Kudos for using a female sound engineer in your example, @howard!
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And probably an ulcer or two. 
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Definitely true. But then again, if you have a certain playing style and musical preference, thatâs gonna reflect in your instrument as well. I canât see a session bass player showing up with a Rick 4002 with Rotosound roundwounds for a recording session of some mellow jazz. But to return to our black-and-white example: sending home Frans Vollink because he brings a jazz bass and a Sandberg, and taking on Peter Huppertz because he managed to pull a P-bass out of the gig bag is going to be a Big Mistake.
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If you can get past the first minute or so while he is implying that all bass players are useless, heâs actually right on. He doesnât spend the entire video hating bass players, but actually compliments the good ones. However, I disagree with his assertion that bass players are all shitty, failed guitar players that only switched to bass because they have no talent. Carole Kaye and Roger Waters are a couple of examples that contradict that assertion.
Just like every other instrument, there are good ones, and there are bad ones.
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Apparetly, he doesnât get the non-shitty, talented players in his recording studio. He only gets the shitty non-talented players.
I, um, I rest my case. 
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lol Peter well said 
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Shitty people attract shitty people. Lol
He isnât that bad, kinda funny, but He has a certain audience he is playing to. The ones that crank up distortion so you canât hear what they are not playing. Lol
Like Pam says, heâs not wrong, exactly, he just has kind of an overdone way of getting there.
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Pam!!
Well, thereâs good news and bad news.
First - the bad news. The music industry is pin-headed. Itâs one of the reasons artists canât make money during a lock down, while billions and billions of people listen to the music they made.
But! The good news:
The Pin-Headedness does not apply to bass choice!
I fully agree with this! No one has ever called me and, before hiring me, asked me if I own a P-bass. The call comes because of reputation and ability and ability to be a decent human being. Having said that - I have been asked by different players and session leaders to bring specific instruments.
Itâs not so much that itâs mandatory, but some composers are hearing a certain tone from the bass line they want, and so many great bass tones in famous songs come from P-basses.
I donât know an engineer that would kick anyone out based on gear selection. Note selection? Rhythm selection? yes and yes. I always think of that Anthony Jackson story - bringing the newly self-invented 6-string bass to (what would be assumed to be) a P-bass session and killllllling it.
In my experience I went through all the stages of Fender P-bass:
- Anger: P-basses are lame and I hate them. Cliff Burton doesnât play one. Neither does Jaco. P-basses suck.
- Denial: P-bass? Whatâs a P-bass? I play a 5 string with a graphite neck. I donât play (scoff, scoff) a P-bass.
- Shame: Yes⌠I can try and get a⌠more P-bass sound out of my carbon-fiber, 5-string, active pickup bass for this country songâŚ
- Acceptance: P bass? Well, if itâs the traditional sound for all these sessions and gigs Iâm getting⌠maybe Iâll invest in one.
- Evangelism: Buy a P-bass! Theyâre amazing! Theyâre great! Buy me another P-bass! I love them! Theyâre lovely!
- Anger: A vintage P-bass is how much? Damn you, cruel, cruel world!!
The bass you like the sound of is the one you should have and play, period.
You need to love the sound of practicing.
To P-Bass or not to P-bass is a matter of taste and professional preparedness at distant potential eventualitiesâŚ
Day to day? You just need to love the bass youâre playing.
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I like how you ended that.
I was thinking the same thing about what you are saying about life as a studio bass player, and that it was not the P bass LOOK, or Fender logo that was what the engineer, composer, artist, whoever was looking for at all, but the sound rather. There is an argument one could make to âtry it with this bass before you ask me to play a P bassâ. Or something like that, but itâs not the argument I am making.
I am glad you answered upon it, seems like there was a little bit of a fog about the reasoning, that you just cleared up.
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What about a P/J bass? Both of mine are P/J, isnât there a way to make it sound like a P bass by adjusting the knobs? I vaguely recall there is, but donât recall which knob you turn way up and which one you turn way down.
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@PamPurrs, you get more of a trebly sound with a J-bass because of the bridge pickup, so I would turn the volume down on your bridge pickup and up on your neck pickup.
HTH and all best, Joe 
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Great! Now all I have to do is slap a Fender logo on my bass and start sending out resumes
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I wonder if for sound engineers itâs a case of âwhen someone brings a P-bass I donât need to change any settingsâ, but if someone turns up with another axe it takes actual work to set things up?
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Yes - and +1 to what @Jazzbass19 said. Get those resumes ready!
Sound engineers are, in my experience, easy going folks who want to do what you want to do, and make you sound good. Especially in a studio (live sound engineers are birds of a different feather).
The use of bass is usually a production call, and most albums Iâve played on are made by bands and singer-songwriters, not so much big-budget-with-a-producer albums.
When you show up to create bass lines for people as your job, your desire is to make the thing THEY want. Lots of times when you show up, you know the aesthetic and style that is being called for from the demos. Usually it sounds a lot like something that youâre familiar with.
I did a songwriter album where everything was in the Dylan/Stax/folk/soul style. All the basses on that material (for the most iconic and general stylistic sound) is P bass.
I did another album of more electronic/heavily-produced songwriter material, and there was call for 5-string, upright, fretless, J-bass, and P-bass.
The point with the P-bass is that it was a classic instrument used on classic albums, and has become a staple in many genres because of that. So, when I show up to a rehearsal or a session, I want to be able to offer that because many band leaders and songwriters and producers are imagining P-bass as the bass sound before I show up.
Not sure if that makes anything more clear or not! Hope it does.
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I think it makes a lot of difference whether you make music because you like to make music or you have a fixed role in an established band, or whether you play bass, as a studio musician or freelance player, to make a living (or get some extra money in on the side).
If youâre just doing this for fun, itâs simple: you play what makes you have fun. Thatâs what I do.
If you have a role in a band that plays prog, you may decide you get the bass that fits the bandâs material best. Can you imagine Chris Squire or Geddy Lee play a P?
Thatâs what I did in the seventies (I played in a proggy guitar band). When I ditched my P-bass and got a Rick, all band members cheered me on. 
However, if you are a session musician, or a freelancer, youâd probably do best to invest in a tool that suits the genre youâre active in, and the P-bass seems to have many markets cornered.
Having said that, James Taylor has, for the last three decades, employed a bass player who has played a 5-string Alembic since 1976, so your mileage may vary.
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geddy is a p bass fanatic, and played it for much longer than his rick. I recognize the importance of the instrument, like the sound but am completely annoyed by the fact that 90% of all basses are p-basses or p-bass copies. I am a music man guy, and know a lot of studio guys love to record them because of how they sit in the mix, they tend to cut through a lot better than a lot of basses. I should also point out that it really depends on who the engineer is. steve albini, love or hate him, is famous for listening to bands wishes when it comes to their sound, even if he personally would want a different sound for them. as he says, itâs their songs, not mine.
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Not in a Rush context, or so I seem to remember. The bridge element is so indispensible for his playing style that I remember reading he only switched to the jazz bass when Fender moved the bridge element closer to the bridge.
He does, however, have a large collection of vintage basses, and I would be amazed if there wouldnât be at least one P in there!
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hah, you obviously havenât got his big book of bass yet. itâs pretty amazing. and trust me, heâs been obsessed with them and playing them in rush for far longer than the rick. itâs all laid out in the book, he has literally hundreds of them. and even he says, heâs still known more for his rick even though he switched a long time ago.
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