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Best non-Fender P-Bass?
- Thread starter sumeursault
- Start date
Another vote for the Peavey Fury. I have a 93 Fury that I put new pots, wiring, Bill Lawrence P-46 P/U, and a set of Sunbeams on it. It kicks major butt in the tone department. Great neck and action to especially if you like a smaller neck instead of a baseball bat. Everything listed above cost me around $250.
- Oct 8, 2007
- 970
- 60
- Disclosures
- Former Part-Time, Non-Commission Employee MOOG Audio
Wow! P alternatives. Even Fender has a million P basses to chose from. My first bass was a peavey Foundation (not really anything like a P excepts it's passive, made in the uSA maple neck rosewood cap..)
My next was the heaviest p bass ever made a 1975 Ash body sunburst. great tone but the neck pocket was always lose and it was so so heavy. Next was a 1993 Precision Plus deluxe. (A PJ with lace sensors and 22 fret neck) Often referred to as the boner bass. great light weight but it lacked low end and had no oomph.
Next P was a BB3000S from yamaha mid 80's Neck through these are often referred to as P Killers. (or they were in the 80's. Ebony neck, passive PJ great playability and build quality. It's my main go to studio P bass but live the Neck through makes it get lost in the mix somewhat. the pickups are phenomenal in that bass.
My next P bass and one I bought 18 months ago and with which I have done over 100gigs is an Angry Angus P, with alder body, baseball bat maple neck with 12 inch radius rosewood neck and a thick thick slab indian rosewood, 100% nitro finish (no fullerplast!!) Fullerplast is a filler still used on many fender AVRI basses (in fact most basses after 1965 fromFender) that accelerates production time by sealing the wood in an undercoat of poly before they ad the nitro pigment and clear-coat top layer. beware of fullerplast. it ads weight and chokes basses somewhat. There is zero fullerplast on an Angry Angus and he offers insane colours. I added a Suhr Humphrey J in the 1960 bridge position and a badass bridge to mine. People say it's the best P bass in Montreal right now... they just might be correct. I think so!
Mike Lull makes incredible basses and he does an Ultra vintage with small frets and a 7 1/2 inch radius. Many people don't know that he also offers Nitro and quarter sawn necks as options. Mike is a great great builder that is still putting out consistently well made bases that respect leo's original vision.
Moollon blew me away at NAMM. best value for an all nitro hand made P but his 60's model has an ebony neck... I Love ebony but not everyone does so beware. But the quartersawn neck is sick, the look is sick the price is amazing for a master-built instrument and Moollon pickups are just incredible. I'll probably order a P and a J before the year is out. expect to see more Moollons out there. the secret is getting out. They are simply fantastic.
The ESP vintage 4 is a very cool bass. the tone is very mid forward due to the spb2 and Hum cancelling Jb2 hot vintage duncan pickups... but I like that, and I feel it's great value as a gigging bass. if you play in a band with lots of distorted guitars it's perfect. it also has a great funk tone. the finnish is strange as there is clearcoat over aged finish, but it's not unlike an over-sprayed vintage bass. the neck is a tad wide at the nut so try one out. if that's your cup of tea then it's a good option.
If you want a P bass that looks a more dressed-up like a rick and is built to the highest standards check out the Duesenberg D-Bass. Alder body, great hardware, perfect balance and a passive mid contour circuit that can help you coax the sound of a J bass with both pick ups on full or a stock P tone is handy. This is achieved with their unique split coil toaster pickups. the bass plays like butter and is one of the only passive basses I've played where slapping and fingers yield a similar output.
Believe it or not but my Steinberger XL2 from 1984 with two SS pickups (EMG P bass pickups in humbucker housings) can get great P bass tones when going direct. It can go beyond a P bass (more bass and more treble) but with the tone knob about 50% it kills with fingers or a pick. it's my #1 studio bass. It doesn't work well with a B15 though. too much low end. Into a Tecamp combo, or into a good vintech or Amek or focusrite preamp it's the bomb. tres P bass-esque, or much closer than you'd think...(IMO)
these are my favourites...
