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Don't like PJ's?

#321
BillMason said:
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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I'm good with derails. But I'll tell you...I wish they hadn't put a white pickguard on the black one. The tuxedo thing just isn't for me. And all the other current models have black pickguards except the black one. I spray painted the white pickguard of my new Yamaha BB235 with copper Rust-Oleum...miles better if you ask me!

Yammy1.jpg


OTOH, I'm not getting an Embassy anyway so no skin off my nose :D
 
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#322
BillMason said:
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.
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+1

I just listen to the bass. If I like the sound then it's good and how it gets that sound doesn't interest me at all.
 
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#325
BassBeginer64 said:
Been thinking of having another PJ done through Warmoth, is there much difference in tone going with 70's spacing on bridge instead of the 60's.
60's SPACING
View attachment 4370338
70's SPACING
View attachment 4370339
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70's spacing makes the J pickup a shade brighter, but in the long run doesn't add up to much IMHO. All my PJ's have the J maybe even a little closer to the bridge than the 70's spacing and they sound like typical J bridge pickups to me.
 
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#326
I think a PJ is great, as long as you don’t expect it to sound like a jazz bass. I mean it’s close but it is a different sound for sure. If you solo any of the pickups it they sound like a P or a J bridge in my experience. That magic bass that can sound like anything is yet to be invented haha!
 
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#329
JimmyM said:
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.
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I have Labella Deep Talking flats on mine. Love them
 
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#331
MasterMonkeyMan said:
Line 6 tried with the Variax. I've never had to opportunity to try one. I knew people who had the Variax guitar and once the novelty wore off, they ditched 'em.
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I was lucky enough to get to play a variax bass for a while, and it absolutely could sound like a P, like a Ric, like a Jazz, etc. It had some latency, but I could live with it. I think the reason people don't hold on to them is that although it sounded like lots of different basses, it didn't really sound good. That said, I would take one in a heartbeat since I play in a cover band. Getting the right sound for every song would be very cool, and having the best Jazz bass sound ever or best P bass sound ever isn't that important. The prices I've most recently seen them for were kind of nuts though, and I'm imagining they would be even worse now.
The other gimmicky bass I would love to have is a Peavey midibass. You could probably do similar things with the midibass, plus a lot of things the variax couldn't do.
 
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#332
KJMO said:
I was lucky enough to get to play a variax bass for a while, and it absolutely could sound like a P, like a Ric, like a Jazz, etc. It had some latency, but I could live with it. I think the reason people don't hold on to them is that although it sounded like lots of different basses, it didn't really sound good. That said, I would take one in a heartbeat since I play in a cover band. Getting the right sound for every song would be very cool, and having the best Jazz bass sound ever or best P bass sound ever isn't that important. The prices I've most recently seen them for were kind of nuts though, and I'm imagining they would be even worse now.
The other gimmicky bass I would love to have is a Peavey midibass. You could probably do similar things with the midibass, plus a lot of things the variax couldn't do.
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I have a friend who uses one with Herman's Hermits because he can imitate an acoustic, a 12, as well as those jangly 60's sounds. He accepts its flaws in the name of saving a fortune in extra airline baggage fees. Meanwhile, the other guitarist uses a 60's Teisco :D
 
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#333
Vanheusen77 said:
I think a PJ is great, as long as you don’t expect it to sound like a jazz bass. I mean it’s close but it is a different sound for sure. If you solo any of the pickups it they sound like a P or a J bridge in my experience. That magic bass that can sound like anything is yet to be invented haha!
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Right, well in my opening salvo, I do mention that it does a reasonable enough imitation not to care. If the difference is enough for you to use a Jazz, by all means please do. But I've never had anyone tell me it doesn't sound like a Jazz.
 
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#334
I hope Im going to like it, P and J, that is. Have a bass with Delano P and MM that sounds good, to me and mine, with the MM on single coil. Still trying to decide on pickups for this alder body with 100% shellac finish and paint. We play loud rock and I am sometimes the lead on bass, like it or not. They always comment-your bass player is good and loud. Also experiment with fuzz-noise-art-type stuff on the side. So- hot and still holding it all together. Looking at Dimarzzio and Dominger. Open to suggestions.
 
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