An ode to the P-Bass...

ChristophEar

Loved this: an ode to the wonderful P-Bass... and not necessarily just the Fender models!

My five-string Fodera hangs in my studio collecting dust, a once-great warrior pulled from battle, whiling away the years like an old man on a porch, lemonade in hand, watching the world roll by. I feel guilty. Like I’m having an affair with an older woman. A woman with experience whose knowledge of the universe is vast and unending. My P-bass is a Jedi Master, and I didn’t see it coming.

http://christarry.com/my-p-bass-is-a-jedi-master.html

ICBM

Simply the most important bass ever - and you how much of a fan I am of the Rick 4001 .

The 1957-style P-Bass is the definitive bass in the same way as a Stradivari is the definitive violin.

OilCityPickups

The P Bass to modern music is like a shovel to building the railways ...
Strapping one on is simply saying hello to an old friend.

JayGee

A bass playing aquaintance of mine refers to the P-Bass as "The Ford Transit of basses". I'm not sure he means it as a complement but I beg to differ. It's the definitive item, it was Getting The Job Done before I was born, it'll be Getting The Job Done after I'm dead, it Got The Job Done on countless hit records, and it'll be Getting The Job Done on countless more.

If that's not a design classic then I don't know what is...

Mine's a cheap'n'nasty Encore knock-off, but guess what, it Gets The Job Done - admittedly as a guitarist the job is just laying down the odd sketch to practice/learn guitar parts against or occasionally jamming round the house but I think it says something for the design that even a fairly nasty implementation actually works pretty well! 

monquixote

Leo really did get it right first (and second) time. 

OilCityPickups

I too have a fairly rubbish P Bass copy ... well the neck's nice, body's ply and naff ... but with some nice pickups in it it just gets on with it. I too just use it for laying down the odd bass part, and it has been a reserve for bass players I've gigged with. No glamour, no fuss, just makes the right noises.

ICBM

monquixote said:

Leo really did get it right first (and second) time. 

Not really, the '51-style P is a bit of a near miss. Yes, I know there are some people who like them! Even the second '53 version with the contoured body wasn't perfect - it was only the third version, the '57-style with all the features we now think of as the P-Bass, that was.

Leo was a genius though, and you can't blame him for not getting it absolutely dead on with the first version, he'd more or less invented a completely new instrument. (Even if historically that isn't quite true, since there had been a few other experimental guitar-like basses before.)

OilCityPickups

ICBM said:

monquixote said:

Leo really did get it right first (and second) time. 

Not really, the '51-style P is a bit of a near miss. Yes, I know there are some people who like them! Even the second '53 version with the contoured body wasn't perfect - it was only the third version, the '57-style with all the features we now think of as the P-Bass, that was.

Leo was a genius though, and you can't blame him for not getting it absolutely dead on with the first version, he'd more or less invented a completely new instrument. (Even if historically that isn't quite true, since there had been a few other experimental guitar-like basses before.)

Tutmarc marketed a four string 'bass' guitar in the thirties according to many sources. He certainly didn't sell many or perhaps any of them ... but they do seem to have been at least a catalog item.


He'd certainly invented a solid bass 'fiddle' as seen here.

ICBM

TheGuitarWeasel said:

Tutmarc marketed a four string 'bass' guitar in the thirties according to many sources. He certainly didn't sell many or perhaps any of them ... but they do seem to have been at least a catalog item. 

He'd certainly invented a solid bass 'fiddle' as seen here.

Tutmarc definitely beat Fender to it, yes - but as you say, they didn't catch on. I would have to say I suspect Leo did know about them though.

I can't see that last pic, but Rickenbacker also had a solid 'bass fiddle' as well.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Rickenbacker_electric_upright_bass_(1935),_Amplifier_(mid_1930s),_Console_piano,_Museum_of_Making_Music.jpg

... which mounted on the amplifier as a stand. Very neat.

http://www.doublebassguide.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/rickenbacker36.jpg

OilCityPickups

To me it's bloody amazing that this ... one of the first valve PA systems circa 1920 ... and a monstrous 10 watts ... was less than 20 years before that catalog stuffed with electric instruments. The early poineers were real trail blazers and it must have been a fantastic time to be an electronics builder ... well till 'Adolf H and co (European conquests a specialty  and definitely no Bar Mitzvahs) screwed up the whole party.

Then again all those wartime trained radio and radar technicians had to find jobs after the Germany v the rest of the world rematch.

historyisjunk

Precisions are fantastic for something so simple.
Agree with JayGee's mate, though in a positive sense. (I made a similar comparison in the bass tones thread).
I think Leo Fender was like the Henry Ford of electric instruments (probably a much nicer person).
Don't think he was exactly first with anything significant** but he did a fantastic job when he made his versions & he made them to be mass produced to a high standard. He also had some great people around him who made important contributions- such as insisting on putting a truss rod in the Tele neck, according to what I read.

