Why do Pros use a P Bass...

[FinnDave]

1 hour ago, mcnach said:

 

Nice! It must have been a fun session (or at least it has great potential to be!)

To be honest, the topic was the misrepresentation of academic theses by the popular press, but some fun was had anyway! 

The follow up was the article under the headline of 'flooding caused by increased rainfall', which while almost true, failed (in the headline, at least) to mention that it was more run that was the problem, but a change in the density of rain. 

Anyway, carry on with the topic!

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 3, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[4000]

43 minutes ago, The59Sound said:

You answered a question I never asked. 

Does everyone genuinely believe that people with mass social media followings have actual talent? You'll be telling me those idiots who do ASMR are talented next. 

"At social media self promotion but not necessarily bass playing!"

I asked if this was aimed at Scott, then gave my opinion. So was it aimed at Scott or not?

Whilst quite obviously people with mass media social followings don't necessarily have talent, it's quite possible that some of them do. The two aren't necessarily mutually exclusive, even if they generally are. If Bach had a Youtube channel, would he automatically become crap, simply because he had a Youtube channel? 

 

 

[Sibob]

53 minutes ago, The59Sound said:

 

Does everyone genuinely believe that people with mass social media followings have actual talent? You'll be telling me those idiots who do ASMR are talented next. 

Possibly because you have a limited idea as to what talent is.

Go and create a YouTube channel, when you have even just 10,000 followers, i’ll show you someone who is talented at assessing what their audience wants, then creating good and consisting content to sustain that. 

Whether that talent is important to you doesn't matter, they're earning a living doing something you can’t.

Si

[The59Sound]

It's not a talent. Having followers isn't a talent. 

[JapanAxe]

2 minutes ago, The59Sound said:

It's not a talent. Having followers isn't a talent. 

Keeping them is.

[dlloyd]

1 hour ago, The59Sound said:

It's not a talent. Having followers isn't a talent. 

I think you might have missed the point.

Attracting and retaining viewers on a YouTube channel is not something everyone can do or learn to do. It does take talent. Some people have a natural flair for entertainment, most don't.

Would you be able to generate material that would attract hundreds of thousands of viewers on a regular basis? 

There are kids on YouTube who have earned far more than I'll earn in my lifetime. All power to them.

Edited January 10, 2019 by dlloyd

[Guest]

Having watched the video and the conversation with Sean Hurley I’m at a loss to see what the big deal is. He’s talking about a particular situation experienced in the studio, whether it’s down to engineers not having experience of eq’ing another bass, or current retro fashion, it is what it is. Vive la difference - if you like something else, what’s the problem? Also when Scott mentions “top session pros”, in 2019 he’s probably taking about a few dozen players worldwide at the very most, probably less than 30, as so little mainstream/session/film/tv/jingle music is now recorded with instruments, it’s hardly representative of all styles of music and all situations. Funnily enough, as a “pro” in the late 80’s to late 90’s I didn’t own a P bass and was never once asked to play one on a track  

[4000]

These things move in cycles anyway. I can't help but think of Jamerson, who eventually started to lose work in the '70s because he wouldn't change his sound, which was provided by......a P Bass with flats.

[Cuzzie]

Probably with so much processing, amp/cab modelling if you have a ‘known’ element like a Split coil sound you can engineer what you want, that not necessarily lazy processing, it could be quite clever and complex, you could of course reverse engineer or set up different patches for different basses.

Or you could do demos like Patrick Hunter and make every pedal and every bass sound exactly the same

[mcnach]

16 hours ago, The59Sound said:

It's not a talent. Having followers isn't a talent. 

 

That is true.

Maintaining them interested, however, generally is a good indication of some talent. Whether that's interesting to you or not is entirely another matter. I have come across some successful youtube channels talking about the most inane things... the one thing they undoubtedly had was an ability to present and be entertainers. Which is why they can often make a living out of it. You seem to dismiss that as non-talent. I really don't get what your beef is. 

[dlloyd]

2 hours ago, 4000 said:

These things move in cycles anyway. I can't help but think of Jamerson, who eventually started to lose work in the '70s because he wouldn't change his sound, which was provided by......a P Bass with flats.

But was that tone or his style of playing?

[chris_b]

2 hours ago, 4000 said:

These things move in cycles anyway. I can't help but think of Jamerson, who eventually started to lose work in the '70s because he wouldn't change his sound, which was provided by......a P Bass with flats.

