Don't like PJ's?

[Seth Shonefeld]

Here's why I do and don't care if you don't:

View attachment 4356771 View attachment 4356724 View attachment 4356726 View attachment 4356736


Actually, I just wanted an excuse to post some new glamour shots of some of my basses. But since we're here, I've noticed for the past few years that the venerable PJ combination has been slammed for being neither fish nor fowl, and I am here to say that it is, indeed, both fish and fowl.

Let's address the most common complaints:

---It doesn't sound as good when you solo the P pickup vs not having the J on a straight-up P Bass. 100% myth, poppycock, balderdash, and bovine waste products. If a $100 SX PJ with the P soloed can sound the same as a $100 SX P as long as they have the same strings, then there is no reason every bass in the world can't have PJ's that sound the same as a regular P when the P's soloed. I used to have sonic proof of this, but it got lost in a computer crash a few years ago.

---You don't get the best of both worlds with a PJ. OK, so let's assume the sound is so different that you'd rather stick with the J. Fine by me. But the sound is not completely different by any means. I've played plenty of Jazz basses and basses with J pickups in my day and I'm well familiar with what a typical Jazz sounds like. It's close enough for the few times that I go for a J sound that I'm not sweating what little difference there is in a good balanced set of PJ's. Throw pickups in there willy-nilly, sure, it probably won't sound all that great. Just might, though.

And to reverse the situation, a good J with the neck pickup soloed may not sound identical to a good P, but it will do a convincing job as well. I have a preference for a good split P pickup in that position, but I've heard plenty of convincing P sounds out of J's. The first Precisions are single coils, too, and I never heard anyone complain that they don't sound like P's.

---60 cycle hum or whatever frequency it is in your country. Can happen, but only on rare occasions is it an issue you can't do anything about. Many bass and guitar players use single coils with no hum problems all over the world. Granted, I prefer hum-cancelling pickups for both the P and the J, but to say that it can't work because the P's a humbucker and the J is single coil is myth.

So that's why I made PJ's my jam...preferring the split P neck pickup as my main sound, but needing a more scoopy J sound on occasion. And I get it, too, and any complaints that it doesn't sound like a real J are just nitpicking.

I happen to love pjs, I don't just like them. My first bass studying and playing with ppl was a p/j. Not only was the playability phenomenal, but to the point I got tons of compliments on the tone, which I rarely touched. I regret selling it and am looking forward to having another one at some point. Nice stable!

 

[Mastermold]

Here's why I do and don't care if you don't ….

Sorry Jimmy I’m just not comfy in PJs but glad they work for you.

 

[MarkA]

I've never played a PJ before, never had the urge, if I'm being honest, but I am interested and should probably play one before I die. So, some questions. Are PJ's always on P style bodies, or do they come on J bodies ? What are the necks, P or J ? On a PJ, when soloing the J, aren't you going to sound like Jaco all the time ? How would you describe the sound when when you dial in less of one pickup vs. the other ?

• I've seen them more commonly on P style bodies, but they're on J and other style bodies as well.
• Necks can be P or J (Fender and most parts basses) or something in-between/different (non-Fender brands).
• Soloed J sounds like a soloed J.
• On a P/J or a J/J setup, I hardly ever have both pickups dialed up full... I'm usually very slightly favoring one or the other, if both are up, or soloing one or the other. Some of this depends on how you have your instrument wired -- blend or volume/volume and, with the latter, if it's set up so that you can have one full up and dial in a smidge of the other or so that dialing one fully down drops the overall volume to zero (I have a bass set up this way -- wired, I am told, like a 50s Les Paul).

That last is a tricky one and, I think, depends on your setup and approach. A lot of people approach a P/J (as someone described earlier in this thread) as a "P+." You get a P-bass plus a little definition to taste when you want it. In that case, I think that's pretty much accurate. When you have both up near full and dial one down a little relative to the other, the effect is similar to what you get with a Jazz -- less scoop, more of the harmonics come out -- but the sound is different (related, but different)...

I might have to come back to this one!

 

[Astronaut]

I like PJ’s but I tend to sleep in shorts.

 

[marchone]

When it comes to PJs I’m firmly in the Spector camp. NS-2, Forte4, Euro LX.

I often think the NS design was the next big thing after Fender in electric basses.

 

[Fight4Bottom]

Who don't like the PJs?

 

[DJ Bebop]

Don't like PJ's?

I can't stand them!

Oh, this is about Precision Basses with Jazz pick-ups and not pajamas?

 

[hasbeen]

Here's why I do and don't care if you don't:

View attachment 4356771 View attachment 4356724 View attachment 4356726 View attachment 4356736


Actually, I just wanted an excuse to post some new glamour shots of some of my basses. But since we're here, I've noticed for the past few years that the venerable PJ combination has been slammed for being neither fish nor fowl, and I am here to say that it is, indeed, both fish and fowl.

