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Precision Bass Shootout - 1976 vs. 2009

Which is the 1976 Precision Bass

  • Track 1

    Votes: 70 36.1%

  • Track 2

    Votes: 124 63.9%
  • Total voters
    194
  • Poll closed .
#81
ngh said:
why would that be the case, if there is still only a volume and a tone put between the pbass pickup and the output? the seccont VT control set should be running from the J pickup straight to the out so there is actually no difference in wiring if you have the J pickups volume on zero. path of least resistance and all that jazz
Click to expand...
You would be correct...the pickups are wired separately, then joined together at the jack. The tone control for each pickup doesn't affect the other pickup's tone.
 
#83
IMO you can't compare the two if one's wired VT and the other's VVTT. The passive load change will affect the tone a lot. What I'm saying is people may have just been voting for the VVTT thinking it had a "vintage sound" because it wasn't as treble-y. When they join at the jack and you plug in, the pots all load down together through the common ground. There's no getting around that.
 
#85
Personally i like number 2. much fuller.

That being said 76 IHMO is not one of fender best moments. 72 or 3 (when they switched to the black guard with the thumb rest on the e string side) started a downward spiral, briefly broken by the p special and elite basses (early 80's). I think the quality was much better on the MIA stuff for the last decade or so. BTW my first fender bought new in 71 always sounded great but the neck was huge, almost unplayable it was so fat so the decline probably really was about 2 -3 years after CBS ...
 
#87
jumbodbassman said:
Personally i like number 2. much fuller.

That being said 76 IHMO is not one of fender best moments. 72 or 3 (when they switched to the black guard with the thumb rest on the e string side) started a downward spiral, briefly broken by the p special and elite basses (early 80's). I think the quality was much better on the MIA stuff for the last decade or so. BTW my first fender bought new in 71 always sounded great but the neck was huge, almost unplayable it was so fat so the decline probably really was about 2 -3 years after CBS ...
Click to expand...

ill take a fat 71 neck over a 1.75" wide pre cbs p neck all day long. my own 64 p has a 64 jazz neck on it.

gotta love the post though. "your bass was part of a downward spiral by fender, but i prefer its sound to the modern fender":D:hiding:
 
#88
JimmyM said:
Eh, hardly anything I'm concerning myself with past this little test ;)
Click to expand...

It's cool, they don't sound that different anyway. But for the nerds out there I'd thought I'd point that (besides other reasons already pointed out) this is a biggie as far as controlling your variables. It's funny that with all the variables they both generally sound like P Basses. You'd think with all of our nitpicking there would be some radical departure by one of them.
 
#92
I think the first one is the 09 and the 2nd one is the 76 - sounds a little more mellow - on the other hand the Chicago stuff has more 'clatter' on the 2nd one which makes me think possibly maple board - so could be that way round!!

Both sound great but neither sound that much like a P bass to me - they even sound like a Stingray with the treble cut right back. Do you think that the Reddi DI tidies up the standard sound, or that in combination with new rounds which do it?

I've heard Paul Turner use a Reddi with a P bass in Jamiroquy and it sounds far more like an active bass.

Edit - just read the rest of the thread - I hadn't seen post #72 when I posted...doh!
 
#93
Wow, you don't think they sound like Precisions? They sure do to me. Paul Turner's sound screams Precision to me. Paul uses the REDDI but he also has a pretty big pedalboard, plus the producer or soundman has other stuff to put on it as well. Doesn't sound like Jamerson ;) but sounds like a Precision to me. The REDDI just gives it that big tube amp sound. To me the REDDI sounds voiced fairly flat, really. May not be dead-on flat, but I've compared it to dead flat solid state DI's in the past and nothing jumps out at me as being overly voiced. Sounds way bigger like a tube amp, but taking the EQ by itself, I don't know...I hear it as pretty flat. Could be wrong...that's what my ears think, anyway.
 
#94
So this bass sounds way better with the black pickguard. Also looks considerably cooler and more Roger-y. All that's missing is the correct logo and lettering, the skunk stripe down the back, and the cigarette burns. I'll get over it, though. Not going to start smoking again to get the burn. Wish I had a fresh pic but my camera's broken. I'll try to get a pic or two from someone at my gig. In the meantime, here's its inspiration:

roger-waters-dark-side-precision-cutout.jpg
 
#97
JimmyM said:
So this bass sounds way better with the black pickguard. Also looks considerably cooler and more Roger-y. All that's missing is the correct logo and lettering, the skunk stripe down the back, and the cigarette burns. I'll get over it, though. Not going to start smoking again to get the burn. Wish I had a fresh pic but my camera's broken. I'll try to get a pic or two from someone at my gig. In the meantime, here's its inspiration:

roger-waters-dark-side-precision-cutout.jpg
Click to expand...

Excellent. I like both looks. And, per the above, those clips sounded TOTAL P to me. Nice clips.
 
#100
JimmyM said:
Wow, you don't think they sound like Precisions? They sure do to me. Paul Turner's sound screams Precision to me. Paul uses the REDDI but he also has a pretty big pedalboard, plus the producer or soundman has other stuff to put on it as well
Click to expand...

They actually sound really good to me, and surprisingly close in sound - I suppose I'm used to people playing P basses and getting what I can only describe as a bit of a coarse sound, by having the tone control wise open - your clips don't have that and sound smoother - maybe it's your playing.

Paul Turner only uses the P bass on the single Getaway, which I've also seen him perform live (on the P bass - the rest of the set on a J these days). The actual single has the P bass in the verses and a 77 Stingray in the choruses (per Paul Turner interview) he did one version with each bass and that's how they used the tracks - the only difference you hear is the Stingray is slightly smoother sounding - but they are extremely close - and the P bass once again is pretty smooth sounding.
 

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