NBD: 2020 Fender Player Precision bass, buttercream flavor

I've been saving up gig money since December and had about $800 or so ready to go. I'd had my eye on a Nate Mendel P bass that was in Bellingham. I was planning on going with that but started looking on Reverb at other P's in a lower price range.

I happened upon a P bass in the Player model range. Those went for $699 to $799 or so, depending on finish and/or where you got it. I can't tell you the specs or what constitutes a Player, other than certain colors. A few weeks ago, I played an Ocean Turquoise one for a few minutes at Guitar Center and was pretty impressed with it. There was one on Reverb with some upgrades that I liked and may have pulled on the trigger on, but it was gone when I checked it later that day.

In April, I was asked to play on 4 sub gigs and as a result, got a quick $400 that went into my bass fund. So, rather than waiting for more $$ to get that Nate bass, I switched my target to one of the Player basses. They offer a bunch of color and neck combos. Traditionally, I've been a rosewood neck guy; I just prefer how the darker wood looks on a neck.

But since I already have my 99 P with a rosewood neck, I figured I'd pursue the maple neck route. The turquoise one had a maple neck and I liked the color enough. However, I am too vain; I saw another local dude playing one and that was that, no go for me on the turquoise.

I kept looking at Reverb but took a quick tour on the TalkBass classifieds. It was there that I saw a guy selling a buttercream Player P. The stock version comes with a white pickguard, but that didn't do much for me. However, this one, the previous owner had put on a black pickguard, which just hits differently.

Seller's picture

He had also upgraded the stock bridge with a Hipshot vintage one, as well as pickups from stock to Mojotone 70s clone. The pots were also upgraded, for what benefit, I don't know; I'm no bass tech. Anyway, I liked the value-adds to this bass. He was also selling the pictured case, but since I have a bunch of cases, I reached out and asked if he'd be willing to lower the price if he didn't include the case. He said yes, so after a few more gigs, I agreed to buy that bass.

Shipping was relatively quick and I was able to pick it up at UPS last week. The bass was quite pretty in person and when I got it home and plugged it in, I liked how it sounded, but it was very zingy, with what felt like fairly new strings on it. I did a comparison with my 99 P and initially, I liked that sound better.

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Both basses sound pretty similar, and to the regular listener, there may be no discernable difference. But to someone with refined ears like mine (yeah, right), there was a slight difference. Whatever the differences, I do like both in the non-band setting.

Now, fast forward a few days. I had to pick Riley up from school and drive home for a few days. I did an actual DAW recording to eliminate outside sounds from the phone microphone. And confirmed again that the tones are very similar between both basses. The butter bass is a little hotter and fuller sounding (maybe the combo of the pups and the pots?) and the maple neck seems to make the notes sing a little prouder. The black bass gives up a little on the bottom end, but has a nice growl to it still.

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I may do another video with picking, who knows. I am excited to play it in practice this week, PITO should be getting together, and then SGs on Sunday as we prep for our June shows. In the meantime, here are a few pics of this beautiful bass.