Agree with ICBM (for a change...) that the '57 Precision is the best design.
Am also a huge fan of the Jazz, Rick 4001, Musicman Stingray & the Thunderbird, (the later mostly by appearance as I've never heard one properly, let alone played one)

**I don't think he ripped anyone off though. Gibson or someone I can't remember the name of (Travis?) probably made the first solid body guitar. Maybe it was the Rick "Frying Pan".
I think Ampeg (possibly some one else) beat Fender to having reverb in an amp & as Ash says Tutmarc seems to have made the first Electric Bass (I only found this out recently, The Web is wonderful).

ICBM

historyisjunk said:

Thunderbird, (the later mostly by appearance as I've never heard one properly, let alone played one)

Should probably have been called the Gannet, on account of its tendency to dive head first at high speed .

They're great things - they look and sound brilliant - but balance is not their strong point, they hang far too far to the left... if you're short like me, they're almost unplayable in fact. I had a '76 at one point, but I could barely reach the first fret! The Epiphone ones seem marginally better, I think the headstock is slightly smaller and lighter, and the bolt-on neck means you can move the strap button to the outer upper neck bolt position if you use a long screw. The pickups are fairly different from the originals though.

Listen to any Wishbone Ash album after Argus (which is actually a 4001, I'm pretty sure), for the definitive Thunderbird sound.

koneguitarist

I never "got " the Precision for years, always thought it a bit dull and middly compared to the Jazz bass which I had allways used after graduating from a EBO and Ripper bass. Then I bought an old JV P bass, and I thought it sounded great, but it wasn`t until I put it through a valve amp (Marshall plexi 100w bass) that it hit me. That growl and punch just came to life, one of the all time great bass tones. basically the Esquire of the bass world ^:)^

OilCityPickups

Exactly ... Leo took lots of half formed ideas from all over ... then had a proper development team turn them into cracking instruments. He wasn't really first ... but he took time and trouble to make his version the definitive one He was also a genius at pickup design ... though if this was divine luck or science I'm never sure.

historyisjunk

ICBM said:

historyisjunk said:

Thunderbird, (the later mostly by appearance as I've never heard one properly, let alone played one)

Should probably have been called the Gannet, on account of its tendency to dive head first at high speed .

They're great things - they look and sound brilliant - but balance is not their strong point, they hang far too far to the left... if you're short like me, they're almost unplayable in fact. I had a '76 at one point, but I could barely reach the first fret! The Epiphone ones seem marginally better, I think the headstock is slightly smaller and lighter, and the bolt-on neck means you can move the strap button to the outer upper neck bolt position if you use a long screw. The pickups are fairly different from the originals though.

Listen to any Wishbone Ash album after Argus (which is actually a 4001, I'm pretty sure), for the definitive Thunderbird sound.

Thanks again for more info on these. Unlikely ever to get one, as I'd never use it & it'd probably do my back in completely, but do like. They do look massive when I've seen them. Martin Turner must be about 6'8" as they look normal on him.
I used to be quite a Wishbone Ash fan & saw them live when he had the Hamer Explorer (that was some machine), but sold or gave away the records as my likes just changed. Had a listen to Persephone & FUBB again on Youtube. I can certainly hear the bass, but it's got a kind of muted quality which I'm not keen on. I think it's the mix, or maybe flat wounds, rather than the bass & I think it makes them all sound similar- to me at least.

Bucket

I totally get everything that's been said about P-basses, honestly.

I just prefer Jazz Basses.

ROOG

TheGuitarWeasel said:

To me it's bloody amazing that this ... one of the first valve PA systems circa 1920 ... and a monstrous 10 watts ... was less than 20 years before that catalog stuffed with electric instruments. The early poineers were real trail blazers and it must have been a fantastic time to be an electronics builder ... well till 'Adolf H and co (European conquests a specialty  and definitely no Bar Mitzvahs) screwed up the whole party.

Then again all those wartime trained radio and radar technicians had to find jobs after the Germany v the rest of the world rematch.

I agree, it must have been a great time for a switched on entrepreneur, launching a great idea now means so much testing and approvals.

therose789

I love my P-Bass. That is all. 

Mosfed

I adore my '75 P-Bass.  I bought it in the US for the equivalent of £750 used (well naturally - it is 38 years old).  So a American standard would have been about the same price.

I would personally much rather have the '75.  It is a bit heavier but I think it sounds better.  I have flats on there and it just burns through the right set up.  I had it through a Orange A200 at Rooz last week and a 4x10 and it was killing.  Really growly.

I do love the Jazz bass - they have their own thing going, but if I had to choose it would be a P.

therose789

Mosfed said:

I adore my '75 P-Bass.  I bought it in the US for the equivalent of £750 used (well naturally - it is 38 years old).  So a American standard would have been about the same price.

I would personally much rather have the '75.  It is a bit heavier but I think it sounds better.  I have flats on there and it just burns through the right set up.  I had it through a Orange A200 at Rooz last week and a 4x10 and it was killing.  Really growly.

I do love the Jazz bass - they have their own thing going, but if I had to choose it would be a P.

I play through aa AD200 with my p bass. Best sounding combination i have ever owned! 

Mosfed

I am looking forward to seeing how my BRAND SPANKING NEW Ampeg Heritage SVT-CL and 4x10 will stack up against the Orange.  I did dig the Orange and it must weigh 1/2rd as much.