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(Only) NOW I understand the P bass
- Thread starter vindibona1
- Start date
My personal P epiphany came when I was playing in a surf trio with a really loud trashy guitarist. For the life of me, I just couldn’t get my J bass to sit right in the mix. I was throwing huge amounts of power at the problem. I acquired a MIM P bass. Viola. Problem solved. There’s just something about a P that just always works.
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To this day I still haven't owned a Fender, but I started my love affair with P pickups while modding one of my Spector 5 strings with an EMG P in the soapbar housing a few years back. My God, what was I doing without this wizardry all these years?? I finally got around to getting an FSO P-"ish" bass about a month ago when I picked up this beauty on the classifieds here. Solo the P and put it in passive mode and :chefskiss:
I can sure your jaw drop more if you reverse those pickups with BE to bridge side and ADG to neck side.
That's a great PU configuration. A clear fat solo sound I imagine.
One possible refinement:
I would swap the split P coils so that B & E are individually adjustable, and A, D & G are "average" adjustable. That allows you precise adjustment for the more difficult low end of a 5er. Should be without cost and completely reversable. That would be my dream bass; my soapbars are so limiting.
So you’re saying you’ve owned that bass and never heard it?! 
sometimes revisiting things later on is a good thing. I just did it with a jazz bass.
it’s always good to have a precision and a jazz on hand. Even if your not a fan of one or the other!
sometimes revisiting things later on is a good thing. I just did it with a jazz bass.
it’s always good to have a precision and a jazz on hand. Even if your not a fan of one or the other!
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When you get it, you get it. You finally got it. There's just something about a Precision bass. It just works. I've always said that those who don't like a Precision bass have never truly played one enough. There's a reason almost every famous builder cut their teeth on P's and J's.
Very nice. I’ve been playing PBs since the 70’s. Great basses for sure, but not the only great bass.
The P is an instrument that I always appreciated in other peoples music. I still don’t own one but I’ve found that soloing the neck pickup and rolling down the tone on my jazz gets me serious mojo. It might be time.
LOL! Me, exactly. When I went shopping for my first "real" bass, "not a P" was my main criterion. I rode a lot of buses to the edges of civilization looking for The One, played a lot of basses, and discovered the reason why everyone played a P was they sound really, *really* good.
Agreed. NS shapes will always be my first love, but I’m glad I’m starting to get right with history. I have a ‘72 Precision now and I think I can finally appreciate a P now after a lifetime of not getting it.
Congrats on your new American Pro II P Bass OP! I'm so glad that you're loving your new bass.
I acquired my first P Bass 12 years into my bass journey. It's my Miami Blue American Pro II and I love it! It has one of the nicest neck I've ever played and it's simplicity and tone can't be denied. I would like a 5 string version like yours in the future.
I never wanted to play a P. Now I know better.
As long as it has 5 strings. And a 3-band preamp. And a thin/narrow neck. And a really good B string. And 24 frets. And a bridge pickup.
You know, a P bass.
As long as it has 5 strings. And a 3-band preamp. And a thin/narrow neck. And a really good B string. And 24 frets. And a bridge pickup.
You know, a P bass.
Agreed . Except that its is one pickup , a VOLUME , and a tone . There is no gain on a passive instrument .
I love the sound of a P bass……..when played by others.
Never could bond with it myself, cause it doesn’t match with my playing style. I miss that staccato bridge pickup sound. I had two P’s in various periods but sold both eventually.
Never could bond with it myself, cause it doesn’t match with my playing style. I miss that staccato bridge pickup sound. I had two P’s in various periods but sold both eventually.
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As a teenager, when I first started playing, I would browse the Ampeg catalogs at my music store and drool over the rock icons and their stacks of SVT goodness. Never understood why about half the people in there had a P bass and an SVT/810. I thought "there are other basses, why does everybody play the same thing?"
I played a few different basses along the way, but 16 years later I only owned a P. Never intended to get that way, but the more I experimented with variations in technique and attack, the more tones I could coax from a bass. I started recognizing more and more bass tones I enjoyed could be had (or darn close) with a simple P and the right playing style.
I sometimes feel like a tool for falling in line with everyone else, but the thing just works. It always sounds good playing with friends or just playing along to records I love. Plus, it's pretty good looking!
I played a few different basses along the way, but 16 years later I only owned a P. Never intended to get that way, but the more I experimented with variations in technique and attack, the more tones I could coax from a bass. I started recognizing more and more bass tones I enjoyed could be had (or darn close) with a simple P and the right playing style.
I sometimes feel like a tool for falling in line with everyone else, but the thing just works. It always sounds good playing with friends or just playing along to records I love. Plus, it's pretty good looking!
Been playing 30 years, Stingrays, Jazz basses, G&L, Ibanez.
Got my first P bass (yes with flats) last year and it has become possibly my number 1 for a while a now. It just has a simplicity, and an even round tone and feel that none of my other basses have.
Got my first P bass (yes with flats) last year and it has become possibly my number 1 for a while a now. It just has a simplicity, and an even round tone and feel that none of my other basses have.
