Fender Precisions - they're fantastic

[ped]

Varied, certainly. Rich? hmmm!

[chris_b]

I think it's interesting that 50 years on Fender basses from all decades are still held in such high regard. I love the Precision bass, why anyone would want to play a jazz beats me!!
It's interesting that in the US, when they could have used anything, so many "First Call" studio players, the guys that created the records that form the foundation of popular music, chose the Precision; Carol Kaye, David Hood, Duck Dunn, Tommy Cogbill, Bob Babbett, James Jamerson, etc.
It seems that many of the producers and engineers demanded that the studio players used Fender and I've seen several pictures of "Studio" basses in Nashville, LA and New York and they've all been Precisions.
What's the betting that in another 50 years the Precision will still be with us?

[bassmanady]

A comment a guitarist made a few years ago,which really surprised me, at the time i was using this really expensive bass,and in conversation he said "I dont 'arf miss the thump of a Fender precision",so even guitarists notice,well this one anyway

Edited May 28, 2008 by bassmanady

[niceguyhomer]

I play in a soul/motown band and whenever I use a Precision, the groans from the rest of the band are audible - especially if it has flats on it. They like the sound of a Jazz - f*cking weirdos.

[EBS_freak]

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='208076' date='May 28 2008, 03:09 PM']I play in a soul/motown band and whenever I use a Precision, the groans from the rest of the band are audible - especially if it has flats on it. They like the sound of a Jazz - f*cking weirdos.[/quote]

ha ha...!

I must admit, a jazz would always get my vote over a P... but that way you said that above brought a little smile to my face.

I think it is a childhood hate thing. I always hated the scratchplates on them also. I don't deny that some great players have used them... they just don't sit right with me on a visual front, or a playability front. I've played some nice ones but the necks generally aren't for me. That's a good thing though - it means that all the jazz basses aren't snapped up by you P players!!

[Sparky]

[quote name='Tee' post='207052' date='May 27 2008, 09:11 AM']Hmm, i'd say the Precision was a design classic, so a 'Mondeo' would be far off the mark imo. More like a VW Beetle, or a Mini.[/quote]
Ford Transit... in a good way. [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Transit"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Transit[/url] ...love that Mark I Minibus!

[bassmanady]

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='206231' date='May 25 2008, 10:12 PM']I [i]know[/i] mine do, and they're old Fenders. SHAZAM![/quote]
Yes been meaning to mention can you change your avatar,i just cant stop droolling every time it shows up!!

[XB26354]

Those session guys used a P-bass because that was all there was! What else could they have played in the 60's? Rickenbacker, Hofner, Gibson, etc? The P-bass is popular because it is the original bass design (I'm ignoring the Telecaster bass here as it never proved particularly popular). Leo Fender deserves massive credit for getting 90% of it right first time. I would say an old (60's-mid 70's) good-quality P-bass is fantastic, but the quality over the years has been very variable. They work for standard [b]bass[/b] tones. Jamerson had a wonderful sound but 90% of that was in his hands - the strings were so dead and the action so high he could almost have been playing a piece of plywood. Anthony Jackson played various flavours of P-bass and hybrids and got a great sound with a pick and phaser. JJ Burnel got a huge grinding punk sound, but a lot of that was the HiWatt guitar cab with the blown speaker(s). P-basses have that "bark" and cut needed for playing most contemporary music. I would say that the only changes I would make would be to reverse the two parts of the P pickup (it has always been the wrong way round), add a J pickup at the bridge position and get a beefed up bridge. I would then be happy to take it to any gig in any style. Looks are also important - the P-bass is very familiar and regular looking (read: compatible in almost any band) because of its simplicity and heritage.
Then again I've not owned one for 15 years, but that's another story!

[Telebass]

"1 single coil pickup in the wrong place and it's missing a fret."

OK, some like the extra fret. But it's not a single coil pickup, unless a pre-57 type like that one <<<<.

