Earliest Known P/J?

[Dr. Cheese]

Very interesting! According to Jack the one he's using in the 1967 picture posted above is his second PJ. His first, based on a 1960 concentric Jazz, was stolen in 1965.

1965 has got to be right around ground zero for PJs. I wonder if there is a picture of Casady's original bass?

 

[A-Step-Towards]

Okay but, why aren't you showing us pics???

 

[Fat Freddy]

I went out with a girl named PJ before I even played bass. That was the first that I knew. She was very petty, but equally evil. I'd tell the story but it's long and only really gets good at the end.

So tell us the end!....

 

[Dr. Cheese]

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I remember a local store had one of those as an unlined fretless for $300. Man, I should have bought it!

 

[Fender_Bender]

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Tony Visconti & his highly modified Precision.

That's the guy with Bowie I was mentioning before.

 

[Bill Whitehurst]

I can't prove it, of course, but given musicians natural
curiosity and imagination, coupled with a tendency
for indulging in inhabition releasing substances,
I would guess the first P with an added J pup
must have happened very soon after the introduction of the first Jazz basss.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I can't prove it, of course, but given musicians natural
curiosity and imagination, coupled with a tendency
for indulging in inhabition releasing substances,
I would guess the first P with an added J pup
must have happened very soon after the introduction of the first Jazz basss.

True, I am just looking for the oldest pictures.

 

[Jack Butler]

Please, this thread is not about Nugent. He is not even a bassist.

With all due respect...

 

[Double E]

With all due respect...

Ted's playing on this track only serves to accentuate that he is not a bassist. His guitar riffs do sound pretty cool played on a bass though.

 

[RED J]

I ordered a Mustang PJ that I will pick up some time this month, and I totally fell off n love with Music Man's Caprice. I also think that the Ibanez TMB 605 is a gem that is currently under the radar.
Except for the BB2000, I have never had much use for PJs, but that is clearly changing.

I started thinking about the origin of PJs because it was clearly an ida that started with players, not engineers, but was later adapted because it had great commercial appeal despite its inherent shortcomings like pickup balance and noise.

I know one, these posts of old catalogs is letting me know that I need to improve my internet searching skills!

One thing I can contribute is that a badly matched P/ J set is enough to put anyone off !MHO. A well matched set is a thing of great beauty and versatility.
For my taste, The DiMarzio set or the Schaller licensed version thereof can't be beat.
A good set will enhance and expand each other's virtues, and a poor set will suck the other down subtractively. I think you and I have different tone goals, but you will find that unmistakable eyebrow raising ahhh moment when you find the right match.

 

[RED J]

From what I seen so far, it did not take Japanese companies,in particular, very long to respond to the mods players were doing to their basses. I guess by 1975, Ibanez was producing factory PJ basses.

Historically, and partly because I'm old enough to remember, American companies were stodgy and arrogant until they got their clocks cleaned by Asian companies in many different products.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Historically, and partly because I'm old enough to remember, American companies were stodgy and arrogant until they got their clocks cleaned by Asian companies in many different products.

I know exactly what you mean. I'm no Spring Chicken either!

 

[Fender_Bender]

Historically, and partly because I'm old enough to remember, American companies were stodgy and arrogant until they got their clocks cleaned by Asian companies in many different products.

Sounds like what happened to the British motorcycle industry except that they never did adapt and went the way of the dodo.

 

[prowla]

Are RJs allowed?

 

[Dr. Cheese]

One thing I can contribute is that a badly matched P/ J set is enough to put anyone off !MHO. A well matched set is a thing of great beauty and versatility.
For my taste, The DiMarzio set or the Schaller licensed version thereof can't be beat.
A good set will enhance and expand each other's virtues, and a poor set will suck the other down subtractively. I think you and I have different tone goals, but you will find that unmistakable eyebrow raising ahhh moment when you find the right match.

I know what you mean about well matched P and J pickups. I have been really impressed with the Mustang PJ's pickups, and I am really looking forward to using that bass in church as well as using if for travel when space is tight.

 

[Fender_Bender]

Ibanez was offering a P/J by 1976:

1976 Ibanez Guitar Catalog

Graham Maby playing the Ibanez circa '79:

The little "oh yeah " at 2:13 got me laughing. Nice looking and sounding bass too.

 

[RED J]

Sounds like what happened to the British motorcycle industry except that they never did adapt and went the way of the dodo.

Heh yup my brother worked at a BSA dealership.

 

[Axstar]

A couple of modded basses from the '70s... So close yet so far!


This Slab Precision bass was played by Steve Currie of T-Rex. It appears very early on in the 'Born to Boogie' movie. Steve is onstage, and his Orange rig isn't working, so he bashes the bass angrily!

From memory it didn't have the Guild humbucker in there in the movie, so it might be a later modification.

Speaking of Steve Currie, he also had this bass:

Invalid Link Removed

A P bass with... errr? Burns pickups? Gibson Low-Z pickups?

Mike Howlett of Gong. Looks like an EB-3 bridge pickup. I think it was like that in the '70s.

Mick Hawksworth (Andromeda/Fuzzy Duck), an EB-0 with an added '51-style P pickup.

Dennis Dunaway's modified EB-o. A P-Mudbucker?

And... a PJ bass! Finally! But the other way round! Dennis Dunaway's Jazz bass, modified with a P pickup.

 

[hypercarrots]

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what year is this bass?

 

[Fender_Bender]

A couple of modded basses from the '70s... So close yet so far!


This Slab Precision bass was played by Steve Currie of T-Rex. It appears very early on in the 'Born to Boogie' movie. Steve is onstage, and his Orange rig isn't working, so he bashes the bass angrily!

From memory it didn't have the Guild humbucker in there in the movie, so it might be a later modification.

Speaking of Steve Currie, he also had this bass:

Invalid Link Removed

A P bass with... errr? Burns pickups? Gibson Low-Z pickups?

Mike Howlett of Gong. Looks like an EB-3 bridge pickup. I think it was like that in the '70s.

Mick Hawksworth (Andromeda/Fuzzy Duck), an EB-0 with an added '51-style P pickup.

Dennis Dunaway's modified EB-o. A P-Mudbucker?

And... a PJ bass! Finally! But the other way round! Dennis Dunaway's Jazz bass, modified with a P pickup.

Looks like some people got bedazzlers for Christmas .