• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

The basic flaw in the p-bass

#101
Ric5 said:
Well ... as the OP ... I did not want to start a war ... but the p-bass only seems to work when you roll the tone off. For those of us who want more than mud the p-bass is the wrong bass.

I always end up modifying a p-bass. I add a 5th string, a second pickup and sometimes a preamp.
Click to expand...

So...do you actually gig with a four string P bass ?

I ask because in my experience, your assertion just does not stack up.

I gig regularly with a '62 RI 'P'. I string it with flats and play it with the tone up full, ALL THE TIME. It has tons of low end. Sounds great
 
#104
The Basic flaw of the P-Bass is that it doesn't have enough flaws.

It would have been much better if the worlds first successful production electric bass had been riddled with flaws that we could have taken 50 years to figure out.

Then we could look back at the old Model P with nostalgia.

Instead, this dude hits a home run on his first at bat, a Grand Slam home run on his second at bat (with the split coil), and a triple on his third up (the Jazz) .
 
  • Like
Reactions: dmt and joebar
#105
I only gig with P-Basses these days(when I am not playing upright). Works for everything I do. That doesn't mean they are great for everyone. I have never experienced a lack of low end with one though. Coming from a jazz bass which has a bit more of an exaggerated low end and high end I can understand why someone might think this, but in the mix the P-Bass just slots in perfectly. There are of course a lot of factors that come in to play...
 
#106
As a side note.....

The Hiwatts that Entwistle played in the early days of the Who had a LOT to do with his sound - think "Live at Leeds". I had a Hiwatt stack back in the day and that pretty cool English bass sound of the day was fairly easy to duplicate. I am talking about Entwistle, Greg Lake, John Wetton - all those guys had a bit of a thread running through their sound and it was a Fender/Hiwatt thing. Think early Crimson and early ELP.

I will say, as good as that stack sounded - for me it was nearly impossible to capture the magic of the sound to tape. The volume and velocity didn't translate very well. Of course, this was 1974-6, but I saw the first American performance ever of "Tommy" and believe me that bass was bright, but also had TONS of low end. "Live at Leeds" may be the only place you can hear the true power and glory of what Entwistle
wanted to achieve - but perhaps was a little elusive in the studio.

BassHappy
www.innertainment.net
 
#107
Ric5 said:
The basic flaw in the p-bass

Quote from John Entwistle ... “Once you turn up the treble on a Precision, the bottom drops out.” “In big arenas, I wasn’t getting enough bottom end from the P-Basses when I had the treble all the way up.”

I re-discovered this last weekend ... I went to an outdoor party and our band played and some others as well. In my band one of the guitar players is also a bass player. I brought 3 basses and he brought a guitar and a bass. So at the end I plug in his p-bass with flats. He has always bragged about the low end from this bass. So I plug it into my Rig. An Ampeg with 2 2x10 cabs and a line out into the PA, and I turn up both knobs and to my surprise the was very little low end, just a lot of midrange plunky noise and clicks and fret buzz.

The basses that I had were a 5 string Rickenbacker a 5 string jazz with a stingray pickup in the bridge and a frankensteined 2 pickup SG bass also with 5 strings. All 3 of these basses had more bottom than the Fender p-bass with flats.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but the "basic problem" with that P Bass was operator error. P Basses are known for their bass and low midrange.
 
#108
PJ Muzikmansky said:
So...do you actually gig with a four string P bass ?

I ask because in my experience, your assertion just does not stack up.

I gig regularly with a '62 RI 'P'. I string it with flats and play it with the tone up full, ALL THE TIME. It has tons of low end. Sounds great
Click to expand...

Hell no ... Playing a 4 string p-bass with flats for me is like having to clean the bathroom floor in the bar with my tongue and then eating chards of broken glass ...

My band was playing a gig and at the end of the gig I got out someone elses 4 string p-bass with flats and I played it. It was worse than I expected.

I used to play flats back when all basses came with flats and alll music stores sold flats. I had a Hofner with flats and then an EB0 with flats. Those basses had low end. Then I discovered rounds.

And yes I know that I could eq my amp to get loe end out of the p-bass ... but the same eq setting that gave me plenty of low end on my passive jazz bass and my passive Ric did not give me plenty of low end on my friends p-bass with flats.
 
#109
I play my P Bass with the tone wide open all the time, too. I tailor my sound with the amp, but I want every bit of my sound to get to the amp so that I can do something with it. You can't add definition, attack, and the like (treble) if it isn't there; you can, however, trim it back so it sounds good to you, which is what I do. Bass wide open, treble slightly cut, mids boosted, bass flat. Tons of tone, loads of bottom end (often times there is so much that I have to cut the bass at the amp).
 
#110
tekdiver500ft said:
Sorry, but the "basic problem" with that P Bass was operator error. P Basses are known for their bass and low midrange.
Click to expand...

The p-bass does have several basic flaws ... most basses do.

The p-bass is famous for dead spots, and the reason people use flats and roll off the tone on p-basses is to compensate for another basic flaw.
 
#111
Ric5 said:
...
And yes I know that I could eq my amp to get loe end out of the p-bass ... but the same eq setting that gave me plenty of low end on my passive jazz bass and my passive Ric did not give me plenty of low end on my friends p-bass with flats.
Click to expand...

Why would they? Seems a bit unnecessary to have a bunch of different instrument types and they all sound the same? ;)
 
#116
Stumbo said:
Troll. :eek:
Click to expand...

OK instead of an open discussion just revert to name calling ...

I guess P-bass with flats has a cult following that cannot even consider that a p-bass with flats is not perfect.

I like Ricks a lot ... but Ricks have flaws
I like jazz basses ... but jazz basses have flaws
I like stingrays ... but stingrays have flaws

Etc ...

I am not saying the p-bass is a terrible bass ... but it is not perfect. Not perfect = has flaws.
 
#118
were probably comparing apples to oranges here, the tone you might hear on a recording versus the tone you here in a live setting with varying acoustics are different things altogether. One has very tight control with overall sound and the other has many variables. I play my jazz with flats live more than my P w/flats because I think it comes through a little better
 
#120
Ric5 said:
OK instead of an open discussion just revert to name calling ...

I guess P-bass with flats has a cult following that cannot even consider that a p-bass with flats is not perfect.

I like Ricks a lot ... but Ricks have flaws
I like jazz basses ... but jazz basses have flaws
I like stingrays ... but stingrays have flaws

Etc ...

I am not saying the p-bass is a terrible bass ... but it is not perfect. Not perfect = has flaws.
Click to expand...
I think Stumbo just had the balls to say what many people were thinking. I have to admit saying P-Basses lack low end is a pretty Bizarre statement. Yes they can be muddy if you don't know EQ'ing basics. But They can also rattle bottles right off the Bar(And peanut Jars too).
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back