Chips..... I dip'm. ......I don't look cool though....
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What precisely is good about Precisions?
- Thread starter kbr
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- fender precision bass
Chips..... I dip'm. ......I don't look cool though....
Just an an observation related to tonal differences. Last summer when I saw Rush many of you might know Geddy played a whole bunch of different basses throughout the set. No question you could hear differences in tone from bass to bass. I thought the thunderbird sounded dark and much less defined than his jazzes. At one point while playing Between The Wheels and later during Jacob's Ladder he busted out precisions and I was amazed at the tone compared to his jazz basses. Just real punchy but filling out the low/mid nicely...not as deep or grindy as his jazzes(another tone I love though). The Ricks sounded great too but the precision tone stuck out as a highlight for me. Now I wonder how the band would have sounded on their heyday records with the precision instead...
That's a good comparison (even if I had to look up Opinel...). I have seen those knives often, and they are singular in their actual function, but can be used to do many things. As is the Precision. Jazz, rock, funk, R and B, whatever. The P fits, depending on what the player does with it.
It took me a long time to understand this. When I was a newbie I bought a brand new P, must have been 78 or so. Didn't like it at all, hated the neck. But I didn't now how to set up a bass in those days. And being young, I wanted something flashier. I traded it on a Kramer. and a year or two into owning the Kramer, I added a pickup; a Precision pickup.
What is good about Precisions?
IMHO,
1. They may not sound all that special by themselves, but they almost always sit perfectly in a live or recorded mix.
2. They are extremely versatile, suited to just about every style of music.
3. They are roadworthy & tough as nails.
4. They are easy to work on, and they are easy to hot-rod.
5. They sound great with flats or rounds.
6. They look great - with or without tort pickguards.
7. They can be simple or fancy, and they come in many price ranges.
8. They might not be everyone's cup of tea, but there is a good chance it might be just the ticket for your next gig or recording session.
IMHO,
1. They may not sound all that special by themselves, but they almost always sit perfectly in a live or recorded mix.
2. They are extremely versatile, suited to just about every style of music.
3. They are roadworthy & tough as nails.
4. They are easy to work on, and they are easy to hot-rod.
5. They sound great with flats or rounds.
6. They look great - with or without tort pickguards.
7. They can be simple or fancy, and they come in many price ranges.
8. They might not be everyone's cup of tea, but there is a good chance it might be just the ticket for your next gig or recording session.
Finally, it has been said. Whether this was tongue-in-cheek or not, Amen.
Guys, we're TalkBass! If he wants say something about a guitar, let him go over to TalkGuitar and get killed. You folks over here at TB are too much. May we all just come together like the unibrow Al B. Sure had back in the day and discuss P-basses instead.
I used to hate Ps with a passion, because they didn't stand out the mix, so clearly I'm more of a J-bass guy. However since joining here, I've fallen in love with 4 more Precisions than I ever thought I would, them being:
-Lakland 44-64
-Fender Roger Waters signature
-Fender Steve Harris signature (the $$$$ one)
-Fender '66 Precision
All thanks to curiosity and/or TalkBass.
The last I heard a phrase like that was in South Carolina, was purple, and knocked me on my ass. If you know, you understand. ;-)
1. P basses are known for having wide necks and then you got a 5 string on top of that, what did you expect?
2. I don't know what value cap is on your tone pot but I found my P bass didn't come alive until I swapped out the cap, it's worth a try if you like the bass, but probably not since you hate everything about it you should probably just return it.
3. It all depends what sound you are going for. If you are use to more modern styling, ergonomics, and tones then no it won't be a good fit, but for those who want the Chevy truck of basses they get along well with them.
4. I'm a sucker for the look of a Fender bass. When I started playing I didn't even consider other basses. I eventually did play other basses but I ended up selling all of those and coming back to Fender I now only have 2 basses a J and a P.
5. If you read these forums too much they will try and talk you into all kinds of things, sounds like you let them talk you into a P bass, and no doubt got your expectations too high. Next time you feel this happening sign out, turn off your computer/mobile devices and go play your basses, that should prevent and further pain these forums may cause.
I definitely agree with this. I see people posting all the time here saying "If you only own one bass it should be a fender blah blah blah". Most players aren't doing paid session work so its irrelevant. You should play whatever you like. There are way more basses than just ps. Actually, I don't even see p basses that often when I go out to shows. Don't get me wrong, they've been used on a lot of great recordings and sound good, but by no means are they the only bass that sounds good. On another note, after seeing the ghost-build thread and looking more into it myself, it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of those great recording artists weren't using actual fender p basses anyway.
The title of the thread should have been: Fender P Bass, great instrument? Or the greatest instrument?
You just verified a theory I had about my passive Jazz bass. I'm finally finding a tone I'm happy with (tone at 10, bridge pup around 5, neck pup around 6/7/8), but it's still missing that Umph. A preamp may be the key.
If I remember correctly, the first album (the one with John Rutsey) was recorded with his Precision.......His P-Bass had an extra J-Pickup mounted right at the bridge......After the recording in the throes of a "Huh?" moment of his life, he hacked off the cutaways into a gawd-ugly-teardrop-on-acid shape and modified the headstock......... he had said the mods ruined the sound of the bass
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If I remember correctly, the first album (the one with John Rutsey) was recorded with his Precision.......His P-Bass had an extra J-Pickup mounted right at the bridge......After the recording in the throes of a *** momemt of his life, he hacked off the cutaways into a gawd-ugly teardrop shape on acid and modified the headstock and he had said the mods ruined the sound of the bass
Proof we were all young once and some of our decisions reflected that!
I used to think that, but find it's not quite correct. Not boosted, but buffered. The same is true of all passive instruments running a cable. It's a capacitance thing. Having said that, a P-bass with a pre or buffer might be too bright, taking away from the midrange goodness of the P.
After years of no Precision, about this time last year I got a jones that I just HAD to have a sunburst P. Found a MIM Precision (why are the sunbursts all so dark now?) at a mom 'n' pop going out of business sale. It had not been set up, and after a year of wrestling with it (including covers, mute, lots of truss rod work) I got everything "just right." Great action, LOVE the tone.
Then I found that, even after discovering a strap length that largely eliminated neck dive, the bass was still a bit large and bulky for me and the neck was wide enough to be a distraction. I can play it, but in the upper positions the width is harder to navigate. So now I'm into Magnatone Hurricanes, which suit me a lot better ergonomically and come really close to that Precision sound. Live, folks probably could not tell the difference.
Then I found that, even after discovering a strap length that largely eliminated neck dive, the bass was still a bit large and bulky for me and the neck was wide enough to be a distraction. I can play it, but in the upper positions the width is harder to navigate. So now I'm into Magnatone Hurricanes, which suit me a lot better ergonomically and come really close to that Precision sound. Live, folks probably could not tell the difference.
Not sure what this means (I'm not very tech savvy by any means). Mine goes straight into a tube amp that, most nights, is being run with just a slight boost in the mids. It's not lacking in the low end - that's for dang sure.
I sort of agree with this - it gives an amazingly solid fundamental tone with limited tone shaping. But what I've really come to love is how expressive they are. Playing up near the neck, over the pickup or near the bridge; softer touch or more aggressive attack; maybe a small tweak here and there with the tone knob - all bring out different nuances. It's all PBass, I suppose but I really enjoy coaxing all those tones out of it.
