Fender Standard P-Bass Review

Sitting right in the mid-range of Fenders 'bass line', the P-Bass is probably about the best bang-for-buck you're gonna' get. And some bang it is. 

I've been playing a 2008 model for the past week, trying to acquaint myself with these dopey cable-car cables that bassists call 'strings'. But what a bass to have this experience with.

The body material is alder which, if we're getting 'tone-woodey', should give it a sharp and crisp tone (it does have a sharp and crisp tone... should I reevaluate my stance on tone wood? No). I would prefer a more premium wood but I do appreciate that alder is a little bit lighter than swamp ash, this makes the bass very comfortable to play for extended periods of time. The body is finished with polyester in 'Lake Placid Blue' which, despite it being poly, is really gorgeous. 

The neck and fretboard are all maple (apart from the skunk stripe covering the truss rod which I believe is rosewood), it's a mapley affair. The fretboard is really lovely to play, it's got nice medium-jumbo frets and a 34" scale length. It's got a synthetic bone nut and the finish on the neck is a pretty slick satin urethane. Not slowing down my playing like the Schecter I reviewed.

Considering I am a sub-par bassist AT BEST, this thing made me feel like Bootsy Collins (Parliament era, obviously!). I was slappin' and poppin', bustin' out fills like it was goin' out of fashion. Then I recorded my playing and realised my 'amazing' bass line was pretty sh*t, but what a great time I had recording it! This bass is fun to play. 

The sound is fantastic and saying it's 'versatile' doesn't do the bass justice. The range of tones I was able to pull out of this went from funk to death-metal, it does the lot and it does it well. I had this coupled with an ashdown and they really compliment each other well.

The 'look' of the bass is a classic, and it's a classic for a reason (Leo Fender himself did the original design). This bass just suits everyone, from hair metal bands to ambient indie groups. The styling is sublime, simple and functional. The 'lake placid blue' with the white pickguard is really gorgeous and the photo does it no justice. For a bass that is over 6 years old the finish has held up well, with only one major crack in the finish that I could find.

Should you buy it?

• Are you a beginner looking for a versatile and great-playing bass? Yes, you should buy it.
• Are you an intermediate bass player looking for a step up from your starter instrument? Yes, you should buy it.
• Are you an advanced bassist looking to add to the stable? You've probably already got one. No? Buy it!
• Do you hate having fun and/or big thick strings? No, don't buy it.

I can only recommend this instrument, it's just so balanced. The aesthetic is perfect, so many of the greats have played them so its pretty easy to play pretend (I was flea, Sting, Steve Harris and Mark Hoppus all in one afternoon). It's fundamentally enjoyable to play and has great tonal range, it's just a great bass. 

Final rating: 9/10

Big thanks to Cryptid Clothing for providing the bass for the review. Please check them out for some awesome paranormal clothing! Their website is: www.cryptidclothing.co.uk. 

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Key Tips For Beginners

So you've decided to fight the good fight, you've picked up a bass or a guitar, you're on the road to becoming the next Steve Vai. But you don't know where to begin, well i've got you covered.

For a beginner I would highly recommend that you find yourself a local teacher who can show you the ropes, face to face. This isn't feasible for everyone, I know, and for whatever reason not everyone will be able to utilise a local teacher. But do not despair as there are a great many online resources for learning to play, my personal favorite is Justin Guitar because it's incredibly comprehensive and, most importantly, free. 

The way you learn isn't the be all and end all of developing your guitar skills, ultimately your ability to become an amazing guitarist or bass player is entirely down to your drive and determination. I remember when I first started playing I felt pretty down on myself, people that started when I started quickly became better than me and I thought that I lacked the 'talent'. 

Talent is obviously important, not many of the worlds most famous instrumentalists are lacking talent. What you've gotta' remember though is the most important aspect to developing your skills is pure, bloody-minded determination. What I started to realise was that my peers, regardless of how talented they were, were putting in the hours. They were playing every minute of free time they had, I was lazy.

