NBD - Not the kind of Fender you were expecting

Bucket

I'm selling my Ibanez SR to a mate soon, and I've just bought this off another mate, a bass player I work with a lot. He's raising funds for a new bass and only told me he was selling this last week - for a price I couldn't refuse, and it was a bass that I knew would suit me perfectly, so I damn near took his hand off for it.

Picked it up last night when we rehearsed again.

https://i.imgur.com/tj8aybP.jpg

So - a Fender, but not a Jazz or Precision, you'll note. This is a Dimension Bass, a new design they've been doing for a couple of years. Mine is the top-of-the-range model, an American Deluxe with two humbuckers. You'll note that there is a Strat-style 5-way switch, not something commonly seen on basses - this splits the coils in a couple of different ways so you can get more single-coil tones that bring it into the Jazz ballpark, not to mention all the humbucker sounds available too.

I knew I wanted a bass with a more classic aesthetic than my modern-looking Soundgear, which I've always found a rather charmless design for a bass that was great in every other way. This fits the bill - ok, it's not a Jazz, but it still has a nice classic-inspired style and looks enough like a Fender that it'd fit into situations where the Soundgear would just make me look like a bit of a dick... so now I can just leave my playing to do that for me.

I haven't actually had a chance to plug it in yet, but I'm going to rectify that very shortly.

richardhomer

I like that....

Sassafras

Looks like it could be a bit of a beast with those big pickups.

guitarfishbay

Congrats, looks nice in that finish.

They sound quite good I thought, I did look at them but have stayed quite classic with my bass choices so far (after also starting with more modern type stuff)

Deadman

That's stunning mate.

ICBM

Nice . Looks like a sort of cross between a MusicMan Sabre and an original Fender V, with a Thinline Telecaster pickguard .

Not really my thing, but it looks like a really well-made bass.

EricTheWeary

Nice, I really like the look of those. 

guitarfishbay

What's interesting is the HH one has different bridge pickup position to the single H.

So if you really like the feel and ever wanted a different sound it's totally justifiable to get both  

Philly_Q

It's got an awful lot of strings but I really like the look.  Could Fender have come up with a new design that might actually last a while?

Bridgehouse

Dat HiMass bridge! 

Love the colour. One too many strings tho

Funkfingers

guitarfishbay said:

What's interesting is the HH one has different bridge pickup position to the single H.

The pickup in the white MIM example illustrated above has three coils.

The American pickups are very like dual J Bass pickups with a metal cap attached across each pair of rod magnet polepieces.

https://i.imgur.com/7uYMluO.jpg?1

https://i.imgur.com/sjljBEo.jpg?1

Philly_Q said:

Could Fender have come up with a new design that might actually last a while?

Judging by the Fender website, the Dimension Bass range is already on the decline. They are lovely to play but not so nice to look at.

Winny_Pooh

I really like the way the look. Sound good too although the neck and body balance are a taste thing 

Funkfingers

Winny_Pooh said:

the neck and body balance are a taste thing 

Worn up fairly high on a strap, the forearm contour brings the hand to exactly the right position to play - shock, horror - slap. 

Bridgehouse

Funkfingers said:

Winny_Pooh said:

the neck and body balance are a taste thing 

Worn up fairly high on a strap, the forearm contour brings the hand to exactly the right position to play - shock, horror - slap. 

Funkfingers

A Bite!

Bridgehouse

Funkfingers said:

A Bite!

Couldn't resist.

Funkfingers

My Name Is Mudd

thumpingrug

Nice.  Surprised that you say its relatively new as it has a very classic look about it.