So what we have here is one of the least rigorous pickup shootouts that you're likely to encounter.
[url="http://soundcloud.com/torquil-macleod-730760653/p-bass-comparison"]http://soundcloud.co...bass-comparison[/url]
The 3 basses involved are:
2010 Fender American Deluxe Precision with Fender 62 RI pickups
Squier MB4 with Fender Deluxe pickups (as fitted in post 2009 Am Dlx P basses)
Bitsa P (J neck and P body from cheapish copies) with Aguilar AG P60 pickups
One is strung with D'Addario Chromes, one with DR Lo Riders and one with Elixir steels.
Clearly in terms of comparing the pickups this is of limited use given that the basses are all wearing different strings, but having just put the bitsa together I was struck by the fact that they all sound fairly different. So what, I wondered, is the 'P bass sound'? Is it there in a certain character that they all share, or does one of them leap out as sounding like you think a P bass should sound? Just a bit of fun really - can you identify which is which and which sounds closest to your idea of a P bass?