What gives a p-bass its sound?

[taygunov]

this always interested me. What is it about the p-bass that gives it that one of a kind thumpy deep tone?

[phangtonpower]

I'm not sure, but I'm gonna say pickup and it's placement

[Stumbo]

That would come from Thumper. The little bunny that lives in every P-Bass. LOL

[fourstringdrums]

Originally Posted by Stumbo

That would come from Thumper. The little bunny that lives in every P-Bass. LOL

Well I do get a warm fuzzy feeling whenever I hear a P-Bass.

[darkstorm]

P, pups can also give a wonderful full bodied sound that is also bright and orients to grind and crunch rather then thumpy. Depends on the pup, how its adjusted and strings used along with bass woods. Only thing that makes P pups diff then J or soapbar or humbucker is the slower attack they have. Often called the note bloom of P pups. With other pups you reach maximum volume with the pick strike, immediate transient peak and max volume. With P pups you get the initial pick strike string and mx note volume a few miliseconds later. If you pay attention and listen, you'll hear this kind of a note hit and then volume swell upward. As though the note hits a intial peak then re-rises again. Its very much like the voice change you get with synths by increasing the attack time a little bit.

Positioninjg the single P pup basses pup inbetween neck and bridge position on those P pup basses that do that, also affects its tone a little. Giving a tone brighter then neck position but darker then bridge position.

[Dubista]

The player.

[Rocky McD]

Not the shape of the body. Not the width of the neck. 20% is the pickup and 80% the placement of the pickup. IMHO
Rocky

[bassmeknik]

Pick-up and placement.

[bassguitarthund]

Originally Posted by bassmeknik

Pick-up and placement.

+1

[madbassplaya]

Magic.

[groooooove]

Originally Posted by phangtonpower

I'm not sure, but I'm gonna say pickup and it's placement

+100

this is 100% all there is to it. where it is placed along the string, and the style of a split coil pickup. thats all there is to it.

[Darnell Jones]

Originally Posted by Rocky McD

Not the shape of the body. Not the width of the neck. 20% is the pickup and 80% the placement of the pickup. IMHO
Rocky

That's what I've found, any bass I've had with a pickup in that spot sounds very P like to me. Even a big old MM style in that spot will have much of the P tone.

[Darkstrike]

Leo.

[lowphatbass]

My first bass teacher told me that P-basses were designed to get the maximum amount of usable bass volume out of the amplifiers available at the time. I don't know if it's true or not, but if so it still seems to be a smart design goal.

[johnk_10]

IMO
pickup,
pickup location
scale length
bolt-on neck
body wood
neck wood
body shape
in other words, everything about it.

IME, it's not just the pickup and location. i've heard rics with a P pickup in a P's location (at the same harmonic) and they didn't really sound like a p bass at al.

[bassguitarthund]

Originally Posted by johnk_10

IMO
pickup,
pickup location
scale length
bolt-on neck
body wood
neck wood
body shape
in other words, everything about it.

IME, it's not just the pickup and location. i've heard rics with a P pickup in a P's location (at the same harmonic) and they didn't really sound like a p bass at al.

Must defer to the master If any one would know he does!!

[bolophonic]

Dude.

[Coop Soup]

FM.











Fricken magic.

[kotzman]

Originally Posted by Dubista

The player.

+1! Your tone is in your bones....

[MIJ-VI]

Originally Posted by taygunov

this always interested me. What is it about the p-bass that gives it that one of a kind thumpy deep tone?

In addition to the factors covered by other posters:

IIRC part of it is that both halves of a split P Bass pickup are wired in-phase, in series (BTW one half is Reverse Wound, Reverse Polarity in relation to the other half thus producing a hum canceling circuit).

The in-phase series wiring of passive pickups tends to cut highs and accentuate lower mids in relation to parallel wiring schemes.