Am I the only one who has never played a P Bass.?

[drTStingray]

14 hours ago, bubinga5 said:

Never played a P Bass. Tell a lie, I played a JV P for 30 seconds and a Yamaha bass with a P pickup once. Strange really, after 17 years not one P bass. Its possibly going to be a revelation when I do. 

Nope - me neither. It was my dream bass in the late 60s/early 70s - then I played one and realised playing wise it was too big for my hands to play sensibly. The sound was - well not brilliant. Then came on to the market a lot of other far more refined and versatile instruments (Alembic, Wal, Musicman) so the idea of playing a P waned completely as apart from punk rock, that sound was not really the one to have. Indeed I played an active one when Fender first introduced them in the early 80s. I disliked it intensely and thought it was an appalling instrument compared with a Stingray - in all respects!! 

In more recent years it’s been impossible to notice their resurgence in popularity. I’ve tried to like them and have played loads of different ones in shops with a view to buying - one thing I would agree with aficionados of the marque, they do vary - but as far as I can see, only marginally from one another. I find them more difficult to play complex lines and parts on. I have never found one in the last 20 yrs of looking that appeals enough to me to buy it. I did play someone else’s 1960 bass in a live performance situation but that was also underwhelming. I really have to work hard to get the definition my playing style is founded on. I don’t want my playing to sound woolly!! 

Ive thought of buying a pre CBS and also getting a CS one, the latter in colours I could choose but the big problem I keep coming back to is why - when would I use it? And despite what people say it’s like a step backwards in terms of refinement, especially in sound - they can sound reasonably refined but can also sound quite ‘agricultural’. 

Im also reminded of the countless local gigs I went to in the 70s where the bass either sounded shite or was barely audible in the mix - yes, you guessed - often P basses. 

Maybe modern amplification has improved that, but I keep coming back to the notion that I would not use one in preference to the basses I have. For the band situations I play in, the P bass would not work as well - many players who I liked, say in the 70s, refined their sound by moving from a P bass to say, a Wal. It’s as difficult for me to accept the notion of going backwards in that sense as accepting some people’s wholly misguided notion that music ended at the end of the 60s.

I guess there’s time yet and I might buy a P bass - who knows. It will probably wear TI flats!!! I’m thinking I would play one with that thumpy R and B style which Pino uses. However I still prefer 70s and 60s soul with note definition. 

I find some of the comments in this thread slightly amusing - I have problems accepting the number of sub and sub sub genres dreamt up these days (take metal as an example) but the look of a bass guitar being genre specific? Really!!!! 😂😂  I’m happy to play my basses in any genre within reason (and as I’m the bass player - why would people even notice - we are often perceived as the boring instrument). 

 

Edited May 23, 2021 by drTStingray

[JapanAxe]

10 minutes ago, drTStingray said:

...

I find some of the comments in this thread slightly amusing - I have problems accepting the number of sub and sub sub genres dreamt up these days (take metal as an example) but the look of a bass guitar being genre specific? Really!!!! 😂😂  I’m happy to play my basses in any genre within reason (and as I’m the bass player - why would people even notice - we are often perceived as the boring instrument). 
 

Hmmm... I probably wouldn’t take my Dingwall on a country gig though - my natural finish P looks suitably rustic!

[drTStingray]

4 hours ago, JapanAxe said:

Hmmm... I probably wouldn’t take my Dingwall on a country gig though - my natural finish P looks suitably rustic!

I think people are far too picky with these things - I’m sure a Dingwall will do the job just as well if not better. I certainly wouldn’t worry about using a Stingray on one - they’ve often been used in that genre (in fact were first designed to cover that need) - I might use a sunburst rather than a sparkle one however - I suppose it depends how much standing out is acceptable!!! Probably the same for a Dingwall. 😬👍

Funny really - back in the day people (even famous pros) tended to have and use one instrument - the idea of multiple instruments and x is suitable for y genre have been a relatively recent phenomena!! 

Edited May 23, 2021 by drTStingray

[machinehead]

I started on 6 string guitar around 1967/8.  I always loved Fender guitars but when I moved over to bass around 1985 I didn't take to Fender basses.  I used an Aria SB900 for years, then Warwick and Spector.

I started to notice about 15 years ago that every time I walked into a pub or bigger  gig that when I loved the bass sound, it was mostly a Precision.  I bought and sold a few jazz basses then a US Fender P in 2012.  It's fitted with TI flats and sounds (to me) absolutely wonderful.

They are simple but really effective.

Frank.

[JapanAxe]

6 minutes ago, drTStingray said:

I think people are far too picky with these things - I’m sure a Dingwall will do the job just as well if not better. I certainly wouldn’t worry about using a Stingray on one - they’ve often been used in that genre (in fact were first designed to cover that need) - I might use a sunburst rather than a sparkle one however - I suppose it depends how much standing out is acceptable!!! Probably the same for a Dingwall. 😬👍

Funny really - back in the day people (even famous pros) tended to have and use one instrument - the idea of multiple instruments and x is suitable for y genre have been a relatively recent phenomena!! 

Yes I’m sure the Dingwall would do a grand job. A fair portion of the enthusiast-run county music circuit is fixated on the Civil War era, despite fact that even the oldest music thought of as ‘country’ dates from the middle of the 20th century. I therefore take the homely conventional-looking P rather than the more outlandish-looking Dingwall.

