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Is a P bass necessary?

#141
i tell yah, my Jazz has a totally diffent tone compared to my Precision. i love my P but i have to sell it to buy an amp :(

but as soon as i get an amp, im gonna buy an SX P bass... after i save for a SBMM Ray34
 
#142
I think my interpretation is valid. If there's anything but a P bass involved, I don't listen. That is certainly a fair interpretation of the statement.

It may or may not be the intended one, but it certainly is viable.
 
#145
spade2you said:
Since you play a Yamaha, do you not listen to yourself?
Click to expand...

He was commenting on what Bongo... said. Those weren't Steve's words.

SteveC said:
I think my interpretation is valid. If there's anything but a P bass involved, I don't listen. That is certainly a fair interpretation of the statement.

It may or may not be the intended one, but it certainly is viable.
Click to expand...

He was responding to this.


Bongolation said:
If a normal, classic Precision four-string is not a reasonable choice for the music, then almost certainly it is music to which I have no desire to ever listen.
Click to expand...

However, Bongo said.... In my translation... that if it was a form of music where a P bass wouldn't be appropriate(that's not the same as saying it HAS to be played on a P. Not even close), that in his opinion, that's not something he'd be interested in listening to.

That's a statement of opinon, and a personal preferance, and wheather you agree with it or not, there's nothing wrong with having that opinon.

Not everyones playing is going to appeal to everyone, nor do we all have the same preferances.

I'm sure there are plenty of TBer's who hate what I do... and ya know what.... There's nothing wrong with that either. ;)

So no, that's not a fair interpretation. (requiered IMO)

Here's an example of what I believe Bongo to be talking about.

One of my favorite bass players plays a 7 string Conklin, HOWEVER, the context in which it is used, could easily be done effectively and appropriately with a P bass as well.
I'm pretty sure that's what Bongo meant. Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
#150
Mastermold said:
I love my P-basses. That's all that matters.
Click to expand...

I love YOUR P basses too. What does that tell you?
Look, they are not the only viable basses in bassland, it's
just in an ice cream analogy: P bass,chocolate, 1st generation
P-bass,vanilla, Jazz bass,strawberry, Rickenbacker,rocky road,
Music Man,chocolate chip, Alembic,cookie dough, G&L,mint
chocolate chip, Gibson,triple chocolate fudge ripple; take a bass
and assign an ice cream flavor to it. Examples:
Ritter-Rum Raisin
Dingwall-Jamocha Almond Fudge
Sadowsky-Orange Sherbert
see how easy.

I love ice cream and basses of all kinds.....;)

especially chocolate...:smug:
 
#153
NOVAX said:
I love YOUR P basses too. What does that tell you?
Look, they are not the only viable basses in bassland, it's
just in an ice cream analogy: P bass,chocolate, 1st generation
P-bass,vanilla, Jazz bass,strawberry, Rickenbacker,rocky road,
Music Man,chocolate chip, Alembic,cookie dough, G&L,mint
chocolate chip, Gibson,triple chocolate fudge ripple; take a bass
and assign an ice cream flavor to it. Examples:
Ritter-Rum Raisin
Dingwall-Jamocha Almond Fudge
Sadowsky-Orange Sherbert
see how easy.

I love ice cream and basses of all kinds.....;)

especially chocolate...:smug:
Click to expand...

Ice cream! Mmmmmmmm .... :p
 
#155
savit260 said:
One of my favorite bass players plays a 7 string Conklin, HOWEVER, the context in which it is used, could easily be done effectively and appropriately with a P bass as well.
Click to expand...

i bet you're talking about john jordan with chris duarte. he's a great player, one of the first conklin 7 guys, if not the very first. (just judging by your style of music and his as well, i could be totally off base. if so, no offense meant).

if so, you'd be surprised at how much he actually uses the full range of the instrument. that being said, he could probably play duarte thing with a p and make it sorta work.
 
#156
dmusic148 said:
I'm surprised by this, because I can hear a P bass a mile away. Very distinctive sound, to my ears. No mistaking it for something else. Same goes for a Jazz, or a Stingray. My Modulus also has a very distinctive tone.
Click to expand...

I was thinking they'd do better myself. IMO the S535 and 55-02 sound nothing like a P bass when the neck pup is soloed which would explain why they nailed the 55-02 as not being the P rather quickly. The one that stumped them the most was my MIA Jazz Dlx, which makes sense to me since they are both they are both Fenders.
 
#157
john turner said:
there's a lot of folks - a lot of musicians - who would not even bother to listen to what he does, just because of his instrument. doesn't that strike -everyone- in here, regardless of their tastes, as -absurd-? it's like "what are you afraid of, man?"
Click to expand...

It's quite absurd. But then again so are sound guys that can't mix anything other than a Fender P or jazz, session work and bands that won't take you on if you don't have a Fender of some sort either. This is music, what ever happened to the philosophy of if it sounds good it is good? That's what it should be about, good tone, not choice of brand.
 
