NBD: 1997 Fender American Standard Precision Bass

Long story short, had some gig money and wanted a new bass. I wrote about it here: The Waiting is the Hardest Part.

It finally arrived today, after a lot of impatience by me. And even then, I had to wait a few hours to get home to check it out. Luckily it was sunny and warm out, and the front entry wasn't in full sun. Nevertheless, I got home and brought it in and opened it up.

Shipping delayed one day because seller had to find a box

Original Fender case from 1997

Inca Silver straight out of the case

Back side looking great!

After dinner and watching the Seahawks look crappy until halftime, I took the bass downstairs to give it a closer look. I did play it and it sounded like a P bass. The seller had some zingy roundwounds on it and they sounded fine. Volume and tone knobs turned smoothly and without issue.

The body is pretty spectacular. There is a little mark just under the neck plate, there's a finish scratch right under where my right arm would rest when playing, and that's about it. No major dings or blemishes. The headstock has a little marking on it and maybe a few nicks, but for a nearly 30 year old bass? It is in excellent shape, very happy with its condition.

I did take it apart to look it over more in depth, let's take a look.

Neck pocket date, June 25, 1997!

Can't really make it out, but maybe June 11, 1997?

It was a little furry under the bridge, so I took it off

Backside of the bridge

Used some guitar cleaner to get off the gunk

The cavity wasn't shielded at all, but the bass is quiet so I left it

My apprentice was blocking my workbench

After cleaning it up and playing a bit

First impression of the bass when I picked it up was how heavy it was! Weirdly so! But when I picked up the buttercream P, it felt the same in my hand. However, when I strapped up the new P, it definitely neck dived. Just hanging it on my shoulder and releasing my hands, that guy wants to point at the floor like a divining rod. But once I played it, it wasn't a big deal.

Speaking of playing it, the action was pretty low. For a heavy-handed player like me, I think it was a little *too low. I raised the saddles a half-turn on each allen screw and that seemed to make it better. I didn't touch the truss rod yet as the neck appears pretty straight via the eye test. Just playing through the Orange amp, it sounded great. All notes seemed to ring true and the string-through bridge offered nice sustain.

I do like the red tort pickguard but I might have to pick up a matte black pickguard to swap out down the road. We'll see. Looking forward to playing it with Embers tomorrow night and possibly at the gig. Let's see how it does!

NBD: 1999 Fender Precision (from 1/26/22)

Originally posted on TalkBass 1/26/2022.

I wanted a P and have been searching. I was gonna go with a LB-100 Tribute, then got a wild hair about wanting a Fender P. Found one I finally liked today, that had some nice upgrades. I contacted the seller via CL and drove 30 miles to check it out today.

He had flats on it and it played really nicely and sounded great through his Kustom amp. Paid him, got an extra pickguard from him, and brought it home.

Say hello to my new 1999 Mexican P-Bass, complete with rattle can finish (debating if I want to DIY to a Fullerton red), upgraded 62 Original P pups, Etsy pickguard, and chrome covers.

Truth is, it was the PG that caught my eye, the rest of it is just gravy.

The s/n indicates original color was a brown sunburst. I'm curious if stripping the black spray paint might reveal it?

Take a look!

Update to add:

I put roundwounds on it last week and it sounds gnarly. Trouble is, I just bought the HOG so the P's not gonna get a lot of playing time. Which means those strings are gonna sound zingy for a bit. But I do need to give it a chance because I think it can sound good.

NBD: St. Patrick's Day Edition

Happy St. Patrick's Day, or, as I like to call it, "New Bass Day."

Even though we are on a fixed income, even though I am unemployed, even though I can only play one bass at a time, today, I bought another bass. No one wants to hear how I justified it; let it be known that I'd had my eye on this bass for a few weeks now.

My #1 bass is a 2018 CLF reissue of a G&L L-1000 bass. I got it in early 2019 and it exceeded all my expectations. I love how it looks, sounds, plays, feels, everything. It's super unique and it is my baby. Over the years, I still love everything about it, but I started getting interested in modding the bridge and control plate. On my bass, they are chrome, and that control plate is one of the things that drew me to that bass. However, I knew that back in the day, G&L offered black hardware. Trouble is, they didn't have it available for sale and I was only semi-seriously interested. As in, I would likely never buy the parts and swap them on my bass.

