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P-Bass - Good or Bad???
- Thread starter phillipkregg
- Start date
All P-basses don't sound the same. 80% of the tone is coming out of the amp and the rest from the pickup. The bass itself don't do that much. I run a seymore duncan 1/4 pounder pickup and for me its about the best I've heard it sound........
Advice? spend most of your money on the amp.
Advice? spend most of your money on the amp.
P if good pups and good preamp with them will have the clank but not the muddy boom associated with them. They wont sit as unnoticed in the mix as most J or soapbar equipted basses. But they can still sound very good in the mix without much fuss. Of course most any bass can also sound bland and weak in the mix to if not eq'd well.
Dissing Pearl Jam covering The Who, huh?
Rock n Roll must've just flown right over your head.
JazznFunk
Supporting Member
Flatwounds can cure all 'clank' for the most part... I love Jazz Basses as much as the next guy, and 2-pickup basses are more useful to me overall. But dang it that big, fat, warm P-Bass tone just WORKS, y'know? Puts a big pillow underneath the whole band. I personally prefer a fretless P-Bass, which further reduces 'clank'.
I use to dislike the P bass myself, which is odd because now I own 8 of them. they're obviously my favorite bass now. It was Rob Wright from NoMeansNo that made me realize that a Pre is the most aggressive and beautiful bass tone I've ever heard.
This is the tone I think of when I think of P Bass:
Obviously I wasn't raised on classic P Tone music; with the flat and the string mutes and the black people. giggle.
Obviously I wasn't raised on classic P Tone music; with the flat and the string mutes and the black people. giggle.
Sounds good. The boom is actually very helpful, and the pickup location is awesome. It's actually balanced, not muddy, nor thin.
For me, the P bass basic tone is my "reference" bass tone. I wish I had one P bass proper. I added a bridge humbucker to my P clone with extremely good results. But if I had to choose ONE pickup, it would be the P, on its proper location.
You don't have to like it, OP, but it's an awesome bass with an iconic great tone. A jazz bass is good , but compared to the P, I would take the P every time.
For me, the P bass basic tone is my "reference" bass tone. I wish I had one P bass proper. I added a bridge humbucker to my P clone with extremely good results. But if I had to choose ONE pickup, it would be the P, on its proper location.
You don't have to like it, OP, but it's an awesome bass with an iconic great tone. A jazz bass is good , but compared to the P, I would take the P every time.
I play a P with a pick and rounds and roll off the tone to about 7 and it takes away the unwanted clank for me. A lot of it has to do with your rig though. The clank is very present with my Yorkville but with my SVT it's basically gone unless I get uncontrolled.
Ok, ok... I'm feelin this.
Good sound here - but is it modded? A custom shop model like someone suggested earlier?
I admit - I like what he's doin here. Good warm tone - even a good slap sound (which you don't see that often on a P).
I may be slowly warming up to this stuff.
But I still don't know if I like it as much as my jazz.
It's not so much the recorded sound of the P that I was talking about. It's the live sound.
I've heard a lot of good P bass sounds in the studio, but then again a studio can make Ashley Simpson sound like a singer.
Knowhatimean?
My big problem with them is feel. I started learning on Ibanez SRs which have very thin necks. When ever I pick up a P-Bass the neck feels like a log.
As far as sound wise, they sound okay, but unless it has a P/J or the deluxes that had a P/humbucker, I'm probably not going to touch them because I can't stand single pickup basses.
Also because of the fact that the majority of P Basses having one pick up, they have a very generic sound. Thats not to say they aren't versatile, because they can be used for almost anything, but at the same time, in my mind and ear they're almost never quite perfect, always a close approximation.
Thats kind of it really. I just can't get past the feel and the single pickup design of most of them.
That said, they can be awesome.
As far as sound wise, they sound okay, but unless it has a P/J or the deluxes that had a P/humbucker, I'm probably not going to touch them because I can't stand single pickup basses.
Also because of the fact that the majority of P Basses having one pick up, they have a very generic sound. Thats not to say they aren't versatile, because they can be used for almost anything, but at the same time, in my mind and ear they're almost never quite perfect, always a close approximation.
Thats kind of it really. I just can't get past the feel and the single pickup design of most of them.
That said, they can be awesome.
Pino is a great player - no doubt. But look at that SVT rig behind him!
You could staple a rubber band to an ironing board and it would would sound great through that.
I had a great feeling that this was going to be a vid of Pino
Man! you GOTTA be a P.Player. That's a great compliment bro. Thanks
