P Bass Appeal - a Theory (Mostly Jazz Content)

[P. Aaron]

I am diggin' DR nickel low- riders on my 2002 Precision. I also like the wider ( some will say baseball bat) string spacing...and the growl.

My 2010 Precision V still has the factory installed D'Addario Chromes. But they still sound fresh. Funny thing, the P-V neck is, or seems faster than the 4 string. Heck, what do I know?

Flats? I have a tone knob, but I also do the rock-R & B thing.

Chase the tone.

Only posting this much 'cause I have been taking Jazz lessons for almost 3 years now and I have to say that either P-Bass really sounds just fine playing Jazz as I currently know it...lacking an upright to really bring it home. I'd stick with them going into any jam or eventual gig.

 

[bluesdogblues]

IMHO choosing gears are a matter of personal taste & needs. And the funny things is the fact that actually the human factor who play the gears (bass) is the most important thing (including in the defined sound that produced as the result of them).
I found that I have 'my' same basic sound out of my hands with every basses I play, while different players got their own sound that very different than mine with those same basses.

So in this P J and flats rounds topic, then my personal choice of basses should be at least 4 basses; 2 fender P & 2 Fender J, each with flats and rounds. Not to mention Fender P unlined fretless maple that I never play but I always think of.

Too many choices of sound & etc in gears, eh?
So for now let me be happy with my trusty ol' "Fender P with flats"
All it's + and -

 

[Korladis]

I don't think of a P-bass with flats as "the" P-bass sound. I think of it as "a" P-bass sound. Just like a P-bass with bright rounds with everything cranked up and played really hard is also "a" P-bass sound.

 

[okcrum]

I finger directly on top of the frets instead of behind them when I want a sound like flats. It takes a little practice, but it beats carrying a second bass. Varying finger pressure adds more or less of the classic damped envelope.

 

[bluesdogblues]

I finger directly on top of the frets instead of behind them when I want a sound like flats. It takes a little practice, but it beats carrying a second bass. .

No, it's still different sound than flatwounds. And it's not hard to pluck on top of the fretboard.

 

[bh2]

I'm a P bass guy and a Jazz bass guy and I could never entertain the thought of flats... I just hate them!

 

[AMJBASS]

I think I would say a Jazz bass is more versatile than a P because you can get so many different tonal options out of it. Don't get me wrong, I love the sound of the Precision. Its an ideal bass for so many situations. Ideally you would have both. I much prefer soloing on a Jazz as its got a clearer more "polite" tone in the upper register. Put flats on one and you can get a great vintage tone for recording(Joe Osborne etc). The argument will go on forever between the 2 basses, but both of them are good.

 

[kraigo]

FWIW, I absolutely hated the Fender flats. Don't judge flats by those - they're awful.

I like P-Basses because I rarely use two pickups - I like one or the other, I usually don't like what cancels out when both pickups are on. Since I prefer a single pickup, I like it to be humcancelling. I suppose there are Jazzes out there that would do that for me, I've never owned one (I guess I did have a G&L L-2500 for a few years, which is two humbuckers).

I'm not on a crusade against Jazz Basses or for flats, but the P-Bass does effortlessly what I have to try to coerce other basses into doing. OTOH, I have an Ibanez Artcore semi-hollow with an SGD neo pickup and a coil splitter switch (single/parallel/series) that could almost make me forget about P-Basses.

Versatility is over-rated, IMO. I want to get something that works every time with a minimum of effort. I can always hear myself in a mix with minimal complaints about volume when I use a P-Bass.

 

[benji1138]

Just like a P-bass with bright rounds with everything cranked up and played really hard is also "a" P-bass sound.

The only sound I'm interested in. Although after having my fingers chewed up by rounds I like the feel of flats just not the sounds they make.

 

[bluesdogblues]

I like sound of bass with flatwound strings.
I also like sound of bass with roundwound strings. Or any f##ckin' wound strings.

As long as they're good, They're good. I like em.

Each have their own beauty.

 

[danomite64]

I play a Jazz with rounds, not because Geddy/Jaco/Marcus play them, but because it gives me my sound.

 

[dtsamples]

Going through a bit of this p with flats envy myself. I play a jazz with flats and it sounds great. It does have a vintage vibe to the tone. All it's missing is the beef. Pleasing tone, no beef.

 

[dvh]

If I still had a Jazz, I would most likely be rocking flats on it now. But I have PJ's instead (same basic thing) and I use flats. I go back and forth between flats and rounds, but currently I'm using flats on my stage PJ's. Kind of undecided about Chromes, but I do like flats. I also love a Precision with rounds as well. But right now I'm in a flatwound mode.

Good point. I back and forth as well. Got into my P with flats big time and thought that was “it”. Then picked up an old Vantage P that had rounds on it and loved the “grindiness”. Inspired me to put rounds on my 50s Classic P. Rocked that for a while. Started into a new project and on a whim went with my 51 reissue with flats. Really dug it. So, put flats on the 50s Classic and am now going with that.

I seem to gravitate to flats. (OP: never tried flats on a jazz so co comments on that!)

