Fender Nate Mendel P Bass

This bass was on my wishlist for quite some time! After owning it for a few months now I think it's time to write a review.

The bass came in packaged safe and sound by the Thomann crew.
Beautiful, smelling of Nitro lacquer, and not too heavy but still a good weight on it for a P-Bass.
However, after opening up the boxes and tuning up the bass I instantly noticed that the G string's tuner peg was crooked.
I contacted Thomann and got a new set! No problems there at all!

The relic, or road-wear if you would, is very subtly done. Some dings on the body, "unpolished" finish (however in the spot where my fore-arm rests the finish started shining quite quickly) and slight wear the headstock. I like the subtle relic work on this bass, it looks real enough and you never have to worry about scratching it etc.

The neck is pretty much the selling point for this bass. Between the nut width of a P and a J. I prefer slim necks over wide ones, so this neck fits perfectly in my hand. The almost satin-ey finish on the neck is getting very comfortable, where kind of sticky early on. Especially while getting sweaty at rehearsals. This stickiness is completely gone as far as I can tell.

The sound of this bass is HOT. Seriously, the output is nice and hot. Though owning another bass with (old Bassline) SPB-3's I think the Nate Mendel sounds a bit "darker". A bit less zingy/trebly. This could be the wood of the bass, or the (road-worn) pickups, or the heavy bridge. To be honest I couldn't tell you. I don't mind this darker tone at all!

The strings that come with it should be tossed away at first arrival. In my opinion at least. I never like the stock strings that come on Mexican Fenders, guitar OR bass. I installed Ernie Ball Reg Slinkys on it, and it sounded ten times better instantly.

My particular bass didn't need much of a set-up at all! I play pretty hard and with a pick so the action might be a tad high, but that's a good thing in my case. I only needed to do a small amount of intonating it.

Last and also least: the gigbag that comes with the bass is not of very high quality. Or comfort for that matter. My Tobago bag works better. And if you have the option, a hardcase will always be better. Especially in the case of Nitro finishes. My Surf Green Nitro jazzmaster has been aesthetically ruined by storing it in one of these Fender gigbags for 4 months.

Conclusion:
The bass sounds and plays like a dream to me. Exactly what I was looking for. The smell and look of the nitro finish makes me happy everytime I'm near the bass. May sound darker than other SPB-3 equipped basses. But that might just be me?

The gigbag and strings it comes with are pretty much trash. So spend another 80 for a nice bag and some strings of your choice and you have yourself a very nice bass!

I think this bass is pretty good for its price, specially considering the nitro lacquer.
It sounds great. Just bear in mind that it is a quarter pounder pickup. If you never heard one, try to check one out before. It's not your traditional precision pickup when in full volume. Having said that, the QP is pretty versatile, and if you work with the volume on 80%, it's pretty much a precision pickup.
I have one gripe with this bass though: Part of the "lightly road worn" process is about dirtying up the bass, which would pretty fine, and I really like the look and feel of it, as I don't like full on relics as they always feel fake to me, but this one really feels just worn. But in this case, they dirty up the neck, and it is a superficial "grime" they put on top of the lacquer. This means that the neck becomes sticky and you get your hands dirty every time you play it. With a little bit of patience, you can take it off with just a rag, and the neck ends up with a "new" look on the backside. Which is fine, in my opinion. Apart from that, this bass plays well (needs a setup, which is to be expected), sounds great, massive, and it looks the part. Happy with the purchase!

To be fair I'm not especially a fan of Nate's although I do like Foo Fighters but I really liked the look of this bass in the new Fender line-up.I've been looking to get a precision and this seemed to be great value. It sounds great with the SD Quarterpounder, Badass bridge and the worn Candy Apple Red and lacquer finish has a cool retro look. Like the narrow neck too. You can get a USA made model for similar money but personally I'm not hung up on where they are made, it's the instrument that counts.I have had Jap and Mex made Fenders as well as USA models and have not seen any great differences.