Fender Player Precision Bass - Tidepool with Maple Fingerboard Reviews

This Fender P-Bass is fantastic! I've been wanting one of these since I bought a Beach Boys double album in the 70's, where on the cover there stood Bruce Johnston with his Tidepool Fender bass. I've also bought the flat wound strings, and now my wife Carol hopes to learn to play like...who else?...Carol Kaye! Thanks to Sweetwater for the great service!

I'm primarily a guitar player and wanted a bass to do some demo recordings and have around the studio. I was looking at a Fender Pro II and this, but settled on the Player Series as I wasn't sure I wanted to spend the money on an instrument that wouldn't get much use -- this was a very good decision. It's a really excellent bass. Full stop. Fit and finish is top notch, playability after a minor truss rod tweak is exceptional, and it sounds exactly how a P-bass should. My bassist and others who play bass, who all have much more expensive basses, have all commented that this punches well above its weight. Highly recommend to anyone looking for an affordable bass to gig/tour or just have to record. If it's your first "real" bass, this will last you a lifetime.

Also, the Tide Pool color is very nice. A bit similar to Lake Placid Blue, but with a touch more green to it.

I Love this bass!!!!!
It sounds, looks, and plays sweet!!!!!!
Light weight and and love playing it!!!!
Also thank you to Dan VanAmerongen for being awesome and all the people at Sweetwater!!!!
Great staff and service!!!!!!

I'd have to say for the price point this bass is the best I've owned.. i had to do a minor set up but after that I played it for 4 hours and it was great! The pickups in it are hotter than you'd think. You get low low end and great highs! For a mim its great. I wish it would of came with a bone nut but that is all I'd change. Skylar is great too! Good sales person!

Over all very happy with my new bass.
Working with sales person on the phone was great.
Very easy and had new bass in just three days.
Love the color. The bass was set up pretty well. Just had to do some slight tweaking of the neck adjustment and the pick up height adjustment.
Looks and sounds amazing!!!
Plays well also.
I would definitely recommend Sweetwater to all my friends!!!
Chris Mills

Everything about this bass and the buying experience was top notch. There is a reason the P Bass has been so popular all these years. Easy to play, light weight and just perfect tone in my opinion. Buying from Sweetwater is such an easy experience and shipping from Indiana to NC was quicker than Amazon.

Just a quick note for anyone considering making a purchase through Sweetwater. I was looking at the website for about a year before I finally pulled the trigger a couple of weeks ago. Really wish I would have done it sooner LOL it was a great experience the customer service before and after has been awesome. My base showed up at my house the day it was promised through UPS. It was boxed up so well there was no way it would have had any damage. The guitar was spotless and in tune in perfect condition. It's been a pleasure to play and I really wish I would have done it sooner!

I played professionally back in the 70's and 80's, always played Fenders, let quite a few go; I decided I needed to reconnect with the feel of a classic Precision. I purchased this Player Series and it felt like I was meeting an old friend. There is nothing like that wide maple neck. Quality on this guitar is a "10". The quality is I believe better than the Fenders I owned so many years ago. This is the second instrument purchased from Sweetwater, and you cannot get better customer service.

Love this bass! Well made and beautiful. Neck is smooth and fast. Tide pool blue color is awesome. Tone is great.

Bought this bass for my son for his birthday. Bass arrived very well packed and upon initial inspection there were absolutely no finish flaws, neck pocket was tight, frets were perfect and volume/treble pots were smooth. There was some expected buzzing and the bass was a little out of wack from shipping, but over the next few days the bass really settled in after playing and WOW, it sounds and plays killer. We will take it for a pro set-up in a few weeks. This bass was one of the lighter offerings at 8.03lbs and the sustain on this thing is magical! The whole bass vibrates through its entire body and you can feel it on your body. I've not been that impressed with most Mexican made Fenders in the past, but they got this one right! Great bass for the price!

This is a great guitar. It plays like an expensive custom.

I own some guitars and have recently been getting back into playing. When I originally started learning I had to pick because I didn"t have enough money to afford a guitar and a bass so I decided to finally start learning and got one of these. Looks and plays wonderfully, sounds good, and arrived with no damage whatsoever.

The customer service with sweetwater has been great. Have purchased some other equipment from them since then and from now on will always check their website first when buying new equipment online for sure

Taught myself to play drums originally, but decided I wanted to branch out and try to wrap my head around something with strings. This bass is wonderful for a beginner or a seasoned player. The range of sound is amazing (coupled with a Fender Rumble 100), and the look and feel are awesome, too.

I am really happy with this bass. I have a USA 50's reissue P bass and this Player Series actually plays better. The neck is absolutely perfect and the satin finish on the back of neck feels like silk. I play through a 1980's Peavey TNT combo amp with a 15" speaker and I can't believe the sound. I might buy the Jazz model next.

This bass is fantastic and as always, Sweetwater continues to be the best website to purchase all things music.

Just received this bass today, wanted the buttercreme, but settled on a tidepool one, just got to say, the color has a vintage look as well! The bass showed up with a great set up, no great buzz, fantastic, and the new pick up is awesome! Punchy and bright, I am surprised!! I run a sansamp bro and power amp combo, these new basses are on par with the American series, get one now!

One of the items on my list was to add a Fender bass to my collection. The price for the Player Series Precision and the appearance of the maple fingerboard Tidepool prompted me to go ahead and order it.

The only "out-of-the-box" issue that I had was low output on the E string - it turned out that the pickup adjustment screw was bottomed out. An easy fix with a screwdriver, although the torque to get it turning suggested it was bottomed out with the driver at the factory during installation. Other than that, action and intonation was good right out of the box.

Playability and tone is on par with my 8 year old Squier P Bass Special (with the bridge pickup rolled off, since the Squier is a PJ). While the Player Series is "prettier", it is at the lower end of the Fender line and comparable performance to a higher end Squier isn't really surprising.

Overall, the Player Series Precision Bass is a good choice for either a beginner with their heart set on a Fender or someone at the beginner/intermediate level looking to move up from an entry level Bass (such as the Squier Affinity series). Just keep in mind that you are paying a premium for Fender on the headstock.