P bass for Jazz band

[Mouseist]

Thank you so much for advice. I decided to spend less time looking at different basses and spend more time practice. I am using 'Teach me Bass Guitar' and it really is wonderful instructional DVD. I just finished my first blues tune and it is awesome. Feels like I became a real bass player lol

 

[KingRazor]

Jazz tends to have more notes than most other genres of music and I think they come out clearer on a jazz bass than a p-bass. Because of the bridge pickup you can get some more highs in the tone and therefore the notes will ring out more clearly. A P-bass, as great as it is, tends to be more mids and more about feel and thump so all those notes and scales can sound a little muddy, making it difficult for the other musicians to hear what you're doing. I'm not even talking about soloing, just a walking bass line.

IME mids make your notes much clearer than highs. Highs bring out twang and finger noise, not what I think of when I think jazz.

 

[JehuJava]

Oh and flats feel like cutlery...is it just me?

And I thought it was just me...

 

[puddin tame]

music is in the player, not the bass

notice I said music, not jazz

 

[JehuJava]

Oh and flats feel like cutlery...is it just me?

Yes!

 

[JehuJava]

TI Jazz Flats.

Yes! Better than chromes imho. Played both for several years. TI is still on my bass.

 

[wshines1892]

I've played both in jazz bands, and I can get a good tone out of either. For swing and more straight ahead stuff where I'm mainly playing 4 on the floor with the kick drum, I preferred the thicker tone that the Precision gave me. I can come close soloing the neck pickup of a jazz, but the same low mid character just isn't there.

When it came to playing more fusion stuff, I liked the growl of a jazz bass, but I could also pass using a P-bass any day of the week. It's more about you technique, and not to mention eqing, that will determine your sound.

A Precision is a very versatile instrument when it comes to tone. Just by moving where I pluck, and possibly plucking with my thumb, I can fatten up a tone, soften the attack on a growly tone, and basically achieve any degree of "cut" or what have you that I wanted.

Get to know your bass. Chock it up to the old saying "Fear the man who only owns one gun." I guarantee that a Precision can slug it out just as well as any other "jazz bass."

 

[JimK]

What I like to do eventually is playing Ray Brown w/ Benny Green stuff. Also not jazz but Jackson 5, too

Ray Brown played a sunburst Fender P-bass every day on the old Merv Griffin Show...
...Ron Carter & Dave Holland also played a P-bass.
I recall local '70s guys playing P-basses in various kinda Jazz things (Big Band & Fusion).

Anyway, I believe it's not the instrument as much as the player's skill, gifts, emotions, intellect, passion, soul, technique, etc.

 

[JimK]

For swing and more straight ahead stuff where I'm mainly playing 4 on the floor with the kick drum, I preferred the thicker tone that the Precision gave me.

I agree & would say the older skool guys (Ray Brown, Ron Carter, etc) played P-basses.

When it came to playing more fusion stuff, I liked the growl of a jazz bass..

Definitely...the Jazz Bass' popularity increased with Jazz Fusion.

 

[fdeck]

Throughout my years of playing electric bass in jazz bands, I had basses with dual pickups, and typically chose the P-style pickup closer to the neck.

 

[abaguer]

Though about 90% of my jazz gigs are on upright, there have been a few because of space considerations Ive done on P bass and I've really enjoyed them. A few of the pianists I played with liked the sustain on high notes that would have decayed quicker in Thumb position. (Have always loved Steve Swallow, Chris Brubeck, Rick Laird and Monk Montgomery's electric playing)

 

[Snarf]

IME mids make your notes much clearer than highs. Highs bring out twang and finger noise, not what I think of when I think jazz.

Absolutely correct. The jazz bass' primary voice with both pickups full is a mid-scooped sound that, in my opinion and experience, isn't perfectly suited to too many styles. The P bass has a very strong voice in most mixes due to pronounced low mids. Those low mids also jump out of a speaker cabinet much more readily, which means more air moving in the room. The notes just speak much louder through a P bass.

To me, the only reason to pick a J over P in this situation is if you're going to be soloing. I still don't think this is all that great though, because P basses sound great for soloing as long as your band knows how to control their dynamics.

 

[ClusterFlux]

You guys, uh, do know that this thread is like 12 years old, right...?

 

[IamGroot]

Go check out some Monk Montgomery.

Montgomery was the first electric bassist of significance to jazz, taking up the Fender Precision Bass in 1952 or ‘53.Monk played electric bass with his thumb (brother Wes, played electric guitar with his thumb, also) and adapted his jazz playing from double bass to electric. In the 1960s, he took up Fender Jazz Bass, playing with a felt pick. He sounded so good, you didnt miss the double bass.

 

[Snarf]

You guys, uh, do know that this thread is like 12 years old, right...?

Oh lol, zombie threads are so weird.