About three years ago, I dropped my kid and their friend off at a concert at Metro and had some time to kill. After tacos and a Pepsi at a place called Big Star, I headed to the GC on Halsted. Walked into the bass room, and there were several new Fenders hanging around. What caught my eye was a beautiful Player series (MIM) Polar white P. They had a newer version Ampeg V-4B in the room, so I plugged in and ripped into some 70s Crimson. It really sounded great, with a pretty inviting neck for a P. I played several others, including a PJ Mustang and probably another P and a J or two, including the Vintera line. The white Player was easily my favorite. Funny, my whole life I've preferred J over P basses, but this was something special. I didn't buy anything that night, but it stayed on my mind. Since I'm pretty much in "sell one to buy one" mode these days, I wasn't sure what to do. Thought about selling my Geddy Jazz, but eventually, I decided it was my '84 Hamer Blitz (Explorer) that had to go. Pulled the trigger in January and bought a 2021 Player P on Reverb.
So, being the John Wetton fan that I am, I wanted to get close to the look of his '60 P after the white refinish. Since Fender now routes a huge channel from the pick to the control cavity, I couldn't just eliminate the pickgaurd, so I had a solid white one made with no screw holes and applied it with 2-sided tape (thanks to Carlo for the idea). I also had a black control plate made and added a tug bar. Turned out nice I think. And it plays and sounds every bit as good as the one I played at GC. So yeah, I currently own TWO Fenders!
I'll take a few more pics over the weekend.