The way a P bass should be

[AMJBASS]

I put Gotoh Res-O-Lites on my Reimer P bass, and the weight reduction reduced the dead spot. Different instruments respond differently to changes. So I'm going with YMMV

 

[Matt R.]

Oh boy.

 

[Mike Vee]

They look cool but I can’t play it like that

 

[bassdude51]

I'd love to be able to transport myself back to a time where I was blissfully unaware of such things. I'm at the stage where I can easily take someone's bass that "has no dead spots"....and find them. Granted, not all of them are pronounced, but every bass has areas of the neck where there is less sustain.

My comment about "no dead spots" has gotten some objections.

Perhaps my "dead spot" is my ears, ya think? But, I do play TI flats and a scooped eq with about 50% reduction of the highs. Plus, I play bass to very conservative rock, rock n roll and older country songs with instrumental surf music being my #1 favorite music. So, I'm probably not able to detect my dead spots which many here on TalkBass say exist on every bass.

I always learn new things about bass guitar here on TalkBass and it is why it is my one and only social media!

Peace!

 

[micguy]

My comment about "no dead spots" has gotten some objections.

Perhaps my "dead spot" is my ears, ya think? But, I do play TI flats and a scooped eq with about 50% reduction of the highs. Plus, I play bass to very conservative rock, rock n roll and older country songs with instrumental surf music being my #1 favorite music. So, I'm probably not able to detect my dead spots which many here on TalkBass say exist on every bass.

I always learn new things about bass guitar here on TalkBass and it is why it is my one and only social media!

Peace!

With flats, dead spots are generally more apparent - rounds cover up dead spots better, because the harmonics persist longer after the fundamental drops out.

Yes, people's ability to detect dead spots varies considerably, but I don't really want to "educate" your ears - not much sense in "helping" you to dislike a bass that you currently love.

Play the thing.

 

[stringthrough]

It's a leftover from the earlier P basses that had a hum producing single coil pickup. The split PU's buck hum so no need for the cover. . . . . Also, I'm not at all buying the dead G string fix you claim it produces.

 

[micguy]

I put Gotoh Res-O-Lites on my Reimer P bass, and the weight reduction reduced the dead spot. Different instruments respond differently to changes. So I'm going with YMMV

That makes perfect sense to me. You're reducing the mass loading on the end of the bar* (the neck) which raises the resonance frequencies of the thing.

Part of the way I keep dead spots on my instruments in check is to build them all with graphite reinforced, roasted maple necks and Hipshot Ultralites. The graphite and roasting make the neck stiffer, the Ultralites and the roasting make things lighter. Plus, they're 5 strings (a thicker neck). ALL of those factors drive the resonance frequencies of the neck higher, which makes the biggest dead spot....not so dead. The way I play, those notes on the G string are used as octaves (I never really play single notes there), so the reduction in sustain of those notes (which is pretty minor) is easily covered by the fact that the lower octave is there.

*"bar" is a term we often use in Acoustical Physics for this situation.

 

[Slevage]

Here's my 2013 Fender American Special P Bass. I have Rotosound Jazz 77 flats on it. I like having the covers on for several reasons: the covers add weight which means the weight distribution of the bass changes to eliminate the famous dead spots on G string, the pickup cover being made from steel helps spread the magnetic field of the pickup to even the volume and the bridge cover keeps the bridge free of dust and junk. I have been playing since 1971 and have read many reasons why ashtray covers were installed on P basses, but now you know why they were put there in the first place. I learned it all from a bass player who had an original 1952 P bass he had purchased new. Remember the metal weight they used to sell that attached to the headstock to eliminate the dead spot? People needed that after they removed the covers! View attachment 5244871

I have an all origin '69 P that I purchased from a friend of mine (original owner). I plan to sell it when the time is right.
I play only 5er's with a high C, so the vintage P just hangs on the wall. If I were to play it regularly, I would remove the PU cover because that is where I prefer to play. I don't have covers on my Squier P5.

As far as the cover distributing a magnet field, I'd like to see some data on the fields of the PU's and the B-H curve of the material used for the covers.
In theory, magnetic fields go on to infinity, but strength diminishes greatly over distance.
I have several very powerful, large neodymium magnets that don't show any strength over 1 inch away.

 

[neddyrow]

awww man.... I thought my P bass was the way it should be.

I'm glad this post was made to show me how wrong I am.

And please move this to the bass humor section.....much more fitting.

 

[Moe Hickey]

Hello to all you losers not doing this.

 

[FunkHead]

Hello to all you losers not doing this. View attachment 5245772

Honestly, The best P-Bass I have ever owned/played is an American Original 50's with a Lollar Pickup. That is after owning & playing 100's of Fender Precision's(Yes 100's).
However, A G&L LB-100 is a very close 2nd.

 

[BassJuju]

You know, that was the way my P’s looked when I played P’s. I don’t know whether your hypothesis has merit, but you’ve offended the TB P religion and you must be smote!

 

[Wfrance3]

My guess is that the cover doesn't change the tone by affecting magnetism. I think it DOES affect the tone by forcing you to play behind the cover or in front of it.

With that pickup cover on, playing directly over the pickup ins not happening...

 

[elwaupo]

If it works, IT WORKS!

 

[micguy]

Honestly, The best P-Bass I have ever owned/played is an American Original 50's with a Lollar Pickup. That is after owning & playing 100's of Fender Precision's(Yes 100's).

You're the Wilt Chamberlain of P basses.

Were any of them meaningful relationships?

 

[Geri O]

Hello to all you losers not doing this. View attachment 5245772

It’s unfortunate that comments like this over the many years have caused me to absolutely ignore any G&L bass that crosses my path.

Some G&L owners could do better.

 

[Jeremy Crockett]

I am here SOLELY to post a photo of my P bass.

 

[xenobass]

Those pickup covers didn’t seem to hurt this guy’s tone:

View attachment 5245596

Ahhh... the hook!

 

[FunkHead]

You're the Wilt Chamberlain of P basses.

Were any of them meaningful relationships?

Really, Just this A/O '50s and a few '63 & '62 AVRIs. I really should have kept a couple of those.

I started Flipping basses back in the 70s/80s, along with building(assembling) Fender Shaped basses(FSOs).

My goal was to use each bass for 1 gig and then flip it for something else. Since I couldn't own dozens of basses at the same time, this was my way to experience a different bass almost weekly.

I have something like 1000 feedbacks on Ebay and probably 2/3rds of it was for basses.

Yes I have a serious GAS condition.

 

[xenobass]

Here's my 2013 Fender American Special P Bass. I have Rotosound Jazz 77 flats on it. I like having the covers on for several reasons: the covers add weight which means the weight distribution of the bass changes to eliminate the famous dead spots on G string, the pickup cover being made from steel helps spread the magnetic field of the pickup to even the volume and the bridge cover keeps the bridge free of dust and junk. I have been playing since 1971 and have read many reasons why ashtray covers were installed on P basses, but now you know why they were put there in the first place. I learned it all from a bass player who had an original 1952 P bass he had purchased new. Remember the metal weight they used to sell that attached to the headstock to eliminate the dead spot? People needed that after they removed the covers! View attachment 5244871

”In God we trust. All others must bring data.”
- Dr. W. Edwards Demming.

Or in the words or Lord Kelvin (William Thomson):

"I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely, in your thoughts, advanced to the stage of science, whatever the matter may be."