Why do Pros use a P Bass...

[paul_c2]

I believe Scott's brother, Barry Devine, has a Youtube channel which is aimed at builders. In an hour-long special, he covers "Why do a lot of builders use a Ford Transit" with an interesting 12 minute monologue by a roofer who presents an alternate view and owns a Renault Trafic. Also he has a 15-part mini-series on the premium channel, on different types of sand.

[Sonic_Groove]

6 minutes ago, paul_c2 said:

I believe Scott's brother, Barry Devine, has a Youtube channel which is aimed at builders. In an hour-long special, he covers "Why do a lot of builders use a Ford Transit" with an interesting 12 minute monologue by a roofer who presents an alternate view and owns a Renault Trafic. Also he has a 15-part mini-series on the premium channel, on different types of sand.

😂🤣

[Beer of the Bass]

11 minutes ago, paul_c2 said:

I believe Scott's brother, Barry Devine, has a Youtube channel which is aimed at builders. In an hour-long special, he covers "Why do a lot of builders use a Ford Transit" with an interesting 12 minute monologue by a roofer who presents an alternate view and owns a Renault Trafic. Also he has a 15-part mini-series on the premium channel, on different types of sand.

Does their dad Sydney have a video where he explains about the tiny bubbles in his wine?

[lemmywinks]

1 hour ago, paul_c2 said:

Well done Scott for monetizing what is actually a not-too-complicated subject matter. Good on him.

I strongly believe there is "space" in the market for someone to offer condensed post-edits of his videos, for example this one is almost 12 minutes long - I am afraid I don't have a spare 12 minutes - and having seen some of his other content, I reckon its 2-3 mins worth of focused content. (AFAIK the YouTube algorithms that monetize it take into account length of video watched, in addition to number of views, so there is no incentive himself to shorten them???)

 

This is why I stopped watching his videos, you get to the halfway stage and he's still waffling on about something completely irrelevant and uninteresting.

[Al Krow]

40 minutes ago, Hobbayne said:

Well, I love P basses. In fact, I have 3 of them.😋

And a Yammy BB 5 string , which has a P pickup.

Can't deny how great a Yammy BB P or P/J is. @AndyTravis anyone? 😄

But they are not "better" than a J bass, just deliciously different. It's great to have a choice. 

Scott is indirectly implying that P basses are the better bass and as an "influencer" that's not supportable: it might well be better for some - but that's as far as it goes. 

[Sonic_Groove]

1 minute ago, Al Krow said:

Can't deny how great a Yammy BB P or P/J is. @AndyTravis anyone? 😄

But they are not "better" than a J bass, just deliciously different. It's great to have a choice. 

Scott is indirectly implying that P basses are the better bass and as an "influencer" that's not supportable: it might well be better for some - but that's as far as it goes. 

Exactly, probably a lot better put than I did.

P basses are great I have a couple (more using the generic PU/position analogy used earlier). But the implication in that video was totally wrong.

Plus any decent producer or engineer should be able to record any working bass!? 

[The59Sound]

43 minutes ago, ezbass said:

Those who were at the SE Bass Bash will testify that it's surprising how much 'listening' is done with the eyes. 

Or anything that is hyped on here. 

If your technique isn't up to scratch, you'll never sound good no matter how expensive the gear is. 

[Lozz196]

Ah, the humble old Precision. I’m a fanboi, so maybe a bit biased, but it’s very easy to obtain a workable sound very quickly with one. It also sits in the mix in a good place, neither too far down or too high (unless extreme eq is chosen). Nothing fancy but if you want a bass that will do the job and do it well a Precision is a good choice. Maybe this is why SD offered his views.

[The59Sound]

I feel Scott is turning into the Piers Morgan of Bass - offering extreme views to get publicity.

[stingrayPete1977]

There are also many players that record with something else then mime with a P Bass to look the part in the video. 

[spongebob]

I like them, but can't get on with them!

Tried a good few, but with they just don't have that tone in my hands. 

Can't disagree with the fact that it's probably the most recorded bass ever.....so the problem is most definitely with me! 

[Paul S]

The thing is - does it really matter?   These topics always seem to degenerate into some wort of 'my gang is better than your gang' type thing.  You like a P bass/Stingray/Rickenbacker - great.  You don't like them - also great.  There is room for all without the mud slinging.

