Technical Death Metal has a habit of using all 5+ strings.
I'm not going to claim you can't do it on a P, but I don't know of anyone doing so.
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When is the Precision the wrong tool for the job?
- Thread starter Just Wrong
- Start date
Technical Death Metal has a habit of using all 5+ strings.
I'm not going to claim you can't do it on a P, but I don't know of anyone doing so.
That’s certainly possible, but with instruments having become more affordable there’s nothing to say other musicians aren’t subject to the same impulses as bass players. Still, I’ll bet they haven’t got ten or more - however that wasn’t really my point.
My point is that I regard the current obsession with multiple instruments to cover every possible tonal scenario as excessive and unnecessary in most cases, especially as the difference is usually - modest, shall we say, especially to an audience.
Hence my assertion that almost any bass will be perfectly acceptable in almost any scenario, and hardly any bass will be the «wrong» tool for the job. YMM, as always, V.That’s not to say that I’m not as susceptible as the next guy to buy more basses (I’ve got several), but I’m trying to resist the urge, TB enabling notwithstanding.
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People get so wrapped up with gear and tribalism. I posted this as a joke on a local board. Some dude playing in a tribute band at a sports bar seemed to think having a Fender somehow puts him closer to being in The Rolling Stones. ...don't quit yer day job.
Forums seem to have a hive mind. The Les Paul or Tele are the ONLY guitars you need. The P Bass is the ONLY bass you need. The Martin D-18 is the ONLY acoustic you'll ever need. Iconic and popular? Sure. They're old designs. Who is surfing Talk Bass with a Commodore 64? Designs are meant to be improved. None of these are what I'd consider the best of the best from an ergonomics perspective. The tonal versatility of all of these also has room for improvement. "Tone is in the fingers!" These are the same guys who can't make anything else sound good.
When you point out what these guitars/basses CAN'T do, they will often come back with "well, then it ain't worth doing!" Make an improvement to the design and somehow you've spoiled the soup. There have been threads about how putting a J pickup in the bridge of a P Bass ruins it. Same goes with a middle pickup in a Tele.
This axiom only works if your entire world is rock and roll.
Outside of that insular realm, eg in R&B, fusion, Latin, theatre, pop, praise etc you sometimes need things like extended range and a little more high-end definition.
Of course any bass with the required range will work for any job. If that's a P for you and your job, rock it!
A P bass could be the only safe tool for the job if you’re in a recording studio. Here’s the risk -
P basses, whatever else might be true about them, occupy a predictable zone in the sound spectrum. There are engineers who, either based on their experience or how they learned, expect all basses to mix the way P basses do.
But they don’t - other basses have overtones and accompanying noises reductively called “clicky clacky” in this thread. Those will bump up against other instruments’ native zones in a mix and left unattended can make the whole thing sound muddy and a little sucky. To make it sound good, the engineer has to make space for a bass that has a less traditional tone.
I played on a record with a band where the bass was supposed to be an up-front part of the rhythm section, sort of like what Jamiroquai did with Zender. The engineer had no idea how to produce that sound and spent way too much time trying to make my basses sound like something you’d hear on a blues record. Result, the whole mix sounded like it had stayed in the oven too long. Had I known, I’d have just taken my P-bass to those sessions.
P basses, whatever else might be true about them, occupy a predictable zone in the sound spectrum. There are engineers who, either based on their experience or how they learned, expect all basses to mix the way P basses do.
But they don’t - other basses have overtones and accompanying noises reductively called “clicky clacky” in this thread. Those will bump up against other instruments’ native zones in a mix and left unattended can make the whole thing sound muddy and a little sucky. To make it sound good, the engineer has to make space for a bass that has a less traditional tone.
I played on a record with a band where the bass was supposed to be an up-front part of the rhythm section, sort of like what Jamiroquai did with Zender. The engineer had no idea how to produce that sound and spent way too much time trying to make my basses sound like something you’d hear on a blues record. Result, the whole mix sounded like it had stayed in the oven too long. Had I known, I’d have just taken my P-bass to those sessions.
