Why Do We Keep Coming Back to the P-Bass?

[ectoflanger]

Most ergonomic bass I've ever played and has a distinctive tone. But what prompted me to buy one was Rick Wills' tone on the instrumental "Mihalis", the first track on David Gilmour's first solo album David Gilmour released in 1978. It really compliments the sparse aural arrangement of that song.

First I bought a used 1990's Aria Pro II copy and upgraded with the Fender' 60's pickup but wasn't quite satisfied, so I got a used 2008 Fender American Standard.

 

[paskisti]

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, Frank Bello, Joey Vera, Pete Way, Peter Baltes, Duff McKagan, and plenty of other influential metal bassists played P Basses too. PJ pickup configurations count for me on this one.

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.

For me PJ is not the same as P while jazz pickup in bridge position adds the needed frequencies and makes sound more versatile. I should have also limited my opinion to '90 and later because especially beginning of the eighties is pretty old school soundwise. Probably you and I has quite different idea what metal sound is even some of the players indeed played some sort of metal. If we drop the PJ config out, how many players in your list are still valid? Steve Harris is one of those but they use standard tuning in Maiden.

How do you think 5 string bass in drop A or G works with P bass configuration in modern metal (not PJ)? I think it doesn't work at all but I may be wrong.

 

[MtManiac]

Why do people still play:
- Stratocasters
- Les Pauls
- Telecasters
- drums
- violins

For that matter, why do people still breathe air, sleep, eat, etc.? So outdated.

Sarcasm, sure, but where are we expecting P basses to disappear to? It’s not like they’ve been around for 3000 years, it hasn’t even been 100 and we’re still using gasoline powered cars.

 

[Pier_]

Clearly you have never listened to a single one of the named musicians.

Highly disagree about Victor Wooten. Guy can make "sitting under the music" sound like he's playing lead lines and vice versa.

even Victor Wooten says he record the bass lines in his albums with a Precision, and the lead/solo parts with the Fodera with light strings. he also says that he'd use his Precision (with heavy strings) in gigs, but having to play a lot of solo stuff he needs a different bass.

ah, his Fodera is a PJ with standard position, just EMG pickups (nothing fancy, they are the same since 1979)

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, Frank Bello, Joey Vera, Pete Way, Peter Baltes, Duff McKagan, and plenty of other influential metal bassists played P Basses too. PJ pickup configurations count for me on this one.

Justin Chancellor, outside of Tool, is using since a few years a '63 lake placid blue Precision in dropD tuning.

For me PJ is not the same as P while jazz pickup in bridge position adds the needed frequencies and makes sound more versatile.

you can still close the bridge pickup, as Gene Simmons does (it's also lowered to body level, and not connected. they just make his basses with a J pickup)

 

[paskisti]

you can still close the bridge pickup, as Gene Simmons does (it's also lowered to body level, and not connected. they just make his basses with a J pickup)

Yes you can, but is this the case in mentioned above? And anyway listed bassists are in the lighter end of the spectrum where classic rock tone works well. The majority is something different.

 

[Tommy Sparks]

I tend to rotate between different basses, which is a lot of fun. I also use a different base for the different guys I play with, some fit in much better than others. I love my P bass, J bass, T Bird and Ric.
They all work in different scenarios, but I can get that P to do it on just about all of them.

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

Hmmmm….. funny thing is , I keep coming back to the StingRay. That StingRay bounce to the notes is the sound of bass in my head.
I admit , I do love a good PBass and a Jazz Bass. I have a Sandberg that can cover these 2 basses with a touch more modern capability added in. But it is shaped a feels more like a StingRay .

 

[Ric Vice]

Once I moved to a 5 String the Precision was “off the table” The Precision’s split coil pickup is a different animal when you add that 5th string.
You either have a 3x2 or a 2x3 set of pickups. There aren’t as many options out there to choose from and the ones that are like the Mike Lull
are more expensive. I noticed recently that Sire makes one so does Fender.

 

[coy garcia]

My p basses are not my best ones but they fit well on any playing situation. Always my go to if im unsure what will work best.

 

[WG Plum]

While all P basses have a similar character due to pickup type and placement, they can still vary pretty broadly in tone. My Squier Sonic P certainly doesn't sound identical to the Vintera P I used have, or the 70s P I had before that or any of the other Ps I've had over the years. So far the Squier is the one probably works best for me of the ones I've had.

