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After reading TB for almost a year
- Thread starter Pings Bass
- Start date
Honestly one of my favorite articles of faith here is how St. Leo's 2nd gen bass guitar from 1957(!) is the final word in bass guitar design, despite the fact that he iterated on it and significantly modernized his vision at CLF/MM/G&L. It goes hand in hand with how flats are still favored and string mutes are still discussed, like we're all boomers in dad bands playing 60's pop-rock covers note-for-note. (Not that there's anything wrong with that! Love you guys, really, I do!) And all this in spite of the fact that the woman who recorded the bass on most of those tracks (on Ps with flats and string mutes) has historically had mostly critical words about the Fender basses she immortalized.
I still love my 77 P, but I rarely pick it up. It was my first real bass guitar; I hope I never have to sell it. I still think of it as "used" as opposed to "vintage," even though its vintage value likely eclipses its sentimental value at this point. I've never put flats on it (RotoSound Swing Bass 66!) and have always sought a brighter, more modern sound, a sound I got closer to with a PJ with EMGs, and finally nailed with active humbuckers on an L2500 and more recently a Ray 4, always direct, never mic'ed, no effects.
My tone comes from fingers, pickups and strings, not so much from wood, amplification and speakers. Your mileage may vary! If it sounds bad, check your technique and your bass line before upgrading your axe or amp or adding effects. Practice is cheaper and more effective than buying gear.
And if it sounds good, keep doing what you're doing. It doesn't matter what the headstock says. As Duke Ellington said...
I still love my 77 P, but I rarely pick it up. It was my first real bass guitar; I hope I never have to sell it. I still think of it as "used" as opposed to "vintage," even though its vintage value likely eclipses its sentimental value at this point. I've never put flats on it (RotoSound Swing Bass 66!) and have always sought a brighter, more modern sound, a sound I got closer to with a PJ with EMGs, and finally nailed with active humbuckers on an L2500 and more recently a Ray 4, always direct, never mic'ed, no effects.
My tone comes from fingers, pickups and strings, not so much from wood, amplification and speakers. Your mileage may vary! If it sounds bad, check your technique and your bass line before upgrading your axe or amp or adding effects. Practice is cheaper and more effective than buying gear.
And if it sounds good, keep doing what you're doing. It doesn't matter what the headstock says. As Duke Ellington said...
Hey!!!!!!
You do you, and I'll use whatever digit I please!!
You know the rules here!
Stay in your lane!
I thought the Duke said.......
"It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got four strings"!
What's a P bass ?
It's the one St. Leo built between the "O" and the "Q" bass.
Really.
Heard it directly from the man himself.
Well, my drummer's cousin knows a guy who dated a girl that lived down the street from the daughter of a guy who used to run a repair shop where they worked on the roach coach that serviced the Fullerton factory, back in the day, and he said........
And that's the gospel truth!!
You can’t argue a P bass with flats sound bad though!
Can’t get much better than that!!!
Can’t get much better than that!!!
Is there a pedal that will make my bass sound like an upright so I can play in a jazz band?
