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P-Bass - Good or Bad???
- Thread starter phillipkregg
- Start date
Check out "The Strat Pack" dvd (celebrating the 50th anniv. of the strat. Pino plays his P. thru another great "Ashdown" rig. He's the House Bassist for the evening.The man sure knows a rig - not to mention GROOVE.
T
tifftunes
Guest
Take away the bridge p'up from a Jazz bass, and there's very little difference between a Jazz and a Precision bass, with sole the exception of hum, since their respective p'ups are placed in exactly the same "harmonic" position (flame suit on).
A Precision bass has a single coil p'up (like the Jazz), split in half, and wired out of phase to cancel hum. This reduces each half of the pickup's response to the other half's strings (which you might be able to hear if you are under the age if 15).
While it is true that if the set-up has the p'up too close to (or too far from) the strings, that's detrimental to the sound. Otherwise, 80% of your sound comes from your fingers, and how you play it.
I can make both my P and J sound like my (humbucker equipped) Hofner (the Hofner NEVER sounds like a Fender however), or each other. Single coil J neck (middle, actually) p'ups will have nearly an identical sound when compared to a P...
The biggest differences are body shape, and neck shape. Neither of which have a bearing upon the sound.
Personally, I prefer the P body, and Jazz neck... The Jazz p'ups get in the way of picking, for me, and the Jazz neck feels better than the P neck, to me...
Then I pick up my Hofner for a killer sound!!
A Precision bass has a single coil p'up (like the Jazz), split in half, and wired out of phase to cancel hum. This reduces each half of the pickup's response to the other half's strings (which you might be able to hear if you are under the age if 15).
While it is true that if the set-up has the p'up too close to (or too far from) the strings, that's detrimental to the sound. Otherwise, 80% of your sound comes from your fingers, and how you play it.
I can make both my P and J sound like my (humbucker equipped) Hofner (the Hofner NEVER sounds like a Fender however), or each other. Single coil J neck (middle, actually) p'ups will have nearly an identical sound when compared to a P...
The biggest differences are body shape, and neck shape. Neither of which have a bearing upon the sound.
Personally, I prefer the P body, and Jazz neck... The Jazz p'ups get in the way of picking, for me, and the Jazz neck feels better than the P neck, to me...
Then I pick up my Hofner for a killer sound!!
T
tifftunes
Guest
Take away the bridge p'up from a Jazz bass, and there's very little difference between a Jazz and a Precision bass, with sole the exception of hum, since their respective p'ups are placed in exactly the same "harmonic" position (flame suit on).
A Precision bass has a single coil p'up (like the Jazz), split in half, and wired out of phase to cancel hum. This reduces each half of the pickup's response to the other half's strings (which you might be able to hear if you are under the age if 15).
While it is true that if the set-up has the p'up too close to (or too far from) the strings, that's detrimental to the sound. Otherwise, 80% of your sound comes from your fingers, and how you play it.
I can make both my P and J sound like my (humbucker equipped) Hofner (the Hofner NEVER sounds like a Fender however), or each other. Single coil J neck (middle, actually) p'ups will have nearly an identical sound when compared to a P...
The biggest differences are body shape, and neck shape. Neither of which have a bearing upon the sound.
Personally, I prefer the P body, and Jazz neck... The Jazz p'ups get in the way of picking, for me, and the Jazz neck feels better than the P neck, to me...
Then I pick up my Hofner for a killer sound!!
A Precision bass has a single coil p'up (like the Jazz), split in half, and wired out of phase to cancel hum. This reduces each half of the pickup's response to the other half's strings (which you might be able to hear if you are under the age if 15).
While it is true that if the set-up has the p'up too close to (or too far from) the strings, that's detrimental to the sound. Otherwise, 80% of your sound comes from your fingers, and how you play it.
I can make both my P and J sound like my (humbucker equipped) Hofner (the Hofner NEVER sounds like a Fender however), or each other. Single coil J neck (middle, actually) p'ups will have nearly an identical sound when compared to a P...
The biggest differences are body shape, and neck shape. Neither of which have a bearing upon the sound.
Personally, I prefer the P body, and Jazz neck... The Jazz p'ups get in the way of picking, for me, and the Jazz neck feels better than the P neck, to me...
Then I pick up my Hofner for a killer sound!!
How many of you have seen Pino live though? He's a great player, but he is the definition of overly obese tones with absolutely no definition.
You have to be really cool to start threads on talkbass about basses you don't care for.
Such a service, maybe you can save the next generation from foolishly following the P.
Such a service, maybe you can save the next generation from foolishly following the P.
Dissing Pearl Jam covering The Who, huh?
Rock n Roll must've just flown right over your head.
Not dissing anyone or anything , just voicing an honest opinion. but if this song would stand as a sole representation for either rock n roll or pearl jam we'd have heard of neither I recon.
I have nothing against either, but this song is poor IMHO ( but easy to pull off if you have to fill some time with little time to rehearse the material)
couldn't give a crap what anyone else thinks about my sound, quite honestly. most of my p's have a j pickup just so i can get the jazz bass sound when i need it (can't use jazz basses anymore because my shoulder won't take it), but most of the time i use just the p pickup because it sounds awesome.
+1
Since last year, Jeff's sound has much improved, IMO.
(since he uses more P-basses and his T-birds)
it's been my experience that they usually are. however, that's a generalization and i'm sure someone will now point out different jazz basses that weigh less than your average precision. but that's been my experience, and it's the sole reason i sold this primo 98 jazz bass i used to have.
man, i hated the color (sage green metallic), but i loved that bass so much. of everything i ever sold, that's the one thing i actually regretted selling. but my shoulder couldn't take it anymore...i would have giant headaches after every gig. even using wide padded straps didn't help.
If you decide to pursue music as a career, it definitely helps to have the right medium. Like it or not, many sessions/bandleaders/producers/engineers will prefer or require the use and sound of a P-bass. It's always good to have a solid one in your arsenal; I mean it is essentially the sound that changed music forever!
Man, that is rugged! I deal with post-gig pain a lot. I also deal with headaches a lot. Knowing the two are unrelated in my case is comforting. I can't imagine what you went through, that's tough.
I've been dabbling in part-time P-bass this summer. The most important things I've learned so far are:
#1)good posture is important with a heavy bass.
#2)there are bumps, humps and valleys that can allow a P-bass to cut and/or support a mix at a relatively lower perceived volume than many other basses.
thanks, but i'm just as sympathetic to your plight. pain is pain no matter where it comes from, bro. but at least i was able to alleviate most of it between switching to a lighter bass and a fatter strap, mostly the lighter bass. getting headaches is tough no matter where they come from.
btw, good posture with the bass is probably my downfall. for some reason, i always slump when i put a bass on. maybe it's trying to compensate. i'll try to work on that...thx for the tip.
My natural position is an inward forward "slump", especially when I'm "feeling it". With a perfectly balanced, 9lb bass it's not an issue, with other basses(my P bass)it's painful, to the point of being intolerable! For some reason keeping my back straight and chest forward feels very "douche" to me Jimmy, but I'm forcing myself to adapt this almost military like posture. Not only do I love playing bass, but it puts food on table so it's a survival thing at this point.
same here. i do try to avoid the douche look, though i don't think good posture makes for the douche look. if anything, i probably look douchier slumped over.
Can't argue with any of that, but as far as the last statement I'd guess if your comfortable and your not a "dush" than you're probably coming across alright because you're doing your best work.
In my case, I think my form comes from slumping over a DB in my earlier years.
