Fender Precision Bass

This offering from Fender comes from their plant in Mexico. It is considered a best of both worlds bass taking features from both the Precision and Jazz bass. I own the Blizzard Pearl model with a maple neck.
The bass is equipped with a 20 fret Jazz type neck. There are options available for maple or rosewood except for the navy blue metallic which is only available with the rosewood fret board. This bass comes standard with a vintage type bridge where the string rest on a barrel type saddle.
The bridge allows for adjusting the string height and intonation of the individual strings and is finished in chrome. The bridge also holds the strings ball ends and does not have a string through body option.
This bass is equipped with both a P and a J style pickup. These are the vintage noiseless variety and work in tandem with the onboard active electronics. Both pickups are controlled by a single volume control, which is the first knob. Instead of a traditional selector switch the second knob acts as a blend switch. At each extreme of this knob one individual pickup will be active while the other is silent. As the knob travels between extremes the pickups are blended in varying degrees. There is also a center detent on this knob which offers an equal amount of the P and J pickup.
The next 2 knobs are responsible for the active equalization of the bass. The third knob in the series is actually a two part knob where the smaller top hat of the control adds or cuts the high end and the larger skirt of the knob does the same for the bass frequencies. They both have a center detent to indicate unity with altering of the tone. The fourth and final knob controls the midrange frequency and as the third knob it also has a center detent for unity gain and adds or subtracts midrange frequency as it is dialed away from center. The electronics are active and do require a 9 volt battery in order to operate.


UTILIZATION

This offering from Fender is a solidly built instrument. It feels substantial when held and is well balanced. The neck is fully accessible and plays very easily. The quality of the fretwork and neck build allow for action to be set to preference as long as the user has the neck set up properly. The bass sits very comfortably on the knee but as with many full size basses might get shoulder heavy after a long session. The bass sits very comfortable against the body and the contour on the lower bout affords a high level of comfort to the picking hand.
Being a best of both worlds design this bass is very easy to get that sound you are looking for as well as some you might not have expected from it. The pickups are quiet as the name suggests but still retain that open sound. The electronics offer a huge amount of useable control but be careful as they do allow for large decibel increases and will easily overload if the user does not use the volume in tandem with all the gain available. This bass is capable of producing just about any sound that might be in your head.


SOUNDS

I use this bass in three different situations. I use a fender bassman amp for one, Amplitube, Ampeg edition for another, and the last is with a Tech 21 Para D.I. box. In all three instances the bass has exceeded my expectations. My main reason for this purchase was to have a bass that would offer that classic P bass sound but have the flexibility to do other styles when the situation called for it.
It covers P bass tones from Steve Harris to Roger Waters up to my greatest expectations. I am overly impressed however with the pop and slap style that it can also achieve. As I alluded to earlier this bass also has enough equalization variance and gain to achieve heavier or more distorted tones.
I play and record music from heavy metal to old classic rock as well as some worship music. I find that unlike my other bass or others I have tried over the years in this price range this instrument pleases wherever it is applied.


OVERALL OPINION

I believe this bass to be one of those truly great values that so few instruments offer. I have tried a few bases out and for the money this one could not be beaten. I have played more expensive instruments that have been better but that is to be expected. It would take over double the price in my opinion to top this instrument. The sound quality and build have exceeded my expectations but at this price point and with a mostly machine build there are variances in quality that should be noted.
First off the neck is very playable and the frets are set and crowned nicely, the instrument does intonate well across the whole board, but without the niceties like rolled edges you would find on a higher priced model. The bridge is useable but I fully understand that a higher mass bridge would be better for it. The finish is comparable to my American series guitars but with very minute tiny flaws that have to be closely examined to see. One was a slight swirl in the finish color that is a tad darker and the other a slight bump as if something got caught under the finish or a spot missed sanding between the bridge and control area. Both of these are minute and would not call for a return of the instrument I am just highly observant and picky about my gear. The bass played and sounded too phenomenal to try another or nit pick, I have seen many higher priced instruments suffer worse over the years. The only other gripe is aesthetic and an easy fix, the gold pick guard is defiantly an acquired taste to say the least.
Given my experience I would replace this instrument in a heartbeat if it were lost or stolen. It has taken me from someone that plays a bass because he had no choice to someone who now loves the bass playing experience.

