KikkyMonk Posted November 19, 2002 Share Posted November 19, 2002 I am looking to buy an american p bass deluxe and had some Q's. You think the deluxe is worth it? I mean is the extra pickup tonally "worth" it? I would feel "bare" only having one pickup. Is the electronics good? Is there a passive bypass? (There must be or I will put one on it!) Whats a good price for a used one. I am currently looking at a 2001 model. Should I try and find a 2002 model? what are the differences in the 2001 and the current model? (something about a new bridge?) Sorry for the rapid Q's but I need to decide soon, the bass is on ebay and goin' fast! Cool, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KikkyMonk Posted November 20, 2002 Author Share Posted November 20, 2002 so you are saying they go for 250-375 US? I think thats a bit low seeing how new they are around a thousand. I am talking about the p bass deluxe not the p bass special (the p bass special has a jazz neck and p bass body) Anywho Thanks! Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick_dont_fret Posted November 20, 2002 Share Posted November 20, 2002 Ok, here's the scoop according to Musician's Friend: List Price: $1,749.99 - $1,899.99. Sale Price: $1,224.99 - $1,329.99. These prices are according to options, such as finish and neck/fingerboard woods. It's got a double-jazz pup, with an 18-volt active system (don't know any better way of putting it other than system). Other than the nice little price tag, it looks like an exceptional piece of wood. Hope you can afford your dreams, as they look quite expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornbread_medhotmail.com Posted November 20, 2002 Share Posted November 20, 2002 I had the American Deluxe Jazz and never needed to switch the preamp off. It sounded amazing. You can defeat the active preamp, though. I would pay no more than $800-$900, depending on finish, age and if there's a case or not. They're definitely great basses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KikkyMonk Posted November 20, 2002 Author Share Posted November 20, 2002 So there is a push-pull type active bypass? I really don't like active pickups... and I'm not too partial to "modern" bass tones. (lows and highs) So I'm guessing that the electronics are good quality? If not there is always the j-retro preamp! Woot! so right now I can get it for 695.00... is this price fair? I really don't like the string spacing on a fender jazz (19 mm) Whats the string spacing on a pbass? I know they give specs for the nut width but not the width at the bridge? What I'm getting at is I don't like small string spacing and I don't like wide string spacing. The BB model at carvin was good for me... would the spacing be comparable to that? Thanks, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornbread_medhotmail.com Posted November 20, 2002 Share Posted November 20, 2002 I think it's comparable. The P has a wider string spacing than the Jazz. It is a push-pull switch. I'm not an active fan at all. It took me 2 months to decide to get it. I think my "anti-active" sentiment was because I was only used to cheap ones. When you hear a good one, you can definitely tell a difference. It's like night and day. You can adjust the settings to get an old school sound. The tone mine had was massive. I like the old school tone, as well. Of course, the J-Retro would make things nice. Anyone have a cance to try the stompbox model yet? I know it just came out, but I was wondering if any Lowdowners who work at stores have gotten any in yet. $695 sounds fair, if it is a Deluxe P and not a Special. Post the link so we can check it out. No one here will try to snake it from you. If it's a Special, the string spacing will be that of a Jazz bass since the neck is a Jazz neck. I've never played a BB model, or any Carvin, for that matter, so I can't say either way on that. I would check the Carvin and Fender sites, but my machine will only allow 1 window at the moment, so I am unable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KikkyMonk Posted November 20, 2002 Author Share Posted November 20, 2002 I know that the p bass has wider string spacing at the neck area, but down at the bridge does it flair as much as a jazz? I don't like the jazz neck period (either at the neck or the bridge) I dunno, I think im going to go to GC and see If I can find a pbass to play (and we all know trips to GC are good for the soul) Heres the link http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=923451931 Dave Word Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Capasso Posted November 20, 2002 Share Posted November 20, 2002 I understand the concern about active/modern sound. I'm not a Fender person, but I played my friend's new American Jazz and the active sounded like a Jazz, not modern. Happy shopping Tom www.stoneflyrocks.com Acoustic Color Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars and keep your feet on the ground. - Theodore Roosevelt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KikkyMonk Posted November 20, 2002 Author Share Posted November 20, 2002 cuz im going to guitar center! cuz im going to guitar center! cuz im going to guitar center! cuz im going to guitar center! cuz im going to guitar center! cuz im going to guitar center! cuz im going to guitar center! cuz im going to guitar center! cuz im going to guitar center! cuz im going to guitar center! cuz im going to guitar center! cuz im going to guitar center! cuz im going to guitar center! cuz im going to guitar center! