I'm looking at purchasing a beautiful new Fender P-bass. Right now I have a 4-string fretless, and a 5-string. Both are Japanese basses, and they don't have that nice tone of a solid Fender Precision. I've been playing my fretless more and more, and am finding I like the simplicity of a 4 string. I occasionally miss the added mobility that the the 5th string provides, but not often enough.

So I've been half-heartedly looking/keeping an eye out for a good deal on a 4 string. After watching "Standing in the Shadows of Motown," and reading the James Jamerson biography, I've been really digging that old motown sound. So a Fender Precision (P) would be ideal, since that's what they played. Greg has been telling me about this Fender Custom Shop '59 Reissue P bass at a local music store, so after hearing about it regularly for the last month I went down to check it out. I was blown away by it's beauty and tone. It played really smooth, and sounded like butter. And looked so hot. But at $2800...that's just a little out of my price range. The salesman even offered to knock off $500, which is alot. But yeah, $2300 for a bass? Maybe if I was making money playing, or was better than I am. But there is just no way I can justify that.

So when a co-worker of mine sent me an email yesterday saying he had a Fender P-bass for sale, I was excited to check it out and bring it to rehearsal tonight to show it off. It is a really nice bass, exactly what I'm looking for with the exception of the color. Strung with the strings I want, it comes with a quality strap, and hard-shell case, all for $600. He currently has it listed on ebay for $750, and something similar in the store would be $900. So I brought it to practice, and it sounded wonderful. The tone is amazing, and playability smooth.
My band mates were suitably nonplussed, which I didn't expect. Two of them have multiple multi-thousand dollar guitars, and I think they are a little bit on the instrument snob side of things. Don't get me wrong, they know what they like, and I'm not saying this is a bad thing, it is just the my observation. I think if I had told them it was a $2000 '57 reissue, they would have loved it.

I think the bass is awesome. And I do have almost $600 saved from doing computer work, but that is also a third of the money I need for my tattoo. So... I think I'll see if it sells online, and if it isn't sold by Monday, I'll revisit the idea. Well, I won't really stop thinking about buying it. :)