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P bass growl


hooky_lowdown

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I have a preference for P basses, I've owned many, I might be alone here - but I find it interesting I can get some to growl and others don't, despite using the same D'Addario flatwound strings and setting up the basses roughly the same on every bass I've owned. Some growl and other haven't. Interestingly (for me atleast) I've had expensive P basses which growled - others didn't, and I've had cheapo P basses (most didn't growl), but now I have a super cheap P bass by a brand (Arrow) which I've never heard of before and is about 10 years old - but this thing growls brilliantly - it's totally stock with the exception of the strings.

 

So I was wondering why some P basses growl, and others don't. Is it strings, pickups, necks - or a combo of all three?

 

 

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I think pickups & electrics will have a major influence on this. As will body-woods, I found that in general the ash-bodied Precisions I had were more aggressive sounding, where the alder-bodied ones have been fuller sounding (maybe just a bit more in the low mids). But pickups really change it, I`ve had 3 different pickups in one of my Precisions, and the difference it makes getting the right one is pretty amazing.

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Thanks fretmeister - that's a cool video. I should say I primarily play with a pick. I'm not sure what the body of my cheapo P bass is made of but it's ultra light. Weights not much more than a hollow bodied Dano I used to own. The sound I get is closest to the USA 1977 from the vid, with tone at 100%.

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1 hour ago, Lozz196 said:

I think pickups & electrics will have a major influence on this. As will body-woods, I found that in general the ash-bodied Precisions I had were more aggressive sounding, where the alder-bodied ones have been fuller sounding (maybe just a bit more in the low mids). But pickups really change it, I`ve had 3 different pickups in one of my Precisions, and the difference it makes getting the right one is pretty amazing.

Lozz - I totally agree with you that pups are  perhaps the single most important ingredient in bass tone on the bass itself. Really interested to find out a bit more detail about the three different pups you used and the differences in sound you got from them?

The Warwick MEC pups are famous for their growl. Put them on a Streamer Stage 1 neck-through and you have, for me, a fantastic P-bass. If only they did them in a 5 string! (And, yes, I appreciate that may be sacrilege to Fender purists :) )

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2 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Lozz - I totally agree with you that pups are  perhaps the single most important ingredient in bass tone on the bass itself. Really interested to find out a bit more detail about the three different pups you used and the differences in sound you got from them?

Well the three were/are:

Martin Herrick 65 - as the blurb on Martins site says, these had more lows & highs, and were a bit high-powered, went into breakup quite easily on my regular settings. Quite a modern sound really.

Seymour Duncan Steve Harris - much more emphasis on mids, seemingly less lows & highs as a result, similar sort of power as above. Nice vintage sound.

Fender Custom Shop 62 - my fave, the ones I have in all my Precisions. A very vintage tone, much like the Steve Harris, but not so powerful, so doesn`t go into break-up quite so quickly. A really vintage sound, I bought my first 2012-16 Series Precision based on a sound-clip of Sponge Bobs one that he put on here.

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3 minutes ago, hooky_lowdown said:

Out of curiosity - what (affordable i.e below £100) P bass pups would people recommend for an aggressive, slightly vintage (not too modern) tone and growl?

Seymour Duncan Steve Harris would get my vote for the under £100 category

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This has got me thinking.  My '78, nicknamed 'DeeDee' for the obvious reasons:

78p.PNG.4879369395b4c74dd4e072a6b81f2787.PNG

I put an SPB-3 in it many years ago along with a Badass2 and I loved it so much I've since been scared to change anything...

Still have the original pups and bridge, and she doesn't go out gigging anymore.  Should I return her to stock?

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that's a great demo with the 77 sounding sounding great

BUT, it's the only maple board in the test, so it's not comparing anything like the others. They were all rosewood with alder of basswood.

It would have been great to hear a maple board alder body too, as I personally prefer the thump of an alder body. I have numerous P type basses and the ash body one is the weakest IMO but I used to have a Sting Jap Fender with an ash body and it really purred.

My '73 is alder and rosewood and sounds amazing, My alder with fretless maple board bitsa (custom shop fender 62 pickup) also sounds marvellous.

 

some nice playing on  that demo too

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@LewisK1975 DeeDee looks amazing. Only you know what she sounded like stock, and with upgrades! You must have thought she sounded better with the upgrades originally, but our preferences change over time. 

 

I liked a more modern sound a few years ago, but now I’m older I like a  rounder, more vintage growly tone.

 

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16 minutes ago, hooky_lowdown said:

@LewisK1975 DeeDee looks amazing. Only you know what she sounded like stock, and with upgrades! You must have thought she sounded better with the upgrades originally, but our preferences change over time. 

 

I liked a more modern sound a few years ago, but now I’m older I like a  rounder, more vintage growly tone.

 

Thanks, she really is a thing of beauty, aging very nicely indeed, actually the paint is a see-through finish too, which can't be seen at all in that pic.

And yes, you're exactly right, I must have thought it was an upgrade at the time, but that ash bodied 77 in the vid a few posts up sounds sooooo good, I think i'll have her on the bench this weekend!

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I had a  '73 P Bass identical to DeeDee back in the '80s. I sold it for £200 when I moved house in  late 1988 . I thought I had done a good deal.:facepalm:  ( Although, to be fair, £200 was the going rate back then.)

 There's lots of great P Bass pups on the market nowadays, but to my ears the DiMarzio  Model P is still one of the growliest and obnoxious.

Edited by Misdee
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On 11/01/2018 at 15:26, Lozz196 said:

Seymour Duncan Steve Harris would get my vote for the under £100 category

A good pickup. I have it on my Japanese P Bass (could be basswood body) 1970 reissue. Getting the best out of that pickup for me involves using rotosounds Steve Harris strings. There is just a presence, power and clarity that fits perfectly live. I've got thomastik flats on now and they don't get the best from the pickup, sadly, though I think they'd sound great on my jazz or with a more vintage voiced p pickup.

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I have a passive bitsa precision which is by far the best sounding bass I’ve owned, clean or dirty. 

In my opinion this is mostly down to the EMG Geezer Butler pups. I highly recommend them  

There is a ton of growl there, admittedly with regular rounds which are well worn. 

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