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornbread_medhotmail.com Posted November 20, 2002 Share Posted November 20, 2002 Yep. That's an American Deluxe P-bass. Well worth the $695. I think you'll like the tone. Mine had that calssic Jazz tone. I've heard the P sounds like a P and the bridge pickup adds a little more kick to it. Looks like a good bass, to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KikkyMonk Posted November 21, 2002 Author Share Posted November 21, 2002 SOMEONE BOUGHT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO poo poo Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornbread_medhotmail.com Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 Well, then it just wasn't meant to be your bass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KikkyMonk Posted November 21, 2002 Author Share Posted November 21, 2002 Word on that one. Actually im a bit releaved someone bought it because having never played one I didn't know if it really was what I wanted. I like the way p sounds recorded and I want frets and I want a five string so the pbass deluxe fit the bill nicely... BUT instead I bought this http://www.bassnw.com/specials.htm Ashdown ABM-RPM-1 John Entwistle Signature Limited Edition W00t!! Isn't she perdy? Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornbread_medhotmail.com Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 That's a nice one. How much you want for it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g. Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 Hey, I saw a couple roots music players using Fender P Specials (or was it Deluxe?) last summer; seemed like decent basses, definitely the extra pickup makes some other sounds - that's pretty much a given. Perhaps you ought to take a look at the Roscoe Beck V. This is one hella bass, has an asymmetrical neck like the Bunny Brunel BB75, and like the BB75 the same 19mm (3/4") string spacing that most 4-string basses have. I like the substantial but not clunky feel of this neck better than any other Fender 5-strings I've checked out. And the pickup design is more versatile, all passive. Read about it in this Bass Player mag Profile or here at BassStreet.com . I think that last one is a Fender shill site, but the info is still useful. ...Some confusing talk about string spacing here. I guess spacing at the bridge is the most useful measurement because that's what pickup manufacturers use, and that has the most impact on player's hands when dealing with slap style. But the spacing at the nut can make a diff in feel for the fretting hand. Even the radius can make a spacing seem wider or narrower than it really is. On a five or six I prefer 17.2 mm spacing because it keeps the neck from being as wide and heavy (BTW, those tuners on the Roscoe Beck are trick - they look old style, but they are ligher and better). I have fairly small hands. There are even narrower spacings but I can't see how anybody could pop them, and fingerstyle I think 17.2 is faster than snot anyway. But if I was to play a Fender 5, the Roscoe Beck neck makes it nicer than others. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Sweet Willie_ Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 Originally posted by greenboy: Perhaps you ought to take a look at the Roscoe Beck V. This is one hella bass, has an asymmetrical neck like the Bunny Brunel BB75, and like the BB75 the same 19mm (3/4") string spacing that most 4-string basses have. I like the substantial but not clunky feel of this neck better than any other Fender 5-strings I've checked out. And the pickup design is more versatile, all passive. Read about it in this Bass Player mag Profile or here at BassStreet.com . I think that last one is a Fender shill site, but the info is still useful. Thanks for the links, GB . The BP review of the Roscoe Beck bass is really positive. I do like the description of the electronics -- the push-pull tone pot that can reduce the neck p'up level a little is cool, since I probably play j-style basses most often with the bridge p'up all the way up and the neck p'up backed off a little. As much as I like a p'up blend knob, this sounds like a very good alternative. Congrats,Dave (KikkyMonk), on your preamp purchase. Let us know what kind of power amp you end up pairing with it. Peace, y'all. spreadluv Fanboy? Why, yes! Nordstrand Pickups and Guitars. Messiaen knew how to parlay the funk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g. Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 Yeah, I meant to say that I'm glad you got a cool preamp to evaluate basses with, KikkyMonk. If I didn't already have a rack that only had one space left in it I would likely have gone for the Ashdown preamp to replace my Alembic back a year or two ago. It really has The Schtuff! . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KikkyMonk Posted November 21, 2002 Author Share Posted November 21, 2002 The preamp was a more utility buy than anything... I wanted a bass (I only have a fretless 4 and while its cool, its not for all the songs I play) but I really need a preamp (seeing how im going striaght into a mackie 1604 with a full passive jazz bass. My "amp" is 2 3-way mackie actives with 500 watts on the 15's. Sounds nice, but I really need a preamp. oh yeah, and a power amp and a cab. I have been drooling over that roscoe beck for a LONG time. Bummer it has 19mm string spacing as that is a reason I do not like my jazz. I think I would prefer the 17.2 that you said (what models have that?) Thanks for the links Before I get a bass however I need to complete my bass amp. Thanks Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g. Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 Oops - 17.1 is what I meant: just a gnat's ass shy of 11/16" 17.1 mm is what Carvin LB75 and LB76 have (BB is 19 mm - 3/4") or anything using the Hipshot narrower Hipshot bridge; some Ibanez have 17.1 as well (my excellent older model SR 506 ferinstance); lots of the Fives and Sixes I pick up in stores seem to have 17.1 as well - or something really close. But I think some Ibanez and others I don't like the spacing of have 16 mm or thereabouts, which even with my hands feels too tight. I think the Conklin GT-7 is 17.1 mm as well ; } . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ikestr Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 KikkyMonk, check your email. ikestr ...hertz down low.