- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,515
- 19,945
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
I have long found much to love about the classic P-Bass design, but especially after playing some more modern takes on the venerable Precision, I got to thinking about what I'd like in a custom P-Bass. Here is what I came up with.
No bones about it, I am a fan of mahogany bodied basses. Yes, some mahogany bodied basses can sound overly plump, and not as tight in the lows, but from what I can tell, this seems to be due as much or more to the other variables (pickup type/placement, neck, construction, etc.) as it is to the choice of body wood. I first fell in love with mahogany when I got my Thunderbird, and no a good number of basses later, it's still my preference. I find no loss in clarity, and I like the powerful (yet articulate) low mids. So, humor me here a bit, but I'd like to go with a mahogany body for my "Custom P-Bass."
Similarly, I find that ebony is the fingerboard for me, so that's what I'm going with. And I have found mahogany/ebony to be a great combo for my preferences.
Okay, so then I need to consider 'regular' P pickup configuration, or the 'reverse' P, right? Man, which way to go? I like the phat vibe of the regular split pickup configuration, but sometimes I like that slightly tighter low end out of a reverse P. If only I could have both! Wait a minute, I can!
Using two split coil pickups in close proximity (placed in the traditional Precision pickup location), we could wire the coils such that I could select top coil on E-A, bottom coil on D-G, or I could select top coil on D-G, bottom coil on E-A. Viola! And on top of that, I'd have some other (non-traditional) pickup selections to chose from (say, both in series, or both parallel). 
Of course, there is the choice of 4 or 5, but given that I have a Celinder P Update 5 and a Sadowsky P/J 5, I think I have that covered. And plus, I find that much of what I want that "P-Bass vibe" for is generally 4-string material. So, a 4-banger (with a D-tuner) will probably do the trick.
What do y'all think of my crazy I'deer? Some of you may know that I have already placed an order for such a beast with a certain luthier (and others could readily discern this by reading my profile), but I was curious as to what my TB buds thought. I could still tweak things at this point, but I am pretty much set on most of it. For my personal preferences, I think that this will work out pretty well.
Oh, and I'm thinking passive is the way to go at this point.
Thanks, Tom.
No bones about it, I am a fan of mahogany bodied basses. Yes, some mahogany bodied basses can sound overly plump, and not as tight in the lows, but from what I can tell, this seems to be due as much or more to the other variables (pickup type/placement, neck, construction, etc.) as it is to the choice of body wood. I first fell in love with mahogany when I got my Thunderbird, and no a good number of basses later, it's still my preference. I find no loss in clarity, and I like the powerful (yet articulate) low mids. So, humor me here a bit, but I'd like to go with a mahogany body for my "Custom P-Bass."
Similarly, I find that ebony is the fingerboard for me, so that's what I'm going with. And I have found mahogany/ebony to be a great combo for my preferences.
Okay, so then I need to consider 'regular' P pickup configuration, or the 'reverse' P, right? Man, which way to go? I like the phat vibe of the regular split pickup configuration, but sometimes I like that slightly tighter low end out of a reverse P. If only I could have both! Wait a minute, I can!
Using two split coil pickups in close proximity (placed in the traditional Precision pickup location), we could wire the coils such that I could select top coil on E-A, bottom coil on D-G, or I could select top coil on D-G, bottom coil on E-A. Viola! And on top of that, I'd have some other (non-traditional) pickup selections to chose from (say, both in series, or both parallel). Of course, there is the choice of 4 or 5, but given that I have a Celinder P Update 5 and a Sadowsky P/J 5, I think I have that covered. And plus, I find that much of what I want that "P-Bass vibe" for is generally 4-string material. So, a 4-banger (with a D-tuner) will probably do the trick.
What do y'all think of my crazy I'deer? Some of you may know that I have already placed an order for such a beast with a certain luthier (and others could readily discern this by reading my profile), but I was curious as to what my TB buds thought. I could still tweak things at this point, but I am pretty much set on most of it. For my personal preferences, I think that this will work out pretty well.
Oh, and I'm thinking passive is the way to go at this point.
Thanks, Tom.
), I think that I am going to have my tone covered. 
Still, it's a possibility.
