Fender announces new Standard line at $599

[Alanko]

I still don't know what rolled fretboard edges are. Always seemed liked a marketing bullet point of some sort.

Nobody knows what they are. The emperor is naked!!

[doombass]

All I know is the term "rolled" means you press a round tool that can roll to compress a material. For example the cylinder shelf radius in the engines at my work is pressure rolled in one of the machines to strengthen that radius and avoid cracking.

On a fretboard I believe "rounded" would be a better word.

[ilan]

I still don't know what rolled fretboard edges are. Always seemed liked a marketing bullet point of some sort.

Cheap guitars have sharp fretboard edges, I hate that feeling. "Rolled" edges feel like an old guitar, worn-in. That's a real night and day difference. 

[Alanko]

Sire guitars look like they run a round over bit down both long edges of the fretboard and then sculpt the frets to match the radius.

It is more consistent and pronounced than a naturally worn in neck.

[Chris P.]

it means the edhes are a bit les sharp and more roundes, as if you played it for a long time. I once had two review basses in, with the same nut width. The rolled edge one, felt thinner. Like a bound neck can feel a bit wider sometimes. I like narrow necks so I lik those rolled edges.

[Dave W]

[godofthunder]

I've gotten to play one. I'm reasonably impressed, it's a well built playable bass. My biggest complaint is that I don't think poplar is suited to a sunburst finish, it frankly looks cheap.  Solid colors are a much better choice.  I'll do a video at The House of Guitars when I get a chance.

[Chris P.]

I tried one, reviewed it... ...and bought it. my 2 cents:


It's an impressive bass. It came without gigbag, but well boxed. I chose the olympic white Precision with maple board. The Olympic white is off white and I like that much better than the completely white bodies. The maple board is glued one, so no skunk stripe at the back of the neck. Frets and fretwork impeccable. The headstock has the tuner with the smaller baseplates, but it has Fender stamped in, which is a nice touch. The simple black only logo on the front of the headstock is understated, tidy and nice.

The pickguard is a nice, thick and well cut 3-ply. The control knobs have the little adjustment screws and like on my Mexican P (a bit of a disappointment for a 1000 euro MIM Bass) the pots are more on/off and bright/warm, and not realy lineair. Of course you can change them.

The bridge is the flimsy Fender one, which I like. Now the only thing I don't understand: the bridge saddles are matte chrome finished. It looks aluminium. I don't know if that has a reason? Maybe that's just wat Cort uses? I don't really like the look, but we're talking saddles and I really don't care, after a couple of days.

The body is poplar and the pickup ceramic. It just sounds as expected and I can't really hear differences with my maple board MIM Player P. I did change the strings to d'Addario NYXL's, which are my favourites at the moment. The really make a bass come alive a bit more.

The MIM Player P has the standard Fender strings. I think the Standard has a bit more low-end (because of the NYXLs?) but the sound is very similar. So yeah: I like the Standard a lot and I love the looks of an off-white P with a maple neck and black guard.
   

[Dave W]

Thank, Chris. It's good to have a review from someone who actually owns one. Not all the sniping from people who haven't even seen one and are only looking for reasons to bash Fender.

[Chris P.]

You're welcome!

[Ken]

I wonder why they never do Jaguar basses.

[godofthunder]

 I set up a few at the store last night and spent a bit of time with them,  my impression is still pretty favorable but I think the $599 MAP is a little exorbitant.  I think these would sell well a MAP closer to $549 with retailers able to give a 10%-15% discount.