[Steve Browning]

13 hours ago, machinehead said:

I started on 6 string guitar around 1967/8.  I always loved Fender guitars but when I moved over to bass around 1985 I didn't take to Fender basses.  I used an Aria SB900 for years, then Warwick and Spector.

I started to notice about 15 years ago that every time I walked into a pub or bigger  gig that when I loved the bass sound, it was mostly a Precision.  I bought and sold a few jazz basses then a US Fender P in 2012.  It's fitted with TI flats and sounds (to me) absolutely wonderful.

They are simple but really effective.

Frank.

I can never look at your contributions without wondering how you got Brian Wilson to sing with you!

[bubinga5]

These Maruszczyks sound good though. 

 

[paul_c2]

Didn't even look at the video. When you have a wife with two lovely even-sized pickups already, do you look for another wife with one big fat lumpy pickup?

[Jonesy]

I tend to fall in and out of love with P basses, I can't decide whether they're 'meh' and boring, or exactly what you need. Part of me thinks you're not a bass player unless you own a P, then I pick one up and within a couple of years year I find myself playing it less and less and thinking about selling it. 

I'm currently in 'meh' mode and thinking of selling my MIJ PB70US. It's easily one of the best basses I've played and I know if I sell it that I'll be looking to buy a P in the next couple of years.

Ah well, it's a good job the classifieds are here 😂

[Reggaebass]

27 minutes ago, Jonesy said:

I tend to fall in and out of love with P basses,

I do exactly the same jonesy, I played my P for years then swiched to jazzes and the P went back in the case for about 2 years, then I got it out one day and loved it again now I’m liking both 😁, and looking at steinbergers 

[Jonesy]

7 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

I do exactly the same jonesy, I played my P for years then swiched to jazzes and the P went back in the case for about 2 years, then I got it out one day and loved it again now I’m liking both 😁, and looking at steinbergers 

Hahahaha, it's a viscous circle isn't it?!?  I'm sort of the same with a Jazz too tbh. One minute they're too nasal, the next I love them. Maybe a P with a J neck is the answer? 

I'm sure the classifieds will help you out with a Steinberger in the not too distant! 😂

 

[fretmeister]

I've got a very nice American Special. It's very light (I put Ultralites on it and it's only 7 3/4 lb now), action is great, and as it is a Special the neck is a little slimmer than a regular P.

It sounds just like a P bass should.

 

But I never play it. I seem to be keeping it because there is something stupid in my head that demands that I have one, because it's a precision and all bassists should have one. Which is clearly bollocks.

I really should start looking at shifting the stuff I don't play.

 

[Muzz]

I don't have one right now (I've had...a few...), but the sound is what I have. All my basses (mostly Shukers, but even a Dingwall) have been tweaked with Split-P pickups in (mostly) the right position, and in my hands they all sound like aggressive Ps played with a pick. I'm a sucker for nice wood and I don't like painted basses (yeah, shallow as a puddle, me 😐🙂) and slim necks are my thing, so I don't really need a Fender one any more.

Having said that, I've got a JJB Precision on the way from Jon Shuker (again, with my preferred neck profile) which will be a P made the way I want it.

[BigRedX]

On 23/05/2021 at 09:18, tegs07 said:

Everything I love about them. Like an early Toyota Landcruiser. Does what it was built to do, no pretensions or BS and won’t let you down.

But I play pretentious BS music, so I need an instrument that reflects that.

[Reggaebass]

23 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

But I play pretentious BS music

What is this pretentious BS music you play 

[Doddy]

I've always preferred Jazz basses or modern 5 strings, but I've got a tour coming up where I have to play a Precision.

There is something cool about a Precision, which is probably why a load of the hippest players are using them again.

[Sarah5string]

My first bass was an encore P bass copy and it was pants. Never played a 'proper' p bass. Or a jazz bass for that matter.

[EJWW]

The P bass is like a comfy pair of slippers. I love the simplicity. Really makes you think about your technique and music you are using it to make.

I like the chunky neck. My current one only weighs 3.9kg so very easygoing on the back. 

Aesthetically very pleasing particularly if it's beaten up a bit. 

[ped]

Love a P bass 😁

[Munurmunuh]

4 minutes ago, ped said:

Love a P bass 😁

I knew before I looked at the photo what the bass would be

[ped]

2 minutes ago, Ricky Rioli said:

I knew before I looked at the photo what the bass would be

Found a pink one next to the A1079!

[Munurmunuh]

2 minutes ago, ped said:

Found a pink one next to the A1079!

Yeah, sorry about that, they wouldn't let me in at the Burnby Lane tip, so I just chucked it out the window on my way home.

[LukeFRC]

52 minutes ago, ped said:

Found a pink one next to the A1079!

You have a pink sb1? 

3 hours ago, BigRedX said:

But I play pretentious BS music, so I need an instrument that reflects that.

Is this a excuse to show that Gus off again?

[Munurmunuh]

14 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

You have a pink sb1? 

This has lost its way somewhere between Virginia and me. My hope is being kept afloat by the fact that a bass guitar in a hard case doesn't exactly slip into a postal worker's back pocket.

PS yes, that is a 1½" nut

PPS and it's got a quartersawn neck and weighs only 7 lbs and why is it that it's the greatest bass ever made that goes missing? 😭

Edited May 27, 2021 by Ricky Rioli

[tegs07]

3 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

What is this pretentious BS music you play 

It’s a prog-jazz-art house hipster fusion band. They all read Nietzche and look like Dutch fisherman from the 1920’s.