Does the Fender American PJ Bass has the Sound of the Fender P Bass?

I don't have any personal experience with this particular bass, but I think which specific model of p-pickup is in it will make a much bigger difference than whether or not it also has a J pickup. In theory I suppose just having another pickup in the circuit could change the sound to some degree, and having a second cavity for the J pickup changes the mass of the body slightly, but I'd be shocked if anyone could actually tell a difference from that. I would not be shocked if people claimed to hear a difference, but that's different.

My bottom line on this is about the same as it is with most of these little things: the biggest differences in tone by far are going to come from the player, the amp, the pickup, and the strings, in roughly that order. Whatever difference there is between a PJ with only the P pickup turned up and the exact same P-pickup all by itself, it's probably less than the difference you would get by slightly tweaking any knob on your amp.

 

I A/B'd an American standard and the PJ bass. With the P pickup soloed, the PJ sounded all P to me. I think you'll like it. Plus then you'll always have the option for greater versatility with that J pickup if you ever want it.

I agree that the additional electronics will probably create tonal differences. But darned if I could here any.

My $.02

 

This is my main bass. Yes it sounds like any Fender P. The J pickup sounds like any bridge position J pickup.
I really wouldnt trade this bass for anything else.
Good luck!

 

They classify it as a Jazz because of the neck, but the Japanese Fender Areodyne is a P/J configuration with a J neck. I bought one last week at GC. Sounds like a P when I want it to.

 

I have the American Standard PJ, and it sounds just like a P when you solo the P pickup. Occasionally I add a bit of the J pickup for certain tunes. The workmanship is great, too.

 

This wiring and a push-pull pot will remove the Jazz pickup and pot and eliminate any loading of the standard Precision control scheme.

 

In almost every passive PJ I've played, the split P pickup absolutely dominates to the point that the Jazz rail makes only a marginal difference. So yes, if you want your passive PJ to sound like a P bass, that's probably what you'll get IME.

Now, the active Fender "Deluxe" versions are a completely different story. The Jazz rail gets ramped up massively and the bass becomes a versatile tone monster. Unfortunately, an active split P pickup is a very different animal from the passive version. Still, this is my Fender PJ of choice.

 

My understanding was that the pickups in the deluxe versions are regular passive ones, but there's an onboard active EQ/preamp type thing that can be switched on and off. With it switched off, it's supposed to be the same as any other passive bass. But it sounds like you have personal experience, so maybe that's not right?

 

I think that's right, but I never dial the electronics back, it's always full "active" mode for me.

Now I'm curious as I haven't played that one in awhile. Mine is one of the early MIM versions but I believe it has these electronics:

Fender Deluxe Active P Bass® Special, Maple Fingerboard, 3 Color Sunburst

Although they use the word "switch" for active/passive control, mine does not have a switch, though it may have a dial (knob) for that function.

That's a whole lotta bass for $799.00, especially considering the big bump in quality Fender MIM basses have experienced over the last seven or eight years.

 

Maybe this isn't what you're saying, but while a jazz bridge pickup might lack on its own, mixing it with the P pickup makes a lot of difference. If he wants a pure precision sound, he'd need to make sure the jazz stays turned all of the way off.

 

I Have a Precision California special. It has a Jazz neck and PJ p/ups. I have a Seymour Duncan 1/4 Pounder in the P position and a Fender Super55 split coil J p/up at the bridge. It sounds like any other p bass with the jazz pick up turned down. The bridge pick up adds a little bite to the top end and adds a handy thumb rest if I want to change hand position and play closer to the bridge. I find I'm going more to this bass because of the versatility. It does a better job of sounding like a Jazz than my Jazz does sounding like a Precision.

 

Yes, it has the same sound.

 

I got an American Hotrod Precision and it is a P bass with the bridge vol all the way down, all a P/J bass is is a Precision with an added pickup. I do tend to think that the more solid Precision neck adds some girth to the sound though.

 

I don't have that exact bass, but I do have a Fender Precision Deluxe with passive PJ pickups (the J pickup being the Noiseless variety). It sounds like a P bass to me when I turn the volume on the J pickup down. What you are looking at is definitely going to sound like a P bass if you want it to.

 

Is there hum

 

I had a chance to have both AM std P and Am std limited PJ.
In my view the tone of P is deeper and lower. The PJ’s P-pickup sounds a little bit more clearer with less bottom end.
In addition, I found PJ’ output a bit weaker than P’s one.
Howevere, now I have the PJ only as it is more versatile and J neck is very nice for me. Slap sound is much nicer for my hears than on a P.
I have no any hum in all pickups combination on my PJ.