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

[Yahboy]

P4 and Ray5 for me.

 

[PaulCISSA]

I own both and it breaks down to two considerations for my situation - voices and ergos: J's for the single-coil sizzle with rounds, but I don't enjoy the jazz pencil-necks. Precision for the split-coil grind and big, chunky neck profile that I prefer (1-3/4" is perfect). Someday, I'm going to build a passive J with a `60's profile P-bass neck. Someday...

 

[kbakerde]

I prefer the Jazz bass. I like the sound of a jazz better, it's more full. I like the neck on a Jazz a lot more and find it easier to play.

 

[UNICORN BASS]

Partial to Jazz basses. The MIK Squier was my first bass. The other one is a $69 kit.

 

[Kro]

Precision! Offset bodies are a droopy mistake!

 

[Jscriv]

I love my P, but it has P special neck on it for one reason: it's really a jazz bass neck. The jazz bass neck is much more comfortable to me than the P.

 

[HalfManHalfBass]

I had a real obsessional thing for a while about P basses -but only paired with a Jazz neck on them.

Nowadays I totally prefer a Jazz: better upper fret access, two pickups (the front of which can do a passable P bass sound in an emergency) more versatility, less chunky curves and no huge, plastic pick guard.

My thumb also has nowhere to rest on a P bass -without having a bridge pickup.

 

[HardNHeavy]

the tone of a J is beautiful, but dont tell my P that...i love her too...prolly why i built a p/j..this is like choosing between a wife and the hot mistress...

 

[TBPlayerOC]

I use both depending on what the song I am playing requires. My main players are a 1st year Geddy Jazz and a 2012 Honeyburst Precision with a Geddy neck. All of my Precision basses have Jazz necks as I just love the feel of them over traditional Precision necks.

 

[FlashBazbo]

J bass has the ergonomics. And I can get P bass tone from my J that's easily within the range of variability for genuine P basses.

As between the two, 99% of audience members won't be able to tell the difference. It's like drummers who are passionate about Zildjian K's vs. Zildjian A's, and vice versa. Almost no non-drummer notices a difference. And among those that do, very few care.

 

[Angus Walker]

I'll stick with the P bass, as it's an all good rounder for me.

 

[Thumper]

Slight edge to a P. I have both, but don't care for a skinny J neck, uncomfortable for me to play. I'm gravitating towards B necks as I age though.

My '66J wears flats (Chrome XLs), my CS NOS '59 P wears rounds (Sunbeam lights), my JPJ is sporting GH flats.

 

[JRA]

any unlined fretless PJ is a superior piece.

 

[tb4sbp]

I was a hard core P bass guy
Then I got a J bass and wondered why I waited so long
Jazz all day, any day

YMMV - thanks

 

[350125g0]

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
View attachment 3790358

For me, this is the perfect bass... j neck and just the p pickup is all I want. I really wish Fender made these as an out-of-box option considering my dislike of bridge pickups in general.

 

[Pings Bass]

L-2K > Jazz > PJ > Precision

For me. Your mileage may vary, of course.

(Note that I did not put stingray in that ranking, because it's in its own universe doing its own special thing. Honestly the P is like that, too.)

 

[Dynomuttasaurus]

Yet another vote for PJ with a jazz neck. My favorite Fender is the Power Jazz Bass Special.

 

[FishDub]

I have both and love both. Some songs need a P, and some songs need a J, which is why I love having both. If someone held a gun to my head and had to sell one? Probably sell the P, ONLY and I mean ONLY because for the occasional slap, the J blows away the P for a slap tone(IMHO)..

 

[Thundertips]

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.

Three months ago I would've said P-Bass but now that I have had a Jazz too for three months now, I love them both. They are both different and beautiful in there own ways. So, like the one person said, you need both.

 

[FishDub]

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

J- Polite, slice, elegant
P- Mean, nasty, go to hell