• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Why the P bass obsession

#342
Interesting debate regarding P-bass versatility. Or lack there-of. I suppose it depends on the player and the listener. May I suggest that the original one-pickup Music Man Stingray is a bass even LESS versatile than a Precision? A p-bass seams to have this ability to "chameleon" into fitting perfectly into many different styles of music, but the Stingray ALWAYS sounds like a Stingray and nothing else.
 
  • Like
Reactions: M.R. Ogle
#344
Asdfgh -

Yes, Stingrays have been used in different contexts, but hasn't the Precision been used in just as many or even more contexts?

I think what people are debating are two different things. (1) the ability of the instrument's on-board tone shaping controls to produce various musical tonalities independent of player technique; whilst others are debating (2) the instrument's ability to fit into different musical situations (ie., R&B, rock, jazz, fusion, punk, ska, metal, reggae, Brazilian, Afro Cuban, etc)

I think the findings are: While the Precision has only very little variability from its go-to tone, in the hands of different players, that tone is further shaped to fit into any musical situation possible (Jamerson, Entwistle, Weeks, Glaub, Harris, Palladino, Sheehan, etc).
 
#345
JRuben said:
I have nothing against precision bass guitars, they can play very good in the right hands. They aren't anything crazy though. I always felt like they have a very bland tone. They don't have much versitility either. I much prefer the depth and range of a jazz for example. Im just curious about everyone else's thoughts on this.
Click to expand...
Like everyone here says, in a standalone situation a P-Bass can sound bland and uninspiring, but where it really shines is in a band or recording situation. I can imagine many a bass player walking away from their first gig with a P with that faraway look in their eyes saying "I never knew it could be so good!" Also they're the ultimate plug and play instrument. At a gig all I need to do is set up my amp, plug in my P, check my tuning, and I'm good to go, usually before the drummer has emptied his car of his kit!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Admiral Akbar
#347
Why I love P basses .....

My two main basses are a MTD 534-21 and a Lull P4. I love, love, love the tone of the MTD. It's the bass tone I "hear in my head". I play and practice with the MTD almost every day. And it's the bass I start every gig with.

But then I'll have a gig like this past Friday. Smallish, odd shaped room; raised stage; minimal PA support; no sound man. Start with the MTD. First song is boomy. I already have all the ports closed (i.e. minimal bass) in my speaker. Now I'm cutting lows on the amp. Every song is different. Good tone is a moving target.

Second set, pull out the P bass. Plug in and set the amp flat. Cruise thru the rest of the gig.

I'm sure a lot of things could have been done to get the MTD thru the gig. And this was all an "on the stage" perspective. I have no idea what it sounded like in the crowd. And this has happened to me with other basses also; not just the MTD.

While I don't hate the solo tone of a P (I actually kind of like it), once on the gig, nothing works or sounds like a P.

Here are the two basses mentioned above.

Gigging%20Gear_zpsviaqcxfm.jpg
 
#349
GretschWretch said:
If only Fender would put sticky labels on the basses that said "This one has the GOOD pickup." Without that, it's a long row you're giving me to hoe, about like trying to find a Fender bass with no dead spot.
Click to expand...
LOL! True. Fender's used some lousy pickups. Just replace everything with a Geezer or SPB-1 and you'll be fine ;)
 
#350
JimmyM said:
LOL! True. Fender's used some lousy pickups. Just replace everything with a Geezer or SPB-1 and you'll be fine ;)
Click to expand...

All in good time, my friend, :) I'm still working through mods and tweaks on my 2013 MIM P which apparently sat in storage for two years, since I purchased it only this January past. Don't like the stock strings, don't like the white pickguard, don't care for the tapered modern tuners but can live with them, jury still out on the pickup. Do like the bass, though. Got it at a going-out-of-business price and have found the sweet spot for the fat) finger placement.

Part of my problem with assessing pickups is that the Fender bassists around here for the most part are minimalist country pickers who don't pay a lot of attention to tone. "Bland" seems to be the default setting.
 
#354
Admiral Akbar said:
Asdfgh -

Yes, Stingrays have been used in different contexts, but hasn't the Precision been used in just as many or even more contexts?
Click to expand...

If it is just as many then they are as versatile each other, but I will concede that Stingrays were used by very few groups in the 1960s whereas the Precision was :)

One way to settle it is to put up a set of reference 'Precision tones' up (with details of amp/preamp/string set ups to help) and then those that have Stingrays (or for that matter Jazz basses, Foderas, Ricks, etc.) try to get as close as they can, collect all together, normalise for loudness and then do a blind listening test. If a Stingray cannot be distinguished better than chance from a Precision for a reference set of P tones (rounds, bright, flats, tone off, etc.) then it must be at least as versatile. Call this test A.

Then you reverse the test - a set of reference Stingray tones and see if passive Precisions can be made to sound the same with whatever outboard preamps, EQ, etc required. Call this test B. Active Precisions are another matter...

If the set of all tones from Stingray in test A is in the same as tones from Precision in test A but the set of all tones from Stingray in test B is not the same as the set of tones from Precisions in test B then Stingrays are more versatile. And there are other test results which mean a Precision is more versatile, and there is a set of results which indicate they just sound different.

This is assuming the set of tones in A and B are fully representative of all the possible tones available.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Admiral Akbar

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back