I was kind of poking around looking for a worn Fender bass to adopt and found this guy. It was off my radar. Didn't know they were a thing. Of course what roped me in was the humbuckers that look like dual jazz bass pickups/jazzmaster pickup hybrid. I love it! The stock bridge is like the beefier bridge I tend to install on my own bass builds. Lovely fretboard. Simple volume, volume, and tone. Nothing to complain about.
20220908_074820 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr
20220908_073044 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr
20220908_074825 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr
20220908_074804 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr
20220908_073100 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr
Fender Blacktop Precision Bass
- HNB
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 13513
- Joined: Tue May 10, 2011 7:55 am
- Location: Puyallup, Washington
- Contact:
Fender Blacktop Precision Bass
Christopher
Lilith Guitars
Lilith Guitars
- Embenny
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 10363
- Joined: Tue May 24, 2016 5:07 am
Re: Fender Blacktop Precision Bass
That's really cool. I've always thought that the JM pickup footprint looked like two Jazz Bass pickups put together (or maybe the other way around, since the JM came first!).
Regardless, that's a really cool P Bass. How does the neck pickup sound compared to a regular P?
Regardless, that's a really cool P Bass. How does the neck pickup sound compared to a regular P?
The artist formerly known as mbene085.
- HNB
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 13513
- Joined: Tue May 10, 2011 7:55 am
- Location: Puyallup, Washington
- Contact:
Re: Fender Blacktop Precision Bass
It depends on how you use the tone pot. It can do the p bass sound, but it has a bunch of other tones with the tone pot and with the other pickup. These are higher output I believe than a typical p bass pickup, so they are louder.
Christopher
Lilith Guitars
Lilith Guitars
- burpgun
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 826
- Joined: Sun Dec 20, 2009 10:15 am
- Location: east coast
Re: Fender Blacktop Precision Bass
I can’t decide if this is a good or bad thing, but Fender seems to do almost all of its innovative work off its US production lines. Between Japan, Mexico and Squire that’s where the heat is. I’ve had my eye out for one of those Blacktop double P Jazz basses for a while, Fender did some cool stuff with that line.
- Embenny
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 10363
- Joined: Tue May 24, 2016 5:07 am
Re: Fender Blacktop Precision Bass
That's pretty cool that it can nail the typical sound on top of others.
I don't think there's anything wrong with 1-pickup guitars or basses, but I prefer to be able to get multiple sounds out of an instrument. Guess I'm just a "more is more" person.
I'm just glad that they sometimes do something interesting, period. We've had eras where they basically made standard models in red, black, white and sunburst, and that was it.
I do wish some of the cooler Japanese variants were more accessible though, like when Fender Japan released a 30" scale Jazz Bass with a scaled-down body, or that "bottom-master" Jaguar baritone with the built-in fuzz circuit.
The artist formerly known as mbene085.
- HNB
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 13513
- Joined: Tue May 10, 2011 7:55 am
- Location: Puyallup, Washington
- Contact:
Re: Fender Blacktop Precision Bass
I love guitars and basses that have different sound options so if you are in the mood to play something different, you don't need a different instrument. It is very flexible in that respect. Sort of like a Swiss army knife.
Christopher
Lilith Guitars
Lilith Guitars