Why does everyone else sound good on a P and I don't?

[Lowbrow]

I have tried to play and like P basses. They are everywhere, and it seems an appropriate bass for some of my gigs - soul, funk, R&B horn band especially.

Yet, I never seem to sound good when I use one. I listen to all these guys that play them in all kinds of genres and they sound awesome. Yet, I sound like crap.

I play them in the store and I think ....ok, not bad. Yet in a band setting it sounds like crap - especially at church. I pick up a J style bass and I'm good.

I know - play a jazz bass. I do - kind of. I'm just curious why I can't do it on a P.

I've heard plenty of bassists who sounded like crap on a Precision - and on any other bass they played, for that matter.

 

[spufman]

Hah, I've asked the exact same question! I finally got a nice meaty P tone that works for me with the G&L SB-2. But then, that P pickup is not exactly 'normal', especially since I blend in some J. Still, it gives that lovable phat, rich P tone I admire in others and I feel good playing it!

 

[ishouldbeking]

Yeah, the mention of pick + overdrive is how I get my tone. The pick sound is inherently more attack-based (brighter/percussive) and somewhat thinner than playing with my fingers, but I find that gritting it up a bit with some overdrive at the amp (or a fuzz or OD pedal for extra craziness) gets my pick tone to a glorious, aggressive tone with enough even-order harmonics thickening things up that it works wonders for the kind of music I play.

 

[David Jayne]

I am actually GAS'ing over a Geddy Lee these days. There's a really light one at a local store.

If you find a light Geddy, snap it up. All the ones I've tried felt like they were made of depleted uranium.

 

[bassjam]

I just browsed through this thread and someone may have offered this already,but.........

You probably dont sound as bad as you think you do.It may possibly be that it just isnt the sound you are used to.Im not saying its the right bass for you but,I wouldnt give up on it yet.I remember when I got my FBN5.I took it to a couple gigs and really wasnt digging it.Didnt thump like I was used tne day I took it to a session and recorded a couple songs with it-I listened to playback and just loved how it sat in the mix.I grew to appreciate it and now its one of my main basses.Im so glad I didnt flip it right away.

Then again,you may just sound bad on it........ Just playin!

 

[giacomini]

Agree that you should go and check how you're sounding from the audience.

What you get onstage is different of what's coming out of the PA.

Just for the record, I like my tone better when I walk to the other side of the stage and hear my amp from, say, 20ft.

 

[sethlow3]

You may just have that J sound in your head and prefer it which is cool. P basses seem to have a little less detail in the tone, but the lows and low mids are great to my ears. Try flats on one. Match made in heaven....

 

[SteveC]

You may just have that J sound in your head and prefer it...

I think that probably sums it up as well as anything.

 

[gnjpowell]

My new '57 P got played in church for the very first time yesterday (but not by me, I had to do sound) and it sounded just FANTASTIC with the old-style Fender 9050s flat-wounds on it. JUST AWESOME! And he was playing it through our crappy-sounding Crate amp cranked up loud enough that there was no bass at all in the FOH mix and this usually sounds absolutely terrible. Bass guitar never sounded so good! AMAZING! There is just "something" about a P working well in a mix. Not missing my American Deluxe Jazz so much right now..... but I'll get another MIA Jazz, someday, vintage or more likely RI due to cost.

 

[SteveC]

My new '57 P got played in church for the very first time yesterday (but not by me, I had to do sound) and it sounded just FANTASTIC with the old-style Fender 9050s flat-wounds on it. JUST AWESOME!

Bass guitar never sounded so good! AMAZING! There is just "something" about a P working well in a mix. Not missing my American Deluxe Jazz so much right now..... but I'll get another MIA Jazz, someday, vintage or more likely RI due to cost.

And when I went to church with a P I did not have that experience.

 

[Clark Dark]

I've been listening to my Chicago albums lately and what Cetera gets out of a P on all those tracks is nothing short of great, whether a ballad or uptempo.

 

[Dbassmon]

Here is what you may not know about a P Bass.... They do not sound particularly good when you play them by themselves. IMO but.............
If you record the band, you find out pretty quickly that a pbass has an uncanny ability to find the right place in the rhythm section mix and what sounds middy on stage, sounds fat in front of the band.

After a while you will trust that its a sound great out front.

 

[Turtlejimmy]

Precisions are the basses that I grew up hearing on hit records (pop, R&B, etc) over the last 40 years. It's a great recording bass or it wouldn't be on millions of records since it was introduced. I think that if recording is the ultimate goal, precisions are a great choice. Bear in mind, I play other instruments but have only owned a bass for about two weeks.

It was an easy choice for me, but then I don't really know what great new basses are out there. I got a basic standard Precision and, again I'm not very experienced with it, but it seems to play like a dream. I have long fingers and it's a nice fit and with the Ampeg BA-112 amp I picked to get started, I love the tone. So far, so good.

Record it and then see what you think about the sound is my 2 cents.

Or different strings .... DiAdarrios is what I have on right now but I'm planning to switch to La Bella Flatwounds.


Turtle

 

[Duke21]

Yesterday I've had my Squier CV60 p bass with me when I've jammed with our lead guitar player. I didn't bother to carry my pedal board (with my Sansamp PBDDI and my Oxford ) with me. I just took my iPad with me. So I run Amplitube (running the Ampeg module) into the mix-board, then a Peavey IPR 1600 power amp and a 2x15" cab. In one of our breaks the guitar player wanted to try my bass, so I've sat back and listened. Sounded damn good, and it sounds even better when I plays it.

 

[JimmyM]

If it isn't for you, it isn't for you. Plenty of bassists out there don't play Precisions and do just fine. All mine have extra J pickups, but I've been drawn to the tone of the P pickup by itself on about 90% of what I do lately. But for years I ran both pickups all the time and nobody complained.

 

[SteveC]

Bought a Sadowsky MV5 yesterday so a J guy I will be!

 

[Bass4LifeRS]

Sometimes I think the Stu Hamm bass seems like the perfect pickup config. Why isn't it more popular?

 

[Marial]

You just discovered something that most never realize- rolling the tone knob back on a P results in a low mid bump.

I achieve the same result on my Jazz by rolling the volume knobs back. This takes all the harshness out of the tone, as well as the buzz. I usually keep my tone knob rolled down too.

I would play a Precision (used to have a nice '73 in Oly white/maple) but the wide necks hit a nerve in my fretting hand index finger. Someday I'll get another one and slap a Jazz neck on it.

 

[SteveC]

Well, listening to the Grammy's tonight has me thinking I should try a P again. They sound awesome tonight.

 

[Stinsok]

I have the same problem. I get one every once in a while but it doesn't stay.