- I was strongly leading towards an American P-Bass. I played a bunch of them and I never could justify the huge price tag 899.00 to 1299.00. Then I read 2 articles
http://freespace.virgin.net/john.blackman4/story.htm
http://www.edromanguitars.com/guitar/fenflame.htm
If you are looking for a solid dependable great sounding Fender bass. Unfortunatly you might be better off buying a Japanese model, until the American models catch-up...if they do.
The Steve Harris P-Bass has been discontinued after 6 months of production. It took me a lot of effort to find this one. As far as internet sales go I am convinced I bought the last one available.
Model Year: 2001
Price: $559.00 (new)
Where Obtained: Willcutt Guitars
- Crafted in Japan
- One Piece maple neck and fretboard
- 20 Medium Jumbo Frets
- SD Bassline Quarter Pounder Passive P-Bass pickup
- Precision Body Lake Placid Blue
- Red Wine pickguard
- Standard Tuners
- Leo Quan Badass II bridge
- Action set to medium/low No fret buzz
- Fat chunky neck takes a little getting used too
- Leo Quan bridge saddles come un-cut. The string grooves need to be hand filed. Not being a standard Fender part, the string grooves were cut at the factory too shallow on E and G. My wife is jewler, so I had the correct size files to adjust the saddles (Took about 5 minutes)
- Played through a GK Backline 112
- I play all styles of music, but lean heavily towards metal stuff that has a groove to it. No 80's glam *gag*
- The SD pickups have a warmer deeper tone than standard P-Bass pickups. Bass is pretty flexible with minor tone knobs adjustments I can go from Maiden to Funk.
- I currently also have a Standard P-Bass and a Modulus Basstar. I prefer passive pickups these days and the Steve Harris P-Bass has the warmest tone. The only problem is the pickups are so potent at high volume levels they over-power my practice amp.
- The Japanese Fenders are built just as good as the American Series. If the Japanese guitars were string through body they might just be better. I own a Mexican P-Bass, which I thought had good quality until I picked up the Japanese bass. The Japanese guitar feels much more solid in all aspects.
I always wanted a Fender with a maple neck,but since i don't play out(or haven't for some time,never say never!) I couldn't justify buying an American P-Bass.Then low and behold out comes the Steve Harris Signature Precision Bass! It had all of the hardware and pickup modifications i would have done to an American P-Bass and for about $200-$300 cheaper,what could be better? And since im such a big fan of Iron Maiden and Steve Harris i had to buy it!The only thing i wish Fender had done was put on a silver mirror pickgaurd instead of the wine one.Steve's original Fender has the silver one.But the wine still looks nice.Also i wish mine didn't have the cracks in the finish if you find one to buy(these have since been discontinued by Fender and are getting somewhat hard to find) look it over closesly. the music store i bought mine from said they had seen other ones that came through with the same flaw.
Model Year: 2001
Price: $500.00 (new)
Where Obtained: Washington Music Center,MD
Made in Japan.Lake Placid Blue body is made of basswood with maple neck and fretboard.Red Wine mirror pickgaurd.Bad A-- II Bridge.Seymour Duncan 1/4 Pound Basslines pickup.Passive electronics.Black volume and tone knobs.Steve Harris' signature and Iron Maiden's mascot Eddie's head on the headstock.Vintage style tuners.
I have been playing Jazz Basses for years,so I thought switching to a Precision Bass was going to be difficult.Not so with this model the neck is actually quite thin.Most P-Basses i've played feel like tree trunks.But this is nice and smooth im actually able to move quite fast on the neck.The setup from the factory was actually quite good,nice and low the way i like it.However,after the bass adjusted itself to the varying Vermont climate here i started to get a bit of fret buzz on the first fret on the A string,after switching to flatwound strings this hasn't been an issue.My bass does have a cosmetic flaw however,near the neck joint there is a small crack in the finish inside the upper horn and the lower horn.At first i thought it was a hair if that gives any indication on how small and faint they are.But alas it is from someone in the factory over tightening the neck.
Very loud! Sounds like a P-Bass with more meat! That Seymour Duncan 1/4 Pounder really shines.Tonal variation is pretty amazing for a passive bass with one pickup.You'd swear this thing might have a battery in it someplace.The Badass Bridge really helps with sustain.The maple neck defintely adds brightness to the tone.
I've haven't played it live yet,but i would without hesitation.As i stated earlier it didn't enjoy the Vermont weather at first but is seems to be doing fine now.Everything seems to be holding up well.
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