'62 Precision vs '72 Precision: can you hear the difference?

[Matt Skinner]

What a great thread. Thanks. I would choose Bass A for the '62.

 

[penllyn]

My friend Robert Strickland and I decided to conduct an experiment to determine the difference in tone between our Fender Precision Basses, his being a coveted pre-CBS instrument from 1962 and mine being a 1972 model. Both basses have rosewood fingerboards and are completely stock with their original electronics and hardware. They are both strung with La Bella light-gauge flatwounds that have been on their respective instruments for the same length of time, and neither bass has a foam mute. For this experiment, I chose to play a portion of James Jamerson’s classic bass part from Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” along with an instrumental backing track, the bass featured prominently in the mix. Both instruments were recorded directly into Audacity with no compression or effects. The basses were played finger-style and the volume and tone controls were up all the way. We would like the members of this group to listen to both tracks and see if they can determine which bass is being played. We will reveal the answer at a later date.

Track A

Track B

View attachment 3762364

- Steve

Track B sounds louder and brighter so I'm confused. Both sound great though.

 

[arts]

Late to the game, but after listening to both tracks,I chose A as the '62.

I play a '59 (since 1988) with either Labella or Thomastic strings,and A is what I hear when I'm playing.
Mind you,I only have some B15s, B18s and a '78 SVT for amplification. Something "modern" may sound different.

 

[snworks]

In looking through the votes I think there might be a correlation: Voter very sure/wrong. Or maybe that is bias because it jumps out. Great experiment, Thank you!

 

[TJL]

Track A is definitely the '62. It lays perfectly in the mix and does not jump out at you like track B. Track B has that upper mid in your face tone that is not the Jamerson sound. It also is the tone many producers do not like. Track A and the '62 are by far the superior tone for recording.

 

[JimmyM]

But the point is which one is the '62- not which one sounds better.

If I can't decide which I liked better, it would have been tough to figure out which was which.

 

[Sheriky]

I had a 63/4 p bass that sounded just like the 62 sample and a 75/78 that sounded a lot like
the 72 sample. Would have been surprised if I was wrong.

 

[fursuits]

Uh oh. I did guess correctly, but I play other instruments and build/design/experiment- and I guessed for different reasons. I'm sure I'll be shot down, but I thought the intonation/tuning was better/steadier on the second, which could be from a number of things, and that's assuming that I wasn't imagining it in the first place. I have no idea if the fret work is different, how assembly skill levels vs quality control would matter or be different- but the significantly thicker neck would certainly matter. If a guitar is a folk instrument, like a cigar box guitar, it might be OK if it all moves around a bit as long as it returns to a decent pitch. Part of the charm. We might even use effects to introduce randomish distortions of all kinds to make a decent instrument sound more like a skilled player with cigar box guitar played through a cranked up radio amplifier, yes? My pet theory is that has something to do with being sort of anti-pretentious, part of making it clear that we're playing workin' man's party music. For bass, however, I suppose most of us like the sound of a lot of control and decisiveness, even if pitch is used creatively with a fretless. I dunno about finishes, etc., but certainly basic Newtonian physics, (mass, stiffness) are going to matter, and it's easy to conflate those factors with much less significant differences. Might not want to carry it, might covet the pre-CBS more, but recording? No contest.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

Uh oh. I did guess correctly, but I play other instruments and build/design/experiment- and I guessed for different reasons. I'm sure I'll be shot down, but I thought the intonation/tuning was better/steadier on the second, which could be from a number of things, and that's assuming that I wasn't imagining it in the first place. I have no idea if the fret work is .

I am glad it wasn't just me that thought the tuning was out on A. I presume that's just intonation, though, not open strings.

 

[txhawaii]

b is a tad flatter

 

[Chas Hands]

. My friend Robert Strickland and I decided to conduct an experiment to determine the difference in tone between our Fender Precision Basses, his being a coveted pre-CBS instrument from 1962 and mine being a 1972 model... We would like the members of this group to listen to both tracks and see if they can determine which bass is being played. We will reveal the answer at a later date.
*****************************************************************************************
Wow, hard to decide, but I certainly like the "broad solidness" of the bass on track B, especially in the higher notes. I had a '72 P (albeit a fretless), and I recall it seeming less "firm" on the upper D & G strings than older pre-CBS P's I have since worked with since then.

