IMO it's because a P-Bass already "sits in the mix" very much the way an engineer would mix any other bass. Very little is required to get it to sound good.
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Why Do We Keep Coming Back to the P-Bass?
- Thread starter Paleet
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It works in the mix in a wide variety of genres and with a wide variety of instruments, maybe not all of either but many of both.
I have long thought that it's mainly because the P-bass was the first. Therefore it became the sound that the music industry got used to working with and the public got used to hearing. The first session players on electric pretty much had the one choice and those players with their P's were on the majority of recordings.
That whole "sits in the mix" thing is simply more of the above as far as I'm concerned. The record industry generally hasn't been all about trying new things, especially when it comes to bass parts. It was all about getting those songs out ASAP. It wasn't about spending even 5 minutes figuring out how to do anything differently if they could avoid it, that's why they'd use the same players (e.g., The Wrecking Crew) on every recording if they could. It was all about "churning it out".
The record buying public, which is all the industry cares about, has never said: "I'm not buying that record because it's not a P-bass."
Had Leo had invented the Jazz bass first, with Jamerson and others having played one of those instead, we probably wouldn't be having this discussion..
That whole "sits in the mix" thing is simply more of the above as far as I'm concerned. The record industry generally hasn't been all about trying new things, especially when it comes to bass parts. It was all about getting those songs out ASAP. It wasn't about spending even 5 minutes figuring out how to do anything differently if they could avoid it, that's why they'd use the same players (e.g., The Wrecking Crew) on every recording if they could. It was all about "churning it out".
The record buying public, which is all the industry cares about, has never said: "I'm not buying that record because it's not a P-bass."
Had Leo had invented the Jazz bass first, with Jamerson and others having played one of those instead, we probably wouldn't be having this discussion..
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It's a known quantity. I've never owned one or any Fender, for that fact.
Riis
Riis
P's are just a bonus for me... I appreciate them. But, my favorite basses are from the 80's era and I believe Stingrays and Ricks are superior to P's and J's.
IMO - you answered your own question.
The P-Bass always has a place because it always works in the mix.
I've heard it said before and agree:
"The P-Bass isn't the perfect bass for every gig, but it's never the wrong bass for the gig..."
it's Leo's fault, he got it right straight out of the gate, then once speaker and recording technology caught up there was no looking back. they were there. the only competition to the P came from Gibson's mudbuckered EB-0, that fuller range obliterates everything else, but is impractical in most settings. the Jazz took over thx to it's neck, politeness and suiting new styles of music well. to this day, those two or three basses are all that's needed
They are kind of perfect , they are made better with a jazz neck . 
Simple answer might be that the P Bass hasn’t been made obsolete. The iPhone 17 is better than the 16, but no bass does the P Bass better than the P. Also, simplicity, classic design, beautiful tone. Other basses come and go. The P remains.
lack of imagination.
P-basses are cool for being "simple." leo stumbled across an idea that worked, and some folks don't need/want to 'expand' on the idea, even though other makes/models can get the same sound/effect easily.
P-bass "Epiphany" threads on TB like these are more common than P-basses in the studios lol (you get a pass since you're new here 
)
Familiarity, it's a bass that's been recorded for decades in various genres of music. Engineers, Producers, and other musicians are very used to the sound of one so it sounds "correct" in the same way a major scale does in music. Sometimes folks want something less conventional though, so for weirdos like us there's always Ibanez
)Familiarity, it's a bass that's been recorded for decades in various genres of music. Engineers, Producers, and other musicians are very used to the sound of one so it sounds "correct" in the same way a major scale does in music. Sometimes folks want something less conventional though, so for weirdos like us there's always Ibanez
No, it hasn't been made obsolete, but it seems as though way more companies (Sadowsky among others) have built their reputation around copying the Jazz.
This question has already been answered...Millions of Times...By The P BASS. It has spoken and Spoken True.
From New Orleans to Seattle, from New York to LA and any country in the world, the Precision bass owns those bass lines.
Boomer Bar bands!!! Many Heavy Rock, Funk, Acid Jazz, Punk, (name your genre here) bass players used and still use Precision basses. That sound just fits wherever you want to put it. You want to look and sound different, you can. Buy a dozen pedals, you can. But if you want to sound great, in any genre, with your technique shining through, with no frills, look no further that a Precision bass.
It's the bass you hear in your head, when you want to hear the bass. 
Countless new and high-quality bass tones brought to the table throughout the years that didn't come from and can't be produced with a P-bass.
