If its an older show written for 4 string a P bass is fine. All of the newer shows, in the last 10 years or so, are pretty much written for 5 string.
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Why do the session legends all use P basses? (SBL Video Discussion)
- Thread starter citizenchris099
- Start date
95% of those recordings I have play(ed) on were/are done with an OLD P Bass (mine or the producer's "fave") with flat wound strings. Why? I think this - its probably safe to say that the vast majority of popular music recordings made since the '50's, especially during the Golden Era '63 - '77, featured a P Bass with flats or rounds. Obvious exceptions that were huge sellers: Beatles, Led Zep, etc.,... but, maaaaaybe, most listeners, Artists other Musicians, and most importantly MUSIC FANS and MUSIC LOVERS are, in my opinion, consciously and unconsciously most comfortable with the sound and "sonic feel" of a P Bass. It is, for better or for worse, the most "familiar" AND - Recording and Mastering Engineers love them (possibly due to that afore-mentioned "familiarity", especially with flatwounds!!! As adroitly mentioned in a previous post, maybe alot of outboard gear was designed to match P Basses... I had Lindy Fralin rewind one of his Vintage P Bass pickups twice for a "Frankenstein" P Bass I put together from eBay parts with Matty Baratta - reowund twice (stepped the output DOWN) to "perfectly" match one of Linda Perry's old LA2A's...ridiculous tweakery, but hey...it was all in the name of THE QUEST FOR TONE!!!
Peace and love - all the best in 2019!!!
Peace and love - all the best in 2019!!!
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I have a P (Mike Lull), and a Jazz (Sadowsky), and I use both. But, I'd like to remind folks that one of the busiest of the LA rock/pop legends, Chuck Rainey, was a Jazz bass user.
But, I do use my P, especially in the studio, more than the Jazz.
But, I do use my P, especially in the studio, more than the Jazz.
Stereotyped music written by the mile and recorded by formatted people needs a standard instrument.
The P is a known entity. Engineers better know how to sit it in the mix. In the guitar world it’s the Tele though a Deluxe mic’ed with an SM57. That’s a sound.
Does everyone use that combination? Nope.
Does everyone use that combination? Nope.
No, I had a Mexican made P for a while as a backup (60s vintage)and it was a really nice bass! I recently tried a new Players Series (new they are around $650) that was also very nicely built.
Turnaround
Commercial User
OK, so I'm not a session legend. And I get approached by someone who is recording. They ask me if I will sit in for the bass line and can I do a Jaco-esque style. I say "not if your engineer insists that I play a P-Bass". That has actually happened to me.
D
IMO there is no deep answer to this question. Its seems that many engineers(from novice to pro) deliberately stop 'cork sniffing' for tone when they get to the bass guitar chair. 30 minutes or more miking and eq'ing a drum kit? Sure. 5 minutes to get a sound on a P bass? Got it...next! It's a disgustingly vicious cycle, and both disrespectful to the players and the bass guitar(and all it's variants).
Nope, Chuck uses a 57 P bass, he's a personal friend.
Considering most engineers tend to make the bass disappear in the mix makes you wonder why they care in the first place. Engineers dont even like bass players . If you want your sound or tone or what ever you want to call it sound just like every other guy then go ahead. Play your P bass or let that engineer tell you to play it, but not me. I have no intentions of sounding like every other bass player. For better or worse.
How is it disrespectful? Drums get more of a sound check because there are multiple mics. A direct P bass just sounds good with very little effort.
Most engineers that I have worked with have been able to get a good sound out of any bass I've brought. But sometimes a P Bass will sit in the mix better than other basses. And as someone who has engineered and produced music for my own projects as well as other bands, I have been finding that the P seems to occupy a spectrum of sound that sits well with most kick drums. A lot of modern basses tend to have a low end that occupies the kick drum terrirory and therefore, you have to cut a notch out of the low so that the kick doesn't get buried. With that said, you can pretty much get a P Bass like tone with a J Bass by rolling off the bridge pickup, so I don't see too many engineers complaining about people showing up with Jazz basses. As much as I like Stingray basses (and I have recorded with a few), sometimes they require more work to get a sound that sits in the mix as well as a P could without much effort... again laziness on their part.. but also, the more you have to spend getting a good bass sound in a recording session, the less time (more time = more budget) you have for things like vocals and other instruments.
Well it won't be guided by those two!
You can be certain of that!
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I don’t think those old players cared what they played. They were just working hard playing.
And over the years he's played a bunch of different stuff. His current endorsed bass (or at least relatively recent) is a PJ:
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Had the pleasure of meeting Chuck at Victor's camp two different years. Sweetest guy out there. His stroke was in-between those and when I saw him the second time I said, "Chuck, great to see you!" to which he replied without missing a beat, "great to be seen."
Probably my favorite bassist of all time.
I must say that this does open the mind. On one hand i have spent lots of money on basses and amps and speaker bins to achieve a sound I love and get really annoyed when the mixing and recording guys put a mic in front of every instrument and DI the bass. But I do notice the on stage sometimes the sound I love means that even though volume is up the bass disappears in the mix. Maybe this is why the engineers have a gear formula that they prefer.
