What a P Bass Sounds Like...

[LetItGrowTone]

Ok, ok, P-bass is pretty good if the tone is rolled down far enough. Thanks.

 

[Grinderman]

There are different types of era-defining P bass sounds. As an example, these are some of my favorite P bass sounds from around 1976 to 1986.

 

[mongo2]

My favorite "P bass" tone comes from my Fender Mustang PJ LE with nylon tapewound strings using just the P pickup with the volume and tone full up.

 

[SoulReflection]

It has been wet here this past week but, after the dry summer we had, we are loving the wet. So many questions occur. Where are you from in the great white north?

You have had a dry summer? Here in Northern California we haven't had much measurable rain since March. We are getting a few showers right now which is great. I am from Vancouver and Langley originally. I have had many trips to the Gulf Islands and look forward to getting up there next spring before the next dry (fire) season.

 

[SoulReflection]

My favorite "P bass" tone comes from my Fender Mustang PJ LE with nylon tapewound strings using just the P pickup with the volume and tone full up.

Thanks, @mongo2. I will have to try that with my PJ. I know my Telecaster Bass sounded great with nylons back in the late '60s.

 

[SoulReflection]

Patrice Rushen · Forget Me Nots

Nice tune there!

 

[SoulReflection]

There are different types of era-defining P bass sounds. As an example, these are some of my favorite P bass sounds from around 1976 to 1986.

Great tunes from those times. Shows how adaptable a P is. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Philip McAdam]

You have had a dry summer? Here in Northern California we haven't had much measurable rain since March. We are getting a few showers right now which is great. I am from Vancouver and Langley originally. I have had many trips to the Gulf Islands and look forward to getting up there next spring before the next dry (fire) season.

Yes, the summer up here was pretty much the same as what you had in California. Dry since March. I am originally from Toronto, but moved to Gab when I retired. We have had quite a bit of rain in the last two weeks and we are loving it. Give us a heads up when you are in the area and we can have a wee pint or some such.

 

[steamthief]

 

[mongo2]

Thanks, @mongo2. I will have to try that with my PJ. I know my Telecaster Bass sounded great with nylons back in the late '60s.

You're welcome.

YMMV but my favorite strings for that bass are D'Addario ETB92S nylon tapes.

I tried quite a few Mustangs including a bunch of PJs before selecting the LE version. They all sounded different to me. I've since added a 1st version PJ with the rosewood fingerboard that sounds very different from the LE (but still good) with the same strings.

 

[Grinderman]

There are different types of era-defining P bass sounds.

Expanding on this notion another way, to my mind James Jamerson, Carol Kaye, Bob Babbitt and Donald Dunn square or mark another defining era of the P bass sound.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I have read what people describe as what a P bass sounds like but heard very few actual, good examples. There are many tonal variations and many personal opinions but I thought I would share my example and invite others to do the same.

My thanks to @bobyoung53 over in the '60s Bassists Club for bring this to my attention.

Thats what a p bass, with flats, with the tone off sounds like, yes.

A P bass sounds like this.

 

[JW56789]

It sounds . . . . like the person playing it.

The genius of a Precision Bass is that it's really easy to make one sound good, and really hard to make one sound bad: Hard to go much wrong with one pickup, a gain, and a tone.

 

[funkifiedsoul]

First 40 sec. is enough. Haven't listened to these guys since back then, but for some reason when someone asks about a Precision bass sound, this song often comes to mind. I love them all though. Some great examples on 70's pop hits.

 

[Tim Skaggs]

With rounds
2:22 to 5:42, but some good stuff during the lyrics between 5:42-7:40



with flats


grind-y

 

[funkifiedsoul]

Thats what a p bass, with flats, with the tone off sounds like, yes.

A P bass sounds like this.

That "Green Day" song sounds like a jazz bass playing it. (to me)

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

That "Green Day" song sounds like a jazz bass playing it. (to me)

It's not, but you're right. That particular track is not his P bass. My bad.

This one is

 

[2F/2F]

I don't think of any sound when I think of a P Bass; I just think about how much can be done with it. Fifty to 5,000 examples could be pulled from nearly any genre of music since the P Bass was invented. The list of what a P Bass doesn't sound like would be shorter. They didn't last 60+ years, basically unmolested in terms of design, by sounding like anything specific. They did it by being extremely malleable, i.e. pretty much whatever you want them to sound like at any given time.

 

[Larseman]

I have read what people describe as what a P bass sounds like but heard very few actual, good examples. There are many tonal variations and many personal opinions but I thought I would share my example and invite others to do the same.

My thanks to @bobyoung53 over in the '60s Bassists Club for bring this to my attention.

That would be Donald Duck Dunn playing on his 1958 Fender P

 

[chris_b]

I like these bass tones. . . .








So far this thread is almost 30 bassists getting different sounds out of a Precision. It's a fantastic instrument.