How Come Old P Basses Sound So Good?

[Antny]

Seymour Duncans SPB-1 nails the vintage P bass tone exactly. the older 90's fender AV RI '62 without the beveled magnets were also great. their new AVRI '62 is another great one, but it has a little more top end than the old ones.

and BTW nix on the duncan SPB-2 or his QP (SPB-3). IMO, they don't sound anything like the originals, nor do Lindy Fralin's or the Dimarzios.

If one is looking for that "original" sound, I agree. But the OP is looking for a "punchy, burpy, and thick" sound. The Duncan 1/4-pounders do it....for me anyway. And with great clarity.

 

[jnammy]

John, thanks, do those come in a 5 string version? If not, is there an equivalent for a 5 string P pickup?

 

[johnk_10]

John, thanks, do those come in a 5 string version? If not, is there an equivalent for a 5 string P pickup?

seymour doesn't offer one.

i know that nordstrand offers a 5 string p bass, but IME, most of his pickup's tone are on the 'polite' side

the only ones that i know of are Fender's AM STD, which doesn't really sound a like vintage p pickup:

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and i haven't tried this particular one from Delano (i've tried many of their others and really liked them), so if i were to get one for a 5'er i'd persoanlly go with one of their Invalid Link Removed:

 

[jnammy]

Yeah, I had an '08 American Std P5 and everything about that bass was great, except it was missing that classic P tone.

 

[JoePlaysDaBass]

(Best read in a hushed voice)

Here we see a herd of Fender P-basses. They're on alert because a 7 string guitar was spotted in the area. Yes they're definitely spooked. P-basses are always cautious when predators encroach on their frequency range.

They've spotted the 7 string. It looks like an Ibanez! They're very fast. The herd is already edging away...no they're fleeing the area now! The Ibanez is giving chase. Already, one P-bass has fallen behind. I can see now that it has been injured already, the D string is missing, and its neck is bowed. Yes it's inevitable now, the Ibanez is rapidly closing in, going for the kill.

:::Scare chord:::

Well that was a grisly scene. But life is brutally hard out here in the plains of low frequencies.

Thank you

 

[Luckydog]

Pretty sure he was joking. Sleeping under a tree... Rip Van Winkle... Get it? Ha-ha-funny!

Yes you are correct, I was simply making a thinly veiled reference to van winkle. Its not funny getting old, it truly amazes me how time speeds up the older one gets.

 

[mongo2]

Some basses have that magic tone, some don't. This is true of all basses of any era, any manufacturer.

And what is "magic" to you may not be magic to someone else.

I'm in the middle of trading with a customer to get back one of my own P basses. I listened to session work I'd done with it and realized it nailed my personal "magic" tone moreso than any P bass I currently own.

What do you think it is that enables some basses to have that "magic tone" and not others?

 

[Ric5]

in the 80's-90's. original vintage 50's fender pickups were all the rage. in the 90-2000's the 60's ones were since many of the 50's ones started to go south (weak and microphonic). as they age, eventually the 60's pickups will lose their 'mojo' too, so i predict that the late 60's-early 70's will be the next 'great' pickups. and gibson's pickups don't seem to degrade as much as the fenders do. (i have some original PAF's in an old ES175 that are still going strong)

one thing that you have to realize is that on Jamerson's '62 p bass, for example, the recordings that we listen to his playing were made when his pickups were only a couple of years old (and the whole bass for that matter), so i actually prefer new pickups that are made to the exact same spec as the old ones were.

I used to own a 60s 4001 Rickenbacker ... The pickups were starting to get weaker ... But the old maple wood sounded better. I found I prefered the newer Rickenbackers so I sold it to a collector who was willing to pay an above value price for the bass.

 

[gigslut]

Yes you are correct, I was simply making a thinly veiled reference to van winkle. Its not funny getting old, it truly amazes me how time speeds up the older one gets.

When I was younger I used to think, "Wow! Where did the year go?" Now I think, "Wow! Where did the DECADE go?"

 

[Mastermold]

hmmm ... I remember in the 70s people said the old 50s and 60s Fenders were better. Then in the 80s suddenly the old 70s stuff was now good. Now after 2000 the old 80s stuff is desireable.

No matter what era ... there always seems to be an attitude that the new stuff is crap and the old stuff is better. Even though when the old stuff was new it was considered crap back then.

I look at it that some basses are better than other because of the wood. No 2 basses sound identical. If you find a good bass then buy it, keep it, and play it.

Maybe the people throw out the bad ones, keep the good ones, and thus years later down the road it's only good ones that remain.

