Fender Ash P-Bass

  • Thread starter Thread starter gvarko
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gvarko

gvarko

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So we walk into Guitar Center the other day and my buddy spots a Fender Ash P-Bass hanging on the wall. At first we thought it was a used trade in, then we notice the wrap is still on the pickguard. Then we flip the price tag over, $499.00!! We took it over to an Ampeg stack and plug in. The bass sounds and plays as good, if not better than the USA P-Bass hanging beside it priced at $899.00. We return to work and try to find information on this bass and can find nothing. My friend was haunted by dreams of the bass all night and we return the next day and make the purchase. Has anyone heard of these new basses from Fender? It is mexican made with a clear Ash body and rosewood fretboard.
 
Ash is a great wood for electric guitar bodies. It is very hard and strong (that's why they use it for baseball bats). The drawback is that it's very heavy. The sound tends to be bright and have a lot of sustain. I have an ash acoustic that is almost obnoxious with new stings, it's so bright. A friend has an early 80s G&L bass with an ash body that sounds very good.

Bottom line, though, if your bud likes it, fantastic.
 
Interesting

apl said:
The drawback is that it's very heavy.
Click to expand...

I found the opposite to be true with this bass. I have a 94 P-Bass made of Alder I assume and it easily weighs 3lbs more than the bass my freind just bought. In fact the first thing I noticed about the bass was the light weight. The tone was slightly brighter than mine, but I have EMG's installed so it's tought to compare. I did not like the stock P-Bass PU's in mine, but the PU's in the Ash bass sound really nice. We had the opportunity to plug in a USA P-Bass and compare the tone side by side and I could barely distinguish a difference in sound. Both were played through the same Ampeg amp.
 
Hey, Gvarko.

If it's not heavy, it's probably swamp ash. See this comparison.

Alder has a density of .41, swamp ash of .49, and ash of .60.
 
Bizzare

apl said:
Alder has a density of .41, swamp ash of .49, and ash of .60.
Click to expand...


If I had to pick which grain matched this bass I would say the white ash, but that should make it heavy.. This bass is a true mystery, nothing on the Fender site, no info. on the web...
 
i have a 78 jazz, and it's heavy as hell, i think it's ash
 
Yeah, it seems like it was really popular around that time.
 
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