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P-Bass Opinions

GregBass1979

GregBass1979

Supporting Member
Feb 26, 2008
1,013
314
Fullerton, Ca
#1
I certainly know it's all subjective and a matter of opinion so I will take in all your responses and weigh them out. Two fold question here but,

A) what do you Precision Bass guys think the best sounding Precision Bass was either old or new and

B) If you were going to recommend a solid well built P-Bass to someone whose played Jazz Basses all their life who wants to change up their sound and is on somewhat of a budget, which new or used should I be looking for that will deliver strong sustain and awesome traditional P sound?

Thanks!
 
#3
Well... I personally think the best sounding "P" bass of all time is any P bass with a rosewood fretboard and and a hot pickup. I really like the Duncan SPB-4, EMG Geezer and Dimarzio DP122 (Model P.) They all have a very pronounced mid bump.

I personally like, and tend to like the tone regardless of where and what context of a P/J. Think Duff McKagan from Guns & VR.

What's your budget? On under $500 I'd honestly say try to find a Squier CV '60s. Skip MIM standards, IMO. You could also go with a Yamaha BB424. They're very good value. G&L tributes are good too.

A lot of the MIM artist and classic models are good. I like the Duff bass and the Roger Waters one a lot. The '50s Road Word basses are really special in terms of how well they play and feel for what you pay for them. If you have a grand and want more of a standard P bass get a used American Standard. I'm guessing somewhat of a budget isn't over 1000 USD so I'll stop there.
 
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#4
The best sounding P to me is Bobby Vega's which I think is a 60s model.

The Geezer Butler EMG pickup is modeled after it. It's the best sounding traditional P pickup ever IMO. It's slightly hotter and has a mid bark to it compared to a 50s P pickup.

As far as a recommendation it depends on how flexible you are. Are P necks too chunky for you? How about those vintage P necks that are wider at 1.75"?

What about sound? Are you looking for a warmer traditional P tone or do you want to move a little bit away from a Jazz sound towards a P sound? I.e. Do you want to keep some brightness, or sacrifice it for more mids?

The best value traditional sounding P out there in my opinion is the Fender Classic Series 50s lacquer Precision because it's high quality, vintage specs and comes with a hardshell case for 900 bucks.

The main problem with the 50s P would be the wide neck but it isn't thick front to back like those vintage baseball bat necks. The fretboard radius is pretty round with shorter frets so the reaching doesn't seem to fatigue the hand as much.
 
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#6
ezstep said:
Just my opinion, but I have owned both Fender P and G&L SB-1. I still have the SB-1 (1988). That would be my choice. You can still find them floating around at times. Great basses. Huge sound.
Click to expand...

I am formerly a Jazz bass player for over a decade and I switched to a SB-1. My SB-1 is my main player now.

It's got a Jazz bass neck on it. With the smaller profile body and brighter sounding pickups it's not hard to adjust to from a Jazz bass.

They sound awesome. Like a P with more highs and oomph. The tone knob brings it back nicely to normal P territory. It has a very useful tone knob.

Ps sound fine slapped but seem to miss that pop to it that a Jazz bass has. A SB-1 doesn't have that problem.
 
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#7
Catbuster said:
Well... I personally think the best sounding "P" bass of all time is any P bass with a rosewood fretboard and and a hot pickup. I really like the Duncan SPB-4, EMG Geezer and Dimarzio DP122 (Model P.) They all have a very pronounced mid bump.

I personally like, and tend to like the tone regardless of where and what context of a P/J. Think Duff McKagan from Guns & VR.

What's your budget? On under $500 I'd honestly say try to find a Squier CV '60s. Skip MIM standards, IMO. You could also go with a Yamaha BB424. They're very good value. G&L tributes are good too.

A lot of the MIM artist and classic models are good. I like the Duff bass and the Roger Waters one a lot. The '50s Road Word basses are really special in terms of how well they play and feel for what you pay for them. If you have a grand and want more of a standard P bass get a used American Standard. I'm guessing somewhat of a budget isn't over 1000 USD so I'll stop there.
Click to expand...

Are the 50's road worns MIM or Standard? I REALLY gas for one of those with a maple neck and beige pickgaurd. Budget would definitely be under $500 for sure. I played a Squire 60's (black body and maple neck) today at GC and fell in love with it at a low volume level, I can only imagine what it's really capable of. I appreciate your opinion and help!
 
#8
Antisyzygy said:
The best sounding P to me is Bobby Vega's which I think is a 60s model.

The Geezer Butler EMG pickup is modeled after it. It's the best sounding traditional P pickup ever IMO. It's slightly hotter and has a mid bark to it compared to a 50s P pickup.

As far as a recommendation it depends on how flexible you are. Are P necks too chunky for you? How about those vintage P necks that are wider at 1.75"?

What about sound? Are you looking for a warmer traditional P tone or do you want to move a little bit away from a Jazz sound towards a P sound? I.e. Do you want to keep some brightness, or sacrifice it for more mids?

The best value traditional sounding P out there in my opinion is the Fender Classic Series 50s lacquer Precision because it's high quality, vintage specs and comes with a hardshell case for 900 bucks.

The main problem with the 50s P would be the wide neck but it isn't thick front to back like those vintage baseball bat necks. The fretboard radius is pretty round with shorter frets so the reaching doesn't seem to fatigue the hand as much.
Click to expand...

