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Seriously, is there anything a Precision Bass Can't do?

#122
:cool:

I have a Jazz 5 I love right now.
A 6-string fretless Roscoe on order.
And a custom ABG that is the bomb.
But, if you put a gun to my head, and say one bass only?
It would be my 1966 P-Bass.
Nothing beats a great P-Bass.
My Jazz body, with a P-neck is a close second. TJM.
 
#123
I bought an '84 squier SQ series P bass for 100 bucks plus a crappy chinese squier strat. New hardware and a few personal touches on the elctronics and I wouldn't trade it for the world. P basses are my absolute favorite. I always want a new bass, but as soon as I plug that p bass in, every desire for a new instrument goes right out the window. I've never played a bass that could stand up to a good P bass. The look, the feel, the versatility... the wide neck feels better in my hand than a jazz, that big fat low end sound... I can't imagine how I would get along without playing a p bass.
 
#128
dmusic148 said:
Give this a listen- see what you think:
Click to expand...


Yes, "Forget Me Nots" is always the fist song to jump in my mind when it come to slapped P. Great playing, but that nasaly bonk-gong-gong-gong is ever so present, especially during that fast descending run.
Would have sounded way better on a Jazz! Or even better on a 2-band StingRay.
 
#131
I'm glad you like yours, but your question is silly. If the P nailed every bass duty perfectly, no one (including Leo Fender himself... see J bass, MusicMan, G&L) would have ever bothered to design anything different. Every bass player on the planet would play a four-string P bass.

And while the P has been an industry stalwart and popular with many pros, there are many other fine, legendary players who really could not have gotten their trademark sound as we know and recognize it wtih a P (Jaco Pastorius, Victor Wooten, Chris Squire, Mick Karn, Stanley Clarke to name a few).

As others have stated, most any bass can be used in most any genre... with the right eq, strings, setup, and in the right hands. I play a Sterling 5 strung with stainless roundwounds in a country band, for cryin out loud! But the distinctive voices of individual basses can be leveraged by a great player to create something that stands out from the throng... kinda like those five guys I just mentioned above.
 
#132
Caca de Kick said:
Not to me it isn't, I still don't like it's slap and (especially) pop sound. To me it's just a nasaly 'gong' and 'honk' sound no matter who slaps it.

I love to stick with finger groovin on a P and that's it.
Click to expand...

Oh, man! You should really try slappin' my P79 with rounds and A-neck! :)

It's every bit as funky and awesome as slapping on my J72. :bassist:

Yes, they sound different, but equally great! I also used to think that P's were only for fingerstyle. I have changed my mind - big time! :cool:
 
#133
FromTheBassMent said:
I'm glad you like yours, but your question is silly. If the P nailed every bass duty perfectly, no one (including Leo Fender himself... see J bass, MusicMan, G&L) would have ever bothered to design anything different. Every bass player on the planet would play a four-string P bass.
Click to expand...

Can't you tell this is a fanboy thread? Please, have a grain of salt.

There are some good thoughts here, though... f'r instance, dispelling the myth that single-pickup basses lack versatility.
 
#139
most of my basses are pj's, but i find myself using only the p pickup more and more. i do like being able to dial in some j tones when needed, but honestly i could be perfectly happy with a precision and no j pickup.
 

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