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Why the P bass obsession
- Thread starter JRuben
- Start date
I guess versatile is in the hands of the beholder. I have two Modulus basses, a Lakland DJ, and a P. Basses with more than 1 pickup can definitely give you more tonal options. However, I don't think a bass is more versatile just b/c you can adjust bass, mid, and treble on the instrument itself.
The reason I say the P is versatile is b/c it works in so many styles. I can take it to the local blues jam on Tuesday night, play it at church on the weekend, use it for a punk rock band, country band, or a funk band. I wouldn't say it sounds exactly the same in all of those genres either. The bass on a Green Day song doesn't sound like the bass on D'Angelo's Voodoo, or Scofield's Funk Jam, or SRV's albums. But, it's all a P (mostly)! That seems like versatility to me.
The reason I say the P is versatile is b/c it works in so many styles. I can take it to the local blues jam on Tuesday night, play it at church on the weekend, use it for a punk rock band, country band, or a funk band. I wouldn't say it sounds exactly the same in all of those genres either. The bass on a Green Day song doesn't sound like the bass on D'Angelo's Voodoo, or Scofield's Funk Jam, or SRV's albums. But, it's all a P (mostly)! That seems like versatility to me.
AAArrrggghh. Must... not... comment... Oh well. Why the obsession? Why not? The P is an iconic tool of the trade. I choose to have it in my tool box. I also want my J in there.
If you have a P bass, I'm pretty sure it can't sound like all of those. You can set it up to sound like any one of them by changing between flats & rounds, swapping pickups, and possibly adding a pre-amp -- and in that way, I guess it's versatile. But (to continue with my knife analogy) that's like getting a new Buck knife with a different size blade. It might be more useful for different things than your previous Buck knife with the different blade, but it still isn't nearly as flexible as a Swiss Army knife. If you find yourself needing to open a bottle, you could do it with the Buck knife blade, or you could use the bottle opener on the Swiss Army knife. If you need tweezers, you're probably out of luck.
But if all you need is the blade, the Buck knife could very well be your best possible choice. Again, I'm not knocking Precisions. They certainly have been used successfully in many genres. But I think calling them versatile or flexible in comparison to other basses, when those other basses are capable of a broader array of sonic options, is being overly generous.
Fair question, deserving a fair answer. If a P bass stands at one end of the spectrum of versatility, the bass in my avatar stands at the other. With my bass, I can do a lot more tonal shaping than is possible with a Precision. It can sound much like a Jazz, a Thunderbird, a Rickenbacker, it can even mimic a Precision. I can switch between sounds without having to change strings or change pickups. Some people want the ability to do that on the fly. It's not something a Precision lends itself to.
I value that versatility. But that doesn't mean I don't like Precisions. I have a Precision that I gig with sometimes, and bring as a backup when I'm using my avatar bass. It has a slender Jazz neck, which I prefer to the Precision neck which (feels clunky to me). It has a nice bark when I dig in. But other than that, there's not a lot I can do to change the sound it produces.
That's not a knock for people who like that sound, and that's all they want. But for people who sometimes want something different, a P is not going to offer them that capability.
Fair enough. I'd probably find your bass to be overkill. I actually own a bass with three pickups and used to have another. I've also had many varieties of active basses, some with filter setups. Maybe I'm just getting old but I eventually found I prefer my P's to everything else. It's my sound, but I do get several distinct sounds from it, some of which you might be surprised came from a P. However they are necessarily within the clearly defined boundaries of Pdom, which is fine by me. I'm happy to concentrate on just making the best music I can with what I've got, without having to think about it ever. Just my preference.
Oh, my bass absolutely is overkill, no doubt about it! Tonal flexibility was among the top priorities when I designed it, so it's an extreme, not typical, example of the anti-P flexibility. Jazz basses, Thunderbirds, and other two-pickup basses, are the more typical examples.