Yeah actually that Squire VM 60's I played today almost has too wide of a neck but it played and sounded so awesome. If I put a jazz neck on it would it lose it's "P" sound at all? OR..what has a thinner neck you'd recommend?
 
#9
Best sounding P bass? That's a crapshoot and a matter of personal taste. I have owned from early 70's Fenders to ones made since 2000. It's all up to you and your ears. I prefer Fenders but have played other brands of P basses that were great.
Today my best all time best playing and sounding P bass is a E series Squier modded and tweaked by me using Fender parts and Duncan pups. I have less than 300 bucks in her and it's a dream P bass.
 
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#10
Only one I've owned in recent memory (had a budget one 20 years ago) is a Nash PB63. The other Nash ones I've played at Mesa Hollywood are consistently good. I've played other types of P bass that were very nice. I've played other ones that I didn't care for.

The same has been true for other brands and models. Time to hit the road and kick some tires. Everybody makes the occasional Friday afternoon lemon, and even a blind squirrel finds an occasional nut.
 
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#11
GregBass1979 said:
Yeah actually that Squire VM 60's I played today almost has too wide of a neck but it played and sounded so awesome. If I put a jazz neck on it would it lose it's "P" sound at all? OR..what has a thinner neck you'd recommend?
Click to expand...

The neck size shouldn't have a great impact. Others might disagree.

You could try one of these : Fender Special Edition Deluxe PJ Bass

It will have a Jazz bass neck. If you turn the bridge pickup volume down you have a P tone. It might be easier to adjust to as well coming from a Jazz bass. Then at least you have a bridge pickup if it's not bright enough for you.

I used to play a Jazz bass for a long time. What I did when I was branching out and "discovering" Ps, is eventually switch to a G&L SB-1 that had a Jazz profile/width neck on it already. I found a used one. I like it because it's brighter than most P basses but it still gets a P bass tone. It's a happy medium for me, I got used to some brightness from my Jazz bass days.

G&Ls come with different neck sizes since they're custom orders. G&L is a Leo Fender company from his later years.
 
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#12
Antisyzygy said:
The neck size shouldn't have a great impact. Others might disagree.

You could try one of these : Fender Special Edition Deluxe PJ Bass

It will have a Jazz bass neck. If you turn the bridge pickup volume down you have a P tone. It might be easier to adjust to as well coming from a Jazz bass. Then at least you have a bridge pickup if it's not bright enough for you.

I used to play a Jazz bass for a long time. What I did when I was branching out and "discovering" Ps, is eventually switch to a G&L SB-1 that had a Jazz profile/width neck on it already. I found a used one. I like it because it's brighter than most P basses but it still gets a P bass tone. It's a happy medium for me, I got used to some brightness from my Jazz bass days.

G&Ls come with different neck sizes since they're custom orders. G&L is a Leo Fender company from his later years.
Click to expand...

Yeah I just looked at some SB-1 videos on Youtube and didn't care for the sound, it's almost too bright. I am looking for more the flat wound/Jamerson type tone. This Bobby Vega video nails it...
 
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#13
I was on a bit of a P-Bass quest recently and ended up playing every fender or squier p in the four bigger local stores.
By far the best sounding to me was an American vintage '62 (reissue), the very wide and flat neck wasn't comfortable though and I find the reverse tuners annoying.
Next best was a US standard P-Bass but everything from squier to that us standard was pretty close in tone.
That '62 really stood out sound wise compared to everything else.
 
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#14
GregBass1979 said:
Yeah I just looked at some SB-1 videos on Youtube and didn't care for the sound, it's almost too bright. I am looking for more the flat wound/Jamerson type tone. This Bobby Vega video nails it...
Click to expand...


Gotcha. Yep, that's the EMG Geezer pickup tone, or rather it's trying to approximate that I think. I love that sound. When I think of a perfectly EQ'd rock bass tone, it's that tone exactly but with roundwounds.

I guess it really boils down to the neck you want then. If you have to have the Jazz neck I can't think of any P basses with a Jazz neck that are less than your 500 USD budget I just saw you mentioned earlier. I think the Squier PJs have the thicker P necks.

If the P neck isn't a concern for you then you have a lot of options. A EMG Geezer would be a cheap mod for a Squier, and Squiers are decent. You could also find some used MIMs for under your budget.

You could buy a Squier P and then throw a EMG Geezer and a Jazz neck on it. There are parts available on Ebay as well if you want to do it ala-carte and build a parts bass. It would get the tone you want with that pickup.

That Indonesian stuff is great these days, Vintage Modified line I believe. I'd stick with that. Come to think of it, I've tried a lot of really great Indonesian instruments lately. From Ibanez, Sterling and Squier.
 
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#18
I had a Fender Roadworn P Bass and it was a great bass. After a time I found the neck to be too wide for my tastes. I had been playing a Jazz for a long time. Fender necks used to come in 3 widths. A, B and C. A being narrow like a Jazz and C being wide. I think most newer P basses these days have the equivalent of a B neck. You really need to play a bunch of them to find one you like. If you can find a used Roadworn P with a Roadworn Jazz neck or an older P with a A neck you might like that. I have a Yamaha Attitude P bass that I use these days and I like it a lot. The neck is not as narrow as a Jazz but slightly smaller that a regular P bass neck
 
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