Why does TalkBass love the P Bass so much?

[LetItGrowTone]

As a J is said to have "burp" if the knobs and playing style are set for that, I think the P has "belch" - bigger and of longer duration than "burp" (the Blues Brothers clip earlier in the thread is a great example) - and if that is suppressed, for example by plucking softer closer to the neck, etc, it still has bombast, also very strong in that clip.

Does anyone else hear this?

Maybe they "love the P Bass so much" because they like this built-in (iconic) attitude.

I can empathize because I think the fridge has some bombast too, but deeper and more suggestive of something large.

 

[TheArchitect]

So, by that "logic": since there are more 4 string basses for sale, then that means people are holding on to 5 string basses more? Since there are more double cutaway basses for sale, then people are holding onto singlecut basses more? Since there are more headed basses for sale, then people are holding onto headless models more? Since there are more basses made of wood, then people are holding onto more graphite basses? Since there are more fretted basses for sale, then.....etc. etc.

It just doesn't work that way.

No kiddin? LOL I didn't say either was right cause their not IMO. They are also not wrong! I was just playing devils advocate. People sell for a wide range of reasons, the vast majority of which have nothing to do with what style of instrument it is. Both arguments can be true on a case by case basis but there is not enough information to determine one way or the other in this scenario

 

[younggun]

No. The "logic" means it doesn't tell you that they're not hanging onto their 5ers. You have to watch out for the false dichotomy when extrapolating these matters.

That was exactly my point. There is no data to be extrapolated, or conclusion to be drawn, concerning what people are keeping based on what they are selling.

 

[Jugghaid]

Dogma.

Many of us grew up watching people play mainly P or J basses, with the occasional Ric thrown in for good measure. And the P Bass was first.

While I still have a couple P basses and J basses, I have found that I really prefer modern basses like my MTD 535-24, Fbass, PRS GG5, Sadowsky M24 etc to the standard FSOs. Even when it comes to FSOs, I prefer a more modern take like my active Wilkins or a Sadowsky to an old school passive bass.

 

[factory presets]

That was exactly my point. There is no data to be extrapolated, or conclusion to be drawn, concerning what people are keeping based on what they are selling.

Well you're kinda pre-empting the working hypothesis there. A lot of people make a lot of decisions based on incomplete evidence simply because a decision needs to be made. You've probably done it yourself in the last week. I know I have, and I'm retired.

Yeah.. has to say it. Couldn't help myself. Sorry

 

[LennyJ]

In my opinion only - the P bass is the best bass out there for me. . . .

 

[lomo]

TalkBass is full of old men.

There are a lotta older boomers here, and there's certainly some truth to that conclusion, but I do see a lot of younger folks slingin' Ps....hipsters, etc.

 

[TheArchitect]

Dogma.

Many of us grew up watching people play mainly P or J basses, with the occasional Ric thrown in for good measure. And the P Bass was first.

While I still have a couple P basses and J basses, I have found that I really prefer modern basses like my MTD 535-24, Fbass, PRS GG5, Sadowsky M24 etc to the standard FSOs. Even when it comes to FSOs, I prefer a more modern take like my active Wilkins or a Sadowsky to an old school passive bass.

Pino and Hurley certainly make me realize there is something to the P bass that works..

 

[Jugghaid]

Pino and Hurley certainly make me realize there is something to the P bass that works..

Absolutely.

My preferences certainly don't change that.

 

[TheArchitect]

Absolutely.

My preferences certainly don't change that.

Yeah, I have modern too!

 

[Derek Kay]

Because it's so simple and easy to configure

 

[Swerve]

There are a lotta older boomers here, and there's certainly some truth to that conclusion, but I do see a lot of younger folks slingin' Ps....hipsters, etc.

Lot's of whippersnappers play the P too.

 

[Yonni]

Being neither a Boomer nor a whippersnapper, I hadn’t played my P bass since this thread started. New Am Pro 2 jazz and, recently, fretless meant it’s been in its case for over a year. I got it out the other day as it was the only bass in the room. I didn’t even plug it in. I just loved the shape and the neck and the flats. I was going to sell it. Not anymore!

 

[Gosho]

Because at a certain point in your life you realize that the bitter is sweeter than the sweet, that the sour is sweeter than the sweet, and that you need a P BASS!

 

[shirojiro]

There is so much music over the years that was recorded on a P bass so the sound in one’s head often turns out to be one.

I had a hard time getting that Paul Simonon sound from London Calling until I picked up a P bass and then all of a sudden, there it was.

I suspect I’m not alone in this experience. It took me a lot longer to realize than I care to admit though.

 

[tvbop]

Cause after decades of razzamatzz , this and that, and bling you realise its just bass and the P bass does the job admirably with minimum fuss. At least it does under my fingers.

 

[jd56hawk]

 

[Deleted member 394181]

View attachment 7375776

Not mine!! Groups of "kids" that flunked several times, so they were older/ more developed than i was, would beat, rob, and spit on me on many occasions. I wont say why, but i was in El Paso Tx. At the time.

 

[N Scott Shaw]

I was a skeptic of the P bass.......Then I bought one.

 

[Gervais Cote]

I’ve never been kind of tired to see p basses all over the place for many decades……………..but that’s what I play 95% of times nowadays.