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What precisely is good about Precisions?
- Thread starter kbr
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- fender precision bass
deepestend
Commercial User
- Feb 21, 2003
- 6,249
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I never liked how the p pickup has a round screw right where you rest your thumb, so I had my winder put a p pickup in a jazzmaster case. I wanted a soapbar, but that's the best e could do with a full sized p pickup. The rear pickup is a double j with the pole pieces exposed like a wide range humbucker to match the p. That was the winder's idea. Overall sounds very nice.
deepestend
Commercial User
- Feb 21, 2003
- 6,249
- 8,171
- Disclosures
- Website and Social Media at Sadowsky
So, Fender has this very famous bass named a P bass. It originally has a 1 3/4" nut width and a chunky neck. But times change and modern players prefer a smaller neck. So Fender slims the P bass neck down to something resembling an elongated guitar neck and lots of players love it. Then modern players ask for a 5 string P bass. So rather than work off the modern 4 string P bass neck as a starting point for the 5 string bass, Fender has the genius idea of making the biggest frikin neck it's ever made with a 1 7/8" nut. Such genius, wow, NOT.
No wonder I end up with Ibanez basses everytime. Looking forward to trying their new 5 string Talmans. 1 3/4" nut width, chunky neck profile, 5 string is my preference.
No wonder I end up with Ibanez basses everytime. Looking forward to trying their new 5 string Talmans. 1 3/4" nut width, chunky neck profile, 5 string is my preference.
Thanks. I think it's killer. I have long wanted a proper P-bass pickup in a soapbar shape. P-bass shapes are just hell to route. Same with the old J-bass. "ears" should be long gone by now.
I kind of agree with you, but a couple of comments:
1 7/8" is a good spacing for a 5. the string-to-string spacing is actually closer than a 4-string P-bass.
the 1 3/4" nut width for 5's is cool to play on, but 4 string P players will probably find the left hand spacing rather close.
IME, companies like Ibanez and Schecter have 5 string models that are even closer than 1 3/4" . they are indeed a lot like the old days, when 5 strings first started coming out. back then, companies simply jammed 5 strings onto a 4-string neck. now THAT'S close.
Squier has a bass out with a 2" nut width. that sucker is wide, but the spacing feels a lot like a 4-string P-bass with an extra string. and there are basses with even wider spacing than that. I think the Ibanez BTB's are wider.
I have regular 4-string P-basses (with a proper P-bass neck), 5's with 1 7/8" and 1 3/4" width. I even have one of those Squiers with the 2" spacing (but I had a new nut put on that narrows the string spacing). For my money, 1 7/8" is the sweet spot.
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deepestend
Commercial User
- Feb 21, 2003
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- Disclosures
- Website and Social Media at Sadowsky
I agree with you. P pickups should all be slightly radiused or have adjustable pole pieces and be in an ergonomic soapbar casing.
DiMarzio used to have adjustable pole pieces in their replacement P-pickups. a great idea. But I've never had trouble with string volume balance using flat pickups. if it was such a problem, why does everyone love and use J pickups?
deepestend
Commercial User
- Feb 21, 2003
- 6,249
- 8,171
- Disclosures
- Website and Social Media at Sadowsky
I recall I bought an Ibanez years ago that had radiused pickups, and i returned it because the outer string volume dropped off. But I like the idea of adjustable poles. Not a new idea, therefore very do-able.
I really like the Precision bass. 4 of them at home. MIJ Squier Silver Series, CIJ Fender PB70US (both w/41mm nut), MIJ Jazz Bass Special (Hell, it's actually a Precision w/38mm JB neck) and a Peavey Zodiac DE with SPB-1/SJB-1 pickups. The stock SPB-3/SJB-3 tone was awful and strident for my taste. So 2 P-only and 2-PJ 
Its woody tone is wonderful for me (either with alder or basswood body). It's simple. Not too confortable to play sitting as the Jazz Bass or the Zodiac... and I suppose the more important thing. It's the bass tone I'm used to hear since I was 13-yo. Let's say Iron Maiden & Black Sabbath as examples among hundred and hundred of bands and records.
Its woody tone is wonderful for me (either with alder or basswood body). It's simple. Not too confortable to play sitting as the Jazz Bass or the Zodiac... and I suppose the more important thing. It's the bass tone I'm used to hear since I was 13-yo. Let's say Iron Maiden & Black Sabbath as examples among hundred and hundred of bands and records.
Since a P bass pickup has two coils and each coil is only sensing two strings, I feel like you can do quite a bit of adjustment just using the mounting screws. I've read before that's just another intended benefit of the P pickup design but maybe it's an unintentional "feature"
since Fender often did things to cut costs.This is how I keep my P pickup. The middle two poles are closer to the strings. If I need to raise a pole piece I can raise one side of either coil.
Anyway. I have adjustable poles on my G&L SB-1 and SB-2. I don't bother using them on the P pickups since I just angle them like in the picture above. I do use the adjustable poles on my SB-2's single coil just to raise the middle two poles up. To be honest after doing that I didn't notice a difference. I just did it for consistency.