Then, as luck would have it, a few weeks ago, I was looking at the Bass Shop's website and what do I see? A G&L L-1000, circa 1984, with black hardware! Not only that, but with a rosewood neck (my preferred style). It did have an eye gouger headstock (post-lawsuit), as well as screw holes from where a previous owner installed, and then apparently removed, a thumb rest. Nevertheless, the pictures on the website looked great and all I needed to do was play it.

But, alas, I was not in the market. I already had my aforementioned L1K, a '96 SB-2, a '99 Mexican P-bass, and a '99 Epiphone Thunderbird. I had a Reverend Thundergun that I sold recently, so, technically, my herd was thinned by one. So, instead, I just bookmarked their site and kept an eye on it, checking it regularly.

Fast forward a few weeks and my situation is still the same. No job, no need for a bass, but a tickle in the back of my brain about it. And then, I talked to a bass buddy the other day, who had gone to a shop and had his eye on a bass, only to find that that bass was sold. And that kind of stuck in my head as well. Like, if the Bass Shop sold the L1K, it's OK, it wasn't meant to be, I didn't have it anyway.

But, it's a vintage L1K. And it has the black crinkle hardware. And I already knew what a L1K could do. And I didn't want to check back on the Bass Shop's website and have that bass be gone. I went for a run this morning, had lunch, showered up and gave them a call to verify that it was still there... and it was.

About 35 minutes later, on the warmest day in Seattle in something like 150 days, I was in West Seattle at the Bass Shop, chatting with Jeff and plugging this bass into a little Fender Rumble amp. I brought my L1K to compare sounds thinking that if the 84 L1K wasn't substantially different sounding than my gold one, then there would be no need to get that bass.

Visually speaking, the 84 was in really awesome condition. No real dings or scratches for a bass that is nearly 40 years old. Yes, there are 2 screw holes, but I'm not too worried about those. Also, the main volume knob's chrome is worn, but that gives it more flavor, to me. There is light checking on the back of the headstock, but the mahogany body is in fantastic shape.

There were flats on the bass, but to my ears, it didn't do the sound any disservice. The action is low and a little buzzy, but super manageable and the sound through the little Rumble was really nice. But was it different enough?

I plugged in my L1K, and it had roundwounds on it, and yes, the sound was different. My L1K sounded good as well, but seemed a little more modern sounding. I went back to the 84 and it was girthier. It seemed thicker. I'm pretty sure it wasn't my mind playing tricks on me. I don't think it sounded better, per se, but definitely different, and different enough to warrant a serious think about.

I kept playing it, and even took a LB-100 Tribby off the wall to compare. The LB-100 sounded nice, too, but it really did sound just like my 99 P, so back on the wall it went. I kept A/B-ing the 84 and my 18 and man, it was pretty close. Jeff did say from his vantage point across the room that the 84 sounded growlier for sure. I said that likely to the layperson, they wouldn't be able to tell the difference. However, to guys like us, it made all the difference.

After a few more minutes and more inspecting (seriously, this thing is almost immaculate), I pulled the trigger. Jeff brought out the OHSC (which is in rough shape), threw in a set of Ernie Ball Slinkys, and I was out the door with my 18 and my new 84 L1K.

I got it home and plugged into my Orange Terror Bass and Avatar 212 and put it through its paces. It definitely sounds a little darker than the 18 L1K. I'll be interested to hear it in band context next week, starting with the SGs via IEM. That should be interesting, but then I have Kathy rehearsal on Tuesday, PITO on Thursday and then an SG gig on the following Saturday. I should definitely have it dialed in by then.

Onto the pix! These first three are the pix I saw on the Bass Shop's site in the first place.

The next pix are ones I took at home.

Ratty case, will likely never use it but have it if I ever sell

Looks good in the ratty case

Eye gouger headstock. I wish it was the same
 as the L1K headstock I have, but oh well

The 18 and the 84