P Bass..... it just works!

[SmokinJoe992]

I have played Jazz basses and Ibanez SR's for the majority of the time I have been playing. I just assumed I would not like P basses with their thicker necks and limited tones. So, I never really tried one. I recently got a good deal on a Fender Classic Series Precision and thought I would give it a try. I played it alone at home and liked the neck way more than I thought I would, but didn't think much of the tone. A few days later I took it to band practice and that is when the true revelation occurred. I have never played a bass that sounded better with a live band. The term "cutting through the mix" all of a sudden meant something to me. The tone that I didn't think much of playing at home alone all of a sudden came alive. I have played 6 shows with it over the last two months and have loved the way it sounded at each one. I have begun to sell off my other basses and am already GASing hard for a good 5 string Pbass.

 

[Pbassmanca]

It may be interesting and worthwhile to note that the soloed neck pickup of my American Original '60s Jazz Bass is equal to the middiest and crispiest of the P basses with the tone full on...
A good jazz bass, and that particular model is a good jazz bass indeed, can be quite versatile tone wise ... I own 3 P basses as well however

I was just going to post this but you beat me to it Gianni! A lot of people neglect favouring the neck pickup on a Jazz bass whether live or in a recording situation, but there are a lot of thick, punchy, tones and useful midrange contained therein.

 

[gelinas666]

A P Bass is always my goto.. I'll bring 2 to 3 basses to headlining shows and it'll be a P Bass + 2(Jazz,Ricky,SG,Warwick,T-Bird etc..) In the studio,a P and a J Bass cover my bases...

 

[PJ Muzikmansky]

It sure does...

 

[Rib 13]

I was just going to post this but you beat me to it Gianni! A lot of people neglect favouring the neck pickup on a Jazz bass whether live or in a recording situation, but there are a lot of thick, punchy, tones and useful midrange contained therein.

It may be interesting and worthwhile to note that the soloed neck pickup of my American Original '60s Jazz Bass is equal to the middiest and crispiest of the P basses with the tone full on...
A good jazz bass, and that particular model is a good jazz bass indeed, can be quite versatile tone wise

Agreed......Most bass players are of the "set-it-and-forget-it-variety" , choosing to vary tonalities with techniques, outboard fx, and finger positioning....With that said, I do all those but I also prefer multi-pickup basses and will switch voicings around much like Toto's Steve Lukather on guitar....... My G&L ASAT, with that front pickup soloed in Series Mode, is one of the best P-basses around. My Sire V7 does a pretty good P-Bass emulation well too by soloing that pickup (no buzz either) and using the preamp EQ for extra thickness. I dont need a single split pickup P-Bass in my arsenal because I have basses that will do that sound (and do more) so, for me, is just a waste of money.........Edit: Im not a hater, just practical with my personal needs
...........but everyones mileage will vary and all dat shizz

 

[lermgalieu]

Funny how that is huh? Kinda like a Telecaster. Simple but they just seem to work.

Yep. My main basses are Ps and my only electric guitar is a telecaster. I’m clearly not into knob-twiddling

 

[MaxSpinrun]

Maybe for you bro, I like J's

+1. I’m with you J bass!

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

I love Precision basses. Especially good ones.

 

[martin1961]

I have a Standard p (since three weeks) and a Cort Arona. Although the Cort is more versatile, I like the plain sound of the p. Nothing can beat that sound imho.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

I was just going to post this but you beat me to it Gianni! A lot of people neglect favouring the neck pickup on a Jazz bass whether live or in a recording situation, but there are a lot of thick, punchy, tones and useful midrange contained therein.

You’re right @Pbassmanca ... I realised it with this bass ... less bass drive maybe but if you want to go for frying mids there’s a lot of Growl there

 

[Mediocrity Man]

I'll always have at least one in my collection. Love em!

 

[darwin-bass]

For years I ran my Jazz on just the neck pickup. Swapped the pickups for split-coil humbuckers so I could run just the neck with no hum. Looking back I realized I was really looking for a P tone all along.

Now I have 2 basses; P and MM which replaced the J. Both are J necks, mind you, on p-ish bodies (Warmoth stuff).

Like the old spiritual song says, "no turning back, no turning back".

 

[Chrisk-K]

There is a reason why the P is the most recorded and the best selling bass in history.

 

[bassliner50]

No need to try to convince me. I have 6 P-basses. Over the decades I used a plethora of basses. Came back to the Precision. Easy to live with, affordable and sounds and responds very well in my hands for all genres. However, I have installed the P-pickup of my choice in each. Parts available everywhere, no unnecessary bells and whistles, easy peasy, best resale values, iconic look and history, always sounds great, perfect work horse. I am satisfied.

 

[JakobT]

The simplicity of the P-bass holds great appeal for me. Also the ease with which you can get a good tone.

 

[GretschWretch]

Because I was very small in my teen years I had to play short-scale basses and thereby developed a taste for non-Fender sounds (I was past thirty before I got my first Precision). Since then I have had many basses of various types and various brands, but lately I find myself gravitating back toward Ps, because I have realized that I don't necessarily *have* to like a bass sound at nearly seventy just because I was crazy about it in my teens, twenties, or thirties. I've moved on from getting what I want to just settling for what I need . . . and what i need appears to be a Precision.

 

[ProgressiveDoom]

My daughter asked me to do a bass line for her new original that she is recording for a school project. It's a very jazzy feel of a song so i thought I'd try it with my fretless jazz bass. Did one take with both pickups on full, then did a take with just the bridge pickup to try for that buurpy mwah tone. With both of these takes i tried quite a bit of eq-ing after the fact but they both disappeared in the mix with only an acoustic guitar and vocal track to compete with.

I grabbed my Pbass with flats and did a take with a pick and it is definitely the best of the three takes. Even sounds more like an upright tone on the walking line than the fretless.

Ok, I'm just a novice when it comes to recording and i love the sound of my fretless in the lounge room, but i was still surprised how much better the P sounded on the recording.

Im not surprised at all.

 

[Hundred proof]

When you're a J-bass guy at heart ... but know you need a P-bass

 

[Krisfield]

I have a AM Pro P Bass strung with DR Hi Beams. Just an amazing instrument to record with. Planning to get another P stung with flats for more of a vintage tone.

 

[Ellery]

Yes I'ma believer. Having only modern style basses, I bought a quality P bass (G&L LB-100) thinking it would be a one trick pony. Instead the playability and different tones blew me away.