The Joy Of P

[Phil Starr]

I've never played a Precision, not a proper one.

 

Let me explain, I decided when I first played bass that Fender just meant you were paying for a name on the headstock. Started off with a Cort, then on an idle day long ago when guitar shops existed I wandered into Mansons in Exeter and tried just about everything in the shop. I have small hands and thought the P's were awful but fell in love with one bass in particular a Highway One with Fender written plainly on the neck with MIA in little letters. I had to admit Leo knew more about guitars than I did. Full disclosure I later bought an American Deluxe P Bass and I'm in love with both basses and we are very happy together, me and the two genuine Fenders I swore I would never buy. 

 

However, there are so many people out there playing those simple straightforward P basses who sound so good. Could it be that a real one would be different from my fancy Deluxe??? Well like many of us I saw the big discounts on the Squier 40th Anniversary basses and for £250 I scratched the itch. I've had it a few weeks and 'oh my giddy Aunt, it's good'. I've been running through the set this morning for our gig and oh the sounds it's making. I swear it's not me playing it sounds too perfect. Tone controls all flat and straight into the mixing desk. Of course I play covers and I guess most of the covers I'm playing along with were originally played with P's so there is an element of 'rightness' but it also sounds so right when i'm playing with the band; the damned thing just sits there sounding spot on tucking in behind the kick but sitting nicely in the gaps the rest of the time. Playing it is gorgeous too, the neck is much wider than I'm used to rather than maybe the full on block of wood that some P's have but it's wide and flat and has a piano like feel about it, if that makes sense. I feel like I'm playing notes rather than fretting. It also plays fast and has terrific sustain, mainly though it is that gorgeous sound.

 

OK it's a Squier and it has a C neck but to me it's a proper P and I'm in love again. Why did I leave it so long. Have I left my  poor Highway One Jazz forever? Will I get distracted by the next flashy American I see? Oh the joy of P!

Edited October 28, 2023 by Phil Starr

[asingardenof]

I fell in love with my Squier P when I bought it in 1998. I was a bit worried about the neck width, as the Hohner Rockwood P-adjacent bass I part-exed for it had a more Jazz-like profile, but the sound I got from it was immense. It persuaded me against buying the Fender Mexican Jazz the shop offered me as an alternative.

 

I still have and use that P and will never part with it.

[Lozz196]

For me the beauty of the P is that it doesn’t have too much of anything so it’s very easy to sculpt into whatever’s needed - well apart from modern hi-fi sounds maybe. 

[Supernaut]

I have never understood why people say, "Okay, it's a Squier". Is that a bad thing? Can only basses with Fender on the headstock sound good? B0ll0cks to it all. 

[Reggaebass]

43 minutes ago, Phil Starr said:

Have I left my  poor Highway One Jazz forever? Will I get distracted by the next flashy American I see

I played precision’s first for a long time and then got hooked on jazzes for many years, I’m now back to precision’s for 2 reasons, 1 , i like the simplicity and 2 , I really like the sound, if I’m after a smoother deeper sound I use the jazzes, I think it’s good to have both, I don’t have much experience with squire , maybe try some US ones and see what you think 

[JohnDaBass]

1 hour ago, Phil Starr said:

I've never played a Precision, not a proper one.

 

Let me explain, I decided when I first played bass that Fender just meant you were paying for a name on the headstock. Started off with a Cort, then on an idle day long ago when guitar shops existed I wandered into Mansons in Exeter and tried just about everything in the shop. I have small hands and thought the P's were awful but fell in love with one bass in particular a Highway One with Fender written plainly on the neck with MIA in little letters. I had to admit Leo knew more about guitars than I did. Full disclosure I later bought an American Deluxe P Bass and I'm in love with both basses and we are very happy together, me and the two genuine Fenders I swore I would never buy. 

 

However, there are so many people out there playing those simple straightforward P basses who sound so good. Could it be that a real one would be different from my fancy Deluxe??? Well like many of us I saw the big discounts on the Squier 40th Anniversary basses and for £250 I scratched the itch. I've had it a few weeks and 'oh my giddy Aunt, it's good'. I've been running through the set this morning for our gig and oh the sounds it's making. I swear it's not me playing it sounds too perfect. Tone controls all flat and straight into the mixing desk. Of course I play covers and I guess most of the covers I'm playing along with were originally played with P's so there is an element of 'rightness' but it also sounds so right when i'm playing with the band; the damned thing just sits there sounding spot on tucking in behind the kick but sitting nicely in the gaps the rest of the time. Playing it is gorgeous too, the neck is much wider than I'm used to rather than maybe the full on block of wood that some P's have but it's wide and flat and has a piano like feel about it, if that makes sense. I feel like I'm playing notes rather than fretting. It also plays fast and has terrific sustain, mainly though it is that gorgeous sound.

 

OK it's a Squier and it has a C neck but to me it's a proper P and I'm in love again. Why did I leave it so long. Have I left my  poor Highway One Jazz forever? Will I get distracted by the next flashy American I see? Oh the joy of P!

Any pictures of all three?

[neepheid]

Although I'm not set on Fender/Squier Precision basses (the G&L Tribute LB-100 is about as close as you're going to get me to a traditional P bass, but the black and gold 40th Anniversary Squier P basses nearly hooked me in!), the fact that half my basses are single pickup, passive instruments probably means something Precision-y (as does my general dislike of bridge pickups where present).  The sub fact that I take the LB-100 to the gig when I'm not sure how it's going to go and don't want to have to think about whether or not I've brought the right bass to the gig is probably a Precision-y thing to do also.

 

I have always favoured chunky necks, and these days I'm all passive.  It's a slippery slope into a P bass old age, innit?

