Do precisions really work in any music?

[discreet]

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1367232740' post='2062785']
Black, surely?
[/quote]

Is that the best colour for metal?

[Paul S]

Only if you use hammerite. It flakes off too easily otherwise.

[Fat Rich]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1367231124' post='2062750']
....... Here is Anthony Jackson playing a Precision Bass with a pick and with a phaser effect on it recorded in 1975 . Apart from Anthony's masterful playing which has it all - groove , swing , timing , invention , soul - the tone of his bass is a thing of beauty . What's more , if you transported Anthony , his P Bass and no doubt his bitchin ' afro through a timewarp to the present day . this bass sound would cut through on any synth - based track recorded today .

...
[/quote]

Was that a P bass? I thought it was the Jazz bass he's playing here:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu7S8wRcRNU&playnext=1&list=PL700DE817F1B9ED2F[/media]

Edited April 29, 2013 by Fat Rich

[discreet]

[quote name='Fat Rich' timestamp='1367234319' post='2062823']
Was that a P bass?
[/quote]

Dunno, but great bass face!

[Dingus]

[quote name='Fat Rich' timestamp='1367234319' post='2062823']
Was that a P bass? I thought it was the Jazz bass he's playing here:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu7S8wRcRNU&playnext=1&list=PL700DE817F1B9ED2F[/media]
[/quote]

Definitely a Precision . He switched to a Jazz Bass in the mid - Seventies . There was a transcription feature on that track in Bass Player Magazine a few years ago and Anthony confirmed that he played the same P Bass he used on For The Love Of Money .

[discreet]

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1367232903' post='2062794']
Only if you use Hammerite.
[/quote]

You can get it in pink, y'know.

[Fat Rich]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1367235138' post='2062851']
Definitely a Precision . He switched to a Jazz Bass in the mid - Seventies . There was a transcription feature on that track in Bass Player Magazine a few years ago and Anthony confirmed that he played the same P Bass he used on For The Love Of Money .
[/quote]

Fair 'nuff!

[jezzaboy]

In my last band we had to sack the drummer. He turned up with a Premier drum kit.

He should have know that the best drum kit for Metal is a Pearl Export.

Plonker.

[Dave Vader]

It is an instrument, music can be played on it, sometimes it might not sound right. But if it's an electric bass sound you're after, you should be able to coax it out.
Can you fry an egg with it though, that's what I want to know....

[drTStingray]

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1367239928' post='2062966']
In my last band we had to sack the drummer. He turned up with a Premier drum kit.

He should have know that the best drum kit for Metal is a Pearl Export.

Plonker.
[/quote]

That is hilarious

Now if the OP question was being asked in about 1974 the answer would definitely be yes..............oh wait, no it wouldn't - if you're playing covers of the band Free (or actually in Free) they don't work too well - I've heard people try - doesn't sound right!

But it is 2013 and the Fender Precision is a product of 1957 - there's lots of types and genres of music where the P bass would be just about OK (or maybe worse) but other basses would be far better. For instance, would anyone in their right minds think of using a Precision bass to play Return to Forever material?

I would describe a P bass as an instrument that can do most musical things to do with bass just about OK, some things fairly well and some things very well indeed. To say it can do everything, musically, suggests an ignorance of some types of music (often where the playing is more demanding). Anyone fancy doing some Billy Shehan or Mark King on their 62 AVRI?

There is another angle - Fender Precisions (and Jazzes) are beloved of guitar players who don't want their position in the limelight challenged - and are basses where some guitarists can swap over and play a bit and not have lame bass technique exposed!

All that said, they have an enviable pedigree and I lusted after them until the end of the 70s - I may even yet buy one!

I have always been firmly of the belief that a Precision bass can walk on water - I believe it will certainly float (didn't the Who try this one?)

Edited April 29, 2013 by drTStingray

[Gust0o]

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1367239928' post='2062966']
In my last band we had to sack the drummer. He turned up with a Premier drum kit.

He should have know that the best drum kit for Metal is a Pearl Export.

Plonker.
[/quote]

I hear Pearl Export's are the best drums for metal.

