Every true bassist needs a P-bass

[Geogio]

My first bass was a Kalamazoo with a mud bucker on it and the neck position, it did the job but it really was a piece of s***.

My next bass was a Vox cougar 335 semi with tape wounds.

High School intervened and it was double bass in the orchestra.
and of course I had to have a fretless and Rick Laird with Mahavishnu was playing the resin Ampeg fretless.... so I had one for quite a while. Then lucked into a huge trade for a EB3 and a Sunn 2000.... it was Jack Bruce meets Felix Pappalardi. Later on I did eventually get a 72 P and 74 J both suffered QC issues and reminded me of frame carpentry level of workmanship.

Horse traded a lot of stuff... alot of which I kick myself in the arse for going there... but it is what it is. Now the selection is considerable and alot of it is goes right back to Leo.

Does "Every true bassist needs a P-bass"

People are sort of going there by buying just about any other bass that can be related to that Leo Fender design concept. What everybody really needs is... to start eating egg salad sandwiches every day for lunch like Leo Fender did.

 

[Heiwa]

yes, you're right, they're like "bass gods" --- but "PP" is misleading...it's "2P." as in, "2P or not 2P," is that ever a question?

e.g., https://www.talkbass.com/threads/i-have-2-p.1640247/

I know its wrong, but its funny to me

 

[rwmusician]

I do think the introduction of a P-bass is something that every bass player could benefit from having in their inventory - however it isn't a necessity - there are many basses out there that do the trick just fine.

 

[TigerInATrance]

More good advice...

Keep your playing to the root, quarter notes, and nothing past the 5th fret...

 

[Texan]

Sounds like wisdom has been chasing the teacher for a long time and the teacher is way too fast to be caught.

 

[ravlin]

What a relief! I finally have confirmation that I'm not a "real" bass player so I can let go of the baggage and just be me. Thank your teacher for me

 

[lordradish]

"true bassist" ?
I've only recently come back to talk bass. What is with the trolls now?? This is dumb bait to cause dumb arguments.

Dumb arguments tend to be commonplace around here, especially when P-basses are involved. We have quite a few members who are just stuck in a particular era and just assume we all are.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

My bass teacher told me that "Every true bassist needs a P Bass."
Agree or disagree?

I'm a long time PB/PBj, player like 45+ years. I totally disagree. I think PBs are a great basses obviously but they are not the only bass which will give you a good professional commercially acceptable electric bass sound. That is a fact.

Blanket statements like this teacher made can cause players a lot of issues not to mention expense sorting out their instrumental preferences.

 

[Snarf]

It's definitely not true. These fairy tales were contradicted many times.

View attachment 5351662

Lol people so serious on the intarwebz. Maybe my post was too inward-looking. I am a professional, and I know many others. We all own and use P basses regularly. I've had situations where I might bring a jazz bass to a situation, and then the next time bring the P bass, and the reaction usually goes like, "Whoa, that bass is the vibe, please bring that one all the time." People that give me money to play the oversize guitar thing ask me specifically for a P bass, so it certainly never hurts a pro to own/use one.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

That's just adorable.

 

[MtManiac]

But I'm still gassing for a Sean Hurley P

Oh, me too… it'll never happen for me, but gah, beautiful, and I love that string mute.

 

[Martelino]

Sure, with a tort guard, flats and a pair of cargo shorts.

 

[Miles_ONeal]

As I've written previously, I played a late 60s Pbass for 10 years before coming to the realization that I needed more sonic flexibility and an instrument that fit me better. I started with a Ric 4001, then I got a couple of Ibanez basses, then a couple of G&L L Series basses, then a couple of German made Warwick basses, then a couple of MusicMan and finally a Yamaha 5 string. What I learned is that when I switched from Fender, my sound and my playing improved tremendously. Get out play some stuff, but listen carefully for what you like sonically and what feels right ergonomically

^^ This

 

[MtManiac]

I really hate the term, "One Trick Pony"!!!

