This, pretty much. A lot of the music I love was recorded with a P too. It's the 'home' tone.
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Why Do We Keep Coming Back to the P-Bass?
- Thread starter Paleet
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- p bass 5 string
I played one Precision for decades - I play other basses now but it worked for years, and would still work fine except I moved to short scales for health/medical reasons. I think one of the key things about a Precision is its simplicity. Not just functional simplicity - single pickup, passive, etc. - but also aesthetic simplicity. Everyone is used to seeing a Precision, it requires very little to wrap one’s head around. Its familiarity almost works like camouflage - you just don’t notice it like you would, say, a Thunderbird or Steinberger or whatever. Even if an audience member doesn’t know what Fender is, odds are they can look at a Precision and know they’ve seen that kind of instrument many times. This familiarity can be a benefit or detriment, depending on the bass player’s individual goals.
I’m fortunate enough to own a 59 Fender Precision. The 57-59 instruments look different (gold anodized pick guard) and because of the neck profile, radius, smaller fret size and integrated fingerboard, feel very comfortable under the fingers to many of us who also play Double Bass. The split coil pickup has a pretty unique sound. Once they went to bigger frets I wasn’t interested. Just my take however.
I was anti- precision for a long time. My main bass is in my avatar. But for the last couple years, it's been P bass with flats for everything - unless I need the range, then I use my fancy 5 string.
I got a used p bass when I started working clubs in the 80s, because even then everybody said "you gotta have a P." It worked, but I always wanted more sparkle in the tone. The P to me has always been a lunch pail instrument, nothing fancy, but usually good enough. I never really considered it special until I started coming here circa 2017.
I still have that p, but basically never play it. I think for classic rock or soul I might bring it out, but these days when I play electric it's a modern Ibanez with more strings, more pickups, more sounds, fewer frets (zero) and more fun
I still have that p, but basically never play it. I think for classic rock or soul I might bring it out, but these days when I play electric it's a modern Ibanez with more strings, more pickups, more sounds, fewer frets (zero) and more fun
I was watching one of the music awards shows in the past two or three years, and I made a point of noticing what various bassists were using.
When it wasn't synth bass, it was 100% Fender Basses. Something like 60-40% Jazz over Precision.
But why the P-Bass? Here's my own perspective....
To me, the sound of the Precision is the "default" electric bass sound. Other sounds can be interesting or effective, but they distract me a bit because they are all non-Precision sounds.
It's like coffee. When I started playing bass 55 years ago, coffee was coffee. Over the decades, coffee (like electric bass) has been tinkered with. So you now have hazelnut coffee, mocha coffee, caramel coffee, pumpkin spice coffee, etc. Sure, more options for people with different tastes. All good. But all of those are like "non-coffee" to me. Not the real thing.
Ok, I'm a traditionalist/purist.
But maybe what I said gives one reason why the Precision persists. It doesn't draw attention to itself... it simply *is* bass, working in almost any situation. It's elemental, like air or water.
When it wasn't synth bass, it was 100% Fender Basses. Something like 60-40% Jazz over Precision.
But why the P-Bass? Here's my own perspective....
To me, the sound of the Precision is the "default" electric bass sound. Other sounds can be interesting or effective, but they distract me a bit because they are all non-Precision sounds.
It's like coffee. When I started playing bass 55 years ago, coffee was coffee. Over the decades, coffee (like electric bass) has been tinkered with. So you now have hazelnut coffee, mocha coffee, caramel coffee, pumpkin spice coffee, etc. Sure, more options for people with different tastes. All good. But all of those are like "non-coffee" to me. Not the real thing.
Ok, I'm a traditionalist/purist.
But maybe what I said gives one reason why the Precision persists. It doesn't draw attention to itself... it simply *is* bass, working in almost any situation. It's elemental, like air or water.
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You mean besides A list players in major studios? Hurley? Pino?
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The guy on the far left of the ad tells me "Yes, you can use this at your Red Hot Chili Peppers tribute band gig too!"
It's not complicated and it works. It does what it has been asked to do for decades.
They bring reliability in the studio. Unless you have had to do a proper mix and realize how well they fit into a mix without jumping through hoops vs the efforts that are sometimes needed to fit other types into a mix you may not really get it. I don't love P's for everything but there is one in the studio and its there for a reason.
