and more money.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, thegummy said:

 

Possibly one thing that's certain: whatever the sweet spot is of getting a great bass for the lowest price, going above that gives fewer and fewer improvements for more and more money.

This is so true. I'm reminded of a similar discovery I made in the world of photography. To squeeze a little more quality the leap was from a £300 lens to a £1400 lens. 

And I often go out with a £300 lens on the front of a camera which cost half the price of my 'best' camera because I find the combination more comfortable to use and prefer the photographs produced. 

I'm putting together an album of prints for my daughter and guess what? A layman would be hard pressed to pick out the camera phone snaps from those taken with an expensive camera. 

All of this is analogous to bass guitar. Does the instrument feel comfortable to you? If you have more than one which one do you find you reach for most often? Which combination of bass and amp pleases you most? Price isn't quite the same as value. 

With photography, the more expensive camera will produce better large prints which under close scrutiny will stand out in an exhibition. Similarly a bass assembled with more expensive components will often produce noticibly better results on a recording which can be studied more carefully. 

As with so much in life subjectivity rules!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...