 

Also, cheap basses rule these days - IMO the quality gap between the lower end and higher end of the price range has never been smaller and it makes it harder for MIA instruments to justify their existence beyond the logo.  If G&L made a Tribute wunkay, you can safely bet I'd have bought that instead of MIA.

 

Edited October 28, 2023 by neepheid

[Phil Starr]

7 minutes ago, JohnDaBass said:

Any pictures of all three?

Then I'd have to confess to a Thunderbird as well  

[neepheid]

7 minutes ago, Phil Starr said:

Then I'd have to confess to a Thunderbird as well  

 

You'd better put photos up now!

 

[Phil Starr]

8 minutes ago, neepheid said:

It's a slippery slope into a P bass old age, innit?

It's looking that way

 

I'm with you though on not worrying about the brand name. This sounds like a P and plays beautifully so to me it's as real P as it gets and the finish/attention to detail is great. There are no rough edges anywhere and once I'd done a set up it plays really well. 

 

I've also gone back to passive, selling on the john East I had on the J for a while.

[chris_b]

When I bought my Precision bass in 1969, I joined an "elite" bass players club. Everyone on the club circuit played a Precision. Apart from the cool factor they were cheaper than the equivalent quality basses on the market, they were bullet proof on the road, all the guys on the US records played them and it was almost impossible to get a bad sound out of one.

 

They were aspirational instruments if you wanted to be Duck Dunn, John McVie, Phil Chen, Carol Kaye, Jamerson etc etc. After nearly 80 years a  Precision is still the bass of choice for so many touring bands. Probably for all the same reasons.

 

I moved away from Fender when I switched to 5 string basses. They were late to that party and never really caught up, but I'd get another Precision in a heart beat if I went back to 4's.

 

In 1969 the quality of cheaper basses was abysmal. Thank goodness for CNC machines.

[Phil Starr]

55 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

I played precision’s first for a long time and then got hooked on jazzes for many years, I’m now back to precision’s for 2 reasons, 1 , i like the simplicity and 2 , I really like the sound, if I’m after a smoother deeper sound I use the jazzes, I think it’s good to have both, I don’t have much experience with squire , maybe try some US ones and see what you think 

 

I confess that I'm going to two-time. I did try the P with my semi-acoustic duo and it's just a little too pushy and aggressive for a lot of our songs, though we did get a few bookings from that gig so maybe I'm wrong. I did swap back to the Jazz at the end of that gig and it did sound better to me, a bit fuller and richer. I can't see me using the American Deluxe with the full band much which is what I did in the past, the proper P sound works so well with a full band and sounds really tight when you tie it in with the kick 

[Geek99]

@Phil Starr try it with flats or a sponge mute?

[Old Horse Murphy]

P Basses are my absolute favourites and most of my basses are a derivative of the original P Bass in one form or another. There are a couple that aren't (not pictured) and in truth they don't get used anywhere near as much. 
 

The one volume and one tone (Sandberg notwithstanding) allows me to come up with all the sounds that I want to without having to fiddle with the controls endlessly. 
 

 

[Geek99]

I have a no-load tone pot. It bypasses the pot entirely on 10, and I turn it to about 5 when I don’t want pure P pickup on full bore . 

Edited October 28, 2023 by Geek99

[Downunderwonder]

Can anyone hear the difference between a Deluxe P solo on the P pickup preamp off passive mode, and regular P bass?

[police squad]

I got my first P bass in about 1988. Swapped  a lovely Manson 335 type guitar for it. It was black and maple, late70s pssobly early 80s (the later, slightly smaller TV logo)

It just had that sound. I also dabbled with other basses at the time. I was gigging 4 somtimes 5 times a week, all over Kent and East Sussex. A Hamer Scarab came and went, JayDee Mark King. A couple of other P basses came, a 1962, an american re=issue 62, a 70s, immaculate white one that had lived in a loft. The paint was all cracked and crazed but clean as a whistle.

Then in 1991, I bought my '73. Still got it, along with 2 awesome bitsa P basses. Fretless maple, Fender ''62 reisuue pickup and fretted maple, custom shop '62 pickup with flats.This black one is particularly amazing sounding thing.

 

I'm on JMJ Mustang now, easier on my aching body but when I need a P..............

[Oopsdabassist]

16 hours ago, Old Horse Murphy said:

 

 

The paint job on that one 2nd from left is gorgeous!!

[BlueMoon]

I liken a P bass to a pair of well worn slippers. I’ve tried loads of other basses, but nothing works for me quite like a Precision.

 

Fretted and fretless - I love them.

[Happy Jack]

When you need a P, there's no point trying to resist. Best get it over with ... you'll feel much better.

 

[Maude]

On 28/10/2023 at 10:12, Supernaut said:

I have never understood why people say, "Okay, it's a Squier". Is that a bad thing? Can only basses with Fender on the headstock sound good? B0ll0cks to it all. 

A P bass is so simple that I'm not entirely sure what you're paying for with a top of the range Fender, (well I do kind of get it, if you can afford it and it makes you happy then go for it, but you know what I mean).

I have plenty of basses, cheap and expensive, but genuinely one of my favourites is my charity shop Encore P. 

I bought it because it just had a look that I liked and the charity were one that I approve of. I cleaned it up, spent a good few hours on the fretwork and put a Tonerider pickup in it. It now owes me £75 and few hours of my time and is one of the nicest playing basses I've played, and it sounds fantastic too. 

[Old Horse Murphy]

11 hours ago, Oopsdabassist said:

The paint job on that one 2nd from left is gorgeous!!

Thanks. The finish is called Mercury