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Its all about the P, no J.
I have both. I take the J out and dust it and put it back it it's case occasionally.
I have both. I take the J out and dust it and put it back it it's case occasionally.
I can't disagree with the parts of that that are an expression of your personal preferences. And, I don't deny my own personal preferences are involved either.
But, logically, I have to disagree with some of that. Fender narrowed the nut width from 1 3/4' to 1 5/8". If narrowing the nut width shrinks the string spacing but people are happy with the narrow nut width then they're happy with the smaller string spacing. If narrowing the nut width doesn't change the string spacing then increasing it doesn't either.
But, the nut width is not the only factor in string spacing. The heel width is crucial. And who ever plays the 20th fret on the E string? Hardly anyone, it's not in the money zone. Therefore, it's not mass production worthy. It's a custom shop issue.
For me personally, 1 3/4" nut width is my comfort zone, no matter how many strings or what scale length or string gauge, even for treble guitars. An 1/8" off in either direction is huge, and bad, for my hands. But an 1/8" wider or narrower heel is not a huge problem for me even if I play those notes. The fret spacing is narrow there so I can deal with it.
I'm also not very sensitive to string spacing until it gets guitar like. My skinny fingers pluck in a MM spacing as well as a Fender spacing very comfortably. I adjust really fast to either string spacing, unlike scale length. I can't go from a 34" to a 30" scale without having to then need to look at my hands constantly or I'm totally lost. OK, enough rambling from me.
I started on an old Hondo P clone. Since then, I've been through numerous active/passive basses including numerous Fenders, Stingrays, a Sadowsky, MTD, Roscoe, Ric, and more. About 6 years ago, I got my hands on a US Lakland BG w/j neck. That bass will die with me.
Simply beautiful in feel and sound.
I can't stop tinkering with all those knobs on other basses. Thank God for P's!
Simply beautiful in feel and sound.
I can't stop tinkering with all those knobs on other basses. Thank God for P's!
I'm a big believer in "whatever works for you." I'd never do a one-string bass, but for some guy out there it's the schizz.
I'm not up on Fender history, that they went from this width to that width. I figured out what I like and go with it.
I'm sensitive to spacing depending on the day - I go through periods when I like the 1 7/8, other times the 1 3/4. This is for 5 string. For 4 string, I like the current standard neck, is it 1 11/16"? Not a fan of the Jazz neck on the P. Even though it may play better, the overall skinniness makes it feel "delicate." But the P neck would be nice if it was flatter front to back. Baseball bats were not meant for music, and that is entirely what put me off to P basses for almost 20 years. But the sound and practicality of the instrument is undeniable.
Coming back around to (more or less) the OP's question - what is it about the P-bass that has me going?
I had been playing basses mostly with dual coil soapbars, was never ecstatic about my sound, and what got me back to the P-bass was the sound. Like a lot of guys, in the 90's I was blown away by duG Pinnick's sound, and I read (and figured out) that it was mostly P-bass.
yeah, yeah, I know all about the 12 string, but this is P-bass.
Then I recalled some of my favorite bass lines were done on a P: anything by Mars Cowling (Pat Travers); anything by Dave Hope (Kansas,) ; Freddie Washington's seminal P-bass tone on Forget-Me-Nots; James Brown; and a lot of disco was killer, if you can believe it. So it comes down to:
The sound.
The simplicity.
The practicality.
And above all, the sound.
Bear in mind during that time I was playing some killer stuff: Alembic, Pedulla, Modulus (still have that one), Ibanez, and a 90's Jazz that was crap.
So it's the sound. I currently LOVE the sound of the Yamaha BB stuff, they sound and play like proper P, just with a J tagging along.
And the sound, that pop. oooh... as one TV knucklehead said, gives me a thrill up the leg.
OP, I also have an American Standard Precision V and at first, it rather underwhelmed me. I messed around with the setup and the strings for about a year but still it was "meh." I had put some LaBella flats on it for a while and then taken them off for some zingy rounds. But I put the LaBellas back on and set it up again and the darn thing started to grow on me to the point that today it's the bass that leaves the house 90% of the time.
Why? Well, the thing is that the bass just works. It sounds good with no effort for the classic rock and blues and R&B that I like to play. I often have a supplied backline and I've been able to get a good sound with whatever is there. The B is best if I pluck it just behind the pickup. Yes, the neck is wide and kinda chunky, but I have big hands and I'm used to it now. It makes the neck on my Jazz feel like a toothpick.
I'm a P-bass guy and while this bass now works for me, it may not be your thing. Still, perhaps you could give it a little time and maybe it will grow on you?
Why? Well, the thing is that the bass just works. It sounds good with no effort for the classic rock and blues and R&B that I like to play. I often have a supplied backline and I've been able to get a good sound with whatever is there. The B is best if I pluck it just behind the pickup. Yes, the neck is wide and kinda chunky, but I have big hands and I'm used to it now. It makes the neck on my Jazz feel like a toothpick.
I'm a P-bass guy and while this bass now works for me, it may not be your thing. Still, perhaps you could give it a little time and maybe it will grow on you?
