Fender American Performer Mustang Bass - Satin Surf Green with Rosewood Fingerboard Review

Short scale? Hell yes!

As a life long Fender P-bass player I never thought I would entertain playing a short scale bass....boy was I wrong. At my age arthritis was creeping into my hands making fretting more and more difficult so why not give it a go? I contacted my Sweetwater rep Jonathon Casarow and he said they had one left in stock so send it to me. This bass has been an absolute joy to play. The… read more workmanship and hardware is top of the line and talk about tone! The American Performer has all the tone and growl you'll ever need. With Sweetwater's 55 point inspection my bass showed up in perfect playable condition and has been a joy to play. I'm very happy with my purchase and Sweetwater's sales tech Jonathon Casarow for assisting me on this purchase.

---

Cancel Comment

A beautiful bass

I own two other American Fender basses (American Professional Jazz and American Professional Precision) and a Fender Mexican Precision. I love them all, so I was looking forward to receiving this Fender American Performer Mustang Bass. It's my first short-scale bass, and it doesn't disappoint. You hear a lot of people say that they sound just like their long-necked brethren and… read more it's definitely true. I love this Mustang bass. It looks and sounds great, and the rosewood fretboard is perfect. This is my third purchase from Sweetwater, and it's always a pleasure.

---

Cancel Comment

Great neck, cheap electronics, strange design elements

I think the neck of the bass is sturdy and feels like a $1000 guitar. Nonetheless, the electronics are cheap, the wiring is cheap, the Yosemite pickups sound great, but the bass and the pick guard are not shielded anywhere which adds a lot of noise and adjusting pickup height gently and for the first time ever, the pickup plastic cover loosed it"s grip so I had to change the screws… read more for bigger ones in order to be able to raise them. Body seems resonant which is a good thing, and I think the pickup carving might fit a pair of p bass pickups. Don"t know yet. Another thing, the bridge is a bit off. Like the review title suggest strange design elements. All of that aside, I truly love the bass. It is fun to play, it is light and sounds great. Has a lot of personality. Hopefully someone makes a bridge alternative for the future and for the price they should shield the instrument.

---

Cancel Comment

Not as good as the recent MIM version

This is an ok bass. I own MANY basses, most American made. That being said, I also own the recent MIM Mustang and the blows this one out of the water which is why I scored this one so low. The Bad: The neck split pickup is weak, the Jazz bridge pickup is not properly centered under the strings. The neck needs to be shimmed if you want super low action (unlike the MIM). The included… read more gif bag is for a standard 34inch length, this one flops around inside. Those who score this bass high do not mind higher action and sub par tone. The Good: looks great, made in America, very light weight. Verdict: I was hoping for more from Fender as I have wanted an American made Mustang bass for quite some time since selling my 1970"s Mustang. Unfortunately, the tone, playability and overall value fall short. Especially considering the Mexican made Mustang plays and sounds so much better for less than half the price.

---

Cancel Comment

Awesome Bass

I got what I'm assuming was one of the first of these from Sweetwater last November or December. My opinion is that Fender hit it out of the park with this American Performer Mustang bass. They have addressed all the little gripes I've had with various incarnations of the Mustang bass over the years. Since many of you may be deciding between this bass and the PJ, I'll compare two… read more below (I have both), but first some general comments: The build quality is very good. The hardware is great. And as far as I'm concerned the pickup combination is the best that has appeared on any Mustang bass at any time. Also, the neck profile, although it is the slightly wider 1.625 inch, is the best feeling neck that I have felt on ANY bass. It is very thin front to back and beats most J-bass necks for comfort even though it is a little wider. The finish is nice, I love the Surf Green, although I would prefer a high-gloss finish. That's really my only gripe with the whole bass and it's no big deal. And this pickup combination REALLY allows this Mustang to be a "do everything bass" (more on that below). Although the JMJ Mustang is a fine bass (I have that one too), this one runs circles around it as far as getting tons of usable tones. Okay... let's compare this bass to the PJ. The PJ is a great bass priced reasonably, but this one really is a step up all the way around. Here's why (beyond the obvious step up in build quality)... * Although the neck is narrower on the PJ, the American Performer (I'll call it the AP from now on) neck really is much sleeker feeling. In fact that neck is, as I said, about the best I've felt on ANY bass, including 4000 plus dollar basses I've had. * Although the PJ sounds great, there has always been a little voice in the back of my head telling me of some of its shortcomings. The AP has addressed them, in my opinion. First, the neck pickup in the PJ can be a bit boomy/muddy/undefined. The AP is not at all muddy/boomy/undefined. It has a full sound without being to bottom-heavy. That's not to say it can't put out a lot of bottom end, it just does it in a more refined/defined manner. Second, I think the PJ bridge pickup is nearly useless on its own. It's volume level is way lower than the neck pickup and it is very thin sounding with not a lot of beef. It works fine in combination with the neck pickup, but not so much on it's own. And there really isn't much you can do about it other than swapping pickups--it's not horrible, but it is what it is. The AP has addressed this issue. The pickups are beautifully balanced. Both sound great on their own. And they sound wonderful together as well. The soloed bridge pickup with the tone rolled back is KILLER sounding. In fact, the bridge pickup is just a bit hotter than the neck. Just the way it should be to make all combinations of pickups useful. Also, the AP sound A LOT like a Jazz bass with both pickups on full. Close your eyes and you'd almost think it was. The PJ simply does not get a convincing Jazz bass tone. Also, the two volume controls open up tons of variation on the sound that you can't get with the PJ 3-way switch. * The tone control on the AP is superior to the PJ. You can roll back the tone all the way without getting muddiness. Just punchy tones with less high end. Whether this bass is worth it to you over the PJ is really dependent on what sound you are looking for, your wallet, and whether the refinements of the AP is worth the extra money. I have both basses, but if I were forced to choose one, it would be the American Performer Mustang Bass. It really is the perfect Mustang bass in my opinion and the first that can truly handle any musical situation I throw at it. That's pretty rare in a short scale bass. The PJ comes close, but this bass really does do it all. The only thing I wish Fender would do is offer it with a gloss maple fretboard. Maybe in the future....

---

Cancel Comment