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What P Bass should I get?
- Thread starter SafeHands83
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- precision bass
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
If you have the $$$- Lull P4. Great neck, great sound, great playability.
Nuff said.
Nuff said.
My order of preference and with a budget of less than $1,500
1) American Standard P Bass (NOT the Deluxe, Fender active electronics are sub-par - Poor at generating bottom end)
2) Roadworn P Bass. Though MIM it's of high quality. I'm extremely happy with mine and I hear others are happy with theirs
3) Standard P Bass. MIM. Very good quality at an excellent price
1) American Standard P Bass (NOT the Deluxe, Fender active electronics are sub-par - Poor at generating bottom end)
2) Roadworn P Bass. Though MIM it's of high quality. I'm extremely happy with mine and I hear others are happy with theirs
3) Standard P Bass. MIM. Very good quality at an excellent price
This. You can pick your pickups and color. You can even get a Jazz neck on it if you like. You can put a J or MM at the bridge for more versatility and you can get it all done for a reasonable price.
Get EXACTLY the P bass YOU want. My 5 string Hammersmith P bass (and then some) should be here by late June or so.
Lakland 44-64 or less expensive Sx and upgrade pickups to emg gzr.
I can only state that I would opt for the Fender American Elite Precision Bass. It's got everything I would ever want in a P bass. That plus a matching American Elite Jazz Bass would make for a superb combinaton:
MM
Last edited:
- Jul 7, 2010
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- Endorsing Artist for: Duncan Pickups; Line6, Hipshot, GHS Strings, Somnium Guitars
I have a PJ Precision and I put in a SPB-1 Duncan and a SJB-2 Duncan pickups....all I can say is I play alot of different types of music and it works for all of them...so find what P bass feels and plays best in your hands and if you need to "tweak" pickup tones then go from there. Have fun playing them.
Figure out your budget and then go and try a bunch of P basses. Try Fenders, Squiers, and anything else that you can think of. Buy the one that FEELS the best that is within your budget. You can always change the pickups later if you want to. Don't rule out buying used. I prefer buying from pawn shops and fixing them up myself.
PBasses are more about budget, feel and looks. Figure out what you can spend, what color/fretboard you like and make sure you are getting the neck profile you what and BAM! Then the fun starts. If you own, or have a friend that owns a solder iron your can sample the half-zillion P/U's out there. You will find something that trips your trigger. They are the swiss army knife of basses.
You stated that you are not in an area with much opportunity to sample, which I can relate to, so stick with one of the more common models within your budget, buy from someone you trust. You can't go wrong,.
You stated that you are not in an area with much opportunity to sample, which I can relate to, so stick with one of the more common models within your budget, buy from someone you trust. You can't go wrong,.
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
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- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
Like all basses, some Ps are great and some are dogs. play the ones in your price range and see what you like. and don't be afraid to ask the store to do a quick setup if it plays like a pig. a truss rod tweak can make all the difference.
Other things to look for: it's a common mod since time began to put a jazz neck on a P-bass. P-bass necks can feel wide, and since you're a jazz player already you might keep this in mind. The Jazz neck has a 1.5" wide nut, and i think Fender makes a P version that has this.
There are a ton of pickups available, but Fender pickups sound great, especially a Custom Shop '62 reissue pickup. To me that one sounds the most like the way a p-bass is supposed to sound like. But stock pickups can be killer, too. nothing wrong with a stock bass. having said that...
The best sounding P I ever played was a stock Mexi. But also check out the Squier 60's vibe line. I liked them too.
My fave of all the P-variants is the Yamaha BB series. Reasonable price, the used ones are stupid cheap, sounds like a vintage P, looks good, feels good. Possible downside is that it doesn't look like a p, but has it's own mojo. But I love 'em.
You can spend truly stupid money on a p-bass, and if you want to, more power to you. But I have beater basses that are a heck of a lot more fun to play than my boutique basses. And in my mind, the P was never intended to be on that level. It was always a player's bass, and those are the ones I like the best. IMO a grand for a P-bass is overboard. Just sayin.
good luck!
Other things to look for: it's a common mod since time began to put a jazz neck on a P-bass. P-bass necks can feel wide, and since you're a jazz player already you might keep this in mind. The Jazz neck has a 1.5" wide nut, and i think Fender makes a P version that has this.
There are a ton of pickups available, but Fender pickups sound great, especially a Custom Shop '62 reissue pickup. To me that one sounds the most like the way a p-bass is supposed to sound like. But stock pickups can be killer, too. nothing wrong with a stock bass. having said that...
The best sounding P I ever played was a stock Mexi. But also check out the Squier 60's vibe line. I liked them too.
My fave of all the P-variants is the Yamaha BB series. Reasonable price, the used ones are stupid cheap, sounds like a vintage P, looks good, feels good. Possible downside is that it doesn't look like a p, but has it's own mojo. But I love 'em.
You can spend truly stupid money on a p-bass, and if you want to, more power to you. But I have beater basses that are a heck of a lot more fun to play than my boutique basses. And in my mind, the P was never intended to be on that level. It was always a player's bass, and those are the ones I like the best. IMO a grand for a P-bass is overboard. Just sayin.
good luck!
This is exactly the kind of P-bass I think is pretty much perfect.