 

[4StringShooter]

I just tried out an old 80's Vantage Avenger P Bass that was lying around my band leader's house and it sounded amazing; punchy, burpy, and thick, unlike any modern P bass I've tried, which have always sounded mushy, boomy, and lacking definition. So what makes these old P's sound so good? I've played new Js that sound great, but never a new P, at least so far. The bass I tried was exactly like the one in this link:

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Bartolinis....that's whats in mine.

 

[yPractice?]

I just tried out an old 80's Vantage Avenger P Bass that was lying around my band leader's house and it sounded amazing; punchy, burpy, and thick, unlike any modern P bass I've tried, which have always sounded mushy, boomy, and lacking definition. So what makes these old P's sound so good? I've played new Js that sound great, but never a new P, at least so far. The bass I tried was exactly like the one in this link:

Invalid Link Removed

Let's remember that classic "P" tone is fairly mid-rangey. Modern basses with active eq and two pickups tend to lose that low mid to mid voice. In my experience a p-bass with a lot of mid range meat doesn't always blow you away when you are playing around a home but it really shines in the mix with a full band. in my opinion that's where the "magic" happens.

I'm a big fan of the Dimarzio model P pickup in my 73 fender P. It adds enuf brightness and grit to give a little more tonal range but it still backs out to a nice sweet vintage tone with a slight twist on the volume knob. My standard setting is to back off the volume knob a bit then I can crank it up if I need to make a point.

 

[Blankandson]

I bet that if I had all my old (1960-75) basses back and played them through today's amps, all of them would sould much better than they did 'back then.' But, back then, I thought they all sounded great. Wondering if strings are that much in the mix - by that I mean are the strings we use today better than those we used in the 60s and 70s? Anybody? Anybody?

 

[Coop Soup]

(Best read in a hushed voice)

Here we see a herd of Fender P-basses. They're on alert because a 7 string guitar was spotted in the area. Yes they're definitely spooked. P-basses are always cautious when predators encroach on their frequency range.

They've spotted the 7 string. It looks like an Ibanez! They're very fast. The herd is already edging away...no they're fleeing the area now! The Ibanez is giving chase. Already, one P-bass has fallen behind. I can see now that it has been injured already, the D string is missing, and its neck is bowed. Yes it's inevitable now, the Ibanez is rapidly closing in, going for the kill.

:::Scare chord:::

Well that was a grisly scene. But life is brutally hard out here in the plains of low frequencies.

This was too good not to get quoted. Kudos!

 

[atomicdog]

Hi-mass bridges produce a brighter, more modern, more sustained sound. Sustain comes at the expense of "punchiness," for which the vintage P bass was known. If you want that punchier, warm mid-tone sound, swap out your modern bridge with a vintage bent metal-style bridge.

 

[-=DanAtkinson=-]

Seymour Duncans SPB-1 nails the vintage P bass tone exactly. the older 90's fender AV RI '62 without the beveled magnets were also great. their new AVRI '62 is another great one, but it has a little more top end than the old ones.

and BTW nix on the duncan SPB-2 or his QP (SPB-3). IMO, they don't sound anything like the originals, nor do Lindy Fralin's or the Dimarzios.

+1000

The SPB-1 is my hands down favorite for vintage P mojo. Don't fall for the price tag hype of the Fralins, Lollars, etc. Those are great pickups, sure, but if you're seeking accurate 60's P tone the SPB-1 is the way to go. It's a very underrated pickup.

 

[Luckydog]

+1000

The SPB-1 is my hands down favorite for vintage P mojo. Don't fall for the price tag hype of the Fralins, Lollars, etc. Those are great pickups, sure, but if you're seeking accurate 60's P tone the SPB-1 is the way to go. It's a very underrated pickup.

+1 ! Agree big time. I put one in a 79 P-bass that someone had bastardized with a quarter pounder. With the SPB-1, it came back to life with luscious P-bass goodness.

 

[WoodyG3]

Um, dude.................
It's 2012 now, the eighties are old, teetering on ancient.

Hey there, you young whipper snapper, respect your elders. The '80s were very recent. So was the Prohibition and the Civil War. Deal with it, youngster!

in the 80's-90's. original vintage 50's fender pickups were all the rage. in the 90-2000's the 60's ones were since many of the 50's ones started to go south (weak and microphonic). as they age, eventually the 60's pickups will lose their 'mojo' too, so i predict that the late 60's-early 70's will be the next 'great' pickups. and gibson's pickups don't seem to degrade as much as the fenders do. (i have some original PAF's in an old ES175 that are still going strong)

Yep.

I've never really found anything electronic that sounds better with age. There are a lot of vintage pickups that have been rewound and restored for that very reason.

 

[mongo2]

Personally, I like the SD Antiquity versions for a "vintage tone" vibe on a dual coil P bass.

 

[dogofgod]

I have a 2005 fender am. p bass. I have had luthiers tell me it was on of the best p basses they have heard/ played. You just have to find a bass with a good soul