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I think I committed a Talkbass sin,

If in addition to that you say you hate flatwound strings you shall be banned forever.

My main instrument is a P Bass and there are two things I learned:
- Overwound pick ups make a PBass sound muddy. Stick to the stock pick up or use a vintage pickup type.
- I always always have the tone knob rolled off between 25% and 50%
One day I may circle back to a p bass. I have a really nice fender bass case...
 
Had a P, had a J, had a German Corvette $$, a Status, a 1979 Musician, and sold them all because they didn't do it for me (all nice basses though!). I now play a 400€ secondhand Tribute L2K and yes, I like her much better than anything I've owned before. Play what you love, anything else is just a waste of time.
thought about a Tribute L2K, but I have gotten use to a 1.5" wide nut. the T M2000 has the narrower neck
 
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I think I committed a Talkbass sin,
I don't like the sound of a P bass. Owned 2 Fender P basses, different strings, pickups, 3 different amps, angling the cab. It just does not have the sound I like. Wife said that it was muddy.
I played one at our gigs for a couple of years until I bought a active EQ bass. (another sin) I did not like it but it sound was great. Sold it, then I bought a Sterling Ray4 for $269 new as a beater because the joint we played at was pretty rough.
(here comes the next sin)
I sold the p bass, playing the Ray 4 at every gig. Thought I would try a Fender Jazz. Bought from GC, sounded good at store, played at my gig friday night. Again, not the sound I like. During the break I swapped back to the ray4, guitar player looks at me & said " I like the sound of that one better" Jazz was used, so its going back to GC.
Anyone else been down this road?
(No bashing please, just others who experienced the same thing or some humor)

I'm guilty of the same sin - - and have never looked back. I played a P bass for 10 years (late 60s version) but found I wanted more tone flexibility and something that was more comfortable.

In '79, I bought a new Ric 4001 - - and I still have it and play it after 43 years. I have other nice basses too - - including a G&L L-2500, a MusicMan Stingray and a Warwick Streamer.

At the end of the day, you should play what you like and one that delivers the sound, tone and feel that lets you play your best. If it's a Fender, that's fine, but if it's something else, that's good too.

When I stopped playing a Fender, my sound and playing both improved.
 
I'm right there with you. I have five basses but don't have a P. For a couple reasons:
  1. I'm not a session guy, so no one asks me for a "P-bass tone"
  2. I like a 1.5" nut width on a 4-string, so stock P necks never feel comfortable to me (I know I could change them, but...)
  3. In the cover band and monthly jam sessions I play in, if the tune has a P tone, I roll on the neck pickup and eq accordingly. Does it sound exactly like a P? No. Is it in the same zipcode? Yes. Does the audience notice in either case? Probably 98% do not - the other 2% are other bass players.
  4. I really like playing the 2-pickup basses I have and don't see a need I can't cover with one of them.
Everyone should play what they like to play.....
 
I'm right there with you. I have five basses but don't have a P. For a couple reasons:
  1. I'm not a session guy, so no one asks me for a "P-bass tone"
  2. I like a 1.5" nut width on a 4-string, so stock P necks never feel comfortable to me (I know I could change them, but...)
  3. In the cover band and monthly jam sessions I play in, if the tune has a P tone, I roll on the neck pickup and eq accordingly. Does it sound exactly like a P? No. Is it in the same zipcode? Yes. Does the audience notice in either case? Probably 98% do not - the other 2% are other bass players.
  4. I really like playing the 2-pickup basses I have and don't see a need I can't cover with one of them.
Everyone should play what they like to play.....

Amen brother!
 
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Aside from using Fender 355 Heavy picks . . . . I started on bass in the late 70's and never owned a Fender bass of any kind until 4 years ago. When I started out, they were heavy, clunky, baseball-necked poor imitations of the 60's basses they made their bones with. I could never find one that even in my rookie years felt even remotely right (bear in mind, at that time it was very common for experienced players to try every new one they could until they found a 'good' one). Plus I'm one of those guys who just didn't want to play what everybody else played.

I understand it now, but I also see a part of my education was missing. I now have a Squier James Johnston Jazz and a Squier Precision Five, and now, I 'get it'. They really are classic, cornerstone designs. Maybe I just had to wait until me and the times were right.
 
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I think I committed a Talkbass sin,
I don't like the sound of a P bass. Owned 2 Fender P basses, different strings, pickups, 3 different amps, angling the cab. It just does not have the sound I like. Wife said that it was muddy.
I played one at our gigs for a couple of years until I bought a active EQ bass. (another sin) I did not like it but it sound was great. Sold it, then I bought a Sterling Ray4 for $269 new as a beater because the joint we played at was pretty rough.
(here comes the next sin)
I sold the p bass, playing the Ray 4 at every gig. Thought I would try a Fender Jazz. Bought from GC, sounded good at store, played at my gig friday night. Again, not the sound I like. During the break I swapped back to the ray4, guitar player looks at me & said " I like the sound of that one better" Jazz was used, so its going back to GC.
Anyone else been down this road?
(No bashing please, just others who experienced the same thing or some humor)

"Anyone else been down this road?"

No.
 
Me, I love me a P bass, but I'm kind of an annoying purist @$$ about it - I prefer the older single coil design like my brother's old '54. The two coil type just don't do it for me. So I had an expensive "open GAS slot" for a real vintage P for years, which I recently scratched for cheap when Sire came out with this:

View attachment 4646360

Woo-hoo! Single coil format, sounds like it too, but inside split coils and hum-cancelling too! YAY SIRE! hehe
How heavy is it? I hear Sires are great, but are the modern T40 in that they are boat anchors.
 
thought about a Tribute L2K, but I have gotten use to a 1.5" wide nut. the T M2000 has the narrower neck

I have no idea of the build quality of the newer Tributes, but I do hear lots of good about them. If the Tribute M2000's neck could work for you, why not give her a try? The pickups are beyond anyone's I've played before, and that's no overstatement.
 
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I am with you...I have owned two jazz basses and sold them both because I just couldnt make it work for me. I listen to old Stevie Wonder songs and really really want to own a p bass, but I have yet to play one I connect with and I dont like the 21 frets and cut away (hard for me to reach the top frets). I am sure I will find one someday that I connect with, but until then, I play what works for me.
 
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C'mon it's TB.

You can hate Fender.
You can hate Tort.
You can love actives, you can love passives.
You can hate Rics.
You can love Wishbass.

But you cannot, must not ever... EVER... EVAR! Speak a word against the Sacred Relic-ing.

Those who do shall be forced to create an Ultimate-Guitar.com account and there you shall languish forever.
 
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