Telecaster vs. Precision Bass

[Rickett Customs]

Just remember that experience replaces fear

Awesome. I get the occasional refret job, and that's always a fear that I'll have to work on one of those necks.

 

[DaveKirkpatrick]

I have a tele bass... the '51 style P, not the 70s style.
The neck is a lot bigger (fatter) than a P bass - which I kind of like. Gives it more of a big low sound.

The tele is gonna feel bigger, and heavier, cuz it's a slab body with no contours.

The bridge on the tele only has two saddles, so intonation can be a challenge.

Mine has a replacement pick-up, so hard for me to comment on that.

+1 - I have a '66 P and a '68 Tele, this seems right. Also the Tele strings through the body so it may not be compatible with some brands of flatwounds. I love the sound of both basses. I find myself craving the deeper/darker tone of the Tele bass in smaller, quieter bands and the P in louder, denser situations.

 

[Rip Topaz]

Just remember that experience replaces fear

Good point. And I'm the kind of guy that never turns down bass work.

I'm really enjoying learning about old Fenders. I've only recently gotten into the vintage stuff, but I'm constantly reading about them, and this thread is full of really cool info, especially for someone obsessed with old Tele basses.

 

[DaveKirkpatrick]

Those of you saying that a single coil P can't cut in in the mix might need to go back and listen to some old live ZZ top- Dusty Hill, The Meters- George Porter Jr, Bill Withers- with Melvin Dunlap. The single coil pickup sounds different than the split P, but it is not inferior in any way- it just depends on what tone you're looking for.

 

[DaveKirkpatrick]

It's just downright silly to say the split coil sits in a mix better than the single coil, IMO.
Differently, yes.
Better? Quite debatable.

yeah, what he said!

 

[Rip Topaz]

My upcoming Warmoth build is gonna be a slab 51, but I'm still debating the single coil. I love the sound, but my biggest worry is the noise.

Chef, how's yours do with stage lights and amps and the fluorescent lighting most bars use? Is it a problem?

Would I be better off using the Duncan CS stacked 51 pup? Is the tone on that one gonna give me that classic P vibe, or it just going to have the looks of the single coil, but a totally different tone? I don't want to deepen any routes if it isn't worth it.

 

[Rickett Customs]

Don't really care for the 50's "stock" pickups though, they sound a little to "farty" sounding to me
The quarter pound SD is a really good pickup though. I've heard what Lollar and Fralin did with their re-winds on such pickups, definitely an improvement

 

[Rip Topaz]

I've been looking into the Muy Grande, mostly cuz that's what Dusty Hill is using. But like I said, I'm concerned about the single coil noise. Will it be a problem with a loud rock band? (by rock I mean classic rock/blues, but we get pretty loud)

 

[Orpheus55]

I play my Sting precision regularly in a ten piece horn band and never have trouble being heard; boosting the mids is the key. I think the single coil pickup has a higher treble cspsbility than the split P pickup.

 

[Chef]

"single coil hum"

If you can tolerate any Jazz bass, with blend set one way or the other, any single coil 51 will be more or less the same.

You can mitigate this with a good grounding system, and copper foil or shielding paint (see my 'upgrading a 51 Precision' thread) but, unless you get a split coil, you'll have to tolerate a bit of that. It's never bothered me, mostly. Crank the volume shut between songs. Any good studio will "have good electricity," and shouldn't present a problem there...

In most cases, you can arrange yourself in relationship to the amp such that it won't be a problem. Strat/J-bass players have been doing this for decades. However, if you're in a crummy bar, with crummy electricity, and neon beer lights on the same circuit as your amp, they can get icky, like any single coil.

Nordstrand, Lollar, Fralin and SD will all wind you a "split single coil."

 

[Chef]

This is true of most "single coil versus humbucker" scenarios.
The Fender type split P in particular has a distinct low-mid bump.

For those of you who want a 'regular' split P with more lows and more highs, try a G&L MFD split P: that's one seriously mean, high output split P.

I play my Sting precision regularly in a ten piece horn band and never have trouble being heard; boosting the mids is the key. I think the single coil pickup has a higher treble cspsbility than the split P pickup.

 

[Rickett Customs]

Yeah, what Chef said. All you can do in a single coil situation is do as much preventive actions as possible (shielding, grounding, etc), to reduce your likelyhood of excessive noise.

 

[hennessybass]

I've never felt like single coil hum was a problem with my tele bass. Sure, if you face your amp, and stand right in front of it you will get hum. In years of gigging my tele bass, I never had an issue.

 

[Chef]

I won't say never.
It's nearly always "manageable," however, last weekend I played a club with the scenario I mentioned above.
Crummy electricity, two neon beer signs on the same circuit.

I was glad I brought two basses, cause the 51 single coil was just icky.
My backup was my Alleva Coppolla LG5, which I've never, ever had noise issues with, and even that bass I had to make sure I had the pickup blend very close to centered, or it went all icky too.

Drag.

That's the sort of deal when the standard split-P or other humbucking bass becomes your best friend for the night.

(seriously? I just called my Alleva a backup bass? I really wanted to play the 51 .....)

 

[hennessybass]

But those single coil basses have a great sound that can work beautifully in a sparser mix, as they really fill out the bottom and can sing up high. They really sound radically different with different strings in a way the split-coil Ps great in those situations. Always thought I could get a good upright type tone.

+1

I mostly played my tele in bands with a lot of acoustic instruments, and always thought it sounded good. I always thought I could get a pretty good "upright" kind of sound out of the tele.

IMO, the place the tele really shines is up high! From about the 7th fret up it just produces a huge, warm, round tone that can really fill a room better than most basses. It has a big fat bottom, but low notes are a little more focused and don't sing like they do up high. Doesn't have that massive boom (or bloom) on the low notes like a Jazz.

I'm really intrigued by the string comment. When I got mine it had some unknown rounds on it... it was extremely bright and slinky sounding. I've mostly used Rotosound flats, and they sound great... I think someone else recommended this string as well. I also used tapewound strings for several years (GHS i think). They sounded good and were fun to play. The tele is more of a sometimes player nowadays... I stuck a pair of DR flats on it and put it in the closet. The last couple times I've played it, I haven't been really happy. Kind of a 1 dimensional sound - to much low mud content. I think I'll do a string change and see if it causes a spark!

 

[hennessybass]

I won't say never.

I guess never is a pretty definitive word.

Chef,, You are a tweeter guy, right? I'm not, so maybe there's something to that. Would I be correct in saying that a lot of that hum happens in that upper spectrum?

 

[Chef]

Yessir; I'm a hornloaded kinda guy.
I'd guess the most irritating part of the hum might be horn related...

 

[Rip Topaz]

So far, all this info is leading me in the direction of the single coil. I don't use the tweeter on my amp, very rarely use effects.

I'm thinking I'll be fine with the hum. If not, I've got other basses for those times.

Now to decide on WHICH pickup!! Ugh. So many choices.

 

[cnltb]

I asked it before... just wondering...
How do you all think it might work to basically take a '62 style split coil PU and just sitting it in line...?

 

[Chef]

Why would you do that?