P-Bass w/ Flats.. first experience

[ThePoloHobo]

Had my jazz in for a setup and my guitarist said he'd let me borrow his bass he had never mentioned. Turned out to be an Affinity P, '01 or so. I threw some flats I had laying around on it....

and I'm madly in love with this sound! I must own a P bass now. I never liked the sound of a P, but I never played one with flats! This one happens to be a gem of a Squier, sets up well.

Anyway, now I am on the hunt for a P bass around $500, but not necessarily a Fender, suggestions? The bass must have the exact P-bass spacing.. I've read a lot of P/J's have the pickup in a different position. I don't really need the bridge pickup anyway.

 

[JACink]

Offer to buy the guitarists P cheap, if you liked it.

If not, then check out other Squiers, you can get a great bass for a lot less than $500, same goes for ESP ltd.

 

[AndreasK]

Just got my 1st P with flats to. Loving it! My jazz is left for detuning and doesn´t get much daylight I got a Squier Matt Freeman, after reading good things about it here. Couldn´t be happier
Also comes in black. But i dig the aged white.

Squier Matt freeman

• AndreasK
• Jan 26, 2015

Straight from the box

 

[jd56hawk]

Crazy, I just bought my first P bass yesterday ($399) and since the store has about a half dozen sets of Guild Flat Bass strings (D'Addarios) that've been sitting in storage since the 70s and they're selling them for $14.95, I'm going with flats, too.

 

[ThePoloHobo]

I'm really liking the CV or Matt Freeman P.. I suppose I'll not worry about what it says on the headstock. If it sounds good, it is good!
And mostly because I love the look of maple fretboards and there doesnt seem to be many MiM's with maple.

 

[ThePoloHobo]

While this Affinity P sounds good, the pg is cracked around the jack and the tuning machines are crap.

 

[mojomike001]

Go to Guitar Center used online and find a nice Mexican Fender P for about 300.

 

[Shawn Luckman]

My new American standard precision,with Fender 9050L flatwounds love it. For the first time in 27 years I've bought/owned flatwound strings, and that's all I want on this bass now
.

 

[AndreasK]

I'm really liking the CV or Matt Freeman P.. I suppose I'll not worry about what it says on the headstock. If it sounds good, it is good!
And mostly because I love the look of maple fretboards and there doesnt seem to be many MiM's with maple.

Yeah, I too had worries about headstock appearance But heard so much good about newer "high end" Squier's I decided not to brother. Not a huge fan of Sig basses either, but MF is a great player, so I'm ok with that too Couldnt be happier

 

[Icculus]

Once I fell in love with the P/flats combo, I gained a completely new perspective on what I want bass to sound like.

 

[Icculus]

Yeah, I too had worries about headstock appearance But heard so much good about newer "high end" Squier's I decided not to brother. Not a huge fan of Sig basses either, but MF is a great player, so I'm ok with that too Couldnt be happier

Hey if it looks good and you play it well, people won't even think to look at it.

 

[Garret Graves]

Hey if it looks good and you play it well, people won't even think to look at it.

No shortage of people that judge gear prior hearing though.

 

[Icculus]

No shortage of people that judge gear prior hearing though.

Yeah it's unfortunate. Thankfully there are guys like this who can rip on a modded Squire and change the minds of some of those people.

VULFPECK /// Beastly - YouTube

 

[ROOTSnFIFTHS]

Squier Classic Vibe. Plays/sound WAY better than the price tag, IMO. Flats make a difference for sure. I have a 2013 American Standard which was just ok until I recently put a set of old Sadowsky Black Label flats on them. That bass get picked up most times nowadays.

 

[superdick2112]

No shortage of musicians that judge gear prior hearing though.

Fixed it for you!

 

[KickingBass]

The LTD vintage 214 is cheaper than a MIM P and it has the same woods plus a j pickup in the bridge.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

If it ain't a Fender, it ain't a P. This sounds like: My car was in the shop so I borrowed by friend Chevy. Never drove a Chevy before, now I gotta get one. Doesn't have to be a Chey, though.
If you like a P, get a P. I been loving then since 1967.

 

[ThePoloHobo]

If it ain't a Fender, it ain't a P. This sounds like: My car was in the shop so I borrowed by friend Chevy. Never drove a Chevy before, now I gotta get one. Doesn't have to be a Chey, though.
If you like a P, get a P. I been loving then since 1967.

lol this analogy is a little extreme. Basses can be much more similar in look, sound and feel from brand-to-brand than cars. I like the sound of the split coil pickup in that particular position.. its been duplicated with good results. A lot.

Might actually go with a custom build. Or the CV 70's. Not sure yet. Unless a maple MiM pops up.

 

[electracoyote]

After playing with rounds exclusively for decades, the first time I slapped a set of flats on a P Bass, I played the damn thing for about 4 hours straight. The sun went down and I missed my dinner.

It's like rediscovering your love for an instrument. I played everything I could think of twice and it all sounded fresh and new.

Nothing like a brand new useful tone in your palette, and probably the cheapest and least labor-intensive way to get it.

These days, new or used, you can get a whole lot of Fender Precision for $500.00. Good luck with it, and enjoy!

 

[sharkbait130]

I have 4 basses that all have split coil pups. Two are Fender P's , one Ibanez and one Cort. All but the Cort have Chromes on them and they all sound different , even the two P's which BTW look identical. In all my years of playing I have only had one person express a preference for any one bass and he plays in three bands with me and is very familiar with three of the basses. Other than that , I could play any one of them at a gig and except for the guitar player , no one would care. Both the guitar player and I have a preference for one of the P's and I usually take the other one as a back up.