Do precisions really work in any music?

[BetaFunk]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1367159972' post='2061899']
Wrong , my friend .

If you listen closwely to the lyrics you will hear that the whole song is actually a lament about saving up through the long cold winter to buy some Thomastic flatwounds to put on his Morin Khuur ( that's what they call that thing like a cello he's playing ) so he can sound more like James Jamerson . Just another Mongolian P Bass wanabee , I'm afraid .
[/quote]
I stand corrected Sir!

I should have listened to the lyrics more carefully before posting.

[BetaFunk]

The Baroque quartet that practise down my local village hall got the right hump when i turned up with my Precision last week so again it's got to be a no.

[discreet]

I suppose in the end it could be decided by -- oooh look, there's a squirrel..!!

[BetaFunk]

I can't see that the Precision would work in that music they call Motown.

[stingrayPete1977]

Its a lump of wood with strings held across it under tension just like all other string instruments.

[discreet]

What's the best wood for metal?

[BigRedX]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1367159145' post='2061886']
Fender Precision would sound absolutely great on that . Why wouldn't it ?
[/quote]

Really?

Care to make a YouTube play-along to prove it?

[Dingus]

I suppose all of this begs the question " what is a bass guitar supposed to sound like ? " . I suspect you would get a different answer from musicians who are not bass players to that which you would get from a lot those that are bass players , and to most other musicians the sound of a Precision Bass is usually the kind of sound they want to play over and how they want the bass to sound .

[Dingus]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1367161934' post='2061940']
Really?

Care to make a YouTube play-along to prove it?
[/quote]

I could do that , no problem if I had any equipment to film myself with . Unfortunately , after the whole Paris Hilton / Kim Kardashian / Pamela Anderson sex tape scandal phenomena Mrs Dingus has got a complete ban on any video recording equipment in the household . But why on earth do you think a Precision style bass wouldn't be appropriate for that music ? Do you actually know how a Precision Bass sounds and can sound in the right hands ? Are you telling me that if Pino Palladino or Freddie Washington was hired by the artist to play bass on that track and they turned up with their Precision Bass that they wouldn't be able to do an appropriate job ? How so ? The track is crying ut for some bottom end , and a Precision Bass will always give you that . Even if you wanted some more adventurous and melodic playing , a Precision can do that too . Why wouldn't a bass that can sound like this sound good on that track ? :

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh85DA5w8V4[/media]

To me a Precision is a pretty neutral sounding bass , kind of the closet sound you can get to the sound of the lower strings on an acoustic guitar . Are you sure that you aren't making the mistake of associating the Fender Precision with it's vintage heritage going back to the 1950's and therefore having trouble relating it to this example of a decidedly post-modern music form , when in fact , judged purely on its' sonic qualities , a Precision Bass would be a perfectly good - perhaps even ideal - bass to use on that track ?

Edited April 28, 2013 by Dingus

[BigRedX]

You know until I started hanging out in bass forums on the internet I never realised there was supposed to be anything extra special about Fender basses in general and the P bass in particular.

So for almost 30 years I thought that as a bass player you just picked one that you liked the look, sound and feel of, in the same way that some guitarists would play Teles, others Strats or Les Pauls or Rickenbacker 12 strings etc.

[D.I. Joe]

Under the assumption that what the OP means to ask is whether the Precision can be used in any kind of music in which the orchestration includes and Electric Bass then the answer is yes.

ANY bass can be used for ANY genre of music. That does not mean that everybody would, as everything is subject to personal taste, but it is physically possible. Some basses may look silly on stage in certain situations but isn't the sound the most important thing? And even then, the instrument itself is only the thing with which you play the notes - the sound you hear is only achieved after processing through effects, eq, amp, speakers etc. so you could use any bass for any style as long as long as you are happy with the sound you get.

[risingson]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1367158289' post='2061877']
How about this:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rjpg5PuaGBw[/media]
[/quote]

I don't see what you couldn't achieve with a volume pedal and a P-Bass on a track like this (any bass in fact), but to be totally honest the space for electric bass doesn't really exist on the track anyway, it's far better suited to a synth bass type swell and benefits from a lack of low end in the track to add to the atmospheric quality in which it succeeds so well. Great track, maybe a bit of a straw man argument though really?

Edited April 28, 2013 by risingson

[stingrayPete1977]

My laptop only appears to be playing the Youtube clip backwards anyway so I cant decide if a P bass would sound good or not?

[discreet]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1367172287' post='2062146']
My laptop only appears to be playing the Youtube clip backwards anyway so I cant decide if a P bass would sound good or not?
[/quote]

[size=4] Stand on one leg and face east, and you'll hear it the right way round.[/size]

[cloudburst]

Q. Do Precisions really work in any music?
A. Yes.

Q. Do VW Golfs really work on any street?
A. Yes.

CB

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1367174851' post='2062196']


[size=4] Stand on one leg and face east, and you'll hear it the right way round.[/size]
[/quote]

Ah yes I hear it now! I don't see why a P wouldn't fit in somehow, flats maybe?

[bremen]

[quote name='cloudburst' timestamp='1367175296' post='2062210']
Q. Do Precisions really work in any music?
A. Yes.

Q. Do VW Golfs really work on any street?
A. Yes.

CB
[/quote]

Nice analogy.

[RandomBass]

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1367156818' post='2061842']

They have 1 or 2 strings more than a 4 string.
[/quote]
That's a wild generalisation ;-)

[discreet]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1367175926' post='2062222']
Ah yes I hear it now! I don't see why a P wouldn't fit in somehow, flats maybe?
[/quote]

A three-bedroom semi will do just as well.

[D.I. Joe]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1367176774' post='2062242']
A three-bedroom semi will do just as well.
[/quote]

As long as I have parking for my Golf

[bremen]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1367176774' post='2062242']


A three-bedroom semi
[/quote]

Is that what they call it nowadays?

[BetaFunk]

[quote name='D.I. Joe' timestamp='1367177500' post='2062249']
As long as I have parking for my Golf
[/quote]
A parking space for Golf? Your short game must be superb!

[RandomBass]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1367176774' post='2062242']


A three-bedroom semi will do just as well.
[/quote]
I had a semi once....

[BetaFunk]

[quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1367179036' post='2062292']
I had a semi once....
[/quote]
Once?

[RandomBass]

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1367179343' post='2062301']

Once?
[/quote]
I know. Sad isn't it? Soon moved though....