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What a P Bass Sounds Like...
- Thread starter SoulReflection
- Start date
quintessential p bass tone for me is BS&T’s self titled album. here’s a great isolated track showing the bass in almost all of its glory.
In fairness, they probably care, they just really like sandwiches. And P basses.
P bass? From the BS&T Jamerson tone above to this by the Damned. Polar opposites from one instrument if ever there was.
Kai Eckhardt isn’t usually a P-bass guy but he did get a great tone on the Woot record.
When reading the topic title I immediated thought about this Scary Pockets recording I stumbled upon this morning. It features Sean Hurley on bass using (from the looks of it) his signature model P. If I can achieve this sound one day (and playing?!), I'll die a happy man. 
2¢ warning. Here's how I hear it...
Treble can be rolled off hard (also flats, using flesh of fingers, etc) to get under it (first track in this thread),
or treble can be maxed (rounds, pick, etc) to get over it (Green Day),
but in the middle is a "belch":
-it's deeper and lasts longer than the J bass (bridge) "burp"
-it's more open-mouthed than the Ric (bridge) or Stingray (both more closed-mouthed, like a burp or belch heard through the nose),
-in a pickup even farther forward, like single coil P, it becomes a grunt, again more closed-mouthed.
I'm not saying it's "one trick"; I'm saying that this belch is characteristic, and the way it's dealt with creates variety.
Treble can be rolled off hard (also flats, using flesh of fingers, etc) to get under it (first track in this thread),
or treble can be maxed (rounds, pick, etc) to get over it (Green Day),
but in the middle is a "belch":
-it's deeper and lasts longer than the J bass (bridge) "burp"
-it's more open-mouthed than the Ric (bridge) or Stingray (both more closed-mouthed, like a burp or belch heard through the nose),
-in a pickup even farther forward, like single coil P, it becomes a grunt, again more closed-mouthed.
I'm not saying it's "one trick"; I'm saying that this belch is characteristic, and the way it's dealt with creates variety.
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The sandwich analogy is pretty well spot perfect, certainly not disrespectful. Its easy to love the sound of Jamerson or Kayes tone and equally love Geds tone on the first Rush album or Dave Hope in early Kansas. Nathan Watts with Stevie Wonder is classic, classic P tone and countless funk and R&B albums in-between. It's a P-Bass and regardless of genre, it retains it's unique quality. A must have for alot of us!
Ronnie Baker with the Spinners...
Roger Waters used a Precision......and here's "Money" with the bass track isolated:
Then you can hear how his Precision sits in the mix...
Then you can hear how his Precision sits in the mix...
Muddy, Just kidding, mine has active EMG pickups, it just does not sound good. Plan on swapping all electronics back to a factory passive style. I play new passive p basses at GC that sound better than mine. It is a little single-sounding compared to my active EQ basses. If you use a pedal to change the sound you defeat the purpose of playing a P bass. It is a classic sound.
The run at the end of the intro - that's been my "standard P-bass sound" since I learned what a P-bass was. Which was defined as what Ross Valory is playing on this song.
(And now someone will tell me that although he's playing a P in the video, the song was recorded with something else).
Algy Ward was great throughout where he played on Machine Gun Etiquette which is a perfect album. One my absolute favorite albums.
Edit to add: However, Ward also played a Rickenbacker and a Thunderbird, besides a P. Also, credits go to Captain Sensible for the bass on "I Just Can't Be Happy Today", "Smash It Up (Parts 1 & 2)" and the bass solo on "Anti-Pope" which are outstanding tracks on that album.
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I love these types of threads because I always get introduced to great songs I have never heard before.
Some great examples and information here! I am impressed with the response and happy I finally picked up a P after all these years. I am reminded of the old saying about tools and the skill of the user. Now that I have the tool, I have to work on my skills .
Although my gigging days are behind me, my recording setup is giving me much of the joy I had back then.
Thanks to all for your contributions and hope to see and hear more...
.
.Although my gigging days are behind me, my recording setup is giving me much of the joy I had back then.
Thanks to all for your contributions and hope to see and hear more...
.
