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What makes a bass a "one trick pony"?

T

tbassist4

Aug 21, 2005
614
24
Boulder, Colorado
#1
Hey everyone,
I see this term tossed around all the time, usually in regard to '51/'54 P-basses or any other bass with a single pickup. However, standard P-basses are not called one trick ponies, nor would I ever consider them to be. I know that looks like two pickups, but it's just one fixed humbucker. So what gives?

My main is a J-bass, but I have a P-bass that I just threw a quarter pounder into. I'm used to being able to dial in a range of sounds with my J-bass, but I found I had to put just as much work into dialing different sounds into a P-bass, and I could get nearly just as many sounds out of it. Likewise, I've been able to come up with a range of sounds from a '51/'54 P-bass.

My opinion is that if you know how to use your amp's handy EQ settings and the tone knob (Damn! I knew they put those there for a reason! ;)), then I don't think any bass can be considered a one trick pony. Any thoughts? Feel free to disagree!
 
#2
The thing that gets a bass tagged with "one trick pony" is if it only has one pickup and a limited number of control options. I've actually heard a P-bass called this, if you can even believe it.

In reality, the only thing that makes a bass a "one trick pony" is lack of technique or creativity on the part of the player. Even the simplest of basses can do whatever you need them to, if you're willing to try it.
 
#3
nocontrols said:
The thing that gets a bass tagged with "one trick pony" is if it only has one pickup and a limited number of control options. I've actually heard a P-bass called this, if you can even believe it.

In reality, the only thing that makes a bass a "one trick pony" is lack of technique or creativity on the part of the player. Even the simplest of basses can do whatever you need them to, if you're willing to try it.
Click to expand...

couldn't agree more.
 
#8
amroach said:
I couldn't disagree more, My DB teacher has a 5 string fretless electric bass with one pickup and a volume control and nothing is. Its very much a one trick pony bass and thats exactly why he has that bass, because he wanted that trick.
Click to expand...

So he can't get alternative tones out of it by, oh I don't know, let's say... switching from fingers to a plectrum? Slappping it? Changing up speed and dynamics? Using more or less force? And you're taking lessons from this person? Really?
 
#9
nocontrols said:
The thing that gets a bass tagged with "one trick pony" is if it only has one pickup and a limited number of control options. I've actually heard a P-bass called this, if you can even believe it.

In reality, the only thing that makes a bass a "one trick pony" is lack of technique or creativity on the part of the player. Even the simplest of basses can do whatever you need them to, if you're willing to try it.
Click to expand...

Agree here also.
Amp EQ settings can alter the tone of any bass.
That's what their there for.
 
#10
Dbassmon said:
Q. What makes a bass a "one trick pony"?
A. The player

Even with one pickup and no tone or volume controls, a bass can get a huge variety of tone and nuance, all of which are in the touch and creativity of the player.
Click to expand...

I agree. I feel spoiled with one tone knob, in fact.

This guy is playing a Telecaster but there's a lesson that can be applied to bass:

YouTube - Uncle Fezzter's Workshop Episode 1

10:30 to 15:00. You don't need to watch the rest of it because it doesn't apply but seriously... watch that bit beginning at 10:30
 
#11
Ima stir **** up and say that the two Ken Smith basses I owned were the nearest things I've had to a *OTP* :eek:
Mind you it was a good *trick*- that is, smoothly settling into just about any mix I was in- but I wanted more mids & a touch more tonal variety.
For the most part, I do agree w/the *it's in(or not in ;))a player's hands* notion, but IME there are basses that are easier to get different sounds out of than others.
 
#12
Thunderitter said:
You don't need tone controls to get a variety of tones from a bass!

+1 on the no such thing as a one trick pony bass only a one trick pony bassist!
Click to expand...

+1,000

I think all bassists should play a one pickup basses for a while, so they can actually learn how to play the instrument, and not just turn knobs.

We can name any one pickup bass (at least any common one pickup bass), and then think of all the people who play that model. In every case, there will be very different tones associated with the different players of that type of bass.
 
#15
A bass is a "one trick pony" only in the hands (or far more often, the EYES) of the person making the assertion. I've seen it applied to Music Man StingRays, single-coil Precisions, Ricks, etc. And it's just wrong. That's like saying a Telecaster guitar is a one-trick pony despite it's entirely appropriate use in funk, R'n'B, blues, country (both real country and that stuff that's on the radio these days), jazz, and pop musics. Would you play a Gibson EB-2 for a fusion gig with Chick Corea, Lenny White, and Bill Connor? Probably not most people's first choice, but that's what Stanley Clarke was using before he met Rick Turner from Alembic...

Now lots of folks SEE a StingRay and think funk or some sort of rock genre and that it's limited to those things. Or that a Warwick is only for a certain kind of metal or for funk because they see people playing it a lot in those areas. So they see someone else playing a 'Ray or a 'wick in a different genre and assume its wrong.

Not just narrow minded bassist either- Tony Levin had Roger Sadowsky put a pre-amp into his Precision because New York studio engineers told him they couldn't get a good sound out his first StingRay because it was active. There are stories of people in Nashville who were first told that their Tobias basses couldn't be EQ'd right and they should just play a Precision- this from engineers who NOW have a stock setting on the boards for a Tobias...

Even the opposite it true. My first Precision (1973 ash) was awful, just putrid for playing country and R'n'B. It was bright, all sustainy, cut through like a bulldozer with a hacksaw, but didn't have any warmth, blossom, or bloom to the notes. No big cushion for the band, but a great roar. The guy who bought it from me played in a band that was very much coming from the Clash etc. and that particular Precision was perfect for that gig. And my alder bodied '83 Vintage Series P with it's big warm bottom was perfect for MY gigs.

Nope, it ain't the kind of bass, it's the kind of person and the particulars of the individual chunk of wood and metal that is THIS bass.
 
#16
nocontrols said:
So he can't get alternative tones out of it by, oh I don't know, let's say... switching from fingers to a plectrum? Slappping it? Changing up speed and dynamics? Using more or less force? And you're taking lessons from this person? Really?
Click to expand...

I disagree with your diagreement (:hmm:). While you certainly can get a varied attack depending on whether you slap or use a pick (or where your right hand does it's work or the other things you suggested), the tone of a "1 pick, no tone knob" bass is pretty much it. Which is what amroach was saying. This thread isn't about amp eq settings or changing strings to get varied tone, its about the bass, and as such amroach was on target with his example.
 
#19
I certainly believe the tone is in the hands......but that's not 100% of the equation. There's no way I was ever getting a good funky slap tone out of my '67 EB0.

Maybe someone will post a youtube of someone else doing it, but, my hands know how to slap and MY EB0 just wasn't going there no matter how much I adjusted technique.
 
#20
nocontrols said:
The thing that gets a bass tagged with "one trick pony" is if it only has one pickup and a limited number of control options. I've actually heard a P-bass called this, if you can even believe it.

In reality, the only thing that makes a bass a "one trick pony" is lack of technique or creativity on the part of the player. Even the simplest of basses can do whatever you need them to, if you're willing to try it.
Click to expand...

+1. :)
 

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