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Maybe playing songs by Rush or Yes. But then again, a P with Rotosound Swing Bass 66s and a guitar pick would come pretty close or at least sound very decent. (Think John Entwistle, Live at Leeds.)
Bass solo @ :53. (P + Rotos)
Bass solo @ :53. (P + Rotos)
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Not much use when you want to do the "wrong" things. I always played bass in loud and aggressive trios and I really needed more bite and dynamics than a P does. And yes you can put a J bridge and a hot pre-amp and xyz until yer a grindy Pbassasuarus but I would rather just play my L-1000.
When the timbre is wrong and another bass sounds better. With most popular music spanning dozens of genres over the last 60 years, this is rare, and when it does happen it's typically a brighter Jazz bass that may win-out, or a Stingray. Most other basses have a very slim chance of sounding better than those 3. (And, yea, "better" = "familiar" - just the way it is.)
(And, yea, "better" = "familiar" - just the way it is.)
I don't get why people act like you can't get a P-bass and a J-bass to sound at least "close enough" to cover for each other. Adjust your touch and/or your amp settings and you can 100% make it work.
Perhaps the premise of the question loses sight of the point of music specifically, and art, in general.
Artistic expression comes from the soul of the artist. In this case, we are talking about a the bassist, or the writer, or the producer. It is the expression of emotion and an aesthetic sensibility that is expressed through the sound a musician creates that determines the choice of what is the best bass to use.
If a bassist decides he needs something tonally, it is his discretion the determines what the best tool is. Plenty of bassist go through their entire career playing the ax that have claimed as their signature.
Personally, I love my collection of basses and while a Pbass is what I grab most of the time, the other basses I own all get played and recorded.
It is my choice what I want to hear, sometimes a producer that has hired me, or an artist wants a specific thing, I will accommodate those requests with a smile.
Artistic expression comes from the soul of the artist. In this case, we are talking about a the bassist, or the writer, or the producer. It is the expression of emotion and an aesthetic sensibility that is expressed through the sound a musician creates that determines the choice of what is the best bass to use.
If a bassist decides he needs something tonally, it is his discretion the determines what the best tool is. Plenty of bassist go through their entire career playing the ax that have claimed as their signature.
Personally, I love my collection of basses and while a Pbass is what I grab most of the time, the other basses I own all get played and recorded.
It is my choice what I want to hear, sometimes a producer that has hired me, or an artist wants a specific thing, I will accommodate those requests with a smile.
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you can tame down lots of basses until they approximate a P. The other direction is not as easy. Can you make a P sound like a stingray? An alembic? A wal? Not really. Or it's not worth the effort.
I can get a Leeds tone with a slab P played HARD and a huge pile of Hiwatts but, respectfully, few of us are going to do that so it seems like an outlier to me....
I can get a Leeds tone with a slab P played HARD and a huge pile of Hiwatts but, respectfully, few of us are going to do that so it seems like an outlier to me....
I am with you in that it just fits with Motown, Stax, and Muscle Shoals tunes better. Being the GOF that I am, that is the music and sound I prefer. Since I play for my own enjoyment and do not want to "move on" to other music without my P
.Congratulations if bass playing is your job. For me, its a hobby so I play whatever I like in bands and its never been a precision. So far no one has ever complained about my tone. I guess my point is, unless someone is paying you a pile of money, just play whatever you like. Also, using different instruments than the norm can help create your own signature sound.
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That is a good sound man right there.
I personally just bought a P bass, but for different reasons than "they just fit in the mix better". It's a tank that's built tough and it's dead simple. Hard to screw that up and doesn't take a long time to dial in the tone you want. And I could probably use it for any job if I absolutely had to. However, I'd prefer to pick something else if the music called for it.
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