Also, a beefed up bridge means very little. I've yet to hear any bridge improve on it, or even make any difference...

A lot of people dislike them, I think, because they see them as 'plain vanilla'. The point about them is that they were so right, straight off the drawing board, even the early true single coils. All else stems from the P-bass, and very few basses have done more than tweak it, really.

Edited May 29, 2008 by Telebass

[XB26354]

I don't agree with that at all.
P-basses are passive with one pickup (the wrong way round) and four strings, 20 frets and 34" scale. Whether or not you believe they are the original and therefore the best, active basses, humbuckers, 5- and 6-string basses, laminated necks and bodies, carbon fibre (necks and reinforcement), onboard eq, quick release bridges, lightweight tuners, all the other bass manufacturers' body and headstock shapes...
It is certainly true that many companies have copied Fender designs, but in the case of the "improvements" listed above, Fender has been playing catch-up, and in many cases never has caught up. I don't think they were so right straight off the drawing board - they copied their own guitar design tuned it as a double bass. The fact that they "improved" upon the early Telecaster bass shows that they didn't even get the Fender right first time
Fender also trades on it's historical/nostalgia appeal without really making any effort either to improve or introduce new models (anyone tried a Zone recently?). Of course the Fender bass is classic but to say that nothing good or new has come out in the last 40+ years is not accurate.

[Telebass]

"but to say that nothing good or new has come out in the last 40+ years is not accurate."
Indeed, and I didn't say it. But what has come out, all of it almost, is evolutionary, very little being revolutionary. And there's always the KISS principle - what isn't there can't go wrong! I will be straight up and say that actives for me sound awful - a step away from whatever natural tone the bass might have, and a failure point (not to mention that active tone control was only ever a part of that - the primary reason Alembic did it at first was to drive the cable, reducing high-end loss). Others disagree, no problems. I just have yet to play a bass that, all round, is as good as a Fender P. Vigier necks for instance, are wondrous! So I'd like a 20-fret one stuck on my P-bass, please. Can't get one, of course. So stick with the Big F it is, then.

At the end of the day, it's what suits each player. But as the thread starter said, Precisions are great all-rounders, and will be for decades to come, very likely.

[bremen]

[quote name='Telebass' post='208996' date='May 29 2008, 04:17 PM']At the end of the day, it's what suits each player. But as the thread starter said, Precisions are great all-rounders, and will be for decades to come, very likely.[/quote]

I love Precisions. It'd be wonderful if they were still to be around in 50 years. Given that we all* expect oil to have run out by then, it's beginning to look like they'll outlive human civilisation.

*ok, some of us gloomy f***ers anyway ;-)

[bass player spinn]

fender p bass.... hmmmm almost exactly the same playing as my squire p bass.... hmmmmm any relation?

[wateroftyne]

Just wonderin'...

What's the big deal about a missing fret? What percentage of the bass-playing population consider this magic fret a must-have?

Granted, there have been many 'improvements' what Leo launched in 1957, but while some people might prefer to have them, I can't think of any which have become integral to the basic design.

It's for a reason.

[XB26354]

That's an opinion, not a fact. I'm much happier playing a 5-string and active basses work better for certain styles/songs. Touring with a Modulus was a total pleasure as the neck never moved and every note was really even. Restringing a Sadowsky in a hurry is a real pleasure as I don't have to feed strings in/out through the bridge. I would say the P-bass is the best plain-sounding bass. Now there are many who think that this is all a bass should be, often the same people that think bass is "easy", should only ever plonk along on the root, and that every man should have a short back and sides (I've played with plenty of these "timewarp" musicians!). If we're not meant to play above the first 5 frets why bother putting more frets in? A Fender just wouldn't be my only bass.
My opinion

[BigRedX]

The "missing fret" on Fenders is a red herring. The upper range access is so poor that I had enough problems getting to the D on the G string let alone the missing E!

