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Does no one play P-basses anymore?

B

BellBottomBlues

Feb 21, 2007
1,853
7
New York
Disclosures
Endorser:Fender User:Rotosound, LaBella, Ashdown, Lindy Fralin
#1
Looking over gig videos and pictures from the last 6 months, and I'm the only player armed with a Precision bass. The only one.:hmm: This is including all associated acts we've played with, people we've opened for, and people who've opened for us.

Most popular basses used though were
Fender Jazz Basses (More than 40 of the 70 odd bassists used a Fender Jazz)
Jazz Copies (I saw about 8 Sadowsky's and some others I couldn't place)
MusicMan-It looked to me to be mostly String Rays but with some bass player who had a pair of Bongos, maybe about half a dozen different MM players in all.
A bunch of Warwicks. I don't really know Warwicks very well but I positively ID'd a Fortress I, a few Corvettes (including $$), and some thumbs. About 15 bassists used them.
Lastly there were a few players who used hollow bodied basses such as the Jack Cassady sig and others which I don't have an ID on.

So where has all the P love gone? Am I the only one who still plays them?
 
#8
I think with the significant increase in bass manufacturers over the last 15-20 years you see less Fender Ps than you used to. I do think Jazz and Jazz style basses have become more popular. I still see a good number of P basses when watching bands. I just purchased a Lakland Glaub P/J and still use my trusty '77 P.
 
#9
Personally, I have 3 P basses (a '74, a '93 MIM and a '97 '62RI) and love playing all of them.

I was strictly a P bass guy for years when I was going to play music for a living in the 80's. I would likely play a P basses all of the time if I could. Unfortunately, once I gave up on the rock star dream and started playing cover band tunes, I found a Jazz bass to be much more versitile.

I also play a bit of funk as well as RHCP and I really dislike slapping on P basses. A J bass became a necessary evil for me, I guess.

BTW... in the early to mid '80's, Jazz basses were very rare in rock music compared to Precisions. P basses seemed to be the "go to" bass back then, now the J has taken that title IMO.
 
#12
CrazyArcher said:
Probably the reason that no P-basses can be seen in YouTube videos is that P-players are too old and technologically backwards to post their playing there :D
Click to expand...


I recall reading a Bass Guitar Mag article about Emo bassists and almost all of the 12 or 13 profiled played Fenders. A large number of them played P basses as well which I found odd! The bassists in My Chemical Romance, Hawthorne Heights, The Used, Jimmy Eat World and My Morning Jacket all used P basses.
 
#14
I'm going to have to agree with this post from my experiences. If I'm at a show, or watching footage, it's mostly jazz basses I see being used. I used to play a P-Bass for years but now I'm in love with my Ric. (So I'm all the way in left field now. :))

I'm not saying this is fact at all, it's just what I've noticed. It just seems that Jazz's are more popular than P's at the time...
 
#15
in the relatively short time i have been hanging out on this forum, it seems that earlier in the year it was all about the J, and in the later half of the year there were more folks psyched on the P... there is a lot of fender love on here straight across the board, and that is just fine by me.
 
#18
Fender (and hence the P-bass) are one of those companies that are so big and dominant, that they're just always either going to get a love or hate reaction from people. Very few people I've seen on this forum are just indifferent to the P-bass.

I do see quite a few on TV...check out any rock band playing on a late night talk show, or something like SNL. Chances are the bass player is using some type of P-bass, usually a Fender.
 
#20
My Ric is my main, but my other love is a P. No other stringed instrument is as percussive as a P.

I think it makes sense for the indie crowd to play P's. I'm not shocked. The indie kids always play the 4 string passive classics. It's the same reason they drink Pabst, smoke Lucky Strikes and wear Chuck Taylors. It's not like they would be seen with a teal green Warwick or something.

While I worked at a music store, we rarely sold P-basses. Everyone wanted a Jazz. I know I'll get blasted, but I don't like the Jazz bass ... it sounds great, but sounds completely generic to me. It's almost as if it has no personality to it ... just a great "every bass" kind of sound. The P puts the ass in bass.
 

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