Jamerson's career went down the tubes because mentally he couldn't move from being "king" to just "one of the lads". He decided that as his sound had been so special for the last 15 years he didn't have to change it or do what the producers wanted. His strings were so old the intonation was out and an out of tune bass was never going to last long in the LA studios. The guys who called the shots stopped calling him because there were equally great players who would take care of their sound and do as they were requested.

Most of those guys who replaced him were also playing P basses with (not quite as old and manky) flats. It wasn't a problem or fashion with the instrument, it was Jamerson shooting himself in the foot with his intransigent attitude.

[Sibob]

2 minutes ago, chris_b said:

do what the producers wanted

Most important point in this context.

Si

[Teebs]

10 minutes ago, chris_b said:

Jamerson...His strings were so old the intonation was out and an out of tune bass was never going to last long in the LA studios.

Bernard Edwards claimed to have never changed the strings on his bass from the time he bought it.

"He is quoted in one interview as not knowing what strings are on his bass apart from them being the same set that came from the factory."

@drTStingray

Edited January 11, 2019 by Teebs

[ahpook]

33 minutes ago, Teebs said:

Bernard Edwards claimed to have never changed the strings on his bass from the time he bought it.@drTStingray

'kin amatuer ! He'd have not changed the strings on a P-bass if he was a pro.

Edited January 11, 2019 by ahpook

[The59Sound]

Brite Flats were fitted as standard on new Stringrays back in the day. 

[ubit]

Nothing fits in the mix quite like a P. Yes, lots of other basses have a larger range of sounds, for example, a J bass, but the P just sits in the mix better.

[chris_b]

1 hour ago, Teebs said:

Bernard Edwards claimed to have never changed the strings on his bass from the time he bought it.

Slightly different situation here. . . .  BE was the producer so he was able to give the bass player a good talking to and the bass player was able to answer back!

[Teebs]

5 minutes ago, chris_b said:

Slightly different situation here. . . .  BE was the producer so he was able to give the bass player a good talking to and the bass player was able to answer back!

Good point!

That's the way it should be! Bass player in charge! 😀

 

[mcnach]

21 minutes ago, ubit said:

Nothing fits in the mix quite like a P. Yes, lots of other basses have a larger range of sounds, for example, a J bass, but the P just sits in the mix better.

 

That seems to imply that other basses are more difficult to fit in the mix [1], which is not true... It's a matter of preference, taste, and the goal with respect to the kind of sound to be achieved.

[1] as if all mixes were the same... 

(and of course: he/she who pays the bills, gets to choose)

[EBS_freak]

2 minutes ago, mcnach said:

 

That seems to imply that other basses are more difficult to fit in the mix [1], which is not true... It's a matter of preference, taste, and the goal with respect to the kind of sound to be achieved.

[1] as if all mixes were the same... 

(and of course: he/she who pays the bills, gets to choose)

If Macca hadn't have used a Hofner, think what those groundbreaking Beatles recordings could have been.

Come to think of it... wouldn't you be whizzed if you hired Macca to drop down some bass... and he turned up without a Hofner.

Edited January 11, 2019 by EBS_freak

[Twincam]

You can hardly get a pbass tone wrong. It has one position of pu, and 2 controls. It's hard to mess up.

An active bass with 2 or more pickups,  multi coil taps, multi eq. Is naturally, but not always going to be that bit more of an unknown quantity and have a wider range of tone which isn't a bad thing at all. 

[Norris]

4 hours ago, chris_b said:

intransigent attitude

Now there's a great name for a band!

[4000]

6 hours ago, chris_b said:

Jamerson's career went down the tubes because mentally he couldn't move from being "king" to just "one of the lads". He decided that as his sound had been so special for the last 15 years he didn't have to change it or do what the producers wanted. His strings were so old the intonation was out and an out of tune bass was never going to last long in the LA studios. The guys who called the shots stopped calling him because there were equally great players who would take care of their sound and do as they were requested.

Most of those guys who replaced him were also playing P basses with (not quite as old and manky) flats. It wasn't a problem or fashion with the instrument, it was Jamerson shooting himself in the foot with his intransigent attitude.

I’m aware of that. My point wasn’t that it was the P Bass that was the entire issue, only that the fact that he was using one didn’t miraculously “fix” the issue. Regardless, as I said, these things move in cycles. There have certainly been periods since where a P with flats would have been the last thing chosen by engineers or producers. And maybe that time will come again, for better or worse.