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Why the P bass obsession
- Thread starter JRuben
- Start date
The best thing about a p is they can be made into a PJ 
5 reasons... 5 senses...they look great, sound great, feel great, and smell great....THEY ARE TASTE!!!!
The Fender P seems to be the one bass that can be used in almost any genre of music and not sound or look out of place.
Really... 'They don't have much versatility' did you try the tone knob on one? Try different techniques? I have owned basses that could produce a greater amount of different sounds but never more USEFUL sounds. I guess it depends on your definition of versatile.
Yeah i dont get the p bass obession either. Id much rather take a musicman over my p bass. The p sounds good in a band mix but solo they are lacking.
It took me 27 years to get and appreciate the whole "Precision bass" thing. I wish I'd tried harder years ago to find a good one and keep it, I Bought my Precision back in January & for the first time ever put a set of flatwounds on it, couldn't be happier 
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I use a P-Bass for when I need a rock solid fat bass sound. Otherwise, I like to use my Jazz Bass to play basslines AND normal bass player stuff.
I notice I play the Precision differently from other basses. Simpler, more groovy, timing-focussed etc. Maybe this coupled with a central sound-base (not bass) makes the Precision such a popular choice. So many here in TB come to (or back to) the Precision later in their bass playing life. This is my journey:
1976 bought my first P (ash/maple)
1980 bought my first P fretless
played the fretted P for many years and struggled with the sound/feel fretless
1998 bought Godin A4 fretless (added a pure K&K transducer, which de-actived this bass)
2002 bought Jaco Jazz fretless (converted to active and epoxy'd the neck)
2006 bought Cliff Bordwell Ball bass (active)
2013 bought a 1964 Precision!
Finally, the journey is over!
Davo
1976 bought my first P (ash/maple)
1980 bought my first P fretless
played the fretted P for many years and struggled with the sound/feel fretless
1998 bought Godin A4 fretless (added a pure K&K transducer, which de-actived this bass)
2002 bought Jaco Jazz fretless (converted to active and epoxy'd the neck)
2006 bought Cliff Bordwell Ball bass (active)
2013 bought a 1964 Precision!
Finally, the journey is over!
Davo
It took me 27 years to get and appreciate the whole "Precision bass" thing. I wish I'd tried harder years ago to find a good one and keep it, I Bought my Precision back in January & for the first time ever put a set of flatwounds on it, couldn't be happier
A P + flats is a thing of beauty. Before I tried it I was like "how good can it be?" (this was also before I got into Motown & Jamerson) but then again I also spent the first seven years playing bass without a P. It all changed when my gf (now ex) bought my a Squier P for my 23rd bday. It's hard to imagine not playing a P now. Now I need another good P so I can have one with rounds and one with flats.
SirMjac28
Patiently Waiting For The Next British Invasion
To the OP there's some bass player just like yourself wondering the same thing about the "Jazz bass" (I had to use air bunnies because I thought it was that important). I hope all of this survives when we convert to the new Internet I personally think it would be a shame if it didn't.
I am using a Jazz for most things at the moment, However I have found in most situations a P bass with flats or half rounds sits perfect.
When I am working with two guitars or one and keys, and they are seasoned, it is a P for me.
When I have to push the snot out of a weak drummer, and keep time for him I go for the jazz.
I Roco Prestia the crap out of him to force a groove.
As a bass player we have to be the solution to the problem, whatever it is.
When I am working with two guitars or one and keys, and they are seasoned, it is a P for me.
When I have to push the snot out of a weak drummer, and keep time for him I go for the jazz.
I Roco Prestia the crap out of him to force a groove.
As a bass player we have to be the solution to the problem, whatever it is.
- Oct 18, 2012
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- Endorsing Artist: Fender, Spector, Ampeg, Curt Mangan, Nordstrand Pickups, Korg , Conquest Sound
The beauty of the P Bass is in it's simplicity. Sometimes less is more.
agree, it makes you try to get tone using your hand instead of fiddling with knobs all the time.
I'm switching to air popped corn, the amount I'm having to eat while I'm watching threads like these is bound to be bad for a person over time 
Not versatile, huh? Then why does it work in every single genre it's used in? It seems to me that's the very definition of versatile.
I see this same claim made by a bunch of people about the P-bass, and every time I read it, I have to think that they must have an imperfect understanding of the word ''versatile" as it applies here.
I see this same claim made by a bunch of people about the P-bass, and every time I read it, I have to think that they must have an imperfect understanding of the word ''versatile" as it applies here.
