The Bass-ment

The Fender Precision = All You Need


I built an original designed bass which I love. When it came time to lay bass tracks down in the studio I thought for sure I would use it. However, when I compared the tone of my original designed bass with the sound of my Fender Precision I had to concede that the Precision was the best bass to use for my recordings. A few months later I stumbled on this video.


Well it was the first, and just like for some, the Telecaster original design just can't be improved upon, it also holds that status.

But as someone who owned P-Bass #0186, and had other good 50s and 60s P Basses, I went off them -- scale too long for me, contoured body is weird feeling and single coil pickups aren't for me.

But clearly it is still the industry standard after over 60 years. So I may be in the minority but it's been on all the classic Motown stuff and countless other legendary recordings.


The 34" scale enables one to hear bass notes (well, the overtones at least) on a tiny 4" car radio speaker.


I loved the video, and wholeheartedly agree with it. I dislike short scale basses, they don't have that low end growl of a long scale, the Fender P has always been my favorite bass. I can get an amazing amount of different tones out of a P bass, just by using different finger techniques. I've never felt the need to switch to a Fender Jazz bass, though I do like them. I prefer the simplicity of the P bass over anything else, and would agree that it's all I've ever needed. Thanks for posting!


Yessir, other than my Rick, if I’m playing any other bass, it’s EQ always winds up as close to a P-Bass as I can get it. Not deliberately, my brain just registers it as being the definitive bass tone.


prefer the narrower neck and wide pickup spaced individual tones of the jazz me it's (close to) a p and way more...

other than that i like short scales...original basses like gibby eb1 and dano's....early guilds...hofner clubs and violins...vox..eko...etc etc



I haven't been a serious bassist since the early 90's, but my P bass has been the only bass I've truly needed. It's been the bottom end sound for country, graffiti, R&B, jazz, E-Z listening, and even on a few folk recordings.

But mostly, I like that it can sit for a couple of years, come out of the case and play decently. No muss, no fuss, just music.

Thought seriously about a Ric bass for a while, even considered a 4str Gretsch one, but in the end, I really don't play bass enough to justify another one.


Well, around here they started calling them "Pre"-s for a while, and that got shortened to just "P" about two decades ago in the circles I moved in, so that's what I called it.

Kinda like my brother Chris... only his lady calls him Christopher (and at that, only when she's displeased)


As has been mentioned, the P-Bass is the Tele of basses, literally and figurative. It is the Rock-n-Roll bass. However, for those of us who are so scaled to where a P-Bass is unwieldy and makes us look like Danny Partridge, concessions have to be made . . .


I'm a fan. I love double bass, and every band I've been in had double bass, but when it comes to electric basses, I have yet to see something that I like better than a precision.


There is some Gibson model. I heard a cheaper copy of that. Still, it as a more hollow oldfashioned snappy attack sound. Not better than the precision, which is the standard for a reason. Just different and therefore useable. It has a more of a vintage tikibar music sound. But a precision is what every studio needs to cover 99%.


How about Rounds, Flats, or Tapes?

How can a Precision do all 3 better than another?

Or is it purely the construction and pickups?


While I would never consider myself a bass player I do have one for songwriting. I used to work in a guitar store and we got some great basses in - I remember really liking some of the G&Ls, especially one we had shaped like a Tele. It was in natural ash and looked great, played beautifully and sounded huge.

But for me it has to be a Precision. I have a Japanese Precision bought used (but basically brand new) for a ridiculously low price from Ishibashi. I like it better than most Mexican Fenders I have tried. Totally stock it sounds perfect for what I do - it has that wonderful Precision Bass growl that I love.

Never did get on with Jazz Basses. Had an Ibanez Artist back in the '80s which had that '80s boingy sound - played incredibly well too. I have a soft spot for a Musicman Stingray too. But I still love the Precision. I'd love to try a short scale bass like a Hofner one day - I suspect it would have some mojo! But there is something about the tone of a Precision which just works.


How about Rounds, Flats, or Tapes?

How can a Precision do all 3 better than another?

Or is it purely the construction and pickups?

– Twangmeisternyc

My Precision, Gretsch 5442, and beater Squier Jaguar all get flats. Going for the Jamerson tone as a basic motif and then let the individual basses be what they are to provide the differences in that basic tone.

My Rick gets roundwounds. No point in flats on that one if one has a P-bass. Although I still go after more low-end than the thin ting-y that’s considered somewhat stereotypical for Rickenbackages.


As a bassist (which is what I really am, I only play guitar because I'm a songwriter and I'm here through my love of my Gretsch Rancher) I only play 50's Spec Precisions. The first and second generation P are still the superior bass for me. Vintage Frets, Vintage Radius. Single with flats, or raised A split coil with nickel rounds for me. My stable has only two electric basses. My American Vintage 57 Reissue and my Custom Shop Time Machine 55. Anything else I'd ever own would be a want (and probably still a 50's P like a 59 or 51 for the slab and big fat U neck). I can get everything I need from them. No pedals, no fuss, no muss. P bass into full tube head and done.

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