My next was the heaviest p bass ever made a 1975 Ash body sunburst. great tone but the neck pocket was always lose and it was so so heavy. Next was a 1993 Precision Plus deluxe. (A PJ with lace sensors and 22 fret neck) Often referred to as the boner bass. great light weight but it lacked low end and had no oomph.
Next P was a BB3000S from yamaha mid 80's Neck through these are often referred to as P Killers. (or they were in the 80's. Ebony neck, passive PJ great playability and build quality. It's my main go to studio P bass but live the Neck through makes it get lost in the mix somewhat. the pickups are phenomenal in that bass.
My next P bass and one I bought 18 months ago and with which I have done over 100gigs is an Angry Angus P, with alder body, baseball bat maple neck with 12 inch radius rosewood neck and a thick thick slab indian rosewood, 100% nitro finish (no fullerplast!!) Fullerplast is a filler still used on many fender AVRI basses (in fact most basses after 1965 fromFender) that accelerates production time by sealing the wood in an undercoat of poly before they ad the nitro pigment and clear-coat top layer. beware of fullerplast. it ads weight and chokes basses somewhat. There is zero fullerplast on an Angry Angus and he offers insane colours. I added a Suhr Humphrey J in the 1960 bridge position and a badass bridge to mine. People say it's the best P bass in Montreal right now... they just might be correct. I think so!
Mike Lull makes incredible basses and he does an Ultra vintage with small frets and a 7 1/2 inch radius. Many people don't know that he also offers Nitro and quarter sawn necks as options. Mike is a great great builder that is still putting out consistently well made bases that respect leo's original vision.
Moollon blew me away at NAMM. best value for an all nitro hand made P but his 60's model has an ebony neck... I Love ebony but not everyone does so beware. But the quartersawn neck is sick, the look is sick the price is amazing for a master-built instrument and Moollon pickups are just incredible. I'll probably order a P and a J before the year is out. expect to see more Moollons out there. the secret is getting out. They are simply fantastic.
The ESP vintage 4 is a very cool bass. the tone is very mid forward due to the spb2 and Hum cancelling Jb2 hot vintage duncan pickups... but I like that, and I feel it's great value as a gigging bass. if you play in a band with lots of distorted guitars it's perfect. it also has a great funk tone. the finnish is strange as there is clearcoat over aged finish, but it's not unlike an over-sprayed vintage bass. the neck is a tad wide at the nut so try one out. if that's your cup of tea then it's a good option.
If you want a P bass that looks a more dressed-up like a rick and is built to the highest standards check out the Duesenberg D-Bass. Alder body, great hardware, perfect balance and a passive mid contour circuit that can help you coax the sound of a J bass with both pick ups on full or a stock P tone is handy. This is achieved with their unique split coil toaster pickups. the bass plays like butter and is one of the only passive basses I've played where slapping and fingers yield a similar output.
Believe it or not but my Steinberger XL2 from 1984 with two SS pickups (EMG P bass pickups in humbucker housings) can get great P bass tones when going direct. It can go beyond a P bass (more bass and more treble) but with the tone knob about 50% it kills with fingers or a pick. it's my #1 studio bass. It doesn't work well with a B15 though. too much low end. Into a Tecamp combo, or into a good vintech or Amek or focusrite preamp it's the bomb. tres P bass-esque, or much closer than you'd think...(IMO)
these are my favourites...
If you're definition of best non-Fender P-bass is one that sounds like a vintage (pre-CBS, 57-65) Precision, then I'd say you need to start with the Aguilar 4P-60 pickup. That pickup really nails the pre-CBS P-bass sound. No matter what attention to detail is provided by your builder of choice, without an authentic sounding pickup all is lost. Aguilar has done a great job, from the ground up (magnets, windings, etc), with redoing the Vintage Precision pickup. Finally a legit replica of the original humbucking P-bass pickup. 
