Fender’s Standard P Bass Returns!
The Fender Standard Precision Bass is back, and how sweet it is! This performance-driven and affordable P Bass is designed for a new generation of players. It features an updated ceramic split-coil pickup, delivering the iconic P Bass tone that has influenced the music world since the 1950s. As the first mass-production electric bass guitar, the Precision has driven the bass lines of some of the biggest hit records ever made. The ’60s were a typically prolific decade, with the instrument in the capable hands of session bassists like LA-based Wrecking Crew stalwart Carol Kaye, who lent her Precision chops to countless iconic recordings such as the Beach Boys’ “California Girls” and “Good Vibrations.” Then there was Motown bass legend James Jamerson, whose ’62 Precision (dubbed “the Funk Machine”) delivered the infectious bounce that buoyed a slew of Motown hits like the Temptations’ “My Girl” and Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On.” In fact, the Precision Bass was standard issue for Motown recordings. Now, the Standard Precision Bass stands ready to add its magical low end to your recordings.
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The industry standard
Producers and engineers know that the Precision Bass always sits perfectly in the track with minimal processing, thanks to its authoritative low-end girth and lower-midrange presence. It’s the de facto industry standard. Perhaps that’s why many of today’s first-call bassists who had been playing exotic active instruments, such as LA session ace Sean Hurley (John Mayer, Gwen Stefani, Alanis Morissette, Robin Thicke), have come home to the Precision. Precision players often cite how “balanced” their instrument feels, whether they’re playing seated or standing; indeed, the P Bass is a supremely balanced instrument, from its playing feel to its fat, punchy tone. The instantly recognizable P Bass sound is the end product of a number of factors, including scale length, tonewoods, its bolt-on neck, and of course, Fender’s one-of-a-kind split-coil pickup.
The legendary P Bass split-coil pickup
The Precision Bass split-coil pickup bucks the hum, but it’s technically two single-coil pickups wired in series, so it has the note definition and harmonic richness many humbucking bass pickups lack. It’s placed in an optimal position along the string length to capture and deliver girthy low end along with midrange growl that cuts through thick arrangements. And it also makes a great thumb rest! P Bass aficionados at Sweetwater like how the split-coil pickup brings out the rich harmonic overtones that enhance the expressive nuances in your playing while maintaining the solid fundamental that makes the instrument perform admirably cross-genre, onstage and in the studio. Whatever your playing predilections, you can’t go wrong with a Fender Precision Bass!
Fender Standard Precision Bass Features:
- 4-string electric bass guitar
- Comfortably contoured poplar body with gloss finish
- Bolt-on maple neck with Modern C profile and satin finish
- Maple or Indian laurel fingerboard (depending on body color)
- 1 Fender Standard ceramic split-coil P Bass pickup
- Per-pickup Volume controls, master Tone
- Standard top-load bridge with satin-chrome, steel-barrel saddles