An instrument does not have to bring anything new. Most recordings have nothing new sonically.
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I don’t come back to the P-Bass.
The world has moved on in terms of ergonomics, style, and tones and I don’t feel like I need to conform to the pass.
This strikes me as a content-generating bot.
This
Over the past 45 years I've owned and played a lot of different basses, but I started with a Precision and I've always had one. I dig the body style and tone far more than the Jazz. Although my current one also has a Jazz bridge pickup.
P-Basses are just my goto bass when I want that simple "punch in the face" bass tone.
Over the past 45 years I've owned and played a lot of different basses, but I started with a Precision and I've always had one. I dig the body style and tone far more than the Jazz. Although my current one also has a Jazz bridge pickup.
P-Basses are just my goto bass when I want that simple "punch in the face" bass tone.
Jamerson and other have had the Jazz available, because the first split coil P-bass came out in 1957, the first Jazz Bass in 1960. Jamerson switched to the Precision Bass in the early 60's with a '58 or '57 that was stolen, and then bought a '62.
if he ever wanted, he could've been playing the Jazz Bass, as many did.
both the "split coil Precision" and the Jazz Bass were new at the time.
I thing I've learned in 20 years of playing, is that when you go into a studio for recording, 99% of the time they ask you for a Precision Bass... I went in studio with Jazz, Stingray, different Yamaha (mostly with a split coil, however), Gibson, Aria SB1000 and others, but they always preferred the Precision, of which I always have one, even in those periods when I don't "like" the Precision.
last experience was a few months ago: I was recording for a punk band, for the new album, and live I was using my Yamaha BB3000 or a Manson JPJ Signature (EMG 35P and EMG 35TW).
I was using these two basses because they gave me a lot of "growl" with a pick, sparkle in the hi-mids and highs, a metallic tone that I was liking a lot.
it was a period in which I didn't have a Precision, because I was selling-buying instruments and my main basses were a Yamaha BB3000 and a Manson JPJ Signature.
the Manson, while live sounded good, recorded was lacking a lot of "punch" and frequencies, and didn't work with the guitar.
the BB3000 was something nearer with the split soloed, but we had to work on the starting EQ to add and remove frequencies to make it work better.
the producer repeated me a lot of times: "if you've had a Precision, it would've been easier".
the mixing took a lot, it's still not finished, and we had to work a lot on the final bass sound, because it just didn't fit.
PS: the Yamaha BB3000 doesn't sound like a Precision even with the split soloed, it lacks the low-mids of the Fenders, and has far more highs and basses. the overall sound of that bass is nearer to a Spector than a Fender...
the Manson has an EMG 35P, which is a reverse-P in the soapbar cover, and the sound (also with mahogany body, maple neck, ebony fretboard and maple top) is nothing even near a Precision
those basses work wonderfully in live situations, they give me plenty of options, but in studio not that much.
a Precision in a live setting is easier to be heard.
OBVIOUSLY a lot of players prefer modern sounds, sparking bright instruments, metallic tone, scooped mids, chainsaw sounds, piano-like tone, sequencer note quality.
but then, in a studio when you have to record for others than your specific band, probably the P bass is what they want.
First off, I don’t. I keep coming back to the jazz bass.
But I think it’sa good utilitarian instrument, simple to get “right”, and has been used so frequently that its character has become a standard. So while we can hem and haw about EQ and scale length and pickup types and spacing and everything else, we can also simplify with just that one instrument and a minimal setup and still be good to go most of the time.
I'm sorry for posting a 2nd time on this thread already today. But, if I may.........at least for me, when I hear and think the word "BASS", these 2 images pop into my mind. How about you?
Welcome to TalkBass! Nothing gets TB fired up like a good ol p bass thread.
There is a very straightforward reason: The P-bass is simple, always works, and needs nothing.
Now, if you have particular requirements, there are plenty of other basses that will cater for them. But at the same time it’s almost impossible to go wrong with a P-bass, which is why so many rely on them.
Now, if you have particular requirements, there are plenty of other basses that will cater for them. But at the same time it’s almost impossible to go wrong with a P-bass, which is why so many rely on them.
