I can usually get as low as I need to go with the unclasped E string on my Kubicki, but yep, even detuned an additional step down to C, Uptown Funk really begs for an actual B string. Same for Sledgehammer IMO.
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P basses were meant to be 4 string
- Thread starter Al Krow
- Start date
Picking up on a few of your posts:
@squarepeg amp = DG AO 900, cab = Barefaced SC
@instrumentalist - yeah definitely worth my exploring a string change, I've just been enjoying the "played in" tone of my strings, but maybe it's time to switch them over. New strings on order!
I've owned the bass from new (managed to get it as end of line a couple of years back) and not changed the pups.
@stingray69 - totally agree with you that the Yammy pups generally pack a punch.
@Mushroo - really liked your point about overtones. Fyi - there was no turning up the volume change when changing pup, I've balanced my P and J pup heights so that they are pretty close to each other volume wise with everything else equal.
@squarepeg amp = DG AO 900, cab = Barefaced SC
@instrumentalist - yeah definitely worth my exploring a string change, I've just been enjoying the "played in" tone of my strings, but maybe it's time to switch them over. New strings on order!
I've owned the bass from new (managed to get it as end of line a couple of years back) and not changed the pups.
@stingray69 - totally agree with you that the Yammy pups generally pack a punch.
@Mushroo - really liked your point about overtones. Fyi - there was no turning up the volume change when changing pup, I've balanced my P and J pup heights so that they are pretty close to each other volume wise with everything else equal.
I have no complaints on low B-string notes with any of my PJ's, including with flats, though none are Fenders. While Mr. Fender certainly deserves acclaim and credit for his pioneering work to bring electric bass to the masses, I do not view him as some mystical, Nostradamus-like entity that was developing an electric bass while encapsulated in a fog of future-revealing mist as he tried to cosmically project his intent to future musicians about how he would have wanted us to do things. He was in the right place at the right time and was able to bring a successful new product to market at that time. Lots of technology has changed since then and some manufacturers have done better than others keeping current.
It's the Jam. The video shows him using a P5, but he's got several in his arsenal, including a Geddy 
Hard to say what he used for the actual audio recording. The Jam knows. He does have effects available, including an EBS octave pedal. Apparently he also plays bass synth of some sort. Could be part of what you're hearing on Uptown Funk.
Hard to say what he used for the actual audio recording. The Jam knows. He does have effects available, including an EBS octave pedal. Apparently he also plays bass synth of some sort. Could be part of what you're hearing on Uptown Funk.
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I had a Fender American P5 for a while--one of the earliest ones they made, passive, single P pu. Had a pretty solid B string, sonically at least. Listening to recordings with it, the low B sounded integrated--sounded like a P. It just didn't feel that way when playing it, for me at least, so I let it go. The B felt like an awkward extra appendage on that bass. Never tried anything other than the stock strings on it admittedly, but ultimately it just didn't feel quite right so off it went. Other fivers had a much more balanced feel to me, like my L2500s, or of course, a Dingwall I had for a while (but that's a whole nuther story...)
Yep!I've played down tuned Pbass' for years without any issue. But if the j worked ....go with it.
It's all in the hands.
...and the mind
It's the Jam. The video shows him using a P5, but he's got several in his arsenal, including a Geddy
View attachment 3640081
Wow. That was one boooring song!
Never heard it before. To me, parts of it sounds more than a synth bass than anything else. There is a certain "slickness" to all those glissandos that makes it sound weird, IMHO. All the rest of the playing sounds like a regular bass, to me.
Quato and Jaco in the same post......MIND BLOWN!!!
I'm sure that's true, in the sense that it didn't even occur to him to go lower than low E because upright basses (normally) have four strings, not because it couldn't work. Then when he added the split coil pickup it was to a bass that already had four strings.
Can't the two coils be the same length by having whichever side covers only two strings extend past the strings?
- Apr 15, 2010
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Al mentioned above he uses Barefaced SC (Super Compact) cab which is a top of the food chain in cabinets' world. It's a very articulate and full sounding cab.
Mike lull has definitely overcome any tonal shortcomings in the 5 string P bass- His 35” scale P basses... they are killer & have a monstrous low B string.
I like p-basses. I like my Fender P5. I don't like dogmatic statements about what is "correct". Something either works for you or it doesn't. If it doesn't, that's OK.