[discreet]

[size=4][quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1367263110' post='2063428']
...would anyone in their right minds think of using a Precision bass to play Return to Forever material?[/quote]

Would anyone in their right minds think of playing Return To Forever material?

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1367263110' post='2063428']Fender Precisions (and Jazzes) are beloved of guitar players who don't want their position in the limelight challenged - and are basses where some guitarists can swap over and play a bit and not have lame bass technique exposed![/quote]

Are you suggesting that for some reason Fender basses [i]can't be heard..?[/i] [/size]

Edited April 29, 2013 by discreet

[drTStingray]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1367263874' post='2063443']
[size=4]Are you suggesting that for some reason Fender basses [i]can't be heard..?[/i] [/size]
[/quote]

I think it's possible to play one badly, with poor technique and get away with it (certainly as far as a non tehnical audience is concerned) whereas some basses would sound dreadful (and expose poor playing technique more obvioulsy).

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1367263874' post='2063443']
[size=4]Would anyone in their right minds think of playing Return To Forever material? [/size]
[/quote]

I thought everyone played a bit of Stanley from time to time and Smokie?

Edited April 29, 2013 by drTStingray

[discreet]

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1367264879' post='2063473']
I think it's possible to play one badly, with poor technique and get away with it (certainly as far as a non tehnical audience is concerned) whereas some basses would sound dreadful (and expose poor playing technique more obvioulsy).
[/quote]

OK, but... why? Are you suggesting that some basses are more [i]audible [/i]than Fenders? Surely you could 'disappear' any bass in the mix if for any reason you didn't want to be heard?

[Musicman20]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1367265098' post='2063480']


OK, but... why? Are you suggesting that some basses are more [i]audible [/i]than Fenders? Surely you could 'disappear' any bass in the mix if for any reason you didn't want to be heard?
[/quote]

I agree, Bongo being one of them. Incredibly clear and precise.

[discreet]

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1367265016' post='2063479']
I thought everyone played a bit of Stanley from time to time and Smokie?
[/quote]

Well, Smokie is a given obviously - who could possibly dislike them [size=4], but Stanley..?[/size]

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcVLeUFW-AM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcVLeUFW-AM[/url]

[drTStingray]

Well yes you could - but some basses have very dynamic output/sound reproduction and would make things like poor muting, fret noise more obvious.

I don't know if you were attending gigs in the early 70s, but it was common for the basss to either have a dreadful sound, be inaudible or generally sound nothing like the recorded versions of the songs being played - I suspect this was the reason people tinkered with and subsequently produced better amplification, speakers and basses from the early 70s onwards.

[drTStingray]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1367265274' post='2063487']
Well, Smokie is a given obviously - who could possibly dislike them [size=4], but Stanley..?[/size]


[/quote]

They have both caused me nightmares and trauma - Smokie from playing their material in working mens clubs rather too much, and Stanley for dropping his upright at Birmingham Town Hall, and the neck breaking off - and then announcing to the audience that it's OK cos he has another back home about 1976!!

I thought everyone knows a bit of Schooldays, for those guitar shop moments (and tuning up setting sound of course!!!)

[discreet]

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1367265429' post='2063490']
I don't know if you were attending gigs in the early 70s, but it was common for the bass to either have a dreadful sound, be inaudible or generally sound nothing like the recorded versions of the songs being played - I suspect this was the reason people tinkered with and subsequently produced better amplification, speakers and basses from the early 70s onwards.[/quote]

I certainly did attend gigs in the early 70s. I think that was definitely more to do with bass amplification and PA technology than any inherent design feature of the P-Bass. After all, you can hear vintage P-Basses fine when they're played live now. [size=4]And my 76P is very present. To be fair it wasn't quite so present when I played it through an orange 120W amp and a WEM cab back in the day! [/size]

[Dingus]

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1367263110' post='2063428']
That is hilarious

Now if the OP question was being asked in about 1974 the answer would definitely be yes..............oh wait, no it wouldn't - if you're playing covers of the band Free (or actually in Free) they don't work too well - I've heard people try - doesn't sound right!