Jim
Jim
Yamaha Attitude limited II
Or whatever Yamaha bolt-on BB series
(with or without bridge single coil pickup)
Cheers,
Wallace
Or whatever Yamaha bolt-on BB series
(with or without bridge single coil pickup)
Cheers,
Wallace
I tried out lots and lots of different p-basses last week: many Fenders (MIA,MIM, Am. Special, Squier, Roger Waters, Road Worn, anniv., two CS models), some Vintage, ESP and a Lakland.
Most were really ok basses. One of the Squiers and the ESP one were a noth above most of the others. What completely stunned me was the Lakland Skyline Vintage P-Bass. It sounded just like a good P-Bass should and it had one of the best actions i have ever played. very low string height, and i was barely able to get it to clank by playing very hard. superb, really, and with very good build quality, too.
I have a solid MIA P-Bass, but i am seriously considering picking that baby up.
Most were really ok basses. One of the Squiers and the ESP one were a noth above most of the others. What completely stunned me was the Lakland Skyline Vintage P-Bass. It sounded just like a good P-Bass should and it had one of the best actions i have ever played. very low string height, and i was barely able to get it to clank by playing very hard. superb, really, and with very good build quality, too.
I have a solid MIA P-Bass, but i am seriously considering picking that baby up.
The best P I have ever played was/is my Squier Mike Dirnt. Weighs 6 pounds, loud and aggressive as a Stingray, and is extremely resonant unplugged. I stupidly put it up for sale in the TB Classifieds, but I took it down before anyone could pry it from my hands.
Next best would probably be this G&L at GC
Next best would probably be this G&L at GC
Even though I guess it doesn't count since it's a PJ, but I love my Jackson C20. It's passive, 1.75" nut, and the body is cedro. The best part is the neck, unlike most P's it's relatively flat instead of C shaped. I find it much more comfortable.
I've owned a MIM Fender P and MIK Skyline Glaub with Fralin p/u's. The MIM was alder and the Glaub was ash. Bright body woods are not my taste for a P-bass. Cedro is supposedly very close to mahogany and has less of that trebly snap. Add a foam mute and you're in P-bass heaven.
I've owned a MIM Fender P and MIK Skyline Glaub with Fralin p/u's. The MIM was alder and the Glaub was ash. Bright body woods are not my taste for a P-bass. Cedro is supposedly very close to mahogany and has less of that trebly snap. Add a foam mute and you're in P-bass heaven.
If you're definition of best non-Fender P-bass is one that sounds like a vintage (pre-CBS, 57-65) Precision, then I'd say you need to start with the Aguilar 4P-60 pickup. That pickup really nails the pre-CBS P-bass sound. No matter what attention to detail is provided by your builder of choice, without an authentic sounding pickup all is lost. Aguilar has done a great job, from the ground up (magnets, windings, etc), with redoing the Vintage Precision pickup. Finally a legit replica of the original humbucking P-bass pickup.
Jim
I agree. Although my CS '59 does (supposedly) have period-correct PUPs.
I would suggest an AVRI 62 RI. Miles apart from US Standards and Laklands. Different feel all around from most other P's on the market.
In his specs, he lists a "two piece neck". 'sup with that? Aren't most/all Fender necks one-piece?
G&L SB-1 (already mentioned) are great
I also enjoy the hell out of my Lakland (already mentioned)
as for neck profiles- the G&L is closer to the "precision" neck since my Lakland has a more "jazz" feel
I also enjoy the hell out of my Lakland (already mentioned)
as for neck profiles- the G&L is closer to the "precision" neck since my Lakland has a more "jazz" feel
+1
Or an L2000 using the neck pickup only, passive mode, roll back the mid and treble and booming P.
I own both.
You can get the jazz neck on an SB1 or L2000 if you are special ordering. Used, they are a little harder to find. One of my L2K's has it and it is incredibly thin.
mark beem
Wait, how does this song start again??
+ a billion!
I'd put my $160 Fury up against any MIA Fender out there!
