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Help me choose my first P-Bass!

#62
dbsfgyd1 said:
I’ve been playing Fender PBs for over a half of century. If you want a Fender PB, buy one used and keep the rest of your budget in your pocket. I would recommend when you go to try them out, if possible use your own amp or the closest thing to it.

Just keep in mind, there are a whole lot of other basses on the market that can do the “PB thing” that aren’t made by Fender. So if you are hell bent to spend all of your budget, there are a lot of choices to weed through and we can’t make that decision for you.

Finally. I also highly recommend you consider a PJ version for additional tonal flexibility.
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In a PJ version is the split pickup in the same place as a normal P bass? They look further towards the neck in those I’ve seen.
 
#66
Bassheart365 said:
So I've been playing bass for 35 years and never owned or even played a Precision Bass! (Or even a passive bass.) I have decided to follow the love and take the plunge. My budget is up to $3000. Other than Fender, there seems to be a lot of love here for G&L. Also, should I buy used or new? I await your collective wisdom!
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Is that Le Fay in your Avatar pic your main bass?
If so, here's a word of wisdom (or an unpopular opinion, you decide):
A precision bass is a simple affair. I, as a fellow Le Fay owner, set out to find a P bass for myself and quickly discarded the upper crust. My budget was more or less as yours, but I came in at way under that - in the end I bought a Mexican Fender and had that modded to my liking. Not the best choice in resale value, but the neck is great.
However. Whenever I play that bass, I'm happy while doing so - I enjoy the lack of choices. Only four strings, and there are not many frets, either. One pickup, passive.
I enjoy the simplicity of the whole thing, and I am stoked how good this bass is for costing only a fraction of what a Le Fay price tag asks for. Then, when I'm done playing I put it back and I grab my Le Fay for a few notes.
It takes mere seconds to understand how much better this bass is.
I've played a number of P basses, from Squier to Sadowsky. They are all P basses. The concept is simple. The execution is simple. If you're looking for a FSO, just go to a place that has lots of them and play a few until one speaks to you.
If you're looking for an instrument that does the P bass sound, but does not have to look the part, disregard the entire post ;-)
 
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#67
el murdoque said:
Is that Le Fay in your Avatar pic your main bass?
If so, here's a word of wisdom (or an unpopular opinion, you decide):
A precision bass is a simple affair. I, as a fellow Le Fay owner, set out to find a P bass for myself and quickly discarded the upper crust. My budget was more or less as yours, but I came in at way under that - in the end I bought a Mexican Fender and had that modded to my liking. Not the best choice in resale value, but the neck is great.
However. Whenever I play that bass, I'm happy while doing so - I enjoy the lack of choices. Only four strings, and there are not many frets, either. One pickup, passive.
I enjoy the simplicity of the whole thing, and I am stoked how good this bass is for costing only a fraction of what a Le Fay price tag asks for. Then, when I'm done playing I put it back and I grab my Le Fay for a few notes.
It takes mere seconds to understand how much better this bass is.
I've played a number of P basses, from Squier to Sadowsky. They are all P basses. The concept is simple. The execution is simple. If you're looking for a FSO, just go to a place that has lots of them and play a few until one speaks to you.
If you're looking for an instrument that does the P bass sound, but does not have to look the part, disregard the entire post ;-)
Click to expand...
Yes that Le Fay Singer in my Avatar is my primary bass. After I acquired it and played my first gig I almost had an orgasm. I immediately sold every other bass I owned. I can get a jazz and MM tone out of it but it’s obviously not designed to emulate a P bass.
 
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#69
As you have never owned or played a P Bass, I wouldn’t blow all your budget initially on a ‘high end’ P Bass but get a Squier or a Mex P Bass just to see if you are happy with the generic P Bass tone and playability. If after that you decide you like it (and want to upgrade) you could go the whole hog and get something like the Fender American Pro II P Bass, that would be my personal choice if I had the spare cash. It’s a superb P Bass albeit a bit pricey (IMHO).
 
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#70
roycroft_88 said:
That's a long time to be playing without ever playing a P Bass! With your budget you're gonna get every suggestion possible! Last year I picked up a 1983 Ibanez Roadstar II for $80 and an 1983 SQ series MIJ Squire for $90 off Facebook Marketplace. Both of these are insanely good p basses. I have a 1971 Fender P that would probably eat your entire $3000 that isn't any better.
BTW best P I ever played was a Lull.
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You lucky son of a gun. I’d kill for an SQ.
 
#71
roycroft_88 said:
That's a long time to be playing without ever playing a P Bass! With your budget you're gonna get every suggestion possible! Last year I picked up a 1983 Ibanez Roadstar II for $80 and an 1983 SQ series MIJ Squire for $90 off Facebook Marketplace. Both of these are insanely good p basses. I have a 1971 Fender P that would probably eat your entire $3000 that isn't any better.
BTW best P I ever played was a Lull.
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First reply has the best advice. The mid to early 1980’s Ibanez from the Fujigen factory are some of the best you can get at any price in my experience.

$80 is an epic bargain price, but look around and you’ll find them for a few hundred bucks…

The really nice Blazers from 81-82 will eat up a bit more of that budget.
 
#74
Can’t go wrong with a Nate Mendel Signature P IMO .. if you don’t like the stock pickups you’ll have plenty of leftover budget money to try out some different ones / buy ones you already know you like.
 
#76
Bassheart365 said:
So I've been playing bass for 35 years and never owned or even played a Precision Bass! (Or even a passive bass.) I have decided to follow the love and take the plunge. My budget is up to $3000. Other than Fender, there seems to be a lot of love here for G&L. Also, should I buy used or new? I await your collective wisdom!
Click to expand...
Question, what characteristics does your favorite Jazz bass have? Maybe buy it’s twin in a P?
 
#79
I can afford to own and play any bass I want to. I play a Fender Player P. <mic drop>

Caveats: I've yet to play a G&L that I thought was better than a Fender. Sturdier, yes. But I don't care for the PUs or the extra heavy hardware. I do NOT consider a P/J bass a "P" bass. Different beasts entirely.
 
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