Fender Player Precision Bass for 80s Rock?
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2024 5:22 pm
Would a Fender Player series P Bass work well for playing music from Crue, Poison, Leppard, etc.?
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Thanks for the awesome tip for a newbie getting interested in bass.aznsquirt wrote: ↑Thu Mar 14, 2024 5:41 pm 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.aznsquirt wrote: ↑Thu Mar 14, 2024 5:41 pm 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.
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.FreddyFender wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2024 12:05 pm 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.
Dont listen to him! Get an Ironbird or Warlock!!Sleek wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2024 4:47 pm 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.
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 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2024 2:13 am 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:
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 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2024 1:47 pmThat 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 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2024 2:13 am 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:
Listen, I may be a little young but honey I ain't naive.
I had the exactly the same thought earlier after re-comparing Duff's isolated tracks with what that guy dialed in.FreddyFender wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2024 10:13 pm 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.