 

[TheArchitect]

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.

SMH... If you say so, it must be so....

 

[JimmyM]

Once I moved to a 5 String the Precision was “off the table” The Precision’s split coil pickup is a different animal when you add that 5th string.
You either have a 3x2 or a 2x3 set of pickups. There aren’t as many options out there to choose from and the ones that are like the Mike Lull
are more expensive. I noticed recently that Sire makes one.

I have a 5 with a Duncan 3-2 SPB1 and it sounds just like the 4 version. I was warned that it wouldn’t be fully humbucking but it might as well be.

 

[InnerCityBass]

Whether you want to look at the top "name" bass players, or the big touring acts (Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Kendrick Lamar, etc.) or just regional/national touring acts. Doesn't matter how you break it down, the vast majority of those bass players are not on the road with P-basses.

That's your subjective opinion, and I have a different subjective opinion

 

[tvbop]

Thing is and this is what makes these discussions so stupid. The public dont know or care about bass. Drums, keys, guitars, vox? Yep, but bass?... nope. Once in a while something bass wise happens. eg Durans John Taylor, Mark King etc, but those upfront tones are not standard or normal. Most of the time we all just sound meh and pretty much all the same. As long as the band don't have a problem...do your thing and play what you like.....no one cares.

 

[Ritter667]

1. Tradition (in the history of recorded music, it's a sound we know and use as standard common reference point)

2. Simplicity that just seems to work in, not all, but most contexts

It's the basic butter of bass, that seems to, again, just work in most contexts, versus Miraclewhip or Philadelfia that might be more fancy and sophisticated, but only really works for certain more specific stuff.

 

[MovingPitchers]

Have opinions but don’t mistake your opinions for facts, and vice versa.

I love this.

 

[JonathanPDX]

even Victor Wooten says he record the bass lines in his albums with a Precision, and the lead/solo parts with the Fodera with light strings. he also says that he'd use his Precision (with heavy strings) in gigs, but having to play a lot of solo stuff he needs a different bass.

ah, his Fodera is a PJ with standard position, just EMG pickups (nothing fancy, they are the same since 1979)

You have no idea what you're talking about. I've played Victor's basses many times, to compare a Fodera with a Mike Pope Preamp to a 1979 Fender P-bass is like comparing your Model T to a Ferrari because they both have wheels.

 

[JonathanPDX]

That's your subjective opinion, and I have a different subjective opinion

Facts are not opinions. You can go watch videos, look at photos, and clearly see what instrument people are playing. Just because you are sad that they aren't playing your favorite bass doesn't mean it's not true.

 

[lowfreqgeek]

Meh. P's are cool. I have at least 5 basses with P-bass pickups, a few of which are pure non-Fender Ps, a few 5-strings, a G&L SB1, etc. But I play other stuff a lot more than the P, including Jazz basses, fretless 5 strings with various pickup configs, a Jack Casady, an MM Stingray derivative (ironically a P-body, J-neck variant), dual humbucker 5-strings, etc.

As a baseline sound, the P never sounds bad. But there are other basses that can sound better for MANY genres and other combinations of instrumentation. YMMV.

 

[MrAB4003]

For me PJ is not the same as P while jazz pickup in bridge position adds the needed frequencies and makes sound more versatile. I should have also limited my opinion to '90 and later because especially beginning of the eighties is pretty old school soundwise. Probably you and I has quite different idea what metal sound is even some of the players indeed played some sort of metal. If we drop the PJ config out, how many players in your list are still valid? Steve Harris is one of those but they use standard tuning in Maiden.

How do you think 5 string bass in drop A or G works with P bass configuration in modern metal (not PJ)? I think it doesn't work at all but I may be wrong.

I understand! In modern metal, I don't think it would work as well as an active bass. The great DD Verni of Overkill invented "the Clank" in 1987 or 1988. He switched from a Rickenbacker 4001 to a BC Rich bass with 2 active P pickups. That bass sound changed metal bass forever. Most modern metal bassists use a variant of that tone. Listen to the Overkill albums Under the Influence or The Years of Decay and it's there. He's in standard tuning, but the tone is what I'm talking about.

For drop tunings below B0, the traditional P Bass tone will probably not work. I would want more tonal variety if I were playing that low and DD Verni's clank would be where I start my inspiration as an Overkill fan.