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The basic flaw in the p-bass

#201
I read an interview with Lee Sklar once regrding his main axe that has the double reverse P pick up set up. Lee said that he thought the P pick up delivered the ultimate bass tone, but he thought that Leo got the placement all wrong. Just like the OP, Lee said he felt the string balance was way off with the traditional layout and had his bass custom made with two sets in the reverse P layout. Lee also said that bass has probably been used on 90% of all the recordings he has ever done. I actually agree with Lee on this one. I play a lot with a pick and have always found the D & G strings on a P Bass to sound too thin for my likes (same with a Music Man). IMO, a lot of this is technique driven, but with my technique, the reverse P layout offers a more fuller D & G sound.
 
#206
PJ Muzikmansky said:
My main squeeze is a '62 'P' RI strung with Sadowsky flats. In a live music situation, it sounds best with the tone up full. The flats tame the brightness...That's one of the benefits of using flats on a 'P'. They tame the 'brightness'...
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Well, guess that's one way you can do it. I suppose you could tame the brightness by turning the brightness down too. I consider the tone knob to be just one step in the EQ process of shaping the sound.
 
#207
I think it's more productive to realize all the things positive about the Fender P Bass. I find it amazing to think of how many things Leo Fender got right with his first bass. BTW, I don't really dig P basses that much but Damn! What an incredible achivement.
 
#209
joelb79 said:
You asked..

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Typical EQ twists for this guy are Bass all the way up, treble all the way up, ultra low and ultra high. I put the pickups, pots, and pickguard on that bass for him before I sold it to him, purchased here on Talkbass. 08 Highway 1 P with a SPB-1.
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haha.. exactly my point. that bass sounds horrible. there's no "bass" in his tone at all. it's all treble almost. lol

at least i don't hear any low end but then again i'm listening on a laptop computer. but it does have a built in subwoofer. lol
 
#211
I have the tone pot removed on my P-ish bass equipped with flats, and I have no problem going from smooth and deep to bright and articulate with a few changes of my right hand technique and EQ. I can even bust out the first 37 seconds or so of Victor Wooten's Classical Thump on it, albeit very sloppily(not my basses fault).

Not everybody likes the same things, I don't see why this causes so many pointless arguments.

kilgoja said:
haha.. exactly my point. that bass sounds horrible. there's no "bass" in his tone at all. it's all treble almost. lol

at least i don't hear any low end but then again i'm listening on a laptop computer. but it does have a built in subwoofer. lol
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My headphones are picking up lots of bass there, along with high mids, but not much actual treble or low mids. They have a nearly flat response from 20hz to 20k.
 
#213
haha. yeah i wasn't going so much for the playing but just trying to find that p-bass tone. my guess it was a guitar player trying to play bass. lol

i guess i have a lot of differences between your average bass player when it comes to opinions. i don't like sunburst colors, i don't like pearl or tortoise shell pickguards, i hate maple fretboards, i hate those vintage bridge and pickup covers on basses, and i hate any anniversary edition of any bass or anything like that. haha

also i don't like p-bass specials or a p/j bass or a HH stingray or HS stingray or any of that stuff. it's just me i guess. to me they don't add anything to the great sound those basses already have on their own. they may give you more options but the options don't sound as good as the real deal. if that makes any sense to anyone?

i also hate the sound of chords played on a bass. lol

it doesn't mean anything is wrong with all of that. it's just personal preference. to each their own. that's the beauty of music. there really are no rules. you can do whatever you wanna do.

i have a jazz bass and i've owned a stingray before. i wanna get another stingray and perhaps even buy a p-bass down the road so i'll have all 3 of the classic basses. those 3 have the most distinct sound of any basses ever made. all designed by leo fender.
 
#216
The only thing that I see as a "fault" in the P-Bass is the same "fault" I see in lots of basses. They need a tilt back headstock to get rid of the silly string retainers.

GregC said:
As with the Stingray-to-Jazz thread, I don't believe the premise of this one is true.
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Yeah, like the articles in the Onion, but it is funny to read.

funkyebk said:
tumblr_lz3l6zDsW41qaj15lo1_400.jpg
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:D
 
#217
butcher said:
I believe that is more a function of the video camera mic's frequency response in this particular case...
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yeah you're probably right. we used to film gigs with a camcorder and they never sounded right. that's what i always hated about it. even on tv. the bass never comes through very well. you would think by now they would make a mic on cameras that could pick up bass sounds with better quality. lol
 
#220
smeet said:
There is a crapload of low end in that clip. Too much in fact. Use good headphones and you'll hear it.
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oh yeah i plugged in my head phones. man that sounds even worse!!!! hahaha

it's like too much treble and too much bass at the same time.

my svt sounds 100% better and different when i play through it. it's not his guitar or his amp. it's how he has it set up. haha
 

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