Right now I have Dunlop flats and I like them. They’ve been on for about a year now. When I have rounds on, I usually use Sunbeams.
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Don't like PJ's?
- Thread starter JimmyM
- Start date
Turnaround
Commercial User
Turnaround
Commercial User
Sure. I have use for neither a PJ nor an SVT/810.As long as there's room for an SVT/810...
+1
I recently acquired a Precision 5 and I already owned an Am. Dlx Jazz 5 and I can say the response and sound of the B string on the Jazz 5 is way better. The low B on the Precision is fine to my ear but it is tighter, crisper, and clearer on the Jazz Dlx. So I share your experience/opinion.
Too bad I really love Precisions better than Jazz basses. Maybe a P/J 5'er will scratch that itch as you suggested.
My fretless is a Warmoth P/J build and has Bartolini's installed. I went for a split J pickup to avoid noise and I do not miss anything since I tend to use a more dark subdued tone. IMHO the Barts are amazing and I love the sound of the fretless with them. I once threw a fretted neck on the bass to see how it sounded and it was also amazing. The sound of that bass always draws compliments from my fellow musicians. I very seldom get calls for fretless though, so mostly it sits in the case. <sigh>.
If you do this you will likely notice that the bass will have a different quality to it. The balance is excellent between the two pickups IME but the pickups themselves are fundamentally more "Hi fidelity" than a normal fender P or J pickup. They still manage to sound like P/J pickups but with a certain "extra" quality to them that may or may not be to your liking. I personally love them. YMMV.
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Recently got this VM4 in trade. Sounded pretty good with the rounds that came with it....but with a broken-in set of 100ga Chromes on it now....it's maybe the most impressive sounding thing I've laid hands on. Huge punch, great clarity and definition. Every note has authority and character. I'm not even going to bother trying all sorts of different strings like I usually do with a new-to-me bass. I'm there already!
I love my PJ's too, but they've been surpassed by the VM4.
@Altitude , must have missed your post about P/MM basses, but I'm fine with whatever anyone wants, though the MusicMan thing isn't my thing. It's good but I just generally don't care for pickups closer to the bridge being soloed. Can't argue with all the greats who use them, though. Some of my all time favorites use them.
I'm not a MM fan too much either, really. I've tried to love Stingrays over the years, and even bought a Bongo once...never bonded with any of them. A few years ago I got a beautiful USA Sterling H in trade....it has a huge sound.... but just doesn't inspire. I'm going to sell it pretty soon, gave up trying to love it.
The Sandberg is different, I don't hear any EBMM signature tone from it, and don't ever run the MM pickup solo anyway. The reverse P does most of the work. Along with the 2-band (Glock designed I believe) the 3-part elecs package makes its own modern voice. Those dudes over at Sandberg know what they're doing. I think I'm becoming a fanboi!
PJ's are cool, and so is other stuff. I'm always open to trying different elecs layouts. Like this thing I stumbled into a while ago. I happen to like EMG stuff and this Electra Phoenix bass is a little monster with its custom spec'd EMG array.
Controls are: Vol-Bass/Treble stacked, and a unique 5-position rotary knob to choose various coil and pickup combos.
Controls are: Vol-Bass/Treble stacked, and a unique 5-position rotary knob to choose various coil and pickup combos.
Hey Ben, I don't think it matters in the least what strings you use as long as you don't use those garbage strings that come with really low priced basses. They suck, but other than that, use whatever you like.
But since you asked, these days I use Dunlop Super Bright Nickels 40-100 or 120 on most of my basses, while the one straight up P I have gets Dunlop flats in the same gauges. But before they came out, I was using D'addario XL's and have occasionally experimented with other popular string brands. All good as long as you like the sound and feel.
I never experienced a pj until I got a 1st gen Hamer Cruisebass. Now I have three of them!
I find issues with the pickups blending that are controlled by careful height adjustment. I haven’t measured them, I just raise and lower them until they sound right.
