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Versitality of P Basses?

#41
ksandvik said:
Father: "What's the problem sonny, you look sad?"
Son: "Well, I have this Precision bass and I just can't play the bass lines of All Night Long with it... I have tried and tried for a week now and this bass just don't cut it.
Father: "So what would then help?
Son: "Definitely if I get a Jazz bass, then this bass line is easy to play."
Father opens up his huge wallet, shows it to his son and says: "Ok, let's go to the nearest Guitar Center."
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If there's a lesson in there, I'm not getting it. Only the super rich do that. I think most parents are like, "Hey punk, do you know how hard we had to work to be able to afford that for you? You can't play that line because you don't practice. Want a new bass? Then practice that line until you get it, then practice 100 more that are even harder. Then go get a job and buy your own damn bass."
 
#43
Can I make a confession? All my P basses have a J pickup in the back. I would play a stock Precision if I had one, but I like having a back pickup as well. You can mix in some of the rear pickup and make is sound pretty. But 90% of the time I'm about the P pickup by itself. It's in a really good spot that's not too bright and not too dark.
 
#44
JimmyM said:
Can I make a confession? All my P basses have a J pickup in the back. I would play a stock Precision if I had one, but I like having a back pickup as well. You can mix in some of the rear pickup and make is sound pretty. But 90% of the time I'm about the P pickup by itself. It's in a really good spot that's not too bright and not too dark.
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This is interesting Jimmy. I have had mixed results with a P/J configuration. As much as I like Jazz basses, I find one rail at the bridge to be a bit of a disappointment, and I find blending it with a split P not a really likeable tone.

I'm in that small group who is a purist about having access to either both single rails of the Jazz, or the split P by itself, and not mixing the two.

The only exception is the MIM Special Deluxe, but that's active and a totally different animal from P or J tonally.
 
#45
electracoyote said:
This is interesting Jimmy. I have had mixed results with a P/J configuration. As much as I like Jazz basses, I find one rail at the bridge to be a bit of a disappointment, and I find blending it with a split P not a really likeable tone.

I'm in that small group who is a purist about having access to either both single rails of the Jazz, or the split P by itself, and not mixing the two.

The only exception is the MIM Special Deluxe, but that's active and a totally different animal from P or J tonally.
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I've never been a purist about anything myself. I have my favorites but I'll use whatever you've got. And I notice so little difference between the Jazz and the PJ that I just can't get worked up over it.
 
#46
I have hated P Basses virtually all my life. I have gone out of my to avoid them like the plague. Sure, they have been recorded on millions of records. And yeah, that Jamerson guy sounded pretty good with one.

And then I played yet another one about a month ago and it dawned on me that none of my other basses capture its simple tone.

Yes, I finally bought one. A Highway One. With the exception of adding Aguilars, it is bone stock and I love it to death.

I am not saying that it is the only bass to play. I will say that every bass player on earth should have at least one. No knob twiddling. No futzing. Just play it from the heart and play it like you mean it, regardless of if you're a hack like me or a virtuoso. You'll be amazed at what your ears hear.

In the end, I guess it is a one trick pony. You can only use it for...........wait for it..............everything.
 
#47
Zoomie said:
I have hated P Basses virtually all my life. I have gone out of my to avoid them like the plague. Sure, they have been recorded on millions of records. And yeah, that Jamerson guy sounded pretty good with one.

And then I played yet another one about a month ago and it dawned on me that none of my other basses capture its simple tone.

Yes, I finally bought one. A Highway One. With the exception of adding Aguilars, it is bone stock and I love it to death.

I am not saying that it is the only bass to play. I will say that every bass player on earth should have at least one. No knob twiddling. No futzing. Just play it from the heart and play it like you mean it, regardless of if you're a hack like me or a virtuoso. You'll be amazed at what your ears hear.

In the end, I guess it is a one trick pony. You can only use it for...........wait for it..............everything.
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Wow. Very very well said.
 
#49
When I was a poor starving college kid and in a rock band I had a P-Bass. It did the job. But once I heard guys slapping on a Jazz Bass (Larry Graham) I didn't want a P-Bass no more. After that a P-Bass bass had two distinct tones. Squirrely and Boxy.
 
#50
When you take a precision build and add a Jazz bass pickup to it. You have left the realm of P-Bass. That's why they call them specials. because now they're starting to say something.
 
#51
JimmyM said:
If there's a lesson in there, I'm not getting it. Only the super rich do that. I think most parents are like, "Hey punk, do you know how hard we had to work to be able to afford that for you? You can't play that line because you don't practice. Want a new bass? Then practice that line until you get it, then practice 100 more that are even harder. Then go get a job and buy your own damn bass."
Click to expand...

I think he's indicating that he likes Jazz basses more than P-Basses. I do too.
 
#52
Hey. I was wondering if any of you have any experience with a reverse P with a jazz in the bridge? I know this is slightly off topic but I want to know if this truly is the best of both worlds?? Also, my recent favorite precision tone is Pino Palladino playing his old fiesta red precision with TI flats.
 
#53
vibhas_2310 said:
Hey. I was wondering if any of you have any experience with a reverse P with a jazz in the bridge? I know this is slightly off topic but I want to know if this truly is the best of both worlds?? Also, my recent favorite precision tone is Pino Palladino playing his old fiesta red precision with TI flats.
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I have, in the form of an Ibanez RD707. Truth is, for me, there is something about a P pickup that sounds great all by itself. Add in the J, and it's starts lacking all the Pbass goodness. Sounds great by itself, but gets buried in the mix too easy. If I don't use my Precision, I go for my StingRay, which IMO is a super Precision anyway...

Everybody else here may have a very different opinion on this, but oh well. :bassist:
 
#54
phillybass101 said:
When I was a poor starving college kid and in a rock band I had a P-Bass. It did the job. But once I heard guys slapping on a Jazz Bass (Larry Graham) I didn't want a P-Bass no more. After that a P-Bass bass had two distinct tones. Squirrely and Boxy.
Click to expand...

I couldn't disagree more. I'm my early days I bought jazz basses (70s and 80s) because I assumed 2 pickups are better than one, plus my childhood heros John Paul Jones and Jaco played one. Then after a while I realized that the jazz pickups are way to noisy to use alone and must be used both on to get a humbucking effect. Well, if you use both pickups all the time to combat the hum what's the sense of having two pickups? (Don't get me wrong, I still like J basses but they are no longer my preference) I recently caved in and bought my 1st P bass, a 2011 new American Standard and I LOVE the tone. Treble up and it bites like crazy, treble rolled off and it's warm and punchy, very Motown. Squirrely and Boxy? I know this is all personal opinion so I respect yours but perhaps you had a lower end P bass or it didn't match up good with your amp, because I would NEVER use those words to describe the tones I get out of my American Standard P going into Markbass amps. The words I would use are amazing and organic.
 

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