P-Bass: Good and/or bad?

[sratas]

to the OP:
- good setup. Some things simply are mandatory and objective. for example the neck relief, the bridge saddle height (action). You can achieve custom settings even for this parameters but you can even stuck with the suggested ones, as your starting point at least.
. pickup height: massive influence on the pickup sound. There is usually a sweet spot, not too low and not too high, where you find that colour that makes your heart pump.
usually I find a precise sweet spot, and the tonal feature disappears if I turn those height screws up or down by 1/4 of a turn, so it is a delicate process, and requires good hearing, good headphones and a lot of patience
- strings: wow...search on TB, nickel or steel, rounds or flat, you can fine tune your bass. even string type and brand has a huge impact on tone
- technique: in my personal opinion a P-bass sounds its best hitting the strings just above the pickup, but I know others that do differently.

After having done these points, look at your amp

 

[Batmensch]

I thought the Dirnt already had a really nice Fender pickup as factory equipment.

I think too many people are way too quick on swapping out the pickup. As I said earlier, do a setup, including the pickup adjustment first, then decide if you still want to swap the pickup.

 

[UnBonGars]

Hey all, just wanted to share my final working combination with the P-Bass. I've put a basic D'Addario .45 set on my P-bass, and most importantly bought an MXR M80 bass DI. It was only after getting the MXR did I realize that a P-bass badly needs a signal boost. In this case, I think the bass brings out the pedals sound rather than the other way around. I am now able to get a fat chunky controllable drive which at the time of this original post seemed impossible to get.

Point being: a P-bass needs an amp or a DI driving it. On its own it comes off as pretty meek but with a combination of the MXR as the head and a 1x15 cab, oof! I'll put up samples in a bit.

 

[DrSpunkwater]

Hey guys this is my first post here, i'm a complete noob on the forum scene so don't hate!

Basically, i own a Mexican P-Bass. The Mike Dirnt signature model; with the Rosewood neck and le split coil pickup. I bought it mainly because i love Green Day to death (Come at me, brah) and i wanted a Fender guitar.

My main issue is that the P-Bass requires (in my experience, at least) a good preamp situation happening, because the pickup isn't really that powerful. I realized soon after buying that i don't really know too much about the P-Bass sound and how to use it; so chances are that i'm completely ignorant about a crucial factor on how to get the right tone out of it (or whatever).

Any inputs on how to work a P-Bass, how to get a good tone; good P-Bass artists/sounds and anything else that may pass through your mind will be greatly appreciated. Cheers, all!

You want powerful? Bill Lawrence's Wilde P46 should do the job. .1 tone caps and Rotosound 66s don't hurt either.

But seriously, get a proper setup done before you go dropping money on new pickups and tone caps and such.

 

[UnBonGars]

I have the mike Dirnt bass (fender version)
and i like to plug into a Sansamp BDriver Di then into the Hartke A70 combo, P-bass sound to pale imo without something to make it more lively and naughty.

I agree completely.

 

[eccles77]

Having owned lots of P basses over the years and a Fender and a Squier Mike Dirnt bass, I have never felt the need to boost the signal from them. The custom shop pickup in the Fender MD is the hottest P pickup I have owned.

A good set up and decent strings and there you go. But having said that, I`m glad the OP has found an answer that works for him. Really good basses the MD`s although mine weighed an absolute ton!!

 

[bolophonic]

Hey all, just wanted to share my final working combination with the P-Bass. I've put a basic D'Addario .45 set on my P-bass, and most importantly bought an MXR M80 bass DI. It was only after getting the MXR did I realize that a P-bass badly needs a signal boost. In this case, I think the bass brings out the pedals sound rather than the other way around. I am now able to get a fat chunky controllable drive which at the time of this original post seemed impossible to get.

Point being: a P-bass needs an amp or a DI driving it. On its own it comes off as pretty meek but with a combination of the MXR as the head and a 1x15 cab, oof! I'll put up samples in a bit.

I've been playing Precisions for years and never needed a pre-amp. To say that Precision basses badly need a signal boost in order to sound good reveals to me that you are an inexperienced player who just wants some pedals to play around with.

 

[Rip Topaz]

I use a preamp with my P, but it is definitely NOT necessary.

 

[E.J. T.N.T.]

I would suggest to the OP, he get a pro setup done first, along with maybe new strings. A pro setup would include adjustment of the pickup height, you'd be surprised how adjusting the height can bring a pickup to life. I did it before to my '78 P bass where the previous owner had the pickup way too low, and was flat to the body, instead of following the curve of the string radius. I adjusted it to Fender factory specs, and the difference was like night and day. Before, although it sounded decent, it was a little thin and clanky and the string volume was uneven. After adjusting, it had that full deep throated tone that the P-bass is known for. Get the thing setup before you go modding it, it may not need anything more than that.