[alanbass1]

I love my P Basses, especially my '62 and '63:






and they don't sound too bad with an active:

[Sean]

[quote name='Telebass' post='208955' date='May 29 2008, 03:12 PM']because they see them as 'plain vanilla'.[/quote]

Vanilla is a very pungent and exotic spice.

[Jono Bolton]

I love the Precision sound, it's so wonderfully 'thumpy'. I took the Duncan pickup out of my bass last night and put the original cheapy Fender one back in and it still sounds great, I think it was my old amp that was the problem that led me to replace it. Sadly I think I'm going to have to sell it Just found out the other day that I owe £600 in council tax so it may have to go. I can survive with just a Jazz, right?
Actually, now I mention it, it's the P sound and the simplicity I love, but looks-wise it's the Jazz for me. My ideal bass would be a cross between the two, like the Mark Hoppus sig, but with a less sinfully ugly scratchplate.

Edited May 29, 2008 by jono b

[wateroftyne]

[quote name='XB26354' post='209100' date='May 29 2008, 06:53 PM']Touring with a Modulus was a total pleasure as the neck never moved and every note was really even.[/quote]
Same with my Precisions. Fab, innit?

[quote name='XB26354' post='209100' date='May 29 2008, 06:53 PM']Now there are many who think that this is all a bass should be, often the same people that think bass is "easy", should only ever plonk along on the root, and that every man should have a short back and sides (I've played with plenty of these "timewarp" musicians!).[/quote]
Yep, they're about. I'm glad I'm not one...!

[quote name='XB26354' post='209100' date='May 29 2008, 06:53 PM']If we're not meant to play above the first 5 frets why bother putting more frets in?[/quote]
I think 20 is just enough.

As I said earlier, many people require other stuff that a common-or-garden P doesn't offer. That's fine'n'dandy.

[OldGit]

Love P basses. Had loads, been unfaithful many a time but in the end the i always end up going home to the Precision ...

So I have a Shuker custom made Precision style bass with 5 strings.


I got Jon to change a few things to address some of the shortcomings in me ... So ..it sits perfectly, the 1st fret is easy to reach, it has 21 frets and a slightly different shape lower horn and cut away so I can play that high E (yes I do use it).
It does almost everything I need, most of the time. At some time it will be joined by a 4 string version - the JJ Burnel P bass Shuker makes, probably.

Leo got it 80% right in '57, IMHO. The other 20% is what you get from a Jazz, Actives, all carbon basses, dinky Steinberger bodies, headless, GUS basses (gorgeous!), 5 and more strings and other "modern" BigRedX type things, all of which I'd like in my exensive collection. But, if I had to live with just one, it woudl be a Precision, no contest.

Edited May 29, 2008 by OldGit

[Telebass]

That's it at the end of the day. If you had to make a living with only one bass, this is the one most would choose.

[budget bassist]

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='209093' date='May 29 2008, 06:39 PM']Just wonderin'...

What's the big deal about a missing fret? What percentage of the bass-playing population consider this magic fret a must-have?

Granted, there have been many 'improvements' what Leo launched in 1957, but while some people might prefer to have them, I can't think of any which have become integral to the basic design.

It's for a reason.[/quote]
I use the 21st fret for a couple of songs, aeroplane and scar tissue by the chilis... Also i like to have 24 frets, just because it improevs higher end reach and makes the body smaller, no necessarily because i use all 24.

Oh and if i was to live with JUST one bass, it would be a stingray, no competition.

Edited May 29, 2008 by budget bassist

[thebeat]

I've only been playing, pretty badly i might add , for a few months so i'm not the most qualified person to comment on the merits of the P bass...but i do own 2. First one is a standard MIM Precision and the second is a custom MIA Precision with a jazz neck and twin pick ups. Out of the two, i seem to get on better with the Jazz style neck...but i do like the utilitarian look of the Precision.

[Jono Bolton]

That red P bass looks mighty familiar!