But it is 2013 and the Fender Precision is a product of 1957 - there's lots of types and genres of music where the P bass would be just about OK (or maybe worse) but other basses would be far better. For instance, would anyone in their right minds think of using a Precision bass to play Return to Forever material?

I would describe a P bass as an instrument that can do most musical things to do with bass just about OK, some things fairly well and some things very well indeed. To say it can do everything, musically, suggests an ignorance of some types of music (often where the playing is more demanding). Anyone fancy doing some Billy Shehan or Mark King on their 62 AVRI?

There is another angle - Fender Precisions (and Jazzes) are beloved of guitar players who don't want their position in the limelight challenged - and are basses where some guitarists can swap over and play a bit and not have lame bass technique exposed!

All that said, they have an enviable pedigree and I lusted after them until the end of the 70s - I may even yet buy one!

I have always been firmly of the belief that a Precision bass can walk on water - I believe it will certainly float (didn't the Who try this one?)
[/quote]

I broadly agree with you , DrT . However , just one point , namely that Billy Sheehan does do all his Billy Sheehanisms on what is essentially a P Bass .

Funnily enough , I used to ( and still occasionally do ) play a smattering of Free covers ( still very popular with middle aged women , for some reason ) and yes , a Precision Bass isn't quite right for it . A Wal works a treat , however , I can also confirm that you [u]cannot and must not [/u]play Rush songs on a Music Man . It is just very , very wrong to even attempt it .

[Dingus]

On the subject of audibility , a Precision can be just as audible as any other bass . A couple of very well known signature lines played on a Precision :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aAbED59mhI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5QYSu9xaTE

They must be audible because you know off by heart what they sound like .

[drTStingray]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1367266118' post='2063508']I used to ( and still occasionally do ) play a smattering of Free covers ( still very popular with middle aged women , for some reason ) and yes , a Precision Bass isn't quite right for it . A Wal works a treat , however , I can also confirm that you [u]cannot and must not [/u]play Rush songs on a Music Man . It is just very , very wrong to even attempt it .
[/quote]

I can imagine a Wal being perfect for Free numbers.

I would confess to not being a Geddy fan - I always though his bass sound was more reminiscent of a Ric (a bit less in your face than Chris Squire with Yes, but in the same ball park) but I hear what you say. Now if you're going to play Journey stuff the Musicman fits perfectly.

However I have one of those new-ish fangled Stingrays with 2 H pick ups - it sounds awfully like a Jazz on one setting - in fact the whole bass sounds slightly unlike a Musicman at times (it's very very light in weight and has a rosewood board) - so maybe I could get away with Geddy if I was hidden behind a screen not really - I can't play anything like him!!

You are right, there is some original music which really needs certain instrumentation to sound right, be it Precision, Jazz, Rickenbacker, Warwick, Stingray, Bongo, Yamaha, Ibanez, Aria or Wal (or EB3)! Now the Smokie stuff.......................presumably any bass will do it so long as it has a generic tone.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1367265016' post='2063479']
I think it's possible to play one badly, with poor technique and get away with it (certainly as far as a non tehnical audience is concerned) whereas some basses would sound dreadful (and expose poor playing technique more obvioulsy).
[/quote]
That sounds like a Fender bass strength and not a weakness.

So, which luthiers are making instruments that are difficult to play?

[BigRedX]

The original question there at the top of your browser window says: "Do precisions really work in any music?" and as has been demonstrated in the course of this thread there are plenty of pieces of music that have absolutely no place of an electric stringed bass instrument of any kind, whether it's a Precision or any other bass guitar. Therefore the answer is most definitely "NO".

[/Thread]

[GregBass]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1367311458' post='2063914']
The original question there at the top of your browser window says: "Do precisions really work in any music?" and as has been demonstrated in the course of this thread there are plenty of pieces of music that have absolutely no place of an electric stringed bass instrument of any kind, whether it's a Precision or any other bass guitar. Therefore the answer is most definitely "NO".
[/quote]

Surely not playing a Precision in those pieces would work just as well as not playing any other bass - or even any other instrument not present in the piece? Just because a composer omits a part for an instrument, it does not show that the instrument could not have worked if desired?