Fender Unveils Nate Mendel Signature P-Bass

Fender Nate Mendel Signature P-Bass

Foo Fighters bassist Nate Mendel now has a signature bass from Fender. Modeled after the ’71 Precision that carried him through over half of his career, the Nate Mendel Fender P Bass features special body contours, extra-slim neck and nut width, and a lightly worn Candy Apple Red finish.

The bass is built with an ash body, a maple neck, and a rosewood fingerboard while the hardware includes a Leo Quan Badass II bridge and vintage ’70s Fender Stamped Open Gear tuners. It also comes with an extra neck plate with a hybrid “Fender/Foo Fighers” logo. The pickup is a Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound split single-coil.

The Nate Mendel Fender P Bass will be available with an MSRP of $1,199. For more info, check out the Fender website.

Fender Nate Mendel Signature P-Bass Overview:

Fender Nate Mendel Signature P-Bass Specs:

Fender Nate Mendel Signature P-Bass headstock back

  • Body: Ash
  • Body Shape: Precision Bass
  • Body Finish: Nitrocellulose Lacquer
  • Neck Shape: Slim “C” (based on Mendel’s ’71 Precision Bass)
  • Number of Frets: 20
  • Fret Size: Medium Jumbo
  • Fretboard Radius: 7.25? (18.41 cm)
  • Fretboard: Rosewood
  • Neck Material: Maple
  • Neck Finish: Lacquer
  • Nut Width: 1.615? (41.02 mm)
  • Scale Length: 34? (86.36 cm)
  • Neck Plate: 4 Bolt “F” Neck Plate
  • Pickup: Seymour Duncan SPB-3 Quarter Pound for P Bass
  • Hardware: Chrome
  • Bridge: Leo Quan Badass II
  • String Nut: Synthetic Bone
  • Tuning Machines: Vintage ’70s Fender Stamped Open Gear Tuning Machines
  • Unique Features: Slim neck with smaller nut width, Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound pickup, lightly Road Worn lacquer finish, extra neck plate included with “Fender/Foos” logo.
  • Gig Bag Included
  • Pickguards: 3-Ply Black/White/Black
  • Control Knobs: Knurled Chrome

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Leave a Reply to Kirk Hardy Cancel reply

    • Okaye: a badass bridge? signature ! a brass nut? signature ! what’s next Fender ??? you are definitely marketing killers *clap clap clap*

    • fender has lack of creativity .. the prices are too overpriced comparing to the components , even more , the same exact designs from more than 60 years ago .. get me ebony 24 neck with a MM / soap bar bartolini humbucker along with the split P pickup with a different body wood . or even get me an active/passive control for a 3 band EQ on board .. or maybe give that headstock 14^ angel , or maybe a 0 fret to give some sustain and good action !

      alot of ideas , but fender chose not use any of them !

    • To me, the only signature they did nicely was the Roscoe Beck, with Bill Lawrence Pickups…. not available sadly but THAT was a really R&D workout and brainstorming! don’t ask Roscoe or Bill why…. obscure OEM parts story….

    • True story .. the Roscoe Beck Signature bass is awesome .
      Ps. i play with Fretless Pbass , am just looking forward for new ideas , am not against them :) !

    • Of course but I feel you: indeed there’s no use calling that work “signature” with that so minimalist job, if you expect something new, well… you can be disapointed, other won’t be anyway…. I play a US Jazz Bass V passive for info, no offense too, but…. I won’t shut my mouth cos’ I play Fender, as you do ;-). They recently built a deluxe JB for Nik West, with ebony fretboard, did they called that “Nik West Signature” and did something special for that? you guess what I mean: Foo Fighter’s name has a more selling power, sad but true….

    • The naming habits are the worst part of our days…
      -need a soccer stadium ? ask an insurance company and they will put their name on it without building anything
      -need Foo Fighter’s bass ? ask fender and they will put FF name on it, without doing any more job…

    • Muhammad Kilany, it’s not a Fender you’re looking for.

    • You can say .. not a signature fender i am going to pay for !
      i mentioned that i play with fretless P .. i have no problem with fender .. the thing is there is no upgrades to the design since made .

      let me ask u , whats so different about that bass? what made it ” signature ” ?

    • Yeah, I get it, but they know their target audience. If you want any of those things below, you can get them with the dozens of Fender clone companies, like Sandberg or hire a luthier and get what you want.

  1. Cool bass, but I like the typical fat P bass neck, so I probably won’t be getting this one.

  2. I thought Nate was playing a Sadowsky these days.

  3. I’m intruged by this bass, but I don’t like Foo Fighters that much, and I don’t think Nate is such a stand out bassist that he deserves a signature bass. But if this had been called a “71 reissue P bass” I would have considered it, I love the basses from that time.

    • Not to attempt to start a debate, but I really like his work in Sunny Day Real Estate. While his bass playing with Foo is okay, SDRE really had a huge influence on me and many others. I also have a bunch of Foo Fighters albums and really do think he has left an undeniable mark on bass playing in the regard that a whole lot of people have heard him and picked up the bass because of him. Just my two cents.

    • Good mellow sound. A brighter pickup [65 Custom Shop] would make the ‘Fighters bass lines stand out more.

  4. Who is Nate Mendel? Cool bass, but why have this guy’s name on it, or anybody else?

  5. They take a regular P-bass, put a thing here and there and you have a signature bass. Seriously? I have a MIM P-Bass with the same specs, except for the ultra slim neck, and didn’t cost me that much. Nothing new under the sun…

  6. Before I ran across this, I put together a ’94 MIM Sunburst P bass with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders, Badass II bridge, and a Made in Japan Jazz neck…It’s outstanding…Can I have my own signature bass too?

    • Chris Loudermilk

      Wow! Found my own comment from 2012 . What an asshole. I’m buying the Nate Mendel bass…Funny

  7. Can’t wait to try this one! When do you think retailers like Guitar Center will have it in stock?

  8. Nate Mendel? his cool and all… but why not John Deacon from Queen? I think he deserves a signature bass :-)

  9. Tough crowd. I take the bass for what it is – a less expensive Road Worn P with a broken in rosewood 1.625″ neck. I love the necks on the Road Worn’s and if the Mendel is anything like that, I’m in. Upgraded pickups and bridge is gravy.

    • Mark G.

      Nice p-bass…light(8.5lbs?), love the neck, being slightly narrower at the nut, also have always liked nitro finished p’s, although there is a plasticized coating under the nitro unlike the roadworns..really wide tonal range, mainly due to the pickup and bridge….much better than a mexi standard considering the finish, pickup upgrade, badass bridge, and narrow neck, was setup perfect out of the box…well worth the extra cost over a mexi std… 2 thumbs up !