Is Entwistle Leeds tone P-bass representative ?

Slab Precision + Rotosound strings +Hiwatt DR 103 = Live at Leeds. Also the cabs were SE1234 (4×12) miced no DI.

 

I love that tone too. I'd say it is not very representative of a P-Bass generically and is much more a product of the amp sound and the player. If you hear some of the earlier Who stuff where he was playing a Jazz Bass it doesn't sound hugely different from the P.

Entwistle next went with Thunderbirds (or a Thunderbird with Fender neck aka "Fenderbird"). He was playing one of those when I saw the Who live in Sept. 1971. I'd describe the tone from the Thunderbird as more even and piano-like and less edgy than the Live at Leeds sound. The Alembic bass (or basses) that he started playing in the mid to later 1970's seemed to be even more of a refinement of his sound in that direction.

 

I would say John Entwistle is the main ingredient.
And for Jamerson, James Jamerson is the main ingredient.

Musical instruments are tools. The player is the craftsman.

 

Entwhistle’s sound was 5% bass, 5%, amp, 5% strings, and 85% Entwhistle. 85 might be low.

 

Not much about anything Entwistle is representative of typical. Unique bloke, no doubt.

 

That Leeds tone is representative of the tone Entwistle liked best.

Now, the tone on Who's Next was suggested by their producer and JE went along. Having said that.

Listen to JE's solo albums, especially live, and he takes that Leeds tone to another level by flanging and chorusing the daylights out of it.
He'll get that tone from any bass he uses. It's unrecognizable compared to his earlier stuff, with Leeds being the closest

 

Me neither. For me, he overdoes it and his playing gets lost in the effects.
I thought his tone on Who's Next was stellar. Real bass depth that supported the tunes and his playing. He admitted it was a departure from what he would have preferred, but he went with it.

 

Hi Clemouze.

What is a typical Precision bass tone? Could you give an example?

Isn't Jamerson's tone a typical Precision bass tone? What about Steve Harris? P bass + flatwound strings, they should sound the same, right?

This tone is representative of what Entwistle wanted to do with a Precision bass.

 

I find, for me, it is representative of a P bass played with Rotosound strings through Hiwatt amps, with and without a pick.




John Entwistle Gear: 1968-1971 | John Entwistle Bass Gear | Whotabs

 

You've defined the vast range of the P bass in your post with those two examples.

 

All you'd need is a pick and some Rotos, maybe the Hiwatt might be part of it but and good amp especially tube should get you there. I've gotten pretty close to that tone with a 68 P bass, Rotos, and an SVT playing fingerstyle.

 

So, let me recap. You like it when renowned players play P basses on legendary albums, but you don't like wankers playing them on Youtube videos. Conclusion : you don't like P basses.
...
Really?

 

This.

My eye-opener was when someone really good at what they're doing played my P bass through my amp with "my" settings in front of me. I was immediately awestruck, embarrassed, and inspired at the same time.

 

I was in a "school Rock type program years ago and we had a pro bass player as a mentor for our band. He used to play in a big 80's band and some other notable projects down here. One time he wanted to show our bass player something on his el cheapo bass. He took it and made it sound like gold. Our bass player said he was going to upgrade his el cheapo bass for something with a better time but after hearing what a pro could make it sound like he knew it was himself, not the bass that sounded bad.

 

I think Deacon is (at least in in the 70’s) the best example of the representative P-Bass tone. His signal chain was pretty dry so you pretty much are getting P-Bass into Acoustic 360.

 

The tone of J. Jamerson is absolutely typical of a P-bass equipped with heavy-tension flatwound strings and a string muting device of some sort ... in addition to this we may add the use of the amps available in the early ‘60s, which can now be found through various hardware or software reissues.
If this is not one of the typical examples of the tone of a P-bass I am totally lost