I'm saying Track B = 62.

And great playing in the JJ style by the way!

I wish the poll had remained open longer. I just got this question at 11AM today (Wednesday) on my weekly digest from Talk Bass.

 

[SweetsoundsPups]

You should have just posted " Which sounds better A or B " That would have taken the mental part out of it. Just the mention of that it is a 60's Fender will blur the lines between them for a lot of people. The mind is a terrible thing. : )

 

[John Eland]

My friend Robert Strickland and I decided to conduct an experiment to determine the difference in tone between our Fender Precision Basses, his being a coveted pre-CBS instrument from 1962 and mine being a 1972 model. Both basses have rosewood fingerboards and are completely stock with their original electronics and hardware. They are both strung with La Bella light-gauge flatwounds that have been on their respective instruments for the same length of time, and neither bass has a foam mute. For this experiment, I chose to play a portion of James Jamerson’s classic bass part from Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” along with an instrumental backing track, the bass featured prominently in the mix. Both instruments were recorded directly into Audacity with no compression or effects. The basses were played finger-style and the volume and tone controls were up all the way. We would like the members of this group to listen to both tracks and see if they can determine which bass is being played. We will reveal the answer at a later date.

Track A

Track B

View attachment 3762364

- Steve

Personally I think the difference is in your own head and subjective, the fact is when you hear "Pre cbs 1962" it has already colored the outcome as we are pre-conditioned to think that the vintage one will sound better, a pretty pointless and useless test unless you just say, two P bass's, which one sounds better and leave out the vintage crap.

 

[Sheriky]

For those still guessing
Op revealed the answer in an edit to an earlier post:
"Here's the big reveal: Track A features the 1962 Precision and Track B features the 1972 Precision."

 

[TheCouchBassist]

What's interesting about this is that the bass that James Jamerson used to record the original track was not actually a 1962 Precision Bass. I outlined this in an equally nerdy thread, that I started a while back.

- Steve

I enjoyed that equally nerdy thread. Please keep them coming

 

[Sheriky]

the fact is when you hear "Pre cbs 1962" it has already colored the outcome as we are pre-conditioned to think that the vintage one will sound better

Unless your experience with p basses has not made you biased in favor of pre CBS in which case this is a valid comparison.

 

[B String]

I have a 60P and a 74P. Both sound great. Both just slightly different. Having said that, Practically any session I've ever done, they might ask for a P bass. As long as its a good sounding bass, 99.5 percent of producers and engineers could give a flying ...er...fig what year it is. Years ago I put some Dimarzio's in the 74, to get a different enough sound, especially for Rock. I love hearing these side by side demos. It keeps me caring about keeping my ears sharp.

 

[eeLALlen]

As per uwrossi: "Track A is warm and sits in the mix nice. I think track A is the 62 and track B the 72."
BIG DITTO, here. The bass on Track B is slightly brighter, punchier.

 

[Lee Kirkham]

I'm here long after the fact, but I listened before seeking the result. I picked A to be the 62 because B sounded much more like a modern P to me.

 

[Eric Gotthelf]

My friend Robert Strickland and I decided to conduct an experiment to determine the difference in tone between our Fender Precision Basses, his being a coveted pre-CBS instrument from 1962 and mine being a 1972 model. Both basses have rosewood fingerboards and are completely stock with their original electronics and hardware. They are both strung with La Bella light-gauge flatwounds that have been on their respective instruments for the same length of time, and neither bass has a foam mute. For this experiment, I chose to play a portion of James Jamerson’s classic bass part from Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” along with an instrumental backing track, the bass featured prominently in the mix. Both instruments were recorded directly into Audacity with no compression or effects. The basses were played finger-style and the volume and tone controls were up all the way. We would like the members of this group to listen to both tracks and see if they can determine which bass is being played. We will reveal the answer at a later date.

Track A

Track B

View attachment 3762364

- Steve

I'm feeling A as the '62.