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Why do I have to want a P...

#69
twinjet said:
I've owned and loved a MIM Fender Jazz for three years, but this forum has made me wanna try a Precision. So bad to the point of buying a cheap Squier P for experimentation, not to exclude modding. Please talk me out of this craziness?
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Why? It's a good idea to have one P-bass. They give you a bass with a low-mid bump, and higher output. Long story short they fill in the bottom-end nicely and are great for sitting in the mix and supporting the band. If you own a Jazz and a P-bass you cover a lot of ground.

I'd say a Jazz is meant more for "lead bass" lines (that's what I call that role people like Flea or Geddy Lee fill). I mean you can play anything on any instrument if you EQ it right, but Jazz basses naturally have that growl and top-end that cuts through the mix. However they lack some of the low mids a P-bass naturally has even when you turn down the bridge pickup volume.
 
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#70
Anyway, it sounds like the OP is under peer pressure to buy a P bass, which I disagree with.
If you're happy with your current gear, why buy something else?

I've spent $1,000s on gear because of peer pressure. There are days that I wake up & think I should have just stuck to the two entry level instruments I had.

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#74
I feel like people buy basses out of two things : either by the pressure that everyone else is using one and so you need to to be part of the group or because you want to sound like those old record where you had 4 choice of basses ( Fender P, Fender Jazz, Rickanbacker and Hofner violin bass ).
 
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#78
twinjet said:
I always have to meddle with knobs. Kinda irritating, but it's a beautiful bass for jazz. Whatcha recommend in my case? I dig motown, funk etc, but in my nine years of playing I've gotten paid for many more jazz gigs to my one or two funk.
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So, it seems to me that you play a Jazz bass for your jazz gigs, but wonder if a P-bass may be better for funk and Motown type music? That's a genre issue, and all I can say is either bass CAN work for either type of music, in general... in specific, you may need one or the other, but then you have to consider strings too (getting a Jaco tone on a P with flats is nearly impossible).

For meddling with knobs, my only answer (i.e. what worked for me) is to eliminate knobs. You can do that on a Jazz bass, but you can try an intermediate solution, which is taping the knobs in place. Or you could wire the bass in series, which will give you less options to meddle with (only one volume and tone), and the sound will get somewhat closer to the p-bass sound...

But perhaps the only thing that will satisfy your curiosity is to get a P-bass. Worst case scenario, you will not like it, but your questions will be answered. Tip: buy used, they have better resale value ;)
 
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#79
You don't need a P. Other basses "cut through" and "sit in the mix" and thump. You need to know what "cut through" and "sit in the mix" means in your musical context. The basses I have "cut through" and "sit in the mix". None of them are a P, at least as of tomorrow when UPS takes my P to a new home.

The only sound I really dig from a P is with LaBella Deep Talkin' Bass flats. Not TI flats. Not Chromes. Just the LaBellas.
 
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