 

[Bob Lord]

Ok, if we're talking about professionals...

In rock, it's probably because you turn up, have to plug into a rented SVT, and provide low, fat root notey noises with a bit of an edge at a loud drummer and loud guitarist - fatten everything up without getting too much in the way. You're not the featured musician, so you can't afford to throw your weight around about what gear you use and how loud you are. You use what's there, and use what makes people happy. Works perfectly for that, and because they're so simple and sturdy, you don't have to worry about things breaking

[Linus27]

I'm happy to admit that I'm a Fender fanboy. Been playing for 30 years, I've had 3 Stingray's, 3 Warwick's, a Status, a Washburn, a Ricky, two Lakland's and countless Fender Precision and Jazz basses and I am most comfortable playing either a Fender Jazz or Precision. I've made a living using these basses and still happily playing and earning money using them. There is nothing wrong with any of the other basses I've owned and played, they have all been superb top rate instruments and I admire anyone who uses anything they want but for me, I'm just so comfortable playing a Fender Jazz or Precision that I no longer bother looking at any other bass. It's just pointless. I don't like all Fender's though, just a simple passive Precision or Jazz as that will do me, nothing fancy or active. I am tempted to try one of their Performer Precision's with the p/j config though. So, fair game to anyone who wants to use whatever they want but for me, after 30 years of playing, I know what I like. As they say, one man's poison is another man's wine.

[Delberthot]

I love Precisions. They are to me the best looking basses in the world. Some of my favourite bass sounds from some of my favourite bands have been made using them by Queen & Pink Floyd mainly but loads of others.

The problem is that they just don't suit my style of playing or sound. I got very close with my Warmoth '54 single coil Precision with Lollar pickup but it just wasn't quite there which is a shame.

Luckily I'm not a pro or session player so I am free to roam the vast array of other basses available 😀

[paul_c2]

I think it matters, not necessarily to a professional who can afford to buy (or can justify on finance etc) several basses, but to amateurs and semi-pros who want to emulate their idols, or at least their 'sound' or their 'success'; but don't necessarily have the funds to buy several decent instruments. Fortunately, in the world of basses, there is Fender, and there is the Precision. Fender are not the cheapest but by no means are they the most expensive either and a reasonable 'professional' working tool can be obtained for ~£500 (or thereabouts - of course there is an element of debate on where you might start, and where you might find/buy that starting point).

In a way, we have it lucky - its not complicated, and doesn't need to be - you don't need to invest thousands. Compare and contrast it with the world of cellos, or french horns etc.

[AndyTravis]

This guy?

[gareth]

31 minutes ago, Linus27 said:

I'm happy to admit that I'm a Fender fanboy. Been playing for 30 years, I've had 3 Stingray's, 3 Warwick's, a Status, a Washburn, a Ricky, two Lakland's and countless Fender Precision and Jazz basses and I am most comfortable playing either a Fender Jazz or Precision. I've made a living using these basses and still happily playing and earning money using them. There is nothing wrong with any of the other basses I've owned and played, they have all been superb top rate instruments and I admire anyone who uses anything they want but for me, I'm just so comfortable playing a Fender Jazz or Precision that I no longer bother looking at any other bass. It's just pointless. I don't like all Fender's though, just a simple passive Precision or Jazz as that will do me, nothing fancy or active. I am tempted to try one of their Performer Precision's with the p/j config though. So, fair game to anyone who wants to use whatever they want but for me, after 30 years of playing, I know what I like. As they say, one man's poison is another man's wine.

I think you'd like a pj fender bass - sound just like a p vast with just the neck pup but you can dial in that jaco honky sound by blending or soloing the bridge pup.

Highly recommended

[gareth]

52 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Ah, the humble old Precision. I’m a fanboi, so maybe a bit biased, but it’s very easy to obtain a workable sound very quickly with one. It also sits in the mix in a good place, neither too far down or too high (unless extreme eq is chosen). Nothing fancy but if you want a bass that will do the job and do it well a Precision is a good choice. Maybe this is why SD offered his views.

Everything Lozz says!

