Highly disagree about Victor Wooten. Guy can make "sitting under the music" sound like he's playing lead lines and vice versa.
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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 have 2 at the house and one on the way. They are all MIJ (or maybe CIJ, I’m never quite sure of the difference).
The first one is a 1980’s white Fender P, the second is a white Squier P (not sure of the age), and the third is shipping from Japan right now and is a sunburst J. All 32” medium scales.
The Fender P is the main and is a lovely bass to play.
Who cares about touring. By the time they get done eq'ing and compressing to cram it into a live mix you could play about anything. As long as it works, it doesn't matter. The best are in the studios. That's the crucible
A lot of people tour with a signature instrument they have an interest in promoting. I care more about what they are using in the studio, who know what the fine distinctions really are in the tones that are required.
Well with that take on old guys and P basses, you sound very even keeled, and not at all angry, so my apologies. Dang, you may not be as old as me, but you sure are sharpening up your shaking your fist at the sky skills for the future.
Yes, a wide variety of basses are available and widely used, and no, you don’t have to use a P at all if you don’t want to. But to deny that a lot of modern players still use them as a first choice is to deny reality.
But really, who cares one way or another? Nobody is forcing you to buy one, and nobody is going to buy your favorite if they don’t want to, either. And you wouldn’t get a cut if they did.
Have opinions but don’t mistake your opinions for facts, and vice versa. Life’s too short to waste on trivial matters. Hopefully you will live to a ripe old age, but you aren’t going to get younger, and old age comes quick, so don’t knock it.
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P-basses are cool and all that. The real burning question is: Why do people feel the need to justify/glorify playing a P-bass with a thread on TB once every couple of weeks?
Hi, first day on the interwebz?
Yeah, there is some over-justification, but I see nothing wrong with the glorification, especially if there are nice pics.
All good, but the broken-record repetition is either funny or maddening (or maybe both), depending upon your demeanour!Hi, first day on the interwebz?
Yeah, there is some over-justification, but I see nothing wrong with the glorification, especially if there are nice pics.
That's the cycle. Next you'll see a "Does everybody agree that bass players are all the best/most knowledgeable/most important at X?"
Because there are far more musicians gigging live than working in studios, especially at the national level. And there are so many factors in a big studio setting, the sound of your P-bass in your bedroom is worlds apart from a hundred grand's worth of compressors and effects in a major national-level studio.
As you say, by the time it's all EQ's and compressed and crammed into Pro Tools, then smashed into an Mp3 and blasted through someone's earbuds, they can't hear your classic P-bass tone anyway.
These threads happen all the time and they are pointless. "My favorite thing is the best thing, and anybody who doesn't agree is wrong. Now everyone come and validate my opinion!"
I have a sweet 2008 American Standard P Bass under the bed. I'll have to check it one of these days to see if it's the color I remember.
Yes. The P bass carries on the tradition / lineage of the upright bass. With references to the design motifs and also the tone.
Funnily enough I got my 2014 Am.Std P bass out last night, for the first time in approx 8 months. The first thing that struck me was the weight 8lb 6oz of easy lifting, and the smooth hand rolled neck just felt great in my hand again. IMMO I still think the Am.Std line from 2012-2016 takes some beating.
I'm with you here! Rickenbackers are my favorite basses. But I do have one P Bass that I use as a backup. So I keep coming back to that bass for covers and FSO tones.
Others may come back to the P Bass (or similar FSOs) because of its history (it's the most recorded electric bass model in the history of music), simplicity, pedigree, and limitations.
Many TB-ers even have multiples for different tunings (e.g. standard, Eb Standard, D Standard, and BEAD), types of strings (e.g. one for rounds and one for flats), and even different specs (e.g. 5 string, fretless, different neck widths, and different pickups).
Go back in time and there are plenty of them. Geezer Butler wrote the playbook of heavy metal bass on a P Bass! Steve Harris, Joey Vera, Pete Way, Peter Baltes, and plenty of other influential metal bassists played P Basses too.
I tune my P Bass down to D Standard (as I do all my basses) and it sounds fantastic. You just need heavier gauge strings to compensate for the lower tension. Geezer Butler tuned down to C# Standard with Black Sabbath starting in 1971. His P Bass sounds so heavy on those records.
Update - post edited to reflect that PJ configurations are different than straight P configurations.
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