I have a fretless precision bass... is that an oxymoron?
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What's going to replace the Precision?
- Thread starter Just Wrong
- Start date
I think the Precision Bass will still be popular a hundred years from now and two hundred years from now.
This question, if it’s going to be answered, must be done with precision.
The P bass is going nowhere, it is a pickup configuration that sounds good all the time requiring relatively little work on the part of the player, sound man, studio engineer.
What I would like to see with P Basses and J Basses is a pickup shell reconfigure.
The two pieces of a split p pickup can be put inside a rectangular housing like EMG does with a few of their P pickup offerings.
Much easier for routing bodies, and mounting pickup, and maintenance than the four tabs (ears) to put mounting screws through.
Same deal with J pickups, they can be put in a housing that doesn't have four wonky ears (tabs) to put mounting screws through.
I think Bartolini does some J pickups that are a slim rectangle shape with no ears.
The new Dimarzio P pickups that are in metal hosings and don't have the four tabs sticking up anymore are really nice, the screws are below the surface which is better.
Still think a soap bar shaped housing that has both halves in it would be the best way.
What I would like to see with P Basses and J Basses is a pickup shell reconfigure.
The two pieces of a split p pickup can be put inside a rectangular housing like EMG does with a few of their P pickup offerings.
Much easier for routing bodies, and mounting pickup, and maintenance than the four tabs (ears) to put mounting screws through.
Same deal with J pickups, they can be put in a housing that doesn't have four wonky ears (tabs) to put mounting screws through.
I think Bartolini does some J pickups that are a slim rectangle shape with no ears.
The new Dimarzio P pickups that are in metal hosings and don't have the four tabs sticking up anymore are really nice, the screws are below the surface which is better.
Still think a soap bar shaped housing that has both halves in it would be the best way.
The precision is so prevalent because lots of people know what to expect with it, lots of sound ingeneer know how to make it sit in the mix with the eyes closed. It is an industrial standard to a point where the real quality of it is non relevent now.
So to replace that will be a hard task because it is the whole music industry that need changing habits.
So to replace that will be a hard task because it is the whole music industry that need changing habits.
I think you have to read OP’s post as “What will be the next fashion in bass guitars?”, at least that’s how I read it.
For the last couple of years, the Precision Bass, especially in its vintage inspired form, is definitely in fashion. Look for example at some bass player’s bass players like Tim Lefevbre, Sean Hurley or Nick Campbell.
Clothes, immediately after being in fashion, become nearly unwearable for a while, see bell bottoms.
I believe there will come a time where it is not cool to show up with a battered vintage P Bass, God forbid a sunburst one.
Of course some classic designs never really go out of fashion, like the Levi’s 501 or vintage sportscars, but they will be niche products, not what the dedicated followers of fashion want.
So what will be the next fashion in bass guitars once the (mostly look of, I guess) the P (or the Fender bass in general) falls out of favor?
My guess is it will not be about tone as much as about looks. And it won’t be the vintage hollowbody but rather modern designs in the spirit of Dingwall or F Bass, the Anti-Fenders so to speak.
For the last couple of years, the Precision Bass, especially in its vintage inspired form, is definitely in fashion. Look for example at some bass player’s bass players like Tim Lefevbre, Sean Hurley or Nick Campbell.
Clothes, immediately after being in fashion, become nearly unwearable for a while, see bell bottoms.
I believe there will come a time where it is not cool to show up with a battered vintage P Bass, God forbid a sunburst one.
Of course some classic designs never really go out of fashion, like the Levi’s 501 or vintage sportscars, but they will be niche products, not what the dedicated followers of fashion want.
So what will be the next fashion in bass guitars once the (mostly look of, I guess) the P (or the Fender bass in general) falls out of favor?
My guess is it will not be about tone as much as about looks. And it won’t be the vintage hollowbody but rather modern designs in the spirit of Dingwall or F Bass, the Anti-Fenders so to speak.
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I'm not sure what the OP means - Sting was playing P's back ing the 80s and 90s, and a fretless P in the 70s. I saw him use his famous 57 on SNL in 1990 or so. Still with the pick guard on.
For me, the thing that will replace the P bass will be another P bass, perhaps a color I don't have.
For me, the thing that will replace the P bass will be another P bass, perhaps a color I don't have.
Video killed the radio star. Music made by humans may go the way of the wooly mammoth with the rise of the machines. And I say that with no joy. Could be, playing a pbass or any instrument for that matter, might have to be done in secret, lest a machine finds you. Distopian I know.
That is also how I read it, and my point is nothing for a very long time because the precision bass is so embed in the music industrie's people that it is going nowhere.
My guess is that it will go the way of the hamburger. Back in the '50's a burger joint was THE place. In the '60's places like McDonald's and Burger King started getting popular. By the '70's there were high end competitors making booteek gourmet burgers. In the '80's microwaves made whole meals in a fraction of the time it took to cook burgers. The '90's brought the burger into the economy as a trading barometer in addition to being a food. The turn of the millennium saw a new threat to the burger: veggie-based copies. In the 2010's pink slime had its moment in the spotlight. Now we're in the 2020's and burgers are still available and as good as ever, even if they're made out of celery and whey powder. 
Just like Jesus fed 5000 people with two fish, the remaining 2 Tutmarcs will suddenly multiply themselves, and a glut of them will hit us, giving us the chance to try them, making us all realize that his design was superior.
The short scale folks will have a field day with this -“I told you so”.
The short scale folks will have a field day with this -“I told you so”.
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The Ma Deuce has been around since 1923, and in constant use by the U.S. and other militaries since 1928. Surely a fad.
I really like that midnight blue color I see people showing that they just bought. The one that Fades into black.I'm not sure what the OP means - Sting was playing P's back ing the 80s and 90s, and a fretless P in the 70s. I saw him use his famous 57 on SNL in 1990 or so. Still with the pick guard on.
For me, the thing that will replace the P bass will be another P bass, perhaps a color I don't have.
Out in the gigging/touring wild, I would say the Ibanez Soundgear is almost as ubiquitous as the Fender P or Jazz. Perhaps more so in select music genres.
Plus, we have FSO (Fender Shaped Object) basses and we're now seeing more basses shaped like Soundgears (e.g. Jackson Spectra).
Plus, we have FSO (Fender Shaped Object) basses and we're now seeing more basses shaped like Soundgears (e.g. Jackson Spectra).