Let's see what Scott has to say about that:
Why the P Bass CRUSHES everything - YouTube

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Yeah, it's totally not true. Each of my P basses sound exactly like P basses, but they all sound different, even the two that have the same brand of strings. Then you throw in using a pick versus fingers, moving string attack towards or away from the bridge, light attack or heavy attack, how much of my fingertips are engaged, all that stuff - which are of course also true for every other bass out there.

The "versatility" thing is what bugs me more - a multi pickup bass or an active bass is no more versatile just because it makes a wider variety of sounds. A sectional sofa has way more seating configurations than an armchair, but that doesn't mean it'll fit in every room. Having more tonal choices doesn't mean you're not going to be forced to make some sacrifices. P basses are well-represented in pretty much every major genre category. Finally, P's, J's, Rays, Ricks, etc all sound like bass guitars to literally everyone else out there.

My guitar player prefers one of my P's in particular to all of my other basses, but my drummer doesn't care, my wife doesn't care, and the 100 or more strangers in the room last Friday night didn't care. So everyone should just play what they like, play the crap out of it, do "you" better than you do anything else, and ignore anyone who starts throwing words and phrases like "true bass players," "should," and "need" at you.

 

[Matt-J2]

Dumb arguments tend to be commonplace around here, especially when P-basses are involved. We have quite a few members who are just stuck in a particular era and just assume we all are.

It's like talking about metal bands. Are they type "x", or are they not true type "x"(or trve if it's black metal). Are they even metal? Why do we have 37 sub genres for type "x"? Doesn't matter what the answer is, somebody on the internet is wrong, dangit!

Is a p bass good for metal? (not a serious question, please nobody answer like it's serious)

 

[groooooove]

a well-rounded collection certainly would include one.

i can think of a few musicians better than just about all of us who only own one bass and it's not a P.

i have two, but neither is pure. yamaha attitude and fender pbass plus has a J pickup at the bridge.

 

[iTzPrime]

"Well you need a new teacher"

"nobody needs a p bass"

"what a dull and lifeless instrument, my 6 string coffee table with bartolinis bolted to it sounds WAY BETTER"

You know how many times Ive been hired by bands or artists just because their bass player says crap like this? A local band had me record an album with them and even though they had a bass player, he was super dead set on recording with his 6 string ibanez, active tons of treble sizzle pop etc. I brought my P with flats and some basic pedals (because I knew it was pretty much guaranteed to work in a mix). As soon as they say my headstock said "fender precision" they said "ah, ok easy day". Didnt even hear me play yet, lol.

They explained how they wanted their bassist to just use a squier P for some tracks but I guess he wasnt having it. More money for me, lol.


You dont NEED a p bass, but if you actively resist owning one, well, bands will hire someone with a P over you.

Truth hurts, get a cheapo squier P just so you have one.

I never got that you need a P for that. You can basically make any bass sit quite easily in the mix.
If the song calls for a more vintage tone, than that should be prefered, but you can that feel easily with flats and the neck pickup out of any good "coffee table" bass.

I have played on several studio sessions, and none of them ever said anything about the bass. Two of them were on a more soul song, where i asked the engineer if he could roll the tone off with a plugin - so he still had more options later and just gave him the neck pickups.

 

[coy garcia]

In 30+ years I was asked to use one twice...once by a bandleader, once by a studio engineer. There are no rules though.

 

[socialleper]

Ah, the old "...no true Scottsman" thing.
My very first bass around 1990 was a B-Stock Kramer Aerostar with split single coil pickups. After that I didn't own a pure "P bass" until I purchased a Fener Noir P bass a few years ago. I had it for maybe a year, never really found a use for it and sold it again. Its a shame because it was the best looking Fender P I had seen, but physically and tonally it just didn't do anything useful.

 

[Harper]

Love me some P-basses, but I feel like all P-Bass discourse comes from a rather antiquated mindset. Let's be honest: how many popular songs do you know from the last 30 years have you heard and said "Oh, man....that can ONLY be a P-bass!"