Two of my Basses have DiMarzio pickups and one has Nordstrand.
I find issues with the pickups blending that are controlled by careful height adjustment. I haven’t measured them, I just raise and lower them until they sound right.
Two of my Basses have DiMarzio pickups and one has Nordstrand.
How is that Talman TMB100, I see someone selling one for $300 Canadian, worth it?Ah don't get me wrong, I don't care enough about the looks to not do it!
But it can come in some other form...
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Costs about the same here. It's fine. Aggressive pickups, VERY nice neck, crappy but servicable tuners (I got a lemon but had a replacement sent to me). All in all, not much to complain about. I leveled and crowned the frets on mine to get low-low action but honestly, it could be playable without it. I like it!
I don’t eat pancakes *or* waffles, but any PJ I’ve owned I found I always ended up just dialing off the bridge pickup. I didn’t feel like it added anything that I wanted.
Dual humbuckers, though, I really like every configuration I’ve used on my Epi vintage pro Tbird and Embassy basses. And to my ears, with or without the bridge pickup, they get a much more convincing P sound than a solo J neck pickup, you just need to use a light touch with the right hand. Plus when you dig in, you get something else altogether that a P, PJ, and J can’t do that’s pure rock and roll.
Only a Jazz is gonna sound like a Jazz, to me - but I don’t love playing with the J tone. I love it when other people do, it just feels not quite right for me.
Dual humbuckers, though, I really like every configuration I’ve used on my Epi vintage pro Tbird and Embassy basses. And to my ears, with or without the bridge pickup, they get a much more convincing P sound than a solo J neck pickup, you just need to use a light touch with the right hand. Plus when you dig in, you get something else altogether that a P, PJ, and J can’t do that’s pure rock and roll.
Only a Jazz is gonna sound like a Jazz, to me - but I don’t love playing with the J tone. I love it when other people do, it just feels not quite right for me.
I strongly considered one of those reissue Embassies at one point. I like T-Birds but not the ergonomics. I liked the Embassy, just not enough to buy it. I imagine it would be pretty versatile, though.
Also, for many folks comparing a soloed P pickup on a PJ with a straight P, I wonder if they’ve considered that every P bass sounds a little different from the next P bass, and maybe it’s just *that* bass’s P tone they don’t like, and are ascribing it to it being a PJ.
I haven’t owned many PJ’s, but I have owned many Fender P’s, of many different combinations of woods, pickups, etc., and the solo P on a PJ still sounds like a P to me. To me, every Fender P sounds a little different, with different ages of strings, saddle placement (string length), action (string length and distance from the pickup), different pieces of wood, different volume settings, and so on. Many minute variables, any one of which can result in a slight change of tone. They all still sound like P’s, but they’re all different.
I haven’t owned many PJ’s, but I have owned many Fender P’s, of many different combinations of woods, pickups, etc., and the solo P on a PJ still sounds like a P to me. To me, every Fender P sounds a little different, with different ages of strings, saddle placement (string length), action (string length and distance from the pickup), different pieces of wood, different volume settings, and so on. Many minute variables, any one of which can result in a slight change of tone. They all still sound like P’s, but they’re all different.
I like mine so much I bought it twice! Lol
I bought it brand new earlier this year, returned it to take advantage of a P deal I had to have, and just recently went back to the same store where I returned it and bought it back - the actual same Embassy I returned. I wasn’t sure I was down with the shape and all when they first came out, the aesthetics seemed kind of odd, but since playing one once I had to have one. The newer ones have Laurel instead of rosewood, but I like Laurel just fine, much moreso than Pao Ferro. And the new ones seem to have fixed the intonation issue of the 2018+ models.
They’re very light, and the necks are very comfortable. Well balanced (unlike a Tbird!). And the new ones have a sparkle finish.
EDIT: didn’t mean to derail, just gushing over my Embassy, carry on with the PJ discussion.
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