my testimony about pbass
 

hi to all bass family members

I 've been on talkbass for quite a while now, and cured what I called GAS by trying loads of basses (buying, trading selling... everybody understand what I mean here)
here is my previously owned gear list:

Chinese upright bass
MUSICMAN stingray 4
FENDER custom shop jazz bass 64 Time machine NOS
FENDER jazz bass 1977
FODERA imperial 5
FODERA monarch Victor Wooten '83 Classic
FENDER Marcus Miller Japan with sadowsky onboard preamp
FENDER jaco pastorius signature jazz bass fretless usa
FENDER precision bass classic 50's MIM
FENDER jazz bass reissue 75 USA
Ken Smith BSR 6 GN
EBS MICROBASS 2, WAH ONE, MULTI COMP, DYNAVERB, OCTABASS, UNICHORUS
FENDER Marcus miller V usa
MARKBASS standard 104 HF
MARKBASS little mark 2
fender jazz bass passive MIM
yamaha TRB6
FODERA emperor 2 5 strings
Fbass BN6
IBANEZ GWB1 fretless
MUSICMAN stingray 5
NS DESIGN 4

some are forgotten, it's the list about the gear I have since I'm on talkbass.
I just wanted to share my experience with y'all with basses.

First, I'm a fender guy.
I grew up with fender instruments, I'm at home when I meet one.
my first real bass was a fender marcus miller bass, I upgraded it with a sadowsky onboard preamp, it was the only bass I owned, then I met talkbass, and began my trip on gear land.
I began to look after boutique instruments (It's not a boutique bash thread here, I like them, but my thing is something else)

the first meeting with a pbass was with a classic 50, the bass was nice, was old fashioned (I prefer that), nothing else than two knobs a body a neck and a pu
I really liked it a lot, and played it on stage, the sound was good, really fitting everywhere, and when I was playing to records, the sound was almost the same (for example aretha franklin stuff).

I discovered also a new side of my playing, when I played the pbass, I was not tempted to support/solo... if you see what I mean, no unnecessary fills, I just wanted to groove, stay at my place, just play bass, that made me wonder about my playing and learned me a lot about other instrument I used to own

one of the best basses I used to own was a fodera classic wooten, easiest bass (with my current pbass, a pino sig) and really nice, I decided to sell it because I always tried to play loads of notes on it, and the identity of this bass is really Wooten, (I love wooten), I brought this fodera to the dude who wanted to buy it, the minute he took it, he tried all the wooten licks, never played a single bass line ( funny story is that he owned my first fodera , an emperor II 5 string).
Seeing that, I made up my mind to sell this wonder.

I remembered myself trying a pino pbass in a store, and was amazed, but to me a pbass is a pbass, I decided to take my classic 50 to test it against a pino, and man I was wrong, I had the same strings on the classic 50, but it was dead sounding compared to the pino.
So I had to get this pino, and especially the one I tried, I sold the classic 50, saved up a little bit, and went to buy this pbass.
Now I still have it, I 'm happy about my tone, and my playing is always appreciated as a bass player because I put the groove first, and if soloing is needed I still can do it, in a more groovy way

I can play every style, wether it is jazz, funk RnB, rock, it's the do it all bass of course Istill have a jazz for slap needs, but my main instrument became a pbass (I was a jazz guy first).

What chu talking about Willis?

I just tell my story, I had a thread here about waiting for my fodera ( an imperial, great bass now onwed by a great bass playef in France)

but I tend to go back to simpler things, now all i have to do is to concentrate on playing

this is just to say that when I began I never thought about having a pbass because of what I thought then, one pickup= 1 sound but, yes it's one pu, but what a sound!

My journey has a similar ring to it.

I started with a '76P bought from new. Added a '78P fretless and then bought nothing for 20+ years. Then I added a Godin A4 fretless and then a MIJ Jaco fretless. Then I tried a million off-the-shelf fretted basses and decided to get a custom Cliff Bordwell for my 25th wedding anniversary. I sold the fretless P and the '76P is in the cupboard.

Very happy with my basses and then by chance a mate was selling a '64P. I had a go and then another and then another. Hmmm, this is so much better than my '76P. I wonder ...

Of course GAS got the better of me. So now I've come full circle after 36 years back to a Precision. It's so beaten and scarred but it's wonderful to play and listen to.

I certainly understand black roses POV.

Peace
Davo

I hear you
 

I'm quite probably not as good as you are on bass

Well, I too ended up lovin' the P bass, whille startin' everywhere else, then eventually "discoverin'" Fender thanx to Jazz basses (they're the most beautiful or what?) and finally comin' to the conclusion that a P can say it all

I still own many basses to date, yet my only Fender's are a short 28,60" scale MIM Precision jr. (a present for my kid) and a MasterBuilt Steve Harris West Ham United Precision out of (honestly not that close to the "original" this way) the most selected parts available out there

Cheers,
Wallace

I have always been more of a Gibson player than Fender guy. I resisted any Fender bass, partly out of orneriness, since they are so common. I own a Road Worn P now. Buying it new was 100% out of character since I think the relic thing is silly, I don't buy anything new, and it is a Fender. I play it more than anything except the upright now. There's a reason you see and hear so many P-basses. I'm convinced, in spite of myself.

So cranky! You ought to show them your EB, though.

Thanks for sharing your story. It seems the 50's Precision and the selling of the Fodera Classic Wooten were what prompted your epiphany, especially the part where the buyer plays all of the Wooten licks and not a single bass line. ;) It is a wonderful and money-saving thing when you finally find what really works for you!