What's going to replace the Precision?

[RSBBass]

Our AI Robot Master Overlords, of course!

 

[Jefenator]

these have been around for around 400 years without a lot of changes. I guess the P bass still has wheels for a bit longer.

I keep trying to replace my double bass with a bass guitar, but most of my clients won't have it!

 

[Pyrrho Epoche]

Please make it stop.

All I gotta say is;
Tell the 100+ Polish, hardcore punk bands, that I follow, that their P basses are being replaced.

 

[bassliner50]

Isn't it clear to all? The Fender "Imprecise" will be marketed toward Precision users and enjoy dominance in the bass world for the subsequent 60 years only to be replaced again by the classic Precision.

 

[jeffb28451]

Well, considering what Fender has been doing, probably the same thing at a much higher price...

 

[JRA]

I have a fretless precision bass... is that an oxymoron?

i have two:

same amount of 'oxy' with twice the moron!

 

[in tune]

just solo the neck pickup in almost any bass and there's no question at all..

 

[MultiScaleMale]

The P bass was the first. (I know there was an electric bass by Tuttle, but it was a flop and never gained any traction in the market.) It essentially defined the sound of the electric bass and it sounds really good in a mix. I don't see anything ever replacing it. That doesn't mean you can't use something else, but it is the gold standard. If it is replaced, I think electric bass will be replaced, maybe with keys.

 

[DrBnz]

So the G&L 1000 is probably the closest to a P-bass replacement. But honestly.... what is gonna replace this

 

[lowendblues]

If it would ever go out of style, replaced by god only knows what kind of modern "super bass", it would eventually be re-discovered and return as the best ever "king of bass guitars".

the circle of life....

 

[mambo4]

Synths and tuned sine wave kick drum sounds are the bass line for most contemporary music,
thanks to the advent of hip hop and techno /edm over the last three or four decades.
Electric bass guitar is practically like a banjo now: a specific flavor from music from a bygone era
I will say that I don't believe this reality actually diminishes our chosen instrument:
The reality is it has expanded what a bass line can be
The reality is also that the synth revolution hasn't stopped anyone exploring new things with the bass guitar. It's just not the default bass voice in most pop anymore.

 

[BaltBass5]

For me Spectors replaced the P Bass. I get the Precision pickups in the reverse P config with a better platform.

 

[Knavery]

I know some of us refuse to believe it, but I think the Precision is just another fad that's bound to fade someday. It was always there, but it wasn't always there: How many basses did Sting go through before landing on his Precision? Where were they in the 80s, the 90s and the early 00s?

With that in mind, what do you think is going to replace the Precision?


** I mean on its way out in the sense that Sean Hurley says it’s a P bass world out there. Not on its way out completely.**

A fad? It's been the go-to bass for as long as it's existed. It's what... 70 odd years or something crazy? That's not a fad. Fads are short-lived. To be fair though, I just got my first American Precision II a few months ago. Never really cared for them before. Now I love them. If they ever go by the way side, I think it'll be Fender's doing via price hikes and what not.

 

[Cleezmo]

People will always play Precisions. Because Fender and others are gonna keep producing them, and people are gonna buy them.

Fender is (IMO) very similar to Harley-Davidson. The naysayers say that "they are still selling essentially the same product with the same shape that's been around for 70+ years, they don't innovate, etc.". And then when they try something outside their traditional product realm, it generally does not go over well and gets discontinued soon (see Dimension basses and the V-Rod H-D series) even if they are more versatile/playable/ridable etc., because the Fender (and H-D) customers and potential customers want the thing that looks like the vintage thing.

Another parallel - Sportbikes were all the rage in the '90s and early '00s. Then people realized that they aren't that comfortable unless you're on a racetrack, and the scene shifted from sport bikes to naked bikes and adventure bikes. But the cruiser (H-D) segment just kind of kept steady through that entire time. Just like the Precision has kept on keeping on.

FTR I don't own a Fender P or a Harley; I get why someone would, no issues there, but they aren't for me. But there will always be Precisions and Harleys out there.

 

[Gervais Cote]

For me Spectors replaced the P Bass. I get the Precision pickups in the reverse P config with a better platform.

If I was playing modern/contemporary rock, this would be my go to without any doubt.
And again in my area, sound technicians and engineers are now able to deal with a Spector and make it cut like a knife in the mix so we may have a winner with Spector in the future, who knows !

 

[factory presets]

The short answer is the 808. With the 909 shaping up as the new jazz bass. Coulda been a 303 but nobody knew how to play them

Rock and Fender basses are so interdependent fhey act as life support for each other. Outside of completely different ways to make music, your Alembics and Ibanez are just tinkering around the edges.

 

[LiptonJigglers]

The P bass will continue to exist as long as the conditions require it to exist. Certain aspects of its construction will be retained whilst others discarded as conditions change and determine the necessity of the P Bass to change in order to survive.
Alas, like everything, that comes into being will inevitably go out of being. P bass is not excluded from this objective law of nature.

Without knowing which direction music, technology and people's requirements, will traverse, it's hard to say precisely what will or won't be.

I'm willing to bet that any real drastic changes that renders the P Bass obsolete, probably won't occur in the remaining period of your or my lifetime.

 

[wolffire99]

Sub synth. I’ve been to 10ish concerts this year. 8/10 used a moog live for bass at some point. 3/10 used it for all of their music. These aren’t electronic bands, these are original rock/pop groups.

 

[tmw]

I will NOT move on from the Fender Precision quietly. I freely embrace this fad...

 

[Bag of Lazers]

I reject the premise. It's not always my personal fave, but the P bass is what we go back to when we're over a fad.