And FYI, I made the bass as idiot-proof as I could. I have a 6-way Turnstyle rotary switch, which gives me full manual control over all the pickups in the first position. If I jack that up, five tone presets are just a click or two away, and then all I have to worry about is the master volume. So functionally, it looks a lot more complicated than it really is.
And FYI, I made the bass as idiot-proof as I could. I have a 6-way Turnstyle rotary switch, which gives me full manual control over all the pickups in the first position. If I jack that up, five tone presets are just a click or two away, and then all I have to worry about is the master volume. So functionally, it looks a lot more complicated than it really is.
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I'm not sure why I'm a P bass apologist in this thread! Haha! I haven't had one for years and just got one recently. I've always played multi-pickup active basses. I guess my other thought was that those modern basses don't always work no matter how much you tweak the eq or set the pickups
Maybe another way to say it is they'll work, but maybe not in the particular way that you're looking for. I played a HH Modulus for 12 years or so. My only bass. I often struggled with the sound but assumed it was just me. It has a great sound but wasn't 'my' sound. Which I found out when I caved and bought a P 7 years ago and now I just can't play anything else. Use what works for you.
I know they are good. I have a VM J V.not just "a Squier", it's a Classic Vibe 60's, one of the best series ever made by Squierdon't know the price in USA, but here in Europe they cost around 450 euros, not that cheap, and they are wonderfully made. I have had a couple of basses (60' P and 60's J) and I still have a 60's Strat that is the best Strat I've ever used (the ending of a research lasted TEN years, really! 2003 to 2013)
After alot of pbass hysteria out there I decided get one, after trying many I found a very nice vintage japanese squier, but it never did anything special for me so I ended up selling it. Tried it live and rehearsal for hardrockband and some rehearsals in a soul/funk band. I think what many likes about it is its simplicity, the p bass can be used for most settings and sound very good, just didnt give me that little extra im looking for.
The Precision was designed to function within the parameters of popular music as it was performed and recorded at that time, as an alternative to the upright; and within those parameters it succeeds very well. But music has moved far past those original parameters, which gives more "sophisticated" basses a chance to shine. I personally so detest what the P's tone knob does to its sound that for me the P probably is a one-trick pony. But it's a trick a lot of carnivals value.
The P's simplicity has been noted in this thread, but not so much its stability. Once tuned it tends to stay in tune, even if it falls off the stand. It's durable, and if lost or stolen, easily replaceable. It and the Jazz are the only classic instruments still in production in their initial configurations, made by the original companies (with a nod to Hofner and Rickenbacker). And the P's shape is so iconic that it gets more product placement in media than any other bass.
IMO, competition has rendered the Precision as no longer the industry standard, but it still is the baseline instrument; it is the minimum credential for a professional.
The P's simplicity has been noted in this thread, but not so much its stability. Once tuned it tends to stay in tune, even if it falls off the stand. It's durable, and if lost or stolen, easily replaceable. It and the Jazz are the only classic instruments still in production in their initial configurations, made by the original companies (with a nod to Hofner and Rickenbacker). And the P's shape is so iconic that it gets more product placement in media than any other bass.
IMO, competition has rendered the Precision as no longer the industry standard, but it still is the baseline instrument; it is the minimum credential for a professional.
I can't see that being unique to a P, just something with reasonable strings and decent tuners.
Never said it was unique; but for the first three decades of electric bass existence, it was darn near unique. By then the reputation had been made.
For 30 years I have avoided P Basses for the most part and everytime I thought I might give one another chance it was to get the Jamerson tone with flats that I love but is pretty limited in its use..... or so I thought. But recently I have fallen in love with the throaty P Bass tone with rounds. Either my ears have changed or the advances in amplifiers has just made it easier to hear a larger tonal spectrum in the P Bass that I was not hearing.... I actually think it is my ears.
You must have played P's with crap pickups. Get one with a good pickup and it's a whole different ballgame.
