Fender Precisions

Have an opportunity to pick up my first bass ever. A three year old Fender Precision (Plus) MIM.
Anyone ever play one of these having the additional back active pickup included on it. From here I am going live with some online training with the Bass Buzz group !

5 Likes

Welcome @Cvern .

Is the back pickup you refer to, the jazz pickup at the bridge? AFAIK it isn’t active, unless it was a special model of which I’m unaware.

Anyhow, you have more than enough bass to start (and continue with). That instrument is more than good enough to not only learn bass on but then go on gigging and recording. Congrats.

4 Likes

It’s a three band active EQ with active/passive toggle. Iirc it has PJ pickups. Great versatile bass! Enjoy the course @Cvern

Pro tip: unplug your bass after playing else it will drain your battery. Another tip is that you probably can keep on playing in passive mode without a battery.

4 Likes


Thanks for the quick reply.
Greatly appreciate it as I am a newbie to the bass world. I cannot wait to get plucking on it ! This is going to be my new rig this weekend !

14 Likes

Oh man, wasn’t I totally off base there! Thanks for the correction.

EDIT: I hadn’t realised they made these in an active config.

4 Likes

I haven’t seem them much either. They also have a HiMass bridge. Pretty cool config for a Precision bass.

3 Likes

Cool bass! Olympic white is such an excellent colour for a bass :heart_eyes:

3 Likes

This is the badger @MC-Canadastan

7 Likes

Thanks @Barney .

That confirms my opinion. @Cvern is starting B2B on a pretty sweet instrument.

Now he’s got absolutely no excuses not to complete the course :slight_smile: :sweat_smile:

4 Likes

It does help. I had a sexy starting bass too and it helped me to take it more serious.

3 Likes

Totally pumped to get rolling on some bass lessons. Strum a little guit so not totally foreign to me and will be an exciting challenge.
Why do I want to learn a Matt Freeman (Rancid) bass line first ? Because it if so groovy and awesome !

3 Likes

That’s a Fender Deluxe Active Precision Bass Special, how’s that for a name. It last came in Seafoam and White, and it has a Noiseless pickup on the bridge which means it’s a split Jazz pickup, and a vintage P pickup on the neck. It’s a pretty sweet bass. It has a Jazz neck with a 38mm nut, so it should be easy to play.

You don’t see many of them these days as they have been superseded by the Player Plus series. Which is more or less the same bass in different colors and more money.

Nice find.

4 Likes

That sounds perfect!
Enjoy @Cvern

3 Likes

So here’s an interesting one.

The last couple years, the Fender Japan primary model has been the MIJ Hybrid II Precision Bass. The specs are great except one bit is odd:

Body Material: Alder
Body Finish: Gloss Urethane
Body Shape: Precision Bass

Middle Pickup: Hybrid II Custom Voiced Single Coil P Bass
Controls: Master Volume, Master Tone
Configuration: S

Bridge: 4-Saddle Vintage-Style
Hardware Finish: Nickel/Chrome
Tuning Machines: Vintage-Style
Pickguard: 3-Ply Eggshell
Control Knobs: Knurled Flat-Top
Neck Plate: 4-Bolt
Strings: Nickel Plated Steel (.045-.105 Gauges)

Neck Material: Maple
Neck Finish: Satin Urethane Finish on Back, Gloss Urethane Finish on Front
Neck Shape: Modern “C”
Scale Length: 34" (86.36 cm)
Fingerboard Material: Maple
Fingerboard Radius: 9.5" (241 mm)
Number of Frets: 21
Fret Size: Narrow Tall
Nut Material: Bone
Nut Width: 1.650" (42 mm)
Position Inlays: Black Dot

I’m down with everything about how it feels; Alder body, nice and light, 9.5" radius, 42mm nut “Modern C” is a great compromise between P-Bass width and modern thickness and feel, etc. Overall a really nice bass. The one part I am wondering about is:

Middle Pickup: Hybrid II Custom Voiced Single Coil P Bass
Configuration: S

Surely this is a split coil, right? What is a “single coil P pickup?” Have you seen this before, @terb?

Regardless, love everything about it (besides the price :slight_smile: ):

7 Likes

single coil p is another name for a split single coil because why not call the same pickup 4 or 5 different things? :smiley:

3 Likes

That makes sense, and is what I was hoping. Thanks!

3 Likes

Not to be confused with the original single coil precision pup which seems to get called all kinds of things like “51 style” or “50s era”… SD even has multiple names for it :smiley:

3 Likes

SD even makes a single coil split pickup in 50s style for hum cancelling

4 Likes

Also funny to see how they follow a template/format by calling it S… Pretty sure it’s inherited from a strat. An SSS pickup configuration has a single-coil pickup in the bridge, middle and neck position .

You looking for a P? Or just teasing yourself :sweat_smile: (love the colour and maple neck)

1 Like

Yeah considering changing up some gear :slight_smile:

3 Likes