Review of Fender Standard Precision Bass (P-Bass) 4-string Bass Guitar (price, reviews)

[reviewer]

Fender Standard Precision Bass (P-Bass) 4-string Bass Guitar

Rating: 4 out of 5

• Currently 4.0/5.0

When I was a teen, our band's bass player had a Fender that I loved. It was not flashy by today's standards, but it got the job done. That has been more years ago than I want to admit, but when I got ready to add a bass to my collection, I didn't look at too many other brands before settling with a standard Fender P-Bass.

Other than choosing red or black, which are the usual colors you associate with this bass, I opted to be really extreme and went with the Lake Placid blue. It wasn't the color my friends expected me to choose, but I like it and that's what counts.

I'm sure that more expensive bass guitars may offer some things that this Fender doesn't but it plays easy, holds its tune, and I like the old style design. It had a retail price of $779.99, which isn't a bank-breaking price, and it came with a nice hard shell case. I changed the strings on it as soon as I got home from the guitar shop to Ken Smith Rock Masters, which are my favorites.

One of the things you'll note about any good guitar is the way it keeps tune when not in use. I've had some that would have to be tuned every time I pulled them out of the case. This Fender stays tuned fairly well from one session to the next, but it usually needs tweaking a little each time I play it.

I am usually a six string picker, so I don't have as much experience with the bass as some others, but I do fairly well playing this one and would probably purchase it again if I had the choice. In its price range, I don't think you will find a better bass than the Fender P-Bass. Although I can't rate it the best out of all bass guitars, I definitely give it a four out of five stars rating and suggest you consider it for a starter bass.

Review by professional reviewer, Dec. 8, 2010