Let's address the most common complaints:

---It doesn't sound as good when you solo the P pickup vs not having the J on a straight-up P Bass. 100% myth, poppycock, balderdash, and bovine waste products. If a $100 SX PJ with the P soloed can sound the same as a $100 SX P as long as they have the same strings, then there is no reason every bass in the world can't have PJ's that sound the same as a regular P when the P's soloed. I used to have sonic proof of this, but it got lost in a computer crash a few years ago.

---You don't get the best of both worlds with a PJ. OK, so let's assume the sound is so different that you'd rather stick with the J. Fine by me. But the sound is not completely different by any means. I've played plenty of Jazz basses and basses with J pickups in my day and I'm well familiar with what a typical Jazz sounds like. It's close enough for the few times that I go for a J sound that I'm not sweating what little difference there is in a good balanced set of PJ's. Throw pickups in there willy-nilly, sure, it probably won't sound all that great. Just might, though.

And to reverse the situation, a good J with the neck pickup soloed may not sound identical to a good P, but it will do a convincing job as well. I have a preference for a good split P pickup in that position, but I've heard plenty of convincing P sounds out of J's. The first Precisions are single coils, too, and I never heard anyone complain that they don't sound like P's.

---60 cycle hum or whatever frequency it is in your country. Can happen, but only on rare occasions is it an issue you can't do anything about. Many bass and guitar players use single coils with no hum problems all over the world. Granted, I prefer hum-cancelling pickups for both the P and the J, but to say that it can't work because the P's a humbucker and the J is single coil is myth.

So that's why I made PJ's my jam...preferring the split P neck pickup as my main sound, but needing a more scoopy J sound on occasion. And I get it, too, and any complaints that it doesn't sound like a real J are just nitpicking.

I'm with you brother

 

[Texaspandj]

First I'm a Fender Precision guy and like that body style over the Fender Jazz bass.
However, I like the playability of Fender Jazz necks. So I put a 2002 Fender J-bass neck on my 2001 Fender P-bass. Years later/ recently, i finally made the complete conversion.
I don't care much for the look of 3 knobs on a P-bass, on a J-bass yeah sure. So I installed stack knobs to help preserve the integrity of the P-bass look.
To recap; I got a P-bass body, J-bass neck, P-bass pickup, J-bass noiseless pickup.
BTW, I have a '97 P-bass and '97 J-bass but currently my P/J-bass is my number one but not for reasons you'd think.

 

[lfmn16]

So this isn’t about pajamas?

 

[selowitch]

I like PJs just fine.

 

[StudioGC]

I picked up a used American Performer PJ that has a Aguilar noise cancelling PJ set. I haven't played it anger yet, but thinking I'm going to swap over my American Performer jazz neck to it and do a refin in fiesta red nitro (like I always do).

The J has been pretty good for my 60's band (got rid of the greasebucket circuit and added Fender CS 60's pick ups for more vintage tone) , but I'm hoping the PJ can give a little more oomph. Plus I really dislike the Jazz off set body....never stays upright!

 

[Ant B 2021]

 

[electracoyote]

Intuitively, one might think that a PJ would be the ultimate combination. But in reality the short fat P and the high thin J just don't play well with each other. Add to this that to my ears something happens to the sound of a P pickup when a J pickup is in close proximity, it's just not as good. I suppose if I were to ever try this combination again I would go with a two coil J pickup to see if it played better with the P.

My experience was largely the same. An active single J rail solved this issue for me. I now own a bass with that configuration and it's one of my favorites, makes the guitar players take notice and ask about my tone.

 

[selowitch]

I really dislike the Jazz off set body....never stays upright!
View attachment 4357350

It’s funny you say that. I have played both Ps and Js over the years and I find I like both but lately I’m playing an EBMM Caprice that is more like a downsized J body.

 

[MarkA]

...BTW, I have a '97 P-bass and '97 J-bass but currently my P/J-bass is my number one but not for reasons you'd think.

What are the reasons, then?

 

[selowitch]

My 2009 Fender American Deluxe Precision Bass attempts to resolve the shortcomings of the P/J configuration by using a double-J humbucking pickup in the bridge position. Although I like the bass overall, there’s still an imbalance between the two pickups:

 

[Jeremy Crockett]

View attachment 4357344

 

[Texaspandj]

What are the reasons, then?

My '97 P-bass is the best sounding bass I've ever played. My '97 J-bass sounds like a quality J-bass is supposed to, So I'm set.
The P/J Bass is the one I'd get the least angry about if it ever was stolen at a show. So I take it.

 

[funkifiedsoul]

C'mon P/J lovers, don't stop there, you're missing out!
P/J/H is where it's at!