Everyone wants a P Bass!

[-=DanAtkinson=-]

Is there a P bass renaissance going on? Over the past several months, I would say 80% of my customers have been wanting P basses. Very little interest in the Jazz.

Maybe people are getting back to basics. Maybe there is an attraction to the simplicity and solid basic tone of a P. As a recent P convert myself, I see the attraction.

Or maybe it's just coincidence.

 

[A-Step-Towards]

I think i have bought 7 or 8 P style basses and 1 jazz over the last year. Its those dam skinny jazz necks they kill me, but i am curious about owning a jazz again just not with there tiny necks.

 

[J. Crawford]

I put my P up for trade, and then took it off. I put it back out again, and then took it off. I thought about putting it up again today during school... and cant do it.

Its magic man.

 

[-=DanAtkinson=-]

I think i have bought 7 or 8 P style basses and 1 jazz over the last year. Its those dam skinny jazz necks they kill me, but i am curious about owning a jazz again just not with there tiny necks.

Oddly enough, most people are wanting P basses with a J neck. Go figure.

I once thought the P was very limited. But I've discovered much more tonal variety than I thought possible. Playing closer to the bridge really contrasts with playing at the neck. It's nice and barky down there, almost like a J.

 

[J. Crawford]

I agree, very Jazzy sound by the bridge.

Dan, I will have an Atkinson bass one day. Just letting you know.

 

[COOL AND DEADLY]

I have two J's (fretted and fretless.) I would like to have a P someday too. Haha, P players complain about the J's puny neck, J players complain about the P's "baseball bat" neck. I prefer the J neck, but also like the P.

 

[Jazz Ad]

I never liked J basses, always prefered a good P pickup.
I too see a trend these days, Ps are more popular.

 

[CapnSev]

The P just has that massive presence that a J doesn't do. I always feel like I have a hard time being heard in the mix with a J.

The small neck on the J absolutely kills my left hand after a while too.

 

[David Jayne]

P bass? It's just a fad.

 

[cdef]

I do believe there is currently a mini-renaissance for the Precision. People are (again) discovering just how amazingly workable that design is. Plus it looks the coolest, once your eyes are opened to its charms.

 

[A-Step-Towards]

Oddly enough, most people are wanting P basses with a J neck. Go figure.

I once thought the P was very limited. But I've discovered much more tonal variety than I thought possible. Playing closer to the bridge really contrasts with playing at the neck. It's nice and barky down there, almost like a J.

I use to be the guy hunting down j necks like that but my hands would cramp up and mess up and i realized i needed a P neck.

I also will be emailing you about a bass early next year , hoping to figure out a way to get it in shell pink tho.

 

[bassman0221]

I have a P bass deluxe special MIM... I have always loved the design of the P bass but I personally like the feel of the jazz neck so when i saw/played this bass I fell in love with it. I had a standard P bass as my first bass and liked it alot but felt it was constricted with the tone so I moved on to other basses. The deluxe special has an active preamp and a p bass/jazz p/u configuration that I liked. The only thing I didn't like was the ugly gold pick guard so me and my friend made a wood pick guard for it and its perfect! Sorry for the long post just wanted to express my love for the P bass haha.

 

[Hugh9191]

Precisions are awesome! I don't like skinny jazz necks myself and that was my main reason for choosing a P over a J but I can see that I made the right choice now. The P sounds so good in a mix.

 

[LowBSix]

I like both P and J basses!
My LEJ on the neck pup duplicates the P sound!
I have FENDER American Standard P5. The LAKLAND Skyline Bob Glaub I had sounded much better...
I'll probably change out the pickup on the FENDER to a Nordstrand P5!!!

Dan: Are you considering making any 5 string basses?

 

[Albibass]

Tried a lot of P-basses because I do like the looks, but not one of them has ever satisfied my needs when it comes to tone...

 

[stuonbass]

I play both (P and J). To me the big difference is the tone. I love that creamy mid range of a P. I will always have one.

 

[LotusCarsLtd52]

I don't! I want either a Rick or a Warwick...maybe a Steinberger or similar headless/compact/travel/etc. bass

 

[LotusCarsLtd52]

And I would agree on the neck on the P bass: too thick, etc.

 

[211dave112]

is it because they are such a good platform, put a j neck on it, add a j bridge p'up, add a humbucker in the neck...and so on. You could make those changes to loads of basses but the P wears them all so well.

 

[not_jason]

In the past couple years, I've been pulled more and more in the direction of P-Basses. I used to have two Jazz Basses that saw the majority of the action, but neither of them were capable of the huge punch that my P-Bass gives. I have almost no interest in bridge pickups at this point in my playing, so nothing beats the split-coil in the P position.

I've never developed a huge preference for one neck over the other. My particular p-bass is a heavily modified Chinese Squier, and truthfully, I'm not convinced that the neck dimensions are any different than the ones on my Jazz.