#159
savit260 said:
However, Bongo said.... In my translation... that if it was a form of music where a P bass wouldn't be appropriate(that's not the same as saying it HAS to be played on a P. Not even close), that in his opinion, that's not something he'd be interested in listening to.

That's a statement of opinon, and a personal preferance, and wheather you agree with it or not, there's nothing wrong with having that opinon.
Click to expand...
Pretty much. In my post it's clearly stated as more a matter of short-listing stuff that will fit my personal tastes than opinion as such.

It's important to make clear that not only is it perfectly fine to have exclusive, arbitrary tastes (everyone does, whether he admits it or not), nobody is under any obligation to have the slightest "respect" for your music or you as a musician beyond what he feels you have earned in your meeting of his needs.

Today's listener needs a big shovel to get through all the really terrible music assailing him from all sides -- and I mean terrible even within the accepted definitions of its own genre, let alone terrible by the standards of the listener's personal tastes. Sorting good pop from bad is staggeringly hard work, and turned out to be most of my job when I had my (somewhat more than) fifteen minutes as a music broadcasting bigshot in NYC many years ago. You have to be quick and you can't dawdle, and that's shoveling through the stuff that already made it through the first few levels of filtration. My personal methods were fast and ruthless because they had to be. If a song didn't catch me in the first ten to fifteen seconds, I didn't listen any further because I knew radio listeners wouldn't either. Your song died nationally, and usually your band's career, too...try to borrow a clue next time.

I no longer listen to much pop music because I'm not being paid to, and I personally don't hold much of it in high regard qua music (my own musical listening preference is for opera, classical voice and orchestral classical). Some pop I like, but it has to be good product with tight professional vision throughout, which brings us back to my point that seems to have upset Turner and a few others. I immediately pass on bands with geek basses as overplayed "bass guitar" is the kiss of death for me as a listener, and when I see all those extra strings and switches and pickups and fifteen rack units, I know that's probably what I'm going to get.

When I see a band whose bassist has a four-string Precision, or something similar, I know that the odds favor him being a player who understands (if only intuitively) the classical musical role of bass instrumentation, which I respect. The band still probably won't be worth listening to, but it probably won't be primarily the fault of the bassist.
 
#160
Bongolation said:
Pretty much. In my post it's clearly stated as more a matter of short-listing stuff that will fit my personal tastes than opinion as such.

It's important to make clear that not only is it perfectly fine to have exclusive, arbitrary tastes (everyone does, whether he admits it or not), nobody is under any obligation to have the slightest "respect" for your music or you as a musician beyond what he feels you have earned in your meeting of his needs.

Today's listener needs a big shovel to get through all the really terrible music assailing him from all sides -- and I mean terrible even within the accepted definitions of its own genre, let alone terrible by the standards of the listener's personal tastes. Sorting good pop from bad is staggeringly hard work, and turned out to be most of my job when I had my (somewhat more than) fifteen minutes as a music broadcasting bigshot in NYC many years ago. You have to be quick and you can't dawdle, and that's shoveling through the stuff that already made it through the first few levels of filtration. My personal methods were fast and ruthless because they had to be. If a song didn't catch me in the first ten to fifteen seconds, I didn't listen any further because I knew radio listeners wouldn't either. Your song died nationally, and usually your band's career, too...try to borrow a clue next time.

I no longer listen to much pop music because I'm not being paid to, and I personally don't hold much of it in high regard qua music (my own musical listening preference is for opera, classical voice and orchestral classical). Some pop I like, but it has to be good product with tight professional vision throughout, which brings us back to my point that seems to have upset Turner and a few others. I immediately pass on bands with geek basses as overplayed "bass guitar" is the kiss of death for me as a listener, and when I see all those extra strings and switches and pickups and fifteen rack units, I know that's probably what I'm going to get.

When I see a band whose bassist has a four-string Precision, or something similar, I know that the odds favor him being a player who understands (if only intuitively) the classical musical role of bass instrumentation, which I respect. The band still probably won't be worth listening to, but it probably won't be primarily the fault of the bassist.
Click to expand...

wow, thanks for sharing your insights. you have a great deal of experience, obviously, seperating the rare wheat from the common chaff. i can respect that.

and no, i wasn't ever upset, just curious. taken out of context your original post was pretty provocative, and seemed intentionally so. these kinds of discussions can be fun, but only if folks refrain from rhubarb-rubbing, or at least intentionally doing so. i see your point of view now, though, and totally get it.

i have to say, you sound almost bitter, though. that's a shame - someone with your experience and insight could be a "great force of good" :D in the musical galaxy, at least as far as good music goes. i can't say i blame you, though. i can only imagine the neck-deep pools of musical feces you've had to wade through.
 

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