Ever wonder why?

Severen

New member
Have you ever wondered why the guitar community goes crazy to replicate the original Tele, Strat, or LP but the Bass world all but ignores the Original Precision Bass.

These are O.K.

big fender strat 54 riDSCN0822.jpg

page0_blog_entry10_1.jpg

But this is not

1502202810_frt_wlg.jpg


Basses tend to be modeled after 60's designs or are very modern like Ibanez and other 'Gumby" shaped instruments. Also people generally dislike the 51 single coil but like the Jazz Bass single coil. In the guitar world all the main types of single coil(Strat, Tele, P90, Jaguar, Jazzmaster) are accepted and are considered viable options. I just find it bizarre that on one hand we worship the original designs for the Tele, Strat but not the Bass equivalent, the '51 Precision Bass.

Full disclaimer that I am a HUGE fan of the '51-'53 and '54-'56 Fender Precision Basses. I have had the rare privilege to play an all original '52 and it was awesome. I have played bass for over 20 years and for the last 15 a couple different MIJ '51 reissues have been my number one.

What do you guys think about this topic? Any other strange contradictions in the Bass Guitar world?
 
Re: Ever wonder why?

I think the main factor is pickup position. The 51 style Precision bass doesn't put the boot down properly, also caused by the single rod magnet per string. The new-fundled split pickup moves a bit to the bridge, tightening it up, and it now has two rod magnets per string. I don't think that adds much output but it picks up a lot more of the swing.

In guitars it is much easier to find the right pickup position (although to this day I am convinced that the Strat would sound better with the bridge pickup a bit farther away from the bridge, but it would look goofy and people are used to it now, along with the now-all-wrong stagger).
 
Re: Ever wonder why?

I have never had an issue with low end or the strings being picked up by the pickup. The split P does have more girth for sure but the SCP has more clarity and definition. Cool thought about the Strat bridge pickup that I never really thought about before. Might have to experiment with that one.

Why is it O.K. for Tele's to have 2 strings per saddle but not basses?
 
Re: Ever wonder why?

I for one love the original precision. BUT while the strat and tele stayed mostly consistent through the years only having design tweaks the first decade or so, the P bass design got a full overhaul as soon as 1957, only 6 years after it's invention, that was a more comfortable and to many a more functional instrument that left more of an iconic footprint behind, like the original strats or teles did. So people when referring to vintage the vintage p bass they usually mean the 57 version with the contours, the strat headstock, and the split pickup because they hold it with much higher regards. But yeah like I said, I love the 51 to death, looks bomb.
 
Re: Ever wonder why?

The original Precision Bass looks to me like one of Leo's prototypes that managed to escape from the factory before the design was finalised.

uOpt has nailed it by pointing out that the original single coil pickup could not. Some instruments had dead spots on the fingerboard. The bass amplification of the early Fifties did not help matters. The only thing to which the sound of Leo's new-fangled electric bass guitar could be compared was the acoustic contrabass.

Two strings per saddle made sense in the days of guitar string sets with a wound G. The intonation compromise was deemed acceptable. Mixing plain and wound strings on one saddle showed up the deficiencies of the design.
 
Re: Ever wonder why?

Why is it O.K. for Tele's to have 2 strings per saddle but not basses?

Slightly off intonation in a chord just makes the chord more interesting, as long as no distortion is involved.

Having intonation off in the bass while the left hand of the keyboard plays notes in the same region at the same time at correct pitch should just amateurish. Whiuwhiuwobble.
 
Back
Top