I'm a P-bass/flats/pick/tube amp guy. Have been for years. I've been having some wrist issues that affected me at a gig last Friday, where we played on a big stage outdoors in about 100% humidity. I don't want to take my '62 AVRI Pbass out to those gigs anymore. Today, while picking up some guitar strings for a classical guitar I recently picked up, I spied this Squier VM Jbass. Thing looked brand new, but it was a preowned, so they had $250 on it. I impulsively asked if they could cut me a break on the taxes...I walked out the door with this thing for $248 flat. It has rounds on it. I plugged it into the Acoustic solid state combo in my living room...and i love the way this thing feels. The neck is fast...I'm using my fingers instead of a pick, I'm toying with the idea of leaving the D'Addario rounds on it... Tell me I'm not wrong for loving this thing.
Of course you're not wrong. Those Squier VMs are fantastic basses. And now you've got an expanded tonal pallette with a Jazz bass and Rounds and fingers. I'm in the same boat as you in that I prefer playing with a pick but knowing fingerstyle is a really big deal and I think every half-decent bassist should be able to do both regardless of what they prefer. Just wait till you try Rounds on a P-bass. Flats get you that old school thump but that roundwound zing is really awesome for a lot of things.
We should all have one Jazz in our stable, there next to all those P-basses, whether we actually play it or not.
Yeah, OP, you just unlocked the potential of the full Fender Four combinations. I usually keep flats on my P and rounds on my J, but switching that around gives some really great tones. Rounds make a P so much more articulate and punchy, and flats on a J create a warm, buttery, really musical sound.
Flats on a J make one of my favorite bass sounds and honestly I think they sound a lot better on a J than they do on a P
I own both P's and J's and I do not feel guilty for one over the others.... I'm sure that if you sit down with your P-Bass and have a truthful discussion with it, all will be good after this...
Nice bass, and you got a smokin’ deal on it, watch out you might prefer it over the precision soon with the smaller neck profile and the expanded tonal options.
You'll get over it when you notice it doesn't do what your P does. Play it for a good while. Love it for a good while. Play out with it for a good while. Then...pick your P back up. I'll buy it off you for $223
Not wrong at all! I self-identify as a Jazz bass guy; always loved them, always will. But I don't have a jazz these days. I do however have a P bass that I love. It's important not to become a prisoner of the things we think we believe. Tastes change or broaden, tonal goals change. Why get locked into a narrow definition of "your sound"? Absolutely! I put a set of light gauge GHS Pressurewounds on my P and they are amazing. Less zing than a steel round, great tension and balance. Mellow like a flat, but livelier with no thud. Very much the best of both worlds for me. Now go rock that jazz bass!
+1..I have 9050s on my J and they are staying on. Its THAT sound in my head. Sorry but TIs on the P, not rounds
Don't let your P be a victim of a broken home…….057912 {} A woman wanted to know how her husband would react if she left him. She wrote him a letter saying she is tired of him and didn't want to live with him anymore. She put it on the table in the bedroom and then climbed under the bed to hide until her husband got home. When he eventually came back home, he saw the letter on the table and read it. After a few moments of silence, he picked up the pen and added something to the letter. Then he started to get changed, whistling happy tunes and singing and dancing while he did so. He grabbed his phone and dialed a number. His wife listened from under the bed as he started chatting to someone. "Hey babe, I'm just changing clothes and then I will join you" he said. "As for the other fool, it finally dawned on her that I was fooling around on her and she left. I was really wrong to have married her; I wish you and me had met earlier. See you soon, honey!" Then he hung up and walked out of the room. Heartbroken she climbed out from under the bed and stumbled over to read what her unfaithful husband had written on the end of her letter. Through teary eyes, she read: "I could see your feet you pinhead, I am going out to buy bread".
P with flats, J with rounds seems to be conventional wisdom, but a J with flats is a great thing. Jazz with flats, neck up all the way, bridge rolled back about 1/4, and tone rolled back about 1/4 - I don't think you will miss your P bass one bit.