 

[sigmafloyd]

Thanks for everyone's comments so far. I appreciate the feedback and the fact that this thread hasn't devolved into a flame war yet. I'm probably just going to get a squier cv p when I have some spare change and give the flats thing a try. My guess is that I will love it and also realize what it is about my jazz/round sound that I love as well. I'd love to have just a single bass but that may not be in the cards.

Ultimately, I am looking for a cure for GAS. Im a software engineer by trade and one of our mantras is to 'embrace constraints'. I think a p with flats is one way to do that, but then again so is just limiting yourself to the gear you already own.

 

[THand]

I sold it in 2001 when my son was born, needed the cash. I got $700 for it, I paid $400 for it in 1999. I could probably get $1400 for it now.
I don't like korn. I won't argue with you about the versatility of my SRX, I'll let Carol do it for me. She knows a little about the bass.

‪BASS PLAYER: Carol Kaye Interview‬‏ - YouTube

She used to play the P bass but chooses the SRX now.

Carol convinced me to get an SRX (still have it). I disagree with her about it being a better vintage tone than a Fender. If you want a vintage tone, a P or a J is the way to go. Carol's tone (like everyone else) is in her hands. Once I had a set of TI's, her felt mute, and her picks...it still didn't make a convincing P-tone on that SRX, IMO.

Once I accepted the SRX as what it was designed for, a rock bass, and made the brilliant decision to use a P for a P vibe and a J for a J vibe, all was well.

The SRX is a great bass, but it's not a vintage-tone-making bass...even if it is more versatile than it's rep.

 

[DJJazzV]

If for some reason you are sick of P bass threads and didn't read the title - stop now.

As I've mentioned before, I'm a Jazz guy going through a talkbass inflicted case of P Bass GAS. The whole "P with Flats" thing has got to my head.

What I find most appealing about the P bass is actually not a feature of the P but something I find unappealing about the Jazz Bass market. There are way too many options. Active vs. Passive...Fender, Sadowsky, Lakland, etc. Yes I know there are active P basses, and the above companies make P inspired basses. However, I think most people would say that THE Precision sound is the sound of a passive precision with flats. When it comes to the Jazz, there are so many. Is the sound of a 60s Jazz with flats? A 70s jazz with a preamp? The geddy sound? The Jaco sound? I know I am painting this in broad strokes, and the same argument can probably be said for P basses. But I think the point is valid. If I bought a 62 reissue P bass, I think most would agree that I would have THE P sound. On the jazz side, if I bought a 62 Jazz and strung it with flats, I wouldn't really get the Jaco/Marcus/Geddy sound. With a Jazz, it seems like there is always more to get, more to tweak. Yes, 'Jazz Basses' in general are versatile, but I don't think any one jazz bass can achieve all those sounds. It's more that those sounds are all achieved with a different bass that happens to be a jazz bass. Make sense?

Overall, I guess, I just don't care for the active 'super' jazz bass sound. I tend to stray towards the vintage end and it seems like the purist form of that is just getting a P.

I'm curious who out there rocks a Jazz with flats and goes for that more vintage sound. I love the look of the 62 reissue jazz, but I feel like if I got it and put flats on it I would constantly be thinking that I might as well go all the way and just play a P.

What happens if you play a passive Jazz bass with just the neck pickup? Does that bring you a little closer to the P bass tone? It's obviously a different pickup, but it's in the same general area under the strings.

.... I hear other people play my bass and amp and they sound nothing like me...

+100% on that one!

 

[electracoyote]

Carol convinced me to get an SRX (still have it). I disagree with her about it being a better vintage tone than a Fender. If you want a vintage tone, a P or a J is the way to go.

Yeah, Carol's a great player and teacher without a doubt, but if she thinks her SRX out-vintage-tones a P-Bass, I have to strongly disagree. In her hands, that SRX sounds like...a Fender P! I don't hear any significant improvement.

Maybe she likes the neck better.

 

[David Jayne]

Yeah, Carol's a great player and teacher without a doubt, but if she thinks her SRX out-vintage-tones a P-Bass, I have to strongly disagree. In her hands, that SRX sounds like...a Fender P! I don't hear any significant improvement.

Maybe she likes the neck better.

I don't think it sounds like a P bass at all. Sounds scoopy to me.

 

[madbassplaya]

Yeah, Carol's a great player and teacher without a doubt, but if she thinks her SRX out-vintage-tones a P-Bass, I have to strongly disagree. In her hands, that SRX sounds like...a Fender P! I don't hear any significant improvement.

Maybe she likes the neck better.

Carol plays Ibanez now because her guitar tech or a guitar tech told her that Fender necks weren't built well and would warp easily I believe.

Not an exact quote, but I've heard this in a couple of places.

 

[THand]

Yeah, Carol's a great player and teacher without a doubt, but if she thinks her SRX out-vintage-tones a P-Bass, I have to strongly disagree. In her hands, that SRX sounds like...a Fender P! I don't hear any significant improvement.

Maybe she likes the neck better.

They do have a very comfy neck. It's like a well-build jazz profile with a flatter fingerboard radius.

The pups are insanely powerful.