I can get grind out of my P. I attribute that to "its in the fingers" and string height but every bass is different.
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When is the Precision the wrong tool for the job?
- Thread starter Just Wrong
- Start date
I can get grind out of my P. I attribute that to "its in the fingers" and string height but every bass is different.
For those of you that say a P bass can literally do any genre, does the same then apply for any bass? Keyboard bass? Tuba?
Smooth_bass88
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- Oct 31, 2006
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Never. Same with telecaster guitars. Works in every genre. Unbelievable but true.
I'm not a fan of slapped Precisions. It doesn't sound right to me.
Level 42's catalogue would be so different had Mark King used a P.
Level 42's catalogue would be so different had Mark King used a P.
When you’re sitting around the campfire….
All jokes aside, put a properly setup Fender Precision in a musician’s hands and I don’t think theres a style or song where it wouldn’t work, and wouldn’t get the job done.
All jokes aside, put a properly setup Fender Precision in a musician’s hands and I don’t think theres a style or song where it wouldn’t work, and wouldn’t get the job done.
IMO if a bass is not the best tool for the job, then it is a wrong tool for the job. Why not just use the best tool?
My p-bass great, but even in my modest stable of basses, it is not the one that is "best" in the widest variety of scenarios (that award I give to my Carvin LB70 with Aero pickups).
My p-bass great, but even in my modest stable of basses, it is not the one that is "best" in the widest variety of scenarios (that award I give to my Carvin LB70 with Aero pickups).
Slap doesn’t sound right to me. On any bass. By anybody. Just don’t see the appeal. IMO.
It is often the wrong tool. I favor single coil Ps. They are missing that built in phat so they function in many other genres than rock soul and americana.
You know what’s a monster? A G&L L1000. When you get a chance try one. Active seeming without being. High harmonics. Buttery mids and good lows.
Know what? Leo made all of these iterations of the bass. They are all good. They aren’t all good everywhere.
While folks are on here wishing it was the holy grail some folks have the ears to hear if the tone just isn’t perfect. If the band leader isn’t hearing it you might get replaced.
I played in a blues band with drums elec guit, singer on plugged in acoustic. Where a P would be outstanding in a soul band with three horns, B3, drums, guit, & lead singer it was weak here. Why? Acoustically the entire band was above me. I was the low mids and big bottom. 5 string booteequee and the ladies were on the dance floor.
Having played Ps actual pre CBS Ps since they were just used basses, allow me to decide what works today.
Stanley stopped playing that Gibson EB3. The numerous successful bassists that have moved on just means that if they had had TB they wouldn’t have fallen into blasphemy.
Jaco didn’t use a P. While a very ignorant thing to say it shows the rigid fanaticism around the holy P. No it doesn’t have to be right for everything. Leo didn’t think it was.
You know what’s a monster? A G&L L1000. When you get a chance try one. Active seeming without being. High harmonics. Buttery mids and good lows.
Know what? Leo made all of these iterations of the bass. They are all good. They aren’t all good everywhere.
While folks are on here wishing it was the holy grail some folks have the ears to hear if the tone just isn’t perfect. If the band leader isn’t hearing it you might get replaced.
I played in a blues band with drums elec guit, singer on plugged in acoustic. Where a P would be outstanding in a soul band with three horns, B3, drums, guit, & lead singer it was weak here. Why? Acoustically the entire band was above me. I was the low mids and big bottom. 5 string booteequee and the ladies were on the dance floor.
Having played Ps actual pre CBS Ps since they were just used basses, allow me to decide what works today.
Stanley stopped playing that Gibson EB3. The numerous successful bassists that have moved on just means that if they had had TB they wouldn’t have fallen into blasphemy.
Jaco didn’t use a P. While a very ignorant thing to say it shows the rigid fanaticism around the holy P. No it doesn’t have to be right for everything.
Leo didn’t think it was.
You are conflating a lot of things there.
First, a BEAD arrangement on a P is just fine or Stoner or Doom, because they don't play fast, they use a lot of distortion, and fuzz pedals like split single coils. They are also into retro looking basses.
That isn't what I'm talking about.
There are A LOT of different flavors of metal. And there are many that you will never see a plain old P bass on. They are too slow, and aren't easily available in 5 or 6 string versions. Nor are 35"+ scale length available. Plus, they look old and dated. Most thrash, death, metalcore, deathcore, groove, tech death, and prog death are done on something with a bridge pickup, and more often than not, are double humbuckers because of their mid presence.
The sound of two pickups on at the same time imparts a different comb filter (often referred to as "scooped") than what yo get with just one pickup on. As the filter is different for each string (Physics lesson left out for brevity), you literally can't eq one to sound like the other - it just isn't possible.
Given that, yes, some folks can twist knobs to where it's "good enough" for them. Some of us are more discerning than that (which is both a blessing and a curse), and we're not OK with "good enough". Whatever level you want to do things at is fine, just don't assume that others have to share your approach, perceptions, aspirations, etc...
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