it depends I guess on what style of music your playing the most...I play mostly theatre, standards, oldies style shows. I have a few basses but I almost always use my 4 string Precision with flats.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
P with flats your only bass?
- Thread starter SteveC
- Start date
I play anything and everything on a 4-string fretless with flats these days. Not a P bass, but does have a split-P pickup. I'm not in a tribute band.
Unless it's a three-piece — then I might break out the 8-string.
Unless it's a three-piece — then I might break out the 8-string.
Not for me as I cannot go without my bass with round wounds. If I need more thump, I use foam or a hairband under the bridge.
My main is a P with flats (Chromes), but the tone can go from dub-by to Ric-alike. No complaints.
I guess it helps to have the "right" P bass with flats.
I still have other basses, too.
I guess it helps to have the "right" P bass with flats.
I still have other basses, too.
Everyone on talkbass? Where the average age is high enough to collect social security?
Its certainly an incredible and iconic sound, but as an actively gigging musician I rarely see passive 4 strings at gigs, much less as the only bass. I would love to have ONLY a P bass with flats too, but that very sentiment killed the person that made the instrument so iconic to begin with (read "standing in the shadows of Motown"). Jamerson wasn't even playing metal, and you should know by now what the best bass for metal is if you're asking this very Talkbassy question.
Last edited:
Or a Jazz with bright flats. My jazz bass is my funk bass. I string my Geddy Lee with Ernie Ball cobalt flats except the E string which gets Dunlop Marcus Miller super bright rounds.
I learned this from BrownMark of Prince and the Revolution. Lots of funk players play with flats. They just use bright flats .
Here what he says is that he starts off with the P with roundwounds, and then has the P with flats, a 5 string etc ready as well. From 2'20" to 3'10"
The right Pbass with the right flats. All flats are not crested equal nor do they sound and feel the same.My main is a P with flats (Chromes), but the tone can go from dub-by to Ric-alike. No complaints.
I guess it helps to have the "right" P bass with flats.
I still have other basses, too.
Here's the only bass I've played 3 services a week plus a practice since Fall 2018. YMMV.
A P with flats is a one trick pony IMHO.
I gig a lot of different music and it would only
work in Blues Rock. Other than that my 5 string
active basses with rounds do 90% of the gigs.
I gig a lot of different music and it would only
work in Blues Rock. Other than that my 5 string
active basses with rounds do 90% of the gigs.
My corporate/wedding band gig went from ABBA to AC/DC to Amy Winehouse, Billy Idol to BeeGee’s to Beatles, Lady A to Lady Gaga...you get the idea. I would argue that you can(and I have)done the gig on a 4 string P w/ flats. The 50’s through 70’s material generally sounds great at the sacrifice of the 80’s-current material. The biggest takeaway for me would be the fact that it’s MUCH easier to do this type of gig on a 5 string with rounds....MUCH easier!
In my opinion, it is possible to play any song on a standard-tuned 4-string bass. You won't sound like an exact carbon-copy of the record, and that's okay. Looking at YouTube I can see, there are indeed players who have the skill to play "Uptown Funk" on a 4-string.
(Disclaimer that I come from a jazz/improv background, where the ability to reinterpret a tune is highly regarded.)
All that said, SO GLAD that I have more than 1 bass. Only having one, would be torture for me.
I hear you (and jazzer here too) but there instances where you need a fiver and nothing else will do. For example if you are playing Broadway and theater gigs most things written in the past several decades are written for five and they don't hire you back unless you have the written notes. Lion King is a good example, when I subbed on this show a five was required. Even newer shows that are set in older times like Dogfight, which takes place during the Vietnam conflict you'd think you could get by on a four banger but no. The part is written for five string. Having said that, I agree most bassists will never need that 5th string, but for some of us.a fiver is essential and the right tool for the job - if we all start working again at some point.
wmhill
Inactive
- Aug 20, 2012
- 4,054
- 17,209
- Disclosures
- MTD basses endorsed artist Bartolini pickups emerging artist TECAMP bass players gear endorsed
I wouldn't want a P for anything, nor would I want to play with flats. Been there decades ago, and came to want a lot more out of a bass.
I tried soloing a Precision Bass for close to three months and found I couldn't make it work in all situations. The Precision Bass is a great tool for many situations, and for some, the only one to use. This was not the case for me. I am a man of versatility. Love my options!
Interesting combination, will try out someday !!!
This is my situation as well. I usually use my fretted 5 with rounds as it ca do everything g without the hassle of swapping basses mid set. Sometimes if the song order is right I’ll play my P for a while and then switch.
I kind of think a P with flats and a 5-string J with rounds is just about the right combination.
My main bass is a Frankenstein Jazz Bass. It's got a Seymour Duncan SPB-3 Precision pickup in the neck, so you'd never know it wasn't a P bass without seeing it. I almost always keep it strung with D'addario chrome flatwounds, and there's rarely a situation where it isn't my go-to bass. It's worth saying that I play in a hard rock band (somewhere along the lines of Lynyrd Skynyrd) and a modern alternative pop band. My P-Jazz has the thump and sustain that I need with both kinds of music. Since there isn't an overwhelming about of treble I'm able to separate myself from the guitars and keyboards, but there's the perfect amount of mids and bottom to support the band as a unit.
On the other end of the spectrum, I have a Warwick Corvette I keep strung with Ernie Ball rounds. It does the modern bright thing that my other bass doesn't do, but it's honestly a lot harder to get it to sound right in a mix. It's got a lot of treble that has to be tamed, and it has a different shape in the bottom end. It's almost like it's all attack and cut with very little thump/sustain. If I'm playing with a band leader that wants that sound, I have no problem bringing the Warwick.
On the other end of the spectrum, I have a Warwick Corvette I keep strung with Ernie Ball rounds. It does the modern bright thing that my other bass doesn't do, but it's honestly a lot harder to get it to sound right in a mix. It's got a lot of treble that has to be tamed, and it has a different shape in the bottom end. It's almost like it's all attack and cut with very little thump/sustain. If I'm playing with a band leader that wants that sound, I have no problem bringing the Warwick.
Try it with TI JF344 or Pyramid Gold !
If you want your J to really bark with flats, try it with LaBella LTF-4A !
