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After many basses, I think I only need a P

I wholeheartedly agree with this premise. I've had 15+ basses over the years, and if I had to choose one and only one to play for the rest of my life, it'd be my USA Precision. It's the "most recorded bass of all time" for a reason.
 
I like all my basses, but if they all had to go but one, it would be my 76 Precision left standing. Been heavily modded...has had several pickups, routed for a J in the back, several finishes, has an 83 neck, and been routed to hell and back, but when you turn on that P Pickup by itself, that is the sound!

But selling the rest of my basses ain't happenin' ;)
 
My first bass was a Fender P, my second was a Fender Fretless J, Third a Fender jazz and my final bass which is coming in is a Classic Fender 70's P...that is all I will ever play are those 4 basses. I have tried Rics, Alembics etc. but none of them can do for me what a P or J can. My P gets about 60% of the play and the J the remainder.
 
I'm the opposite of the OP. The 'tone in my head' was not satisfied by a Precision bass. It took me a few years to realize that. I still use a P/J, because a woofy P bass slap tone is ridonkulously funky. Oh, and I like to play Chic bass lines with the P pickup only and the J pickup rolled off completely. I'm not into the whole 'retro' rebirth or whatever you call it trend. I soak it all in though. The tone for 'Locked Out Of Heaven' is suh-weet!

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You have an issue with harshness and you are moving away from P basses to Stingrays? Good luck with that. Rays have a upper mid harshness that is part of their tone. It is what makes them bite through a mix.

P basses work without much if any effort. That's enough reason to use them. That's why my main slab for the past 6 or so months is a nordy P/j usually only using the P pickup.

note: I am mainly playing double bass these days though.

Right, a p has a split coil and a music man has a bucker, and the p will be thicker. OK.

Maybe it's because I play with a PJ bass but I just find that precisions, when dialed in for a punk tone compared to a music man dialed in for a punk tone just sounds lacking in definition with tons of "clack" in the attack. A comparison in bands is municipal waste vs rise against. Both bassists sound good but with MW I hear punch, power, consistency, while with RA I hear what sounds like just high end and a "tired" sound lacking energy, regardless of how the bassist plays.
 
Anyways, 50's, 60's, 70's, MIJ, MIM or MIA P?

That's the real Q.

Davo

MIJ Classic 70's P bass...my first Precision that I bought last year. I've played Jazz basses since 1984 and I love them. But lately I've really been diggin' the P bass more and more and I really can't totally explain why either. I think it's a combination of it's history, the way the body fit's so well, it's playability (oh, but it plays SO well) and of course that well rounded sound that seems to grind thru.
 
I almost had to flip a coin between a J and P for studio work. I don't slap nearly as much as I used to, but the J seems to work better for slap to me. It also sounds really sick with a pick and distortion if you are doing heavy stuff. Of course the finger style tone is killer too.

The P seems more suited for rock and a little less versatile. Maybe I just told myself that though so I wouldn't buy one..lol.

It's kind of like flatwound strings - REALLY want a bass with them, but I need more versatile tone and I don't need a bass collection in my house.
 
I use a Precision with Flats(Chromes) for almost everything I do with the electric bass. So, to me its pretty versatile. Works great for the Jazz Fusion group, works great for country gigs, sounds perfect in the studio for whatever I need it for. Depends on what your ideals are I guess. I still think its a good idea to have more than one bass, but the P-Bass is a versatile axe.
 
Yeah it is a very versatile axe. The toughest decision in bass is what to buy - J or P?

I may sell my J to my friend if I find a P I really like.

I hate that all the old guitar stores have been eaten up by garbage like GC. I used to walk into an indie store and find steals (like my J).

Hate even walking into GC..just hate the place.
 
Here's a pic
 

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