This!!!
I was on the opposite side. My p-bass has a duncan quarter pound and at some point I reseted the the setup but didn't lowere the pickup. The result? I was getting more output than my EMG loaded 5er!!!

 

[Osztertag2112]

Just some fresh roundwounds, tone rolled on full, mayb some drive and play with a pick and youl get a nice modern bass tone. Mike dirnt plays the sig basses as they are so a good amp and proper technquie is all ya need

 

[E.J. T.N.T.]

Hey all, just wanted to share my final working combination with the P-Bass. I've put a basic D'Addario .45 set on my P-bass, and most importantly bought an MXR M80 bass DI. It was only after getting the MXR did I realize that a P-bass badly needs a signal boost. In this case, I think the bass brings out the pedals sound rather than the other way around. I am now able to get a fat chunky controllable drive which at the time of this original post seemed impossible to get.

Point being: a P-bass needs an amp or a DI driving it. On its own it comes off as pretty meek but with a combination of the MXR as the head and a 1x15 cab, oof! I'll put up samples in a bit.

Well this is how my P sounds through the M80 direct in my recording interface played pick style with .45 Rotosounds 66

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[two fingers]

Echoing linton I agree lots is to be gained by PU adjustment and new strings. For a greenday sound I'd go with some nice steel rounds.

Heavy pick attack also does some magic. I prefer picks around 2mm for that.

This and a good setup will get you a long way towards what you are after. Also learning how to mix your mids will help as well. What kind of amp do you play? If you tell us that we can chime in with some EQ suggestions.

But one other thing to consider is this (and it really comes with maturing as a musician to me). The beauty of a P bass is that is sits IN A MIX better than many other tones. It really doesn't shine when you are playing by yourself. So you need to learn to listen for a tone that is similar to the recorded tone you are after and go for that. But be prepared to be a bit unimpressed with that very same tone when you are practicing by yourself. It's the nature of bass. The tone that fits in the band is probably not the best "solo" tone out there. So don't try to squeeze your favorite tone into the band. Try to squeeze the best tone for the band into your practice.

The fact that you are asking questions is a real positive. Be patient. Many of us have spent DECADES trying to find "that tone".

 

[taurus1]

I've been playing Precisions for years and never needed a pre-amp. To say that Precision basses badly need a signal boost in order to sound good reveals to me that you are an inexperienced player who just wants some pedals to play around with.

+1
the beauty of a P bass is that it can be as subtle or as aggressive as your playing style.
that's why I prefer their passive pups, if you add a pre amp or active pups you lose the subtlety.
nothing wrong with using pre amps or pedals but a P bass certainly doesn't need them.

 

[dougjwray]

This and a good setup will get you a long way towards what you are after. Also learning how to mix your mids will help as well. What kind of amp do you play? If you tell us that we can chime in with some EQ suggestions.

But one other thing to consider is this (and it really comes with maturing as a musician to me). The beauty of a P bass is that is sits IN A MIX better than many other tones. It really doesn't shine when you are playing by yourself. So you need to learn to listen for a tone that is similar to the recorded tone you are after and go for that. But be prepared to be a bit unimpressed with that very same tone when you are practicing by yourself. It's the nature of bass. The tone that fits in the band is probably not the best "solo" tone out there. So don't try to squeeze your favorite tone into the band. Try to squeeze the best tone for the band into your practice.

The fact that you are asking questions is a real positive. Be patient. Many of us have spent DECADES trying to find "that tone".

^ Perfect.

 

[petrus61]

The setup and string change comments are on the right track, but it may just simply be that the particular pup in OP's bass isn't cutting it in the tone department. While I agree that a simple split coil P pickup and passive wiring is pretty much idiot proof, there are slight variances from pickup to pickup. I didn't think my first Classic 50's Precision couldn't possibly sound any better until I installed a Lindy Fralin stock wind. Stock, it did everything a good P-bass should. After the upgrade, it did everything better: more articulation, capable growl and super low-mid presence. Point being, yes, there are lots of things a setup and strings can improve on a bass, but electronics isn't one of them. I used to own a couple Squier VM5 Jazz's and while throwing on better quality strings more suited to my tastes definitely improved them, at the end of the day there was no getting around the generic, stale tone (IMO) of its pickups. If I ever get another, from experience, the first and probably only thing I would change would be the pickups. Sometimes all it takes is new strings and a setup. Other times a different pickup will serve it better.