Fender American Special Precision Bass 

Comments about Fender American Special Precision Bass:

i played 4 american fender basses at GC before deciding on this bass in candy red. the neck is super smooth. the frets were very well dressed. no high frets. pickups sound great. grease bucket tone option is very cool. easily the best playing bass i own or have owned.

Comments about Fender American Special Precision Bass:

I believe I was lucky enough to find a particularly good one of these, as everyone knows quality can vary in production models. Mine is just awesome. Obviously it's a P bass, no real mystery there. But with this particular bass there were a few things that continue to impress me every time I play it. First is the thin neck, which has a very smooth satin urethane finish. It's extremely comfortable, more so than a Standard P bass. Also, contrary to what some of the other reviewers seem to think, the neck DOES have the graphite support rods. This is clearly stated on Fender's website.

I also really like the pickup on this bass. It's absolutely quiet (no hiss or noise issues at all) and aggressive sounding. Whereas some P basses have a big, pillowy sound, I would say this is one is more focused in the low mids. It's got a great rock sound, but can mellow out very nicely when needed. And thanks to that Greasebucket thing, I can turn the tone all the way down and still get a useful, punchy sound.

This bass is also noticeably lightweight, and I think as I become older and more decrepit this will become a standout feature. The action is nice too, not crazy low but easy to play while still allowing the strings to ring clearly. I have traveled around the country with it and noticed zero change in the neck, string action, or whatever else. So I guess it's pretty solid. I even liked the stock strings so much that I just keep putting the same kind on every time. Aside from all this, it's just a good, solid P bass. The overall design is basically perfect. I'm not saying the "American Special" line is the be-all end-all, but mine seems kinda special. Somebody must have brought their A-game to the assembly line that day.

Comments about Fender American Special Precision Bass:

I was excited to be getting my first Fender, and also pleased that the new American Special line offered Candy Apple Red and was a cheaper than a Standard. I went for it and I am now regretting it. I wanted to be excited about it, but it arrived with sky-high action that made intonation, playability, and tone a distant hope. After tweaking the thing for the last 4 months (couldn't afford a setup after shelling out the cost) I have finally started to be able to achieve a proper setup, but it rarely holds for more than week before going out of whack again. Also, the strings go out of tune A LOT (I use Ernie Ball, so it is not the strings). Half of the songs I play, I am watching the strings go flat on my clip-on tuner and scrambling to retune, while singing and playing. I never go to a gig now without my bridge wrench, phillips head, and alan wrench, in case the setup shifted in the car and I have to make a last minute scramble to salvage what I can of my intonation. I think that the "Special" line does not include the graphite-reinforced neck, or the high-mass bridge, which I'm sure is contributing to my problems. This bass should be priced lower, because you are going to have to put extra money into it for a new bridge, new strings (came with TERRIBLE strings), and a professional setup before it will actually work. Save up and get the Standard PBass because, even though I prefer Candy Apple over Candy Cola, I didn't get the professional-grade instrument for which I had saved up my hard-earned money.

Comments about Fender American Special Precision Bass:

Just bought this model 3 weeks ago, 5 shows later it has become the favorite bass in my arsenal. Impossible to beat the quality in this bass for this price range. The sound quality is second to none and dontevwn get me started on how beautiful the candy apple looks. I'd make this purchase 10 out of 10 times.

Comments about Fender American Special Precision Bass:

I gave this instrument a perfect 10. I rated it against other instruments that I have owned and played.
I have only given one other Bass a 10 and that is my Status Graphite S1 5 string and for the same reasons. If you want to play and not play with Knobs these are for you. I beleive that 80% of your sond is from your fingers and hands the rest from your Bass and amp. I will recomend this to any of my students as a good investment.
Love the Grease Bucket tone control! This is a really sweet feature! The more I use it the more I like it. I like being able to roll off of the highs without adding rumbleing bass. I don't have to fiddle with my amp eq as much. Finish and feel is top notch. I have always liked a satin finished neck and this one really feels great.
This is a USA made instrument. It is solid and put together very well.I loked at this pretty hard when I bought it I didn't see any flaws. If you look at other USA made companies this becomes an even better buy.
P Bass says it all. It simplicitiy and great sound and the fact that it is made in the USA make it a must have for any Bass player.

Comments about Fender American Special Precision Bass:

I owned a P-Bass in my younger years. I loved that thing - it was a tank and took whatever abuse I could throw at it. Now as I'm (alot) older - this bass fit like a glove - like I had never put it down. It's definitely no Ric - but if your looking for a solid bass to play rock or blues - this is THE bass to get.
It's a P-Bass - not a lot of bells and whistles. This is just a straight forward working man's instrument.
Solid construction, beautiful finish, All the hardware was solid and didn't have to tweak anything! The bass was setup perfect for me right out of the box. Action on this thing is amazing! Usually you need to do some type of tweaks to the frets/neck/action etc... but this thing was 100% perfect for me.
Of course.... it could always be cheaper! But for an American made instrument its "reasonable" for what you get.

Comments about Fender American Special Precision Bass:

I'm a bass player with over 30 years expericence playing all types of music, from heavy metal to jazz to rock to folk and all points in between. These days, I'm mostly playing roots rock, and I wanted a versitile instrument. This one delivers, my friend. What I've always loved about the P-Bass is its beautiful simplicity. With the mere turning of a knob you can adjust everything you need to - volume and tone. I'm a minimalist by nature, so I just love that nothing else is required to get a great tone. I can do everything right on the bass. I'm also a singer, so I don't have lots of time to mess around with toggle switches, bells and whistles. That's why I sold my Ric 4001 bass and picked up the American Special P-Bass. The sunburst finish is lovely, a true classic, and straight out of the box this bass was ready to roll! It was one of those beautiful moments when you pick up the instrument and fall in love before the first low "E" note has decayed. This is the kind of bass you could bring to ANY gig or to ANY recording session. Great price, too!

Comments about Fender American Special Precision Bass:

This bass is one of the best i've payed. I don't own one, but every time I go to a music shop, I play this bass

Comments about Fender American Special Precision Bass:

I played this at bass at guitar center the other day through a little Rumble 75. No bells and whistles nothing frilly, just an awesome tone and really great playability...this thing is a joy to play. With the passive pickups the tone capabilities aren't quite that of the Deluxe models hence the 4.0 on features, but it does an amazing job of what it's built for. A really solid P Bass...I think this one is going to be a winner.