This is a great bass for the money. Made in Mexico. The electronics are quiet and clear. The P/J pups are a great way to go. The controls for the active pups offer a great range of sound. I upgraded the bridge to a bad ass bridge to offer out standing sustain. I also had to upgrade the bad gold pic guard. The combo of a jazz bass neck and the precision is the best of both worlds. I have an American Fender Deluxe Bass as well that cost 3 times as much and I play the Mexican bass more.


UTILIZATION

Easy bass to play. It sounded great before I had it set up. The sound is crazy great very crisp and sharp on the high end and powerful low end. This is a very light weight bass. It is much lighter and smaller than my American deluxe or Arodine bass.

SOUNDS

I use the Fender Rumble 350 and 150 as a kite. This bass is great for sharp heavy rock sound. I keep the active gain up all the way for ease of play and a crisp sound.

OVERALL OPINION

I love the weight and look most. The price is very reasonable. I have payed much more for less. I have a few fender basses and this is one of my favorites.

Some say Fender is overrated, but I really wanted THE ONE bass sound I could hear on the rock records that I listened to as a kid. Plus, I wanted a bass that was not needlessly complicated to use with a crazy preamp and an infinite number of pickup split options. You can’t make simpler than this one, and it sounds every time – just adjust the tone knob depending on the sound you’re after and here you go. Finally, I wanted a good-looking instrument and clearly, this one looks like it survived touring with a punk band for a while – apart from the fact it doesn’t smell of beer. The relic-ing process is pretty well done, it’s a question of taste of course but I really like it, plus it’s less stressful when you hit something with it!

Played with a strap, it feels very comfortable, light and balanced. Of course the neck is thicker and less prone to fast playing compared with a jazz, but you soon get used to it and string spacing is not excessive. High notes are easy to access.

Soundwise, no surprise, it’s the precision sound – round, hot, warm, with beautiful medium tones that ensure presence in the mix. The highs sound mellow. The sound bears a vintage spirit, so for a more modern Precision sound you’d be better off in the New American standard range. Slap lovers will have to do with an old school, Larry Graham-ish sound (which is also nice). For comparing both model (stabdard American and Mexican) I found more mojo from that Mexican one, with richer medium tones and mellower, thicker lows.
In a band, this bass works well in different genres (heavy rock, stoner, grunge, punk rock, works for metal too).
The only flaw I found was a small, nearly imperceptible vibration due to the bridge setting springs (well, I mean the piece of metal that is used as a bridge).
Otherwise, nothing else to add except for the fact that soundwise this one doesn’t pale to an American model. Regarding its manufacturing quality and aging, we’ll see with time. So far, after a year of use, I only have good things to say about it.

A beautiful, well-crafted Mexican-made bass.
Very high price for a remote "signature" model.
Indeed, Steve Harris uses a Seymour Duncan Custom Shop SPB1 (500€ in 2002)…
On this model, Fender offers the commercial Steve Harris signature model, which xosts approximately 100 bucks and is nothing but a mere classic SPB1 with slightly enhanced mids.
Harris also uses a Badass II bridge, while this model features a Fender Himass… with a very average sustain!
As for the West Ham model (Harris owns two – one with black/blue/black binding, the other with red/blue/red).
This is important as only that with the red binding features the Fender Precision Bass logo. The other one (with the blue binding) has nothing written on the head.
So, that Fender “replica” is only an average-crafted Mexican bass that they sell at an indecent price so as to make believe it is a perfect replica.
In a word, if you’re a big fan of Harris, do what I did and go for the older Harris signature model, which is closer to “the real thing” with its Badass bridge and SPB3 pickup.