Can anyone explain the tone different in PJ vs P + Humbucker?

[Mazrak]

I have some PJ style basses, but I almost always roll off the bridge single coil and use them as a P bass. I don't like that scooped sound when the bridge is mixed in, but I do like the perceived increased high end.

How does a P + hum bucker/stingray style pickup sound mixed with a split P, with a regular PJ as reference?

 

[BGroovy]

It's my favorite combo. and when you run the pickups in series you get really interesting tones (rolling towards the louder pickup brings out more characteristics of the other pickup). Brady Muckelroy has some cool videos showcasing that concept and the reasons why.

I find more tones I like in a P+MM vs PJ, which is why my number one bass is a Muckelroy P+MM at the moment. does everything and very slight favoring of the blend knob in either direction gives me a very usable palette that I change often mid gig for specific songs.

 

[dsteinschneider]

When I was 15 I routed my 72 Ash Precision for a bridge jazz bass pickup. I added a volume pot for it and both pickups then went through the tone control. I always had to roll off the bridge pickup a notch or two or the volume of both pickups dropped. Around 1980 I replaced the pickups with an EMG PJ active kit that came with VVT pots. Now the pickups are balanced, and I can dime the bridge pickup. This bass currently has Schecter fretless neck so the I favor the bridge pickup but roll in the Precision pickup for more body.

 

[Thumpin6string]

One sounds like a Fender and the other sounds like a different Fender. Hope that helps.

 

[darwin-bass]

Any time you have more than one coil sensing a string, you're going to have some sort of scoop sound. If the coils are in the same pickup shell (humbucker) the scoop is at a very high frequency and basically just sounds a bit darker. If the coils are separated (JJ or PJ) the scoop moves down in frequency.

 

[StringCanvas]

I've had two different (self routed) P+MM basses and one PJ.

In my experience, the PJ was almost like jazz bass with some extra balls. Stock pickups with no upgrades.

My first P+MM was a jazz bass with the humbucker in the jazz position. I should have never messed with it because the tone was great, but I really didn't care fore the body style. It had SPB-2 and a SMB-4. The sound was tight and growly with some good thump in the lower end. It's couldn't do a great impression of either the P or the MM, but together they sounded fantastic.

I currently run P+MM in a Player II. The MM is routed directly behind the P pickups in the natural MM position. I tried the stock P pickup and it wasn't even close to keeping up with the MM. Replaced it with a SPB-3 and it's definitely better, though the MM in its natural position still really covers more of the P (even if you try to really adjust pickup heights and such). I'd describe this one as tight with some wolfiness, I guess? Mostly MM sound with a little extra on the low end.
The tone is good, but if I were doing the same thing, I'd get another P contour body and put the MM back where the J pickup sits. It's also slightly unfair to compare because I didn't wire a tone knob and used 500k pots, so there's a lot of taming on the amp side. I might try to modify with a side mount jack and a tone knob to see how it feels.

 

[Cleezmo]

I have a Reverend Mercalli that has a reverse P and a MM-style bridge pickup, but all passive. I do not have a PJ at the moment, but I do have a J (a G&L JB). IMO/IME, I've never liked a solo bridge pickup on Jazz; mine has '60s spacing, but it just never sounds as full as I'd like. The bridge pickup on the Reverend does not sound thin At All when solo'd; of course it's brighter but it is still full-range, not thin or tinny like a solo J pickup can sound.

I will also say that I leave my Reverend at 50/50 pickup blend 90% of the time on gigs, because it has such a full range; you hear the lows and mids, but it still has the articulation and note definition I want. It sounds bigger to me than the PJs I've had in the past. I'm not sure I'd buy another PJ, but I would definitely do a P/MM or reverse P/MM based on this example.

If it matters, I tend to like hot 2-humbucker basses in general, so I'm not a P purist by any stretch.

 

[T McClure]

I've had two different (self routed) P+MM basses and one PJ.

In my experience, the PJ was almost like jazz bass with some extra balls. Stock pickups with no upgrades.

My first P+MM was a jazz bass with the humbucker in the jazz position. I should have never messed with it because the tone was great, but I really didn't care fore the body style. It had SPB-2 and a SMB-4. The sound was tight and growly with some good thump in the lower end. It's couldn't do a great impression of either the P or the MM, but together they sounded fantastic.

I currently run P+MM in a Player II. The MM is routed directly behind the P pickups in the natural MM position. I tried the stock P pickup and it wasn't even close to keeping up with the MM. Replaced it with a SPB-3 and it's definitely better, though the MM in its natural position still really covers more of the P (even if you try to really adjust pickup heights and such). I'd describe this one as tight with some wolfiness, I guess? Mostly MM sound with a little extra on the low end.
The tone is good, but if I were doing the same thing, I'd get another P contour body and put the MM back where the J pickup sits. It's also slightly unfair to compare because I didn't wire a tone knob and used 500k pots, so there's a lot of taming on the amp side. I might try to modify with a side mount jack and a tone knob to see how it feels.

I think you nailed it with the MM positioning.

I previously ordered an inexpensive bass that offered the P+MM, but the MM was back in the J bridge position. I hated the sound of it. I didn't realize how wrong it would be. Both on gave the jazz scoop, but exaggerated and without the jazz growl. It sucked. The bridge on by itself didn't sound like a MM.

 

[sikamikanico]

It can be tricky mixing a P and anything else at the bridge, mostly because of the staggered P design. D and G strings sound pingy. Then there's the pickup inbalance often. PH (vs PJ) can help with the latter, not the former. Reverse P solves that. Wiring the P in parallel could help with balance too. But they all will scoop.

In the end, the "PJ" sound I was looking for, the "P sound with extra bite and treble" - well, I found it by wiring the P pickup in parallel, and loading it with a small capacitor. Parallel wiring gives 1/4 inductance and extends the pickup's frequency range far into the trebles. Loading that with a small capacitor brings the resonant peak back down - the bigger the capacitance, the lower the frequency. I keep my capacitors on a rotary switch so I can dial in different sounds, but my favorite sounds have a resonant peak somewhat higher than a P pickup. This approach also changes the Q, making the resonant peak more "peaky", which gives it a nice edge, and you can tame it with a resistor. So I get more bite and treble, but no scoop. Looks like a good ol' P bass too