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Everyone wants a P Bass!

#122
I don't have a lot of experience with many different basses, although I test-drove about two dozen of them last month looking for my next purchase. One '82 P had a really wide neck up around the 20th fret, but it was very thin front-to-back. Other P-bass copies/clones were nice, but others had some issues. I finally got a nice deal on a used '94 MIM.

Maybe it was just the adrenaline rush of a new purchase, but my playing improved seemingly overnight. It just fit in my hands comfortably, and the bottom was awesome. I strongly prefer the simple, straight-ahead sound of a passive pup with just a tone knob, so the P works perfectly for me.
 
#124
I prefer the best of both worlds, a Precision bass with a jazz pickup mounted in the bridge position. You get the meat and potatos of the precision and the ability to hear the attack when slapping. therefore, one bass covers all the needs for any style of music I have to play. I'm 6'5" and the size of the neck does not matter, only the sound coming from my fingers.
 
#125
I'll agree that they sound good, but I can honestly say that 100% contrary to most of what's been said here, the P bass has simply never felt as natural to me as the J bass. I don't care for the neck, I greatly prefer the shape of the J, and when I play a P bass, I can never seem to get the tone I want from it. I've played a variety of them, and the "classic vibe 50's" squier p bass suited me the best of them all. I will say that I could live with it as my only bass, but I would still much prefer the J bass in virtually every regard.:hiding:
 
#126
Interesting. I started on my Squier II p-bass with Nordy and TI flats. Figured that was gonna be as "P" as it could get for me. Now I've discovered jazz basses and I don't know that I'm going back. Seems that you really can't go wrong with a P/J, though, and I have a feeling I might settle into one eventually. I am a bit surprised to hear people saying how versatile they are - while I think they sit well in most mixes, they have always seemed a very simple instrument to me, not capable of the range of expression other basses have. Very playable and usable, yes, but versatile? Anyone else have thoughts about that?

When I pickup the instrument now, that neck feels like a redwood...
 
#129
-=DanAtkinson=- said:
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.
Click to expand...

I played Jazz basses throughout the eighties, then got into Tobias basses (which are still incredible instruments!), but eventually found myself falling in love with that P-bass tone. Something about that One Split pickup in the sweet spot and a passive volume & tone. Even the custom instruments that I build nowadays follow that design. A true classic!

Moonshine :bassist:
 
#133
The 5-String American Standard P-Bass is very nice, but it's pricey and the pickup is not of standard size so it would be virtually impossible to replace it with something other than one of the same type.

I still miss my early-80s MIJ Squier P in all-black. I traded it in to help get myself an American-made Fender but I really should have kept it.
 
#134
I've been a P guy since the early 70's and I own a lot of them ... it's definitely my desert island bass. The P is a one trick pony ... but it's one helluva trick. ;^) However, I do have several killer Js that I like as well. I didn't really take to the Jazz until I put together a FrankenJ with a P neck and a set of raised A & D pole piece Lindy Fralin pickups.
 
#136
I got interesting in bass a little over a year ago. A friend lent me his MIM P and, after playing it a while, I decided a Jazz was for me. I like the Jazz neck better.

I spent a while searching for a bass, mostly trying basses unplugged. J's always won. Once I started playing plugged in, the P just had the sound.

I found a used Black & Maple '07/08 P. The great thing is that the neck plays so well, I don't really miss the skinny Jazz neck. Also, the P neck slows me down a little which, coming from a background of guitar wankery, is probably a good thing!
 
#137
fuzz_factor said:
I got interesting in bass a little over a year ago. A friend lent me his MIM P and, after playing it a while, I decided a Jazz was for me. I like the Jazz neck better.

I spent a while searching for a bass, mostly trying basses unplugged. J's always won. Once I started playing plugged in, the P just had the sound.

I found a used Black & Maple '07/08 P. The great thing is that the neck plays so well, I don't really miss the skinny Jazz neck. Also, the P neck slows me down a little which, coming from a background of guitar wankery, is probably a good thing!
Click to expand...

Once you get used to it you'll be able to play just as fast on a P neck as you could on a J. I've gotten to where I go back and forth between them (and my other basses) without missing a beat. :bassist:
 
#139
I started playing bass a little over 2 years ago, i was at a friends place and they had a jam session and there was a bass sitting there unused. I'd fooled around with a guitar years ago (booo-urns) and had a vague recollection of some riffs and the location of notes, at least to the 5th fret. So i pretty much got thrown into a session with 2 really really good guitar players who'd been playing together for 20+ years and didn't have to even glance at each other for key or timing changes and solos and whatever. Anyway, that bass was an Oscar Schmidt (Washburn's budget line) if i remember it was a P/J and had a 24 fret neck. I took it and a little amp home and practiced with it for a couple months before deciding I really did want to play the bass. I went to a few music stores and played every bass in the range i was willing to pay ($500 or less). The winner, in a landslide, was a Squier VM Jazz. The neck fit my hand wonderfully and i liked the natural sort of understated look. The fact that my two veteran, talented, gear snob buddies were blown away by a _Squier_ was icing. I now own a short-scale EB-3 clone and a SX P-bass. The EB-3 i bought because it is sort of a twin to the Squier and was $75 :) I was reluctant to get a P because for quite a long time the necks felt very uncomfortable to me, although i always loved the tone. For the playing I do, which is mainly 5 minutes of playing, half and hour of drinking, wash, rinse repeat, my comfort is more important than how i sit in the mix etc. Anyway, i guess the flexibilty and stretchyness of my hand has improved, because the P-neck is fine, and the I still really dig the big, round tone of the P and i was blown away by the range of tone you can get by playing closer or further from the bridge. Way more than i could get from either pup solo'd on my J, but the two pups give the overall edge in versatility to the J. I prefer my J still, and am dreaming of doing a Warmoth/parts J, but am seriously considering popping a P pup into the neck spot.

Sorry for the looooonnnngggg post, to summarize:

Looks - J (loves me the offset waist)
Comfort/Playabilty - J (slightest of edges)
Versatility - J (closer than i would have thought though)
Tone - P (really close though)
 
#140
P is the ONE. All about it, from the headstock to the input jack. Perfect, precise, predictable, powerful, etc. It's like a girl with a nice fat ass....You catch everyone playing with one sometime. I love the thick neck, the split pup, the ergonomic body design. I just don't think it's every really been improved since maybe the early '70s. It is the embodiment of "less is more". Every time I try moving to another bass, I yearn for it's simplicity. I love the space and freedom. I don't need all the knobs and preamps and confusion. It's in the hands. It's nice and growly, spongy, and has that great E string bite that many basses lack. The bridge is just easy to work with. God bless Leo Fender. I hate trends as much as anyone and I've tried and tried to have my own unique bass. I have succumbed...it's the P. Always will be. All others bow and kiss the ring.
 

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