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The basic flaw in the p-bass

#602
peledog said:
There's a strange justification syndrome on TalkBass. Every time someone asks "what kind of bass should I get" - you usually will find responses like, "play a few and see what feels/sounds best to you". Okay, that's pretty much how it goes - until it comes to a P bass. Apparently there are things wrong with people who don't get the P bass. As if there is anything to 'get'. There is no one way to play bass, record bass, engineer bass, buy a bass, look at a bass, smile at a bass. 'Midscoop' is bad. What the heck is 'glassy'? 'Shake head emoticon'. I don't mean to indirectly single you guys out, but could you be more helpful and less snarky? Civility goes a long way.

The clean P bass tone is too honky for me. (insert justification here)

But I do like the warm and round sound with the tone turned down. I use it (selecting the P on my P/J) on certain songs - because it sounds great. It doesn't work for every song. (insert justification here). And, at the end of the day - who cares but us bassists?
Click to expand...

i'm primarily a guitarist, so i'm gonna go with what i know, but there's a telecaster comparison here. internet guitar hero tele players believe that nothing sounds, plays, feels, tastes, or smells better than a telecaster. and the more vintage the spec, the better the telecaster.

in the words of George Carlin, i think it's that people buy into a certain level of BS, and that's their BS. i like my Precision and haven't really been happy with any Jazz bass I've played. but i'm not going to scold people over it either. some people just haven't learned that there are other preferences in the world, and there is no best, just different. unfortunately, that's what we're seeing here.
 
#603
Dr Goggles said:
These discussions never resolve - instrumentalists are just fascinated by the detail of their instrument. I posted this over on the Telecaster forum, where similar discussions rage, but it applies here too.

tone1_zpsf7689206.png


Oh, and the P bass rules :D
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No clay dots???! :spit:
 
#608
I think the thread title is the only real flaw here. Anyone can pick apart any bass and a lot of us are biased toward one or the other to some degree. Production methods have come so far that I'm tempted to use the "it's hard to find a truly BAD bottle of wine anymore" analogy. A dead spot is a flaw. A non angled headstock with no string retainer is a flaw. What I see pointed out here as "flaws" in the Precision bass design are far from it...they're simply scherbert to an organic frozen yogurt junkie.
 
#609
I have a buddy who dropped an EMG active (and rounds) into a 70's P rescue project bass. With the tone open that thing is as cuttingly bright as any J - absolutely incredible P inflected hifi tone PLUS the earth shaking bottom. I'd definitely have a P outfitted like that just for the variety.
 
#610
The Precision is awesome.

What merits discussion is the phenomena of how Geddy Lee used a Rickenbacker for only about 8 years give or take (appeared on 1975's Fly By Night, and by 1981 he had graduated to the Steinberger), and even during that time was using his other basses. Yet his "tone" is still linked, at least on Talkbass, as exclusive to the Rickenbacker bass. Amazing. ;)
 
#611
Ric5 said:
Pretty much any competent bass player can cop a Duck Dunn fingerstyle in one song and then get a Geddy Lee tone in another by adjusting style of playing and a few clicks on a pedalboard. Now they may not be able to play as well as Mr. Dunn or Mr. Lee. That is a seperate matter.
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I don't consider myself all that good at all. I play with my fingers, near the neck, using a thumbrest on a Jazz. I leave all controls wide open, and I never change them at all. Even with my limited skill, if I focus on the fleshy parts of my fingers near the neck, I get a pretty boomy, bassy sound from the Jazz.

Then, during guitar solos, or other times when I want to jump out a bit more, I drop to the bridge pickup, and I am far more aggressive with my attack. In both positions, I have the options of clicking in my fingernails, which are just one length past short, and a good bit less than long. It is the perfect compromise for fingerpicking the acoustic, and not getting in the way for playing bass.

I get so much variation in sound with hand position, attack style, and the like on a very basic Jazz bass, that I have yet to spend even a minute on pedals, filters, eq's, or the like.

There's a lot that can be done on a bass, and there sure are a lot of kinds of basses out there. Mine isn't even a real Fender! It's a Fender neck on a Squier body, with EMG Select passive pickups, and the only reason it's modded that exact way is because that's how it was sold on eBay, for $250.00 plus shipping.
 
#612
mellowinman said:
I get so much variation in sound with hand position, attack style, and the like on a very basic Jazz bass, that I have yet to spend even a minute on pedals, filters, eq's, or the like.
Click to expand...
Sheesh...how are you going to get fuzztone, duck quack, and rocket launcher sounds? Even an "all in the hands" type like me can appreciate a good fuzz/wah/flanger.
 
#613
DogBone said:
The Precision is awesome.

What merits discussion is the phenomena of how Geddy Lee used a Rickenbacker for only about 8 years give or take (appeared on 1975's Fly By Night, and by 1981 he had graduated to the Steinberger), and even during that time was using his other basses. Yet his "tone" is still linked, at least on Talkbass, as exclusive to the Rickenbacker bass. Amazing. ;)
Click to expand...

