Fender Jazz or Precision bass: Which do you prefer and why?

[Dardas92]

Figured I would start a topic I know has been covered many times. But during this quarantine its a great time killer.

Which do you prefer, the Fender Jazz or Precision bass?

I know a lot of people have other basses they prefer over these 2 types, but I just want to see what people think of these 2 types of basses in this post.

 

[Jebberz]

I just love a PJ bass, with a J-ish neck. Like Jaguars

 

[The Terror]

Recently purchased a "Player " series Jaguar, which is the first PJ I have ever liked...

 

[David McIntire]

A Jazz. My friends all joke bout it this way. I am not good enuff, yet, to play a P. I need the 2nd pickup, and an extra string. One day, when I get good enuff, I may go to a P4. Right now? I need my Jazz 5.

 

[SteveC]

I chose a different type of a Fender...a Roscoe Classic P

 

[BubbaZed]

Both! The 1-2 bass punch in any player's arsenal.

 

[LeoTzu]

For me, that's sort of like asking me which is better, pizza or a burrito. Man, both are awesome... it just depends on what I'm hungry for at the time. Both basses are pretty solid. For a stint, I thought I was a J-Bass man. Then I tried jumping on the P-Bass bandwagon. Now, I just kind of realize that I like both for what each of them are.

 

[CallMeAl]

A precision bass with a Jazz neck. (I guess that makes me “different.”) I like the feel and string spacing of the neck, the body shape, and the sound and simplicity of the pickup

 

[Dardas92]

I like the body and neck of the Jazz as well as the versatility and more mid range of the Jazz, but I like the low-end of the Precision better. If I had to pick between the 2, it would be a Jazz.

Currently own an American Jazz, although I am interested in getting a PJ or Jaguar down the road. Kind of the best of both worlds. Although I prefer the narrower neck for jump around the fret-board easier.

I put seymour duncan pickups in my jazz and it sounds like a mix between jazz and precision.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

I've always preferred the P. I like the sound and the simplicity. I own 2 Js and I like them, but not as much as the P. One of my 4 Ps has a J neck and that, to me, is the easiest to play.

 

[ElectricBass72]

Rickenbacker 4003 does what Jazz can do, but better... in my opinion. Fender Precision for me.

 

[Nedmundo]

If it's limited to traditional passive Fenders with no mods, I'd go Jazz. I hate single coil hum, but love J-bass tone otherwise and strongly prefer J-bass necks, so it's an easy call. But moving beyond those, it gets more complicated, and I'd rank like this:

1. Great J-basses with excellent noiseless pickups. My 2003 Fender has Lindy Fralin's noiseless Split-Jazz pickups, and my G&L USA JB has Lace Man o' Wars. Both sound fantastic, and have excellent playability. Most of the time, I prefer these to any P-bass, even my wonderful G&L SB-2.

2. P-basses with J necks and high-grade pickups, like the SB-2. (BTW, I don't care that it's a P/J, because I barely use the bridge pickup.)

3. Conventional, straight-up J-basses.

4. Conventional, straight-up P-bases.

 

[Jim C]

I go through phases often times based on who I'm playing with.
Played a J 90% of the time through the 80's and 90's.
Then both for a while.
Last 10-15 years exclusively a P.
Oddly enough, I decided it was time to sell a JB2 Tribute last week.
Took it out of the case and it's all I've played since.
Really anxious to hear it in a band mix whenever that might happen again

 

[RickyRocknRoll]

I'm a P bass player through and through. The tone, the weight, the neck, the balance and the simplicity.

Jazz basses are a no-no. It took 3 J basses for me to realize that, well, I'm not into jazz basses. And it's fine.

 

[Kmonk]

I own both buy prefer my Jazz basses. I like the slimmer neck and there are more tone options. I've modified my one of my Jazz basses by installing Lindy Fralin pickups over wound 8% to get more mids and more lows. I have a separate volume and tone control for each pickup. I can get very close to a P Bass sound by using the neck pickup and slightly dialing in the bridge pickup.

 

[Al T.]

I had a Lakland P-bass for years. As I got older the Jazz neck profile made my hands seize up due to years of pipe fitting and other manual labor. If I had ordered it with a P-bass neck profile I would probably have kept it . As it turned out I'm at heart a Jazz Bass guy. A Jazz Bass with a 1 3/4" nut would be the best of both worlds.

 

[AGCurry]

Precision, for the most part. The Jazz can be a little too polite for my taste.

 

[lokikallas]

J bass just sounds right to me. The P bass sound is cool too, but it seems too mid forward when I play it. Then again, some songs just sound right with the P bass. The J ergonomics agree with me as well. An active J can give you soooo many sounds, where the active P still seems to have just the one sound (not that there's anything wrong with that lol)

 

[oranje]

J

 

[JoshS]

Rickenbacker 4003 does what Jazz can do, but better... in my opinion. Fender Precision for me.

I’ll say Jazz and Ric for me. I don’t really play a P.