[silverfoxnik]

I really like the P Bass and the P Bass sound... 

Or do I? 

Question for me is that just saying 'P Bass' is too simplistic. For example, if you compare Jamerson's P Bass sound to Bruce Foxton's sound, they're really quite different, so we need to be more specific about what sound we're really talking about..

Having said that - and in my own limited experience based on having worked with a number of different name record producers years ago - they do tend to have a 'go to' bass sound they like to use for certain types of music and as far as rock music goes, there is a kind of default P Bass sound that is favoured by producers. Funny enough, when you hear it solo, it's quite clanky and heavy on the mids, but in the mix with other instruments, it just sounds perfect! 

I agree with earlier comments above about the look of P Basses being very much the preferred image for many bands, regardless of what bass may have been used in the studio. 

Personally, I love the look of P Basses, just not the sunburst ones.. 

[drTStingray]

4 hours ago, gareth said:

Famous top gear commentator stated "if we were all sensible we'd all drive VW golfs"

the p bass is the VW golf of basses

end of story

That's sacrilege - I have a VW Golf and most definitely think the Precision bass is the world's most overrated and boring instrument - the Stingray has completely overshadowed it since the 70s IMHO of course!! 

The Precision is more of your basic Ford with rubber mats in place of carpets - reliable but highly boring and many other makes will run rings around it. For those old enough to remember - a Ford from 1957 would have vacuum operated windscreen wipers which stopped when you went uphill - they still sold millions of them!!! 

Why do so many pros use them - they certainly seem to be flavour of the month but I also know that Fender spend a great deal of time and effort (and money) placing their instruments with people.

They were probably the best you could get in the 60s but there again if you claimed a bass guitar was a real musical instrument in the 60s you would have been threatened with corporal punishment by serious musicians (upright players) 

It is quite interesting that the Precison being ubiquitous coincides with music with either inaudible or ill defined bass - not sure if that's down to the players, the producers or the instrument - probably a bit of all of them!! 

Otherwise they're great! 

Edited December 29, 2018 by drTStingray

[paul_c2]

3 minutes ago, drTStingray said:

It is quite interesting that the Precison being ubiquitous coincides with music with either inaudible or ill defined bass - not sure if that's down to the players, the producers or the instrument - probably a bit of all of them!!

I was going to watch "Queen Live 1986 Wembley" but you're right, that bassline on "Another one bites the dust" is so inaudible and ill-defined, its not worth the bother.

[Lozz196]

See most of the music I grew up listening to was punk, and Paul Simenon, JJ Burrell, Bruce Foxton to name a few really brought bass, especially the Precision to front of the mix. And as said, John Deacon with Queen also had the bass - again a Precision - very up there. Def not inaudible imo, but I suppose it depends on era of music. Those of us who went through the 70s and 80s got some pretty good up front in the mix bass, and more often than not ‘‘twas the humble P-bass.

[gareth]

1 hour ago, drTStingray said:

That's sacrilege - I have a VW Golf and most definitely think the Precision bass is the world's most overrated and boring instrument - the Stingray has completely overshadowed it since the 70s IMHO of course!! 

The Precision is more of your basic Ford with rubber mats in place of carpets - reliable but highly boring and many other makes will run rings around it. For those old enough to remember - a Ford from 1957 would have vacuum operated windscreen wipers which stopped when you went uphill - they still sold millions of them!!! 

Why do so many pros use them - they certainly seem to be flavour of the month but I also know that Fender spend a great deal of time and effort (and money) placing their instruments with people.

They were probably the best you could get in the 60s but there again if you claimed a bass guitar was a real musical instrument in the 60s you would have been threatened with corporal punishment by serious musicians (upright players) 

It is quite interesting that the Precison being ubiquitous coincides with music with either inaudible or ill defined bass - not sure if that's down to the players, the producers or the instrument - probably a bit of all of them!! 

Otherwise they're great! 

I love everything Leo so can't criticise Ray's - how do rate G&Ls, meant to be the ultimate Leo bass?

Personally I don't like active basses worst of all being the active Fenders I have tried.

 

Edited December 29, 2018 by gareth

[Bridgehouse]

I got a P bass because it was the only thing I could afford at the time: