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Why do Pros use a P Bass...


TheGreek

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17 hours ago, drTStingray said:

I've tried G and Ls and they're very nice basses - I probably haven't played them enough to form a proper view but I found the MFD pick ups very hot and the overall sound was quite Fenderish. I've heard other people sound great on them. I agree on active Fenders - I'm sure the latest are much better but back in the 80s I disliked the sound. 

My own personal gripe with Precisions (which were my holy grail basses as a late teen/early 20 yr old) was the playability - I remember my disappointment the first time I played one in a shop and literally the neck shape and size made it difficult to play. I hear you say, oh you should have tried one with an xyz pattern neck - wrong - you got what the shop had and even if you were super human (like some rock stars of the time) you got the one the distributor gave you. The days of ordering the one you wanted were way off!! And back then the P bass was designed for ex upright players. 

Ive played loads over years and find them much more playable these days (they must have altered the neck profile) - when I first played a Stingray in the late 70s the neck was perfect for my hands and playing and the sound was exactly what I wanted - so that's what hooked me. 

I still really like Precisions - and they are clearly an American icon. 

In terms of use in his videos, Scott Devine seems amazingly unaware of a whole range of iconic basses - Ibanez, Yamaha, Musicman, Warwick, Rickenbacker, Danelectro, Gibson, Alembic, Wal - there's a decent sized list!  As an educator it seems to me as bad as someone teaching history and ignoring anything that doesn't match their own political or religious view.

I think biased would be the description! If his focus is sixties Motown then fine but there is more to life!! 

 

well put

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2 hours ago, chris_b said:

I was once handed a real 1962 P bass at the start of a session. "Here, use this" was how the discussion went!!

In that instance I went from a short scale narrow neck to a wide fretboard Fender P bass with one run through, before the red light came on. It was a real roast to play anything in tempo on that bass, but I did it. Sadly, they made it sound like it came from Toys R Us! But, no matter, on the strength of that session I was asked back many times.

In that world, the true measure of you as a bass player is how well do you play, how accurate you are (no bum notes allowed) and how quickly you can contribute to the session. I wish I could play to that level today!

I saw Nathan East at a Bass Clinic at GAK and he said the hardest thing on the LA music scene, is to be asked back. True, it isn't a hobby players world, but if you aspire to playing like your favourite player it's good to also be aware of the environment many of them work in.

Edited by chris_b
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10 minutes ago, rollie 55 said:

 

 

If you are going to change what I actually typed, at least add some note to indicate what you really mean... otherwise it's utterly pointless and confusing

edit: and the smiley :) 

 

Edited by mcnach
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5 minutes ago, mcnach said:

 

If you are going to change what I actually typed, at least add some note to indicate what you really mean... otherwise it's utterly pointless and confusing

edit: and the smiley :) 

 

sorry i think iv done somthing wrong on the reply 

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6 minutes ago, mcnach said:

 

I haven't tried one, but the strings look really close together :o

 

I'm kind of fond of that; I started on an Ibanez ric copy, then an Aria TSB, then a homebuilt 4-string with the bridge off the ric copy (later a Hipshot), then my 5-string with the same spacing as the MM fivers, with only a couple of briefer spells with Jazz basses.  So I've spent most of my playing time since my teens on string spacing that's narrower than Fender. 

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3 minutes ago, Beer of the Bass said:

 

I'm kind of fond of that; I started on an Ibanez ric copy, then an Aria TSB, then a homebuilt 4-string with the bridge off the ric copy (later a Hipshot), then my 5-string with the same spacing as the MM fivers, with only a couple of briefer spells with Jazz basses.  So I've spent most of my playing time since my teens on string spacing that's narrower than Fender. 

 

I see, then it must look more attractive than to me. I find the SR5 too narrow. The nicest 5-string I found was a Lakland 55-02, not just the profile, but the wide neck (19mm string spacing at the bridge), followed by a Squier Jazz V DeLuxe, a bit chunkier and also 19mm. I guess I could play any 5 string just as badly with a tiny bit of practice ;)

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14 minutes ago, rollie 55 said:

sorry i think iv done somthing wrong on the reply 

 

No worries... I was really confused :D  I thought it had some hidden meaning I could not figure out...

But then I haven't had lunch yet and I'm starving so my brain is not at its brightest... It's all good :)

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1 minute ago, mcnach said:

 

No worries... I was really confused :D  I thought it had some hidden meaning I could not figure out...

But then I haven't had lunch yet and I'm starving so my brain is not at its brightest... It's all good :)

thats ok i kinda new at this. 

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1 hour ago, mcnach said:

 

However, to insist on a Precision, unless you really are looking for THAT sound, is either narrow-minded or lazy. Probably both. I think.

 

Indeed, or possibly lacking in imagination. Vive la difference I reckon.

 

For the record, I have owned a goodly number of P basses, both modern and vintage, absolutely lovely instruments. These days I prefer the extra tonal options a J type gives me, especially live. If a studio session demands that P bass tone, the neck p/up soloed on my passive JJ is as near as makes no odds (see my earlier post about the SE Bash’s blind test).

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6 minutes ago, ezbass said:

Indeed, or possibly lacking in imagination. Vive la difference I reckon.

 

For the record, I have owned a goodly number of P basses, both modern and vintage, absolutely lovely instruments. These days I prefer the extra tonal options a J type gives me, especially live. If a studio session demands that P bass tone, the neck p/up soloed on my passive JJ is as near as makes no odds (see my earlier post about the SE Bash’s blind test).

I've been thinking the same - with the right strings and amp, and favouring the neck pickup, my 5-string with J pickups gets pretty close to what I'd want from a P bass. 

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17 hours ago, PawelG said:

I don’t get why so many people on here hate Scott’s videos. If you watched one and it whizzed you off, don’t watch another one. It is that simple. On the other hand, I bet a lot of people hating Scott would swap their job for his in a blink of an eye. And then, it doesn’t matter that they have to make a 12 minute video to put up on YT, hell, they’d probably make two!

I'm pretty sure they used to be a lot more informative and beneficial - educational even! Now you watch them and they drag on, after a few minutes you forget what the video was supposed to be about while Scott eats his cornflakes and tells you what his favourite Ikea shelving unit is.

 

I unsubscribed a while ago without any fuss, no hate for the guy or anything. Just seems like a decent resource for players has soured a little.

Edited by lemmywinks
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3 hours ago, Drax said:

 

Guess the hit factory isn't as prevalent now, but session work today is broadly the same, from friends I have that do it. 

Don't underestimate those pearls of inspiration that might turn someone onto bass from hearing a Nana Mouskouri(!) record - you don't have to look too far into Nathan East, Guy Pratt, Pino discography to find some very vanilla artists they brought their magic to. 

I'm sorry if I've upset anyone - I wasn't intending to slag off any pro musicians in this and in my youth I was interested broadly in any recorded or performed bass parts - including those on Nana Mouskouri or even the Singing Nun records - still do I guess. However it was the Andy Fraser/Jack Bruce et al that inspired me to actually start playing in the first place - rock music - that was the point I was making. Interesting to hear session still exist - clearly nothing like the 60s or 70s (93 commercial studios in London down to less than 10 I believe - if that).

Now if you focus on dance and pop music you'll find some stonking bass parts around even now - I'm sure they're not all played on Precisions - even bass guitars though!! 

Edited by drTStingray
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38 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

I'm pretty sure they used to be a lot more informative and beneficial - educational even! Now you watch them and they drag on, after a few minutes you forget what the video was supposed to be about while Scott eats his cornflakes and tells you what his favourite Ikea shelving unit is.

 

I unsubscribed a while ago without any fuss, no hate for the guy or anything. Just seems like a decent resource for players has soured a little.

Well, I get your point. But that’s YouTube for you. His lessons in the academy are different for sure. 

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57 minutes ago, ezbass said:

Indeed, or possibly lacking in imagination. Vive la difference I reckon.

 

For the record, I have owned a goodly number of P basses, both modern and vintage, absolutely lovely instruments. These days I prefer the extra tonal options a J type gives me, especially live. If a studio session demands that P bass tone, the neck p/up soloed on my passive JJ is as near as makes no odds (see my earlier post about the SE Bash’s blind test).

I've had a few Jazz's and respectfully disagree, if that were the case why would anybody bother with a Precision?

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