Fender Player Precision Bass for 80s Rock?

[p86]

Would a Fender Player series P Bass work well for playing music from Crue, Poison, Leppard, etc.?

[aznsquirt]

So, if there's one style of music that you could make pretty much any style of bass work, it's 80's rock.

That being said, the "Player" Fender Precision appears to be a P-only pickup bass (there's a single, split pickup).

A P/J style bass (one that also has a jazz pickup in the bridge position) would be HIGHLY preferred to a P-only setup.

The sound of a P/J style bass played with a pick with a little bit of drive from a preamp and/or amp is THE sound for Crue/Leppard/GnR/Poison, etc.

[p86]

So, if there's one style of music that you could make pretty much any style of bass work, it's 80's rock.

That being said, the "Player" Fender Precision appears to be a P-only pickup bass (there's a single, split pickup).

A P/J style bass (one that also has a jazz pickup in the bridge position) would be HIGHLY preferred to a P-only setup.

The sound of a P/J style bass played with a pick with a little bit of drive from a preamp and/or amp is THE sound for Crue/Leppard/GnR/Poison, etc.

Thanks for the awesome tip for a newbie getting interested in bass.

[Rocker4Real]

80s style bass players need an exotic shape and some flashy moves so people actually pay attention to them.

[FreddyFender]

So, if there's one style of music that you could make pretty much any style of bass work, it's 80's rock.

That being said, the "Player" Fender Precision appears to be a P-only pickup bass (there's a single, split pickup).

A P/J style bass (one that also has a jazz pickup in the bridge position) would be HIGHLY preferred to a P-only setup.

The sound of a P/J style bass played with a pick with a little bit of drive from a preamp and/or amp is THE sound for Crue/Leppard/GnR/Poison, etc.

This is the answer. PJ would be best if you're buying a bass just to do that era with.

I will add that I have a player precision P-bass that I use for 80s covers and it goes over great.

If you have a DI with distortion like a SansAmp or MXR and give it enough drive for some bite with roundwound strings, you can't ask for much more. It's a great sound for any rock music.

[aznsquirt]

This is the answer. PJ would be best if you're buying a bass just to do that era with.

I will add that I have a player precision P-bass that I use for 80s covers and it goes over great.

If you have a DI with distortion like a SansAmp or MXR and give it enough drive for some bite with roundwound strings, you can't ask for much more. It's a great sound for any rock music.

Love it. I was going to mention a SansAmp but I'm pretty out of touch these days and don't know if there's better options. Granted, obviously it'll work.

[Tenacious_Dio]

I don't think there's a genre of music that a P- bass can't handle.

[Sleek]

Guarantee you about 80% of those records everybody on Sludge is into were recorded with P-Basses.

I saw it several times...some guy with custom B.C. Riches or whatever would go in the studio, and the producer would be like: "Yeahhhhhhh...that's great looking, but let's get you a real bass" and rent a P-bass.

P-Bass and a flip top Ampeg were the go-tos.

[aznsquirt]

You might enjoy this tutorial. Not surprisingly he mentions the Jazz pickup thing right at the beginning:

https://youtu.be/bu2IpwFZKa4?si=T_WGvplvkbUY3ENo

His tone is definitely a little more aggressive than most from that era, but it's definitely my second favorite behind Jimmy Bain. Jimmy used a Yamaha with the same PJ configuration:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-LVJ1HOAtg

Oh and yeah, I forgot about strings: Freddy's tip about roundwounds (preferably stainless steel as fresh as you can afford them) is spot on.

[p86]

Thanks for the additional insights...

[HueyRamone]

Guarantee you about 80% of those records everybody on Sludge is into were recorded with P-Basses.

I saw it several times...some guy with custom B.C. Riches or whatever would go in the studio, and the producer would be like: "Yeahhhhhhh...that's great looking, but let's get you a real bass" and rent a P-bass.

P-Bass and a flip top Ampeg were the go-tos.

Dont listen to him! Get an Ironbird or Warlock!!

[Sleek]

You might enjoy this tutorial. Not surprisingly he mentions the Jazz pickup thing right at the beginning:

https://youtu.be/bu2IpwFZKa4?si=T_WGvplvkbUY3ENo

His tone is definitely a little more aggressive than most from that era, but it's definitely my second favorite behind Jimmy Bain. Jimmy used a Yamaha with the same PJ configuration:

That absolutely does not sound like Duff. Duff had that pingy GK sound. This guy gets a smooth fat tone, which is absolutely not that sound.

[aznsquirt]

You might enjoy this tutorial. Not surprisingly he mentions the Jazz pickup thing right at the beginning:

https://youtu.be/bu2IpwFZKa4?si=T_WGvplvkbUY3ENo

His tone is definitely a little more aggressive than most from that era, but it's definitely my second favorite behind Jimmy Bain. Jimmy used a Yamaha with the same PJ configuration:

That absolutely does not sound like Duff. Duff had that pingy GK sound. This guy gets a smooth fat tone, which is absolutely not that sound.

Yeah, listening to it more closely you're right. Still a great tone for the style, he's got the low-mid growl but he's way boomier and missing clank at the top end. It's hard for me to tell how much of that is amp based (i.e. the "GK sound") vs things like action, string freshness/tension, etc. Either way, I'm currently bobbing my head to the isolated bass track from Rocket Queen.

[Sleek]

I'm currently bobbing my head to the isolated bass track from Rocket Queen.

Oh! Giving somebody a blowjob, are you?

[FreddyFender]

The guys tone in the video on the second bass he plays is great, but it’s a lot more modern.

It’s hard to believe now how little of the lower frequencies are on 80s rock bass tracks…. sound paper thin compared to modern tracks.

[schlonginski]

If you want to play Crue then any bass will do, as it won't need to be plugged in.

[aznsquirt]

I'm currently bobbing my head to the isolated bass track from Rocket Queen.

Oh! Giving somebody a blowjob, are you?

Listen, I may be a little young but honey I ain't naive.

It’s hard to believe now how little of the lower frequencies are on 80s rock bass tracks…. sound paper thin compared to modern tracks.

I had the exactly the same thought earlier after re-comparing Duff's isolated tracks with what that guy dialed in.

That being said, I also had the thought that the YouTube guy's tone would give a mixing engineer fits. It sounds great played loudly over a track for a YouTube video, but it seems like it would start washing out everything in a mix.

But that's based on recording/engineering experience that's 20-25 years old at this point, so I don't know how much of that would still be true today.