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bear Jew Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 A previous bassist for my band (#2, or The Hammer, as we liked to call him) eventually bought a Fender Deluxe P-bass with that big-ass humbucker at the bridge in addtion to the regular p-bass pick-up. Sounded pretty cool, but it was a horrible color -- a light blue clear coat! We naturally broke his balls about it until he had it professionally re-finished (or, rather, I had it re-finished, since his ass was always too busy buying coke to save his cash for anything like improving his gear.) Anyway, my luthier buddy stripped the sucker clean, removing the polyurethane coating under the paint and exposing the natural wood. He then re-sprayed the whole thing with a few layers of old-school black nitro-cellulose laquer. He slapped it back together, set it up, took my $600. and handed it back to me... HOLY SHIT! Where this bass sounded "pretty cool" before, after the stripping and re-finish job, it sounded ridiculous. Tone and sustain for days. I loved that thing. Of course, The Hammer never paid me back for the lovely re-finish job, fell into a haze of coke and beer and quit the band. Since he owed me well over $2000. when he quit, I told him I was keeping the bass rig (which i had bought anyway.) He was pretty pissed, but I told him that he oughta be glad that I didn't keep the bass, too. Looking back, if he had left that bass at the rehearsal spot, I would have kept that fucker, too. Anyway... I kinda got OT there, but the point is, that P-Bass Deluxe is a bad-ass unit -- especially if you get 'em re-finished. \m/ Erik "To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting." --Sun Tzu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KikkyMonk Posted November 22, 2002 Author Share Posted November 22, 2002 HOLY SHIT! Where this bass sounded "pretty cool" before, after the stripping and re-finish job, it sounded ridiculous. Tone and sustain for days. I don't see how the paint job could make something sound better - But I can see how your visual perception of a bass could make it sound better... is that what went on? I know ugly basses sound bad to me.. hell I never even pick them up to try them Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cornbread_medhotmail.com Posted November 22, 2002 Share Posted November 22, 2002 The way the finish reacts with the wood can have an amazing effect on tone. It adds subtle effects on the vibrations, which can alter the tone in good and bad ways. But, I know what you mean about ugly basses. But, I have heard some basses that are horrible to me sound amazing when someone else is playing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g. Posted November 22, 2002 Share Posted November 22, 2002 Sure a paint job can change the tone. Especially when the thickness (and the types of paint used) is different. Carvin basses ferinstance aren't swathed with superthick poly finishes and that lets the wood sing easier. I think thick finishes (and the kinds of paint used to do them) can actually make cheaper more uneven wood less prone to its faults, but quality grains do better under thin light finishes - it lets them vibrate to their fullest, and they tend to improve with age. Thus the wood is more a part of the bass's sonic personality - just as the thick poly finishes are a big part of those instruments' personality. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick_dont_fret Posted November 22, 2002 Share Posted November 22, 2002 Originally posted by the Green One: - it lets them vibrate to their fullest, and they tend to improve with age. Thus the wood is more a part of the bass's sonic personality - just as the thick poly finishes are a big part of those instruments' personality. Yeah, that's why old skool P-Basses from the day sound sooooo good. Makes you melt in your seat, really. Anywho, I noticed that change in tone when I stripped the paint off of my first bass. It had that oogly black hi-gloss paint job, with an oogly white pearloid pickguard (but the color of that really has no effect, right?). Any who, I took it straight down to the wood, sanded like a crackhoe, and then put a couple of coats of polyurethane on. I think pulling the frets had a lot to do with it too (well duh), also with a quick sanding and polyurethane, painted on by finger (yeah, I was fingerpainting). It sustains just about forever, and has a really cool overtone when I'm right near/over the fret slot, which was not really sanded down completely flush with the fingerboard. I need to have scanning capabilities to do this, but I'm poor. Y'all really need to see this thing...it's purdy. Anywho, just commenting on the great tone of a bass with no/little paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KikkyMonk Posted November 22, 2002 Author Share Posted November 22, 2002 I understand that wood plays a part but never really thought about the finish. What I was trying to say is that it seemed that the change of the basses color changed the tone, which I gawffed at... yeah, thats the ticket, ummmm errrr yeah Hehe Foot in mouth Dave Hrm... perhaps my bass needs to be stripped! woooo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Bear Jew Posted November 22, 2002 Share Posted November 22, 2002 Kikkymonk... Yeah, I'll be honest. We just wanted him to make the bass black, and we found out there was great side effect to this action -- amazing tone. We had no idea that would happen. As GB said, the stripping of the horrid polyurethane coating really opened up the sound of that bass and let its woody tones pop through. We actually thought that bass sounded pretty good up till it was re-finished, but afterwards, we realized how much of the tone we had been missing. And, of course, it also looked better, as well. \m/ Erik "To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting." --Sun Tzu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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