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Pino Palladino Custom Shop P Bass


Bassman Sam
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I've read on there that, He that must not talked of ( The Bass Doctor), sourced Pino's red and tort P-bass for around 400 quid. I understand that it was a nice but it was  bog standard USA P-Bass at the time. Why does a Custom shop copy of it command such a high price when a MIM p-bass plays just as well.  I just don't get it. Please discuss while I hide in my bunker.

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As far as I know the Paladino custom shop bass is a replica of the guy's original vintage instrument, the pickups are copied so the specs are the same as the originals that would I think have been handwound, it has a nitrocellulose finish rather than whatever they use nowadays. It’s a faithful hand built replica, hence the price.

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1 hour ago, Bassman Sam said:

. . . . but it was just a bog standard P- bass he when got it.

That's right. Buy a Standard (or is it the Player range, these days) or any other bass you like and create your own signature bass by the way you play it.

I don't understand the trying to sound like someone else or play "their" bass thing. I have played a Pino and it was a fantastic instrument to play, but I wouldn't pay that money for it. . . . and I still bloody well sounded like me, so what went wrong there?

The one thing great and iconic players do, they all sound different not because of the different pieces of wood they are carrying but because of the lines they create and the style they are playing with.

Any room for me in that bunker?

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1 hour ago, GuyR said:

I have a fretless sunburst '79 pre EB Stingray I bought off Pino and it enables me to play just like him.

Not all listeners agree.

My Squier VM P5 has been fitted with original the pickup from Dave Swift's white Sadowsky P5. 

My Aguilar DB112 cabs were previously owned by Paul Turner. 

I now sound like some bloke called Dave Turner (who Google tells me is a science fiction, fantasy and comedy author and not a bass player at all). 

It's all very confusing 🤪

 

Edited by Painy
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14 hours ago, Bassman Sam said:

I've read on there that, He that must not talked of ( The Bass Doctor), sourced Pino's red and tort P-bass for around 400 quid. I understand that it was a nice but it was  bog standard USA P-Bass at the time. Why does a Custom shop copy of it command such a high price when a MIM p-bass plays just as well.  I just don't get it. Please discuss while I hide in my bunker.

This is such a subjective topic and essentially comes down to what we feel and notice as players, how much money we have and where we place value.

The Fender CS Pino is by all accounts an incredible instrument, well made, incredible feel, quarter sawn maple neck (you don't get that in the lower end instruments), Nitro finish, basically as close to a 62 Fender Precision you can get without buying the real thing and in many peoples views, the best Precision Fender have made. A lot of people covet the early 60s Fenders for feel and playability and general 'mojo'. I don't believe that all of them were superb instruments by any stretch of the imagination, there were probably just as many horrendous ones as Fender currently chuck out. Yes Fender are charging a premium for the Pino and I am in no doubt that the Pino signature alone is adding to the cost.

Some people see very little difference between a £300 precision vs a £3000 bass and to an extent, I don't believe they would sound much different and I don't personally believe anyone would hear the difference,  at least not live. However, most of the Fender basses I have owned have been shoddy and I disagree that a MIM precision would play just as well or feel as nice, but that is where things get incredibly personal and subjective. Every Fender CS Relic instrument I have played (guitars and basses) have had the most sublime fit and finish, and the necks and fretting have been out of this world. Beautifully rolled fingerboards and no sharps frets etc. just great instruments that have made me want to just keep playing and playing and really inspire me to play. I have felt that with much cheaper instruments, but very rarely. Almost every new instrument I have played over the years has felt sterile and lifeless apart from very expensive hand made custom basses costing around the same as the Pino.

Just to fill you in, I am not some devout Fender CS fan boy, I own a £150 Squier and a second-hand 17 year old Music Man Stingray. The Stingray is worn in and has a great feel but I really dislike the new ones, the years of playing have made that bass feel the way it does and IMHO Fender do an incredibly job of replicating that broken in feel. I cant afford a Fender Custom Shop but I want one so badly, partly because I lusted after them for years in my teens and I have an irrational and romantic view of them.

Is it worth the extra money to you, probably not, but to someone else it will be, but that's like almost any other product on the market. My cheap as chips VW Up does the same job as my friends Audi A5 sport in my eyes, and I don't see the point in buying anything more, but to him there is no comparison. Some people buy own brand beans in the supermarket and say there is no difference, some people buy Heinz because they can taste the difference.

In terms of guitars I don't believe an expensive bass will make you better, they are just different flavours of the same thing and be grateful you like the cheaper ones. However, if you are lucky enough to find that one instrument that really inspires you, buy it if you can, whether it be a £100 Harley Benton or a £9000 Fodera.

 

 

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4 hours ago, NJE said:

 

The Fender CS Pino is by all accounts an incredible instrument, well made, incredible feel, quarter sawn maple neck (you don't get that in the lower end instruments) adding to the cost.

 

 

Sorry to derail the thread slightly but what actually is a "quarter sawn neck" And what is so special about it? My CS63 has a quarter sawn neck but feels exactly the same to play as my 50's roadworn Precision

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23 minutes ago, Roger2611 said:

Sorry to derail the thread slightly but what actually is a "quarter sawn neck" And what is so special about it? My CS63 has a quarter sawn neck but feels exactly the same to play as my 50's roadworn Precision

'Quarter-sawn' refers to the way the original tree-trunk was cut, best illustrated with pictures...

Wikipedia ...

The resulting wood behaves differently from a warp point of view. Quarter-sawn would normally have less warping or twisting tendencies, in general.
Hope this helps.

Edited by Dad3353
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Quarter-sawn means that the wood mill has cut the tree in to planks. The quarter sawn part (or section) gives more inherent stability due to the direction the grain pattern runs in the neck. There should be less warp, cupping, twisting, etc... over years or even when temperature and humidity change. There may even be some benefit to structural integrity. However, every tree is different and even quarter dawn parts from the same tree can be different. It’s up to the timber specialist within the companies such as Fender to source the best quarter sawn bits and pieces for their best instruments. 

If I remember rightly Warmoth have an explanation and you can see the difference in cost of necks there  

 

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But you can say the same of Geddy`s Jazz bass. He paid something like $200 for it and the US version is just under £2000. The Pino and the Geddy are high end models in the Fender range and you are always going to pay a premium for these models. Are they worth the money? That is something that only the buyer can answer.

I also love that people talk about Geddy`s iconic 72 Jazz. It`s all original except for the neck, bridge and pickups!

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