Is a P bass necessary?

[john turner]

oh, well, pardon me then. i read the words there and took them at face value. i'll not do that next time.

btw, what was it then, if not an attack?

 

[Rathead123]

i've never owned one, i've never wanted one, and i've never liked them. the necks never felt comfortable to me, and while i like the classic p-bass tone, it's not what i want in the music i play.

so no, it's not necessary, at least in my house. . if i were forced back to 4 i'd be perfectly happy with the 4's i have (77 jazz, 70's ric and an older fretless pedulla).

I can understand Johns position on this subject. The (Icall it progressive) type of music Johns playing is a good example of a style and sound where a P bass dont get it done.
Not just the extended range aspect, but the sound he needs, in an upfront almost soloist melodic style, ( that most of us couldnt play anyway) a p bass dont get it done. Wrong sound.
The basses he uses fit his style.

To some of us that play classic covers, where bass parts are already written in more of a supportive role, a P bass fits well and provides a nice bottom end mix. Live and in the studio.
So a P sound works well.. but I could see a 'S- Ray" live doing great.

Yea you can solo a P, use one on modern originals, but if its a fast paced bass line where there a blaze of melodic riffs, (think Geddy lee), a J, or something more modern sounding works, (sounds) best.

Do you need a P..? depends on what you play, type of music and the sound you are after.

 

[Phalex]

Necessary?? No.

Kickass?? Yes.

 

[BassJunkie730]

Yes.


Next Question.

 

[ethans1980]

Have you ever played a P in a band setting? The neck on a Jazz doesn't get it done the same way. I would still say it's a matter of personal preference, since the average person in a bar or at a concert can't hear the difference; to them, bass is bass, but my P cuts better than any Jazz neck I ever had. I always had to dial in a little of the bridge on the Jazz to be able to really hear myself.

 

[HogieWan]

My opinion: Yes. My vision of a *proper bass player(slab, mind you )*'s gear includes one Precision(ideally no newer than 80's but I'm flexible), one Jazz(also ideally old)& one all-tube amp. At least one bass should have flats & be fully passive. I will also keep a good fretless, a 5 & 6 & an active bass or two around(these features can be combined in any combination, on as many basses as one can justify/afford, as they're *extra credit* in my little world ) & maybe a nice ABG. Oh yea- and one decent-sounding DB.

I have a 5-string variax and a POD X3 - does that count?

 

[john turner]

I can understand Johns position on this subject. The (Icall it progressive) type of music Johns playing is a good example of a style and sound where a P bass dont get it done.
Not just the extended range aspect, but the sound he needs, in an upfront almost soloist melodic style, ( that most of us couldnt play anyway) a p bass dont get it done. Wrong sound.
The basses he uses fit his style.

actually, the tonal aspects of a p sound fine to my ears - and many of my favorite players played/play em, just for my original music i'm generally not too crazy about that particular tone. if i wanted it, though (and there have been a couple of spots where i have), i can get a good approximation on a few of my instruments using the neck pups - a few of my 2 pup conklins are set up with "side-by-side humbuckers" in the neck position, so if i solo it i can very close to the tone of a nice p. i'd much rather have a bass that does a decent approximation of a p bass, as well as a hundred other things, as opposed to a 100% p that can do "trebly-p" and "bassy-p" and that's about it.

it's the aesthetic and physical aspects of a p that really are the deal breakers for me. the neck profile and string layout - too big for a 4 at the nut. the body - too squared off along the bottom. i much prefer the jbass stylings and bodyshape.

of course, this is all a moot point for me. i haven't played anything with less than 7 strings in about 16 years now, so i really don't have a horse in this race.

 

[lousybassplayer]

Its funny, for my entire bass playing life I have valued versatility. But I am starting to realize that once I find a sound in a bass I tend to pretty much leave it alone, and I get frustrated fiddling around with preamps and blends and all that jazz (pun intended). I find myself yearning for a P since they sound like what I want out of them right from the word go and I am getting to value simplicity more than a ton of versatility I don't need. That being said I still love J's. But I have been playing a lot of Maiden lately on my Ric and my Elrick Jazz and I am just not getting what I want from either. I can get close I guess, but I spend more time screwing around to get there. A P would be plug and play for a number of songs and styles that I play. Not necessary I guess, but what I want regardless.

 

[JKT]

Threads like this fascinate me. I'm serious. They can be so educational, enlightening, and then an all out street brawl in 2 posts.

I have been playing the same P for about 25 years. Although for the last few I now play another bass more often.

Thing about the P bass is, these days there are so many versions and quality levels of this bass that it is sometimes difficult to discuss the P-bass sound. I think what many who do not play one, or have never given it enough time do not realize, is exactly how many sounds a well built P is capable of in the right hands.

 

[john turner]

another thing, to build on my last post. if we're going to talk about my basses, the pickup layouts are mostly patterned after the usual trifecta of pbass/jbass/humbuckers. lane poor had 3 different pickup designs he used within the same soapbar package, that prettly closely corresponded to the "iconic tones" of those pickups.

so while it doesn't look like it, my doubleneck is really a p-j config, as is my maple-necked fretless jazz.

so there's two angles that the op's question can be approached from - the visual and the auditory, or in other words, "does everyone need the p-bass tone" and "does everyone need a p-bass"

 

[spade2you]

Thing about the P bass is, these days there are so many versions and quality levels of this bass that it is sometimes difficult to discuss the P-bass sound.