From Wikipedia:

First album

Fender Precision Bass

Fly by Night, Caress of Steel, & 2112 Tours

Rickenbacker 4001

A Farewell To Kings

Rickenbacker 4001
Rickenbacker 4080 (Double-neck, 4001 bass & 12-string guitar with humbuckers)
Rickenbacker 3001
Fender Teardrop Bass (the Precision bass from above, but at this point given a makeover with the body cut into a teardrop shape, a blue "watery" paintjob, and an extra pickup added.)

Hemispheres

Rickenbacker 4001 (2)
Rickenbacker 4002
Rickenbacker 4080
Fender Teardrop Bass

Permanent Waves

Rickenbacker 4001 (2)
Rickenbacker 4002
Rickenbacker 4080
Fender Teardrop Bass
Fender 1972 Jazz Bass

Moving Pictures Tours

Rickenbacker 4001 (2)
Rickenbacker 4002
Rickenbacker 4080 (Double-neck, 4001 bass & 12-string guitar with humbuckers)
Rickenbacker 4080 (Double-neck, 4001 bass & 6-string guitar)
Fender 1972 Jazz Bass

Signals Tour

Rickenbacker 4001
Fender 1972 Jazz Bass
Steinberger L2

Grace Under Pressure Tour

Rickenbacker 4001
Fender 1972 Jazz Bass
Steinberger L2

Power Windows

British Wal Bass
Steinberger L2
White Steinberger XL2

Hold Your Fire

Wal Basses, Steinberger L2 and white Steinberger XL2

Presto, & Roll the Bones Tours

Wal Basses, Steinberger L2 and white Steinberger XL2

Counterparts Tour

Fender Jazz Bass
Fender Custom Shop Jazz Bass (Sunburst in D-A-D-G Tuning)

Test For Echo Tour

Fender Jazz Bass
Fender Custom Shop Jazz Bass (Sunburst in D-A-D-G Tuning)
Fender Custom Shop Jazz Bass (Red in Eb-Ab-Db-Gb Tuning)

Vapor Trails Tour & R30: 30th Anniversary Tour

Fender Jazz Bass
Fender Custom Shop Jazz Bass (Sunburst in D-A-D-G Tuning)
Fender Custom Shop Jazz Bass (Red in Eb-Ab-Db-Gb Tuning)
Fender Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
Taylor Acoustic Guitar

Snakes & Arrows Tour

Fender Jazz Bass
Fender Custom Shop Jazz Bass (Sunburst in D-A-D-G Tuning)
Fender Custom Shop Jazz Bass (Red in Eb-Ab-Db-Gb Tuning)
Fender Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
Fender Jaco Pastorius Jazz Bass (Fretless)
Fender Jaco Pastorius Jazz Bass (Fretted)
Rickenbacker 4001
 
#614
DogBone said:
The Precision is awesome.

What merits discussion is the phenomena of how Geddy Lee used a Rickenbacker for only about 8 years give or take (appeared on 1975's Fly By Night, and by 1981 he had graduated to the Steinberger), and even during that time was using his other basses. Yet his "tone" is still linked, at least on Talkbass, as exclusive to the Rickenbacker bass. Amazing. ;)
Click to expand...

good point, I've seen Rush about 6 times and the only time he ever used a Rickenbacker was on the Hemispheres tour in 78.
after that it was Wal, Steinberger, Jazz Bass
 
#619
peledog said:
There's a strange justification syndrome on TalkBass. Every time someone asks "what kind of bass should I get" - you usually will find responses like, "play a few and see what feels/sounds best to you". Okay, that's pretty much how it goes - until it comes to a P bass. Apparently there are things wrong with people who don't get the P bass. As if there is anything to 'get'. There is no one way to play bass, record bass, engineer bass, buy a bass, look at a bass, smile at a bass. 'Midscoop' is bad. What the heck is 'glassy'? 'Shake head emoticon'. I don't mean to indirectly single you guys out, but could you be more helpful and less snarky? Civility goes a long way.

The clean P bass tone is too honky for me. (insert justification here)

But I do like the warm and round sound with the tone turned down. I use it (selecting the P on my P/J) on certain songs - because it sounds great. It doesn't work for every song. (insert justification here). And, at the end of the day - who cares but us bassists?
Click to expand...

But... Midscoop is bad... :(

I will defend us bassists from midscoop albeit the last thing I do!
 
#620
DogBone said:
What merits discussion is the phenomena of how Geddy Lee used a Rickenbacker for only about 8 years give or take (appeared on 1975's Fly By Night, and by 1981 he had graduated to the Steinberger), and even during that time was using his other basses. Yet his "tone" is still linked, at least on Talkbass, as exclusive to the Rickenbacker bass. Amazing. ;)
Click to expand...

Listen to Moving Pictures he gets almost the exact tone from the Rick and the Jazz.
 

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