When you first start playing you'll find that you're playing all the time anyway, if you genuinely want to continue to improve then you need to carry that on indefinitely. I obviously can't deny that some people learn quicker than others, don't let that demoralise you. Guitar and bass playing are skills that you can acquire, not something that you have to be born with.

And remember, if your fingers are in agony you're probably doing something right (I'm sorry to say that i'm not even kidding). Talent can be acquired if you're determined enough. You want to be able to shred? Be determined, put in the hours and you will be rewarded. 

If you are thinking of learning to play, you can't go wrong with a Squier Bullet Stratocaster and a Marshall MG10 10 watt combo.

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News Of The Week

Each Sunday i'll post snippets of the week in guitar and bass news.

• So it looks like Guitar Hero will be back on the shelves of video game stores again at some point in the near future. (I spoke about that here)
• Gene Simmons reckons Rock n' Roll is dead, The Telegraph disagrees suggesting 5 British bands that might revive the genre.
•  A craigslist listing for a guitar sale has done the rounds online for being genuinely hilarious, you can see that here.
• A lizard plays a leaf like a guitar... article here complete with bad puns.
• A cool little feature piece on the journey of the electric guitar over here. 

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Fender P-Bass Review Coming Soon!

I'll be doing a review of the Fender Standard P-Bass soon! I really can't wait to play it, classic design and absolutely gorgeous in 'Lake Placid Blue'. It's a shame my bass playing skills won't do it justice! Let me know on here or on Twitter about other stuff you'd like me to try and review and I'll see what I can do. I'm also going to be running a competition on Twitter when the account hits 1000 followers and I'm open to suggestions of prizes, I was thinking of having a goodie-bag of guitar accessories as the prize. If you've got any other suggestions then please let me know!  

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Wood: Does It Matter?

A hot topic for many of us, but does the substance that we stick strings and pickups on really matter? 

I'm going to avoid controversy and say yes... and no. The materials we use to build guitars with are obviously important, you're unlikely to see a functioning guitar made from mashed potatoes (although I would definitely like to see you try and make one).  A guitar needs to be made from reasonably rigid materials, too much flex and your tunings will be weird and I don't think a bent fretboard is ideal. But is the difference between mahogany and maple really that noticeable? Lets 'av a look.

Assume we're talking about an electric instrument that is amplified, a purist might argue that the type of wood is one part of the long ingredients list for the recipe for 'tone' and that it is a key aspect. They're right in that it will affect the tone of the instrument but the amount it can affect tone is in question. In a blind test of a maple bodied guitar of the same construction as a mahogany bodied guitar I would defy anyone to consistently pick which guitar is which. The differences in tone would be almost negligible, in my opinion. Where this logic gets contentious is when it comes to acoustic instruments (more on these later).  

Where I feel the type of wood matters is the bearing it has on the weight and aesthetic of a guitar. There are very few things as visually pleasing as a book-matched, flamed or quilted maple top on an electric guitar. There are also few things as annoying as a guitar that would be better suited to a weightlifter because it's constructed entirely with dense woods,. whilst a guitar that is too light could have a negative impact on the feeling of quality. 

Acoustic instruments have a more solid argument for the 'tone' that can be imbued by wood. An acoustic guitar amplifies itself using a hollow chamber under the strings, this means the vibrations of sound have to reverberate through this chamber. The character of the wood, especially the density of the wood, will have an impact on the reverberant quality of the chamber. A denser wood like maple will allow the reverberations to 'bounce' of the walls of the chamber more easily and would probably create a 'brighter' tone than a less dense open grained wood. In the case of acoustic guitars the wood has a direct impact on the type of sound produced.

What the f**k do I know anyway?! I'm still gonna' get that mahogany bodied LP and brag to literally all of my mates about how the tone is that much beefier because of it.

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