The likes of James Jamerson and Donald ‘Duck' Dunn may have been among the first to relay the sound of Fender’s Precision Bass to the airwaves back in the '60s and '70s, but Green Day’s Mike Dirnt is a new breed of P-Bass champion. “Billie bought me my first P-Bass, a 1969, and I’ve been hooked on them ever since,” said Dirnt in an interview with Bass Guitar magazine. “I have other basses, but nothing works as good as a P-Bass.”
It was put to Dirnt that a lot of top bass guitar players eventually return to Fender after a few years away. “Yeah. A lot of incredible players switch back to Fenders after a while. Even Flea," says Dirnt. "He told me he wanted to go to a P-Bass and an Ampeg live. Les Claypool is another example. I'd go fishing with him sometimes, and he’s such an incredible player, but he’s struggled with his sound. He played a Jazz Bass in Sausage, didn’t he?”