Rounds, flats, fretted, fretless, fingers, pick, vintage pickups, high output pickups, etc. Sometimes it's hard to argue that there's a P bass sound, eh?

 

[butchblack]

I'll go along with a lot of the posters. Unless you're a studio musician you don't need a P (or anything else for that matter) If you're happy with your sound and it's working in your situation that's all that matters. If there is a P tone you're trying to get out of your equipment but can't then maybe you should buy a P. As many have posted, with the variety of variables (amps, cabs strings etc.) you can get close with a lot, but not all, basses, so to a large degree it depends on how fussy you are for that tone.

I love the P tone, but I don't own a straight P, I own a Jazz and a PJ, both Fernandes' I almost never turn on the J pup on the PJ and when possible I only use the neck pup on the J. I have a bad pup on the J and I think I'm going to put a set of DiMarzio 123 humbuckers in it and get a good shielding job done. Why? The neck is perfectly to my liking.

One other point. Some have mentioned the P neck. It can easily be changed with a jazz neck if you like the closer string spacing.

 

[savit260]

oh, well, pardon me then. i read the words there and took them at face value. i'll not do that next time.

btw, what was it then, if not an attack?

It was a playful counter opinion, with a bit of personal experience thrown in to underscore it.


Isn't the whole point of the emoticons to help the reader understand the tone of the poster?

If it was left at face value, I could see a possible misinterpritation.

Isn't there a sticky about this somewhere?

.. and yes I get the sarcasm of your post, with the serious undertone.


Try reading the reply as someone amused by the thought that a P bass needs Preamps and extra pickups, and maybe then you'll get the intended tone.

 

[SJLee]

Yes. Along with a Jazz, Rickenbacker, Sadowsky, Lakland & Mike Lull. Maybe a Stingray & Hofner too.

 

[john turner]

Yes. Along with a Jazz, Rickenbacker, Sadowsky, Lakland & Mike Lull. Maybe a Stingray & Hofner too.

you forgot gibson

 

[john turner]

Try reading the reply as someone amused by the thought that a P bass needs Preamps and extra pickups, and maybe then you'll get the intended tone.

rgr.

perhaps the postings at talkbass should have their own underlying audience laugh track. i've often thought this myself, to be honest. surely we could embed mp3s with the appropriately timed audience reactions.

that'd probably be pretty cool.

 

[badboy1984]

A jazz is a jazz, you can't get exactly the same sound as a P bass.

If you play both bass you can hear a different.

 

[meta]

I would vote no. If you are looking for (and are free to create) your own sound. That doesn't mean you might not want one... but if you are only concerned about your sound, you don't "need" one at all.

If you are trying to emulate something else that has that exact sound, or are expected to do so, then you need one unless you don't care about how close you get. In all likelihood, the guitarist or drummer or singer wouldn't even notice on sound alone. A sound engineer at a recording studio may or may not like the alternative to the standard p-bass sound, depending on what you have going for whatever it is you are trying to do.

For myself, I don't need one. Want one? If I found one that I actually liked I usually don't like the feel of the P-bass necks, even though I love the sound. Maybe an gibson thunderbird would be a good alternative at some point - for me they sound way better than a P bass, have the same heralded punch, only better... a little bit more on it it seems to me.

 

[Webtroll]

Personally I'm kind of on the fence with the P bass. I have 2, and they are the best sounding basses in a band setting I've ever owned, and they sound pretty good on their own as well. I prefer my Warwicks; lots of growl like a P and they sound better solo but they don't sound like Ps. Ps are great if you have to nail that sound or if you record with different people and you want to avoid the "if you don't have a P you don't get the job" scenario. If you've never played a P with a band or recorded with it it's hard to criticize them unless you don't mind making stuff up you know little about. If you've played them and just don't like them then that's perfectly okay, nobody is claiming they are the best bass for everybody. For what it's worth the absolute best live bass I've ever owned had an EMG PJ setup with no EQ; I'd use it P only or both pickups wide open. Stunk on recordings tho (but that could have been me).

 

[Lia_G]

I've never been satisfied with the neck pickup of a jazz as a replacement for a P. Now, most times I play a jazz I do end up using the neck pickup soloed, which makes it sound as good as a jazz can (for me, my ears, and my playing only of course!), but it's not a P. So I'm in the opposite camp ... I just don't care for a Jazz bass. Neck is too skinny, pickups aren't in the right place, don't care for the tone.

I do like Stingrays, but have just never cared for a Jazz bridge pickup. Again, this is for my ears and my playing, which I'm not trying to push on to anyone else.

I'm actually struggling with this a bit now, as I try to get a tone dialed in with the Yamaha BBG5 I bought for cheap recently to bring a 5 string back into the stable. Wish I could afford a 5 string P.

Cheers,
Liam