Does anyone else here dislike PJ basses?

[Dragan]

+1 in dislike pj squad. Had a bunch of them- fender, yamaha, warwick, ibanez to name a few..never sounded right and always been another pbass for me with extra unusable pickup.

 

[Santol]

The P/J is essentially a P bass with an extra Jazz-style pickup that you might need sometimes; if you don't, it won't bother you. Why hate it?

 

[bobba66]

No.

 

[kulit17]

this is pretty fly.......(sorry - parent of small children humor)

 

[DWBass]

Worst bass I ever owned. Had to go. Horrible sounding.

 

[40Hz]

I think expectations play a big role.

If you're expecting a PB with a little something extra, you'll be happy. If you're expecting a tone machine on par with an L-2000 then you're going to be disappointed.

I myself prefer dual splits over a PJ. But Fender Elite IIs and similarly configured basses are pretty hard to come by these days.

 

[tubedude]

In what way?
You're supposed to blend the bridge pickup in to taste.

I've owned too many & always sold them, because I couldn't get over the noisy bridge pickups.
Yes, there is a solution, but those pickups don't do it for me, the split-coils in a single-coil size.

That's the main reason I haven't tried "upgrading" the Big Singles in my Ibanez to the noiseless Big Splits, because I fear there will a large loss in "character".

Keep 'em! I had Big Splits made for my SRFF806. But after hearing them in single mode I left them wired that way. They sounded better and I seldom have real noise issues. I really love these Nordstrands!

 

[Oleg BassPlayer]

I've got a Yamaha in PJ configuration. I always solo pickups, most of the time use it as P and sometimes as J, blending just never works fine for me. Waiting for Squier VM PJ to arrive, let's see how it will work out.

 

[rtslinger]

I have 3 basses that have PJ configuration, you have to work with the volumes and tones to find the sweet spots. Some sound great both on others need a little tweak to get there. Usually in my case is the neck pickup is a little stronger than the bridge on some basses, but if you lower the neck pickup a little you get some nice lows and highs in your tone, sometimes what we want, we have to work for

 

[JGbassman]

They have their place in certain situations, but I’m not a huge fan. I think they do sound better playing with a pick though.

I generally run the p on full and add a little of the j. With them both on it sounds like a p with a sharper edge. Not a bad sound at all.

 

[edencab]

for me, IMHO, visually......a P is a P and a J is a J...not sure about the PJ look...

 

[muggsy]

I love P basses. Have owned multiple J basses but always end up selling them. For me the P/J is a perfect compromise, sounds like a P with the option to blend in the bridge pickup to taste. It helps that the P/J I own (Lakland US Glaub with J neck) is awesome.

 

[StereoPlayer]

The best of both worlds. P/J

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

I’m starting to learn that I generally like basses with relatively simple controls and classic pickup settings. (ie: my Fender Jazz and Fender Precision).
I owned a PJ bass for awhile, but I was always just setting it to the isolated P pup, and using it as just a secondary P Bass. It sounded way to harsh with both pickups on.

Both of my PJs have the same knob configuration as my Js. VVT. I usually run the P pup 100% and add enought J to put an edge on it, but never 100% when the P is at 100%. The T colors that edge. This is also how I work my Js. It is the same, just a different sound.

 

[REV]

I've never found a PJ that I liked. (and I've tried to like 'em) I really like P basses but sometimes I want a little extra "something" and I used to think adding a J pickup at the bridge was a logical solution but I don't think the wide fat coils of the P pickup play nice with the tall narrow pickup of the Jazz.

 

[gln1955]

Certainly don't HATE the P/J... but when the P/MM and P/Hum offer so much more, it's very easy for me to FORGET the P/J.

Stronger, more capable bridge options, like Nordstrand's humbuckers, are just stinkin' beautiful in that position.

YMMV..

I love my P/MM setup with the ability run the MM series, parallel or single coil.

 

[skidmarkbass]

I really like PJs. For me the key is to really dial in the J pickup so that it sounds like a J, by getting the height correct.

 

[maxschrek]

Strongly dislike p/j except in a first gen Hamer Cruise.

 

[Burwabit]

I like P/Js (my #1 is a 5 string PJ). But P/MM or P/H is even more appealing to me... just harder to find.

 

[asands]

Well I like them so you must be wrong