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

[Ric5]

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

I'll take one of each

 

[Kijekuyo]

Since I love the sounds of both, I chose mine based on the balance and feel. I played a Precision exclusively for 16 years, and I never liked the body or neck. It was also neck-heavy. So, when I went back to bass playing recently, I bought the Squier J-Bass in my avatar. I like the feel of the J-bass. The perfect bass for me would be one that has a Jazz body and neck and P-J pickups (like a J-P 90). That said, I'm now considering buying a short-scale Squier Jaguar, which is pretty close.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

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.

Truth be known, outside of the bass I had for about a year when I started playing bass in 1965, the only 4-string basses I've had were passive, made in the US, Jazz Basses. My first one was a 1965 Jazz. Played that through high school;, some college; toured with it for 3-years playing 5-nights a week, 50-weeks a year; and played weekend gigs with it until 1976 when our house was burglarized and it was stolen. I really got use the feel of the neck and what I call the "round" tone of my Jazz Bass.

Took me the better part of 10-years to find another MIA Jazz Bass with that same neck profile. That's the 1982 Olympic white Jazz with maple neck you see in my pictures. Found it in '85 and when I played it, it just felt like home to me.

And that's the biggest problem that I have with a Precision bass. I can't stand that fat, wide neck. It's just sluggish and uncomfortable for me to move around on. I like the sound of it just fine, but the neck knocks it out of the competition for me.

My '82 Jazz has that same neck profile as my '65 did (60's shallow C-shape with a 7.25" radius) but is maple with white neck binding. The pickups use the later 70's 4" spacing. Same great sound with significantly more sustain than my '65 had. So, I'm a died in the wool Jazz bass guy.

Guess it would help if I put up a picture of it!

 

[DrThumpenstein]

Doesn't a P/J sound close to a P when the P pickup is on by itself?

Definitely, although on most PJs, the P pickup is are a little closer to the neck than the purists "sweet spot". There is an easily heard change in tone by moving a pickup an inch or 2. My Grabber proves that. But a significant difference in a mix? I really don't think so. My PJ sounds like a P when the P is solo'd.

I voted other, though, because I just LOVE my Aerodyne (PJ) now that I have it tricked out the way I want. The original P sounded like a P, although the J pickup was noisy and anemic relative to the P. EMG Geezers definitely have a great vintage P tone and both the P the J pickups are beefier now, the J much more so, and growlier. (Spell check doesn't think "growlier" is a word but I know you know what I mean.)

I have a Lakland J that is great for some stuff that I do, and I always enjoy playing it. But if I had to stick with one, it would definitely be the PJ because of the range of tones. I pretty much always have the P dimed, so tonally I like the P a little better than the J. P tone fits a lot of what we're playing these days. I'm not married to Fender, but the 'Dyne is a great bass and I'll check some out when it's time to expand the stable.

I definitely prefer the J neck profile over the P. Never a fan of chunky necks myself. That's completely personal taste, I have nothing but respect for those who can get music out of a baseball bat. But I'm much more comfortable with a thinner, narrower neck profile.

Next up is a 5er. It'll definitely have something approximating a J-type neck. Not sure what brand -- maybe a Stingray or L2500. Could be a PJ or a J. Probably won't be "just" a P.

 

[brianrost]

The Jazz is larger and heavier than the Precision when built from the same woods. I always feel I have to boost the lows on the amp when I play a J while I don't have to boost with a P.

So I prefer the P.

I currently own an AmStd J5 (bought to replace an AmStd P5 I should have held on to), I've owned two other Js in the past but sold both...AVRI 62 J, first gen AmDlx J5.

 

[bobyoung53]

I own both, a Fender Jazz and a two Fender P/J, sone fretless and like both. I would not be afraid to bring either to just about any gig, I do prefer P bass more for blues and old type rock n roll though. I did change the tone cap in my Jazz though so I could completely cut of the top end, I put a 0.1 mf cap in it and really like the range of the tone control now, i couldn't shut off the top end completely before I did this and still get plenty of treble with the tone up.

 

[LowEndOperative]

Jazz, after so many years. It has that long sought-after groove.

 

[4StringDave]

I prefer a Jazz Bass. It just feels nicer to play, with both the neck and body shape being better suited to me. P basses feel a bit "clunky" to me by comparison. Then there's sound - I just prefer the deeper, but present, sound of the jazz compared to the unrefined, mid-forward bark of the P. I love P basses too, but only when other people play them. I just can't get them to sit for me the way I play and the tone I hear in my head.

For context, I play fingerstyle almost exclusively, and country, blues, 60s, pop, rock types of music.

 

[SJan3]

I've been a P-Bass player for 25+ years. I love the warm pillowy sound of a P with flats. I never cared for the tone *I* got from J-Basses -- I felt they got lost in the mix due to a lack of low mids. Last summer I bought a Nash J-63, and I love it. It's very versatile and IMO the neck pickup cops a P-Bass tone better than my Fender J. Still love my P-Basses, though, so I voted P.

+1 on the NASH. I had a J-63.
It sounded great! Try Tomastik Jazz flats on it. Oh, my..

 

[JoeWPgh]

One of each, plus a Stingray and a short scale hollowbody. If I could only have one? It would depend on the day I had to choose.

 

[dkelley]

The way the thread vote is worded, I said I prefer Precision. Because you said which FENDER bass do you prefer. I like them both, but would choose a Precision because I have other basses that do the jazz thing pretty well.

 

[FishDub]

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.

+1

 

[Mike N]

I own both but voted for the P Bass.

The J may sound better when I'm practicing at home, but the P Bass sounds better to me in a live situation.

 

[Element Zero]

I like a P bass body and neck but the sound of a J more. Good thing my main is pretty much that, and then some.

 

[Dan_reeves]

Then I guess I'm weird. Out of 14 basses, I have only 1 true Jazz, a '66J I've had since '83. I don't play it, if I had a spare P neck, I would probably take it out for a spin now and then. My JPJ has a P neck and gets used occasionally. We should start a Jazz bass with a P neck club.

Weird can be cool

 

[Kro]

I like how in the olden times (pre covid) usually a P vs. J discussion would be plagued with cries of "not again" or "do a search", but during these times of social distancing, I think it's just these types of threads that come to our rescue.

I saw a class D vs. tubes thread earlier, and a few 4 vs. 5 string threads as well where everybody was having a good time. It makes me happy.

 

[Nebadon2000]

I got these Fender sales numbers from Reverb found them interesting. Did research because I bought Fender Ultra P and recommended the store I bought it from to a friend. He was told by Salesman they no longer stock Ultra P[but could get one] only Ultra J since the out sell the Ultra P [P/J] 10 to 1. When he asked about American Pro Versions was told Jazz sells 3 to 1 over Precision at his store.

New Sales----All Sales
Ultra P[/J] 27/ 44
Ultra J 77/ 96

Am Pro P 67/ 237
Am Pro J 137/ 298

Performer P[/J] 44/ 101
Performer J 45/ 128

Player P 209/ 669
Player J 290/ 921

 

[Bentfield]

Precision, the balance of the bass and the neck (70's or 60's) style suit me better than the necks of Jazz basses i've tried.
Also in my experience the A and D string sound weaker on jazz basses without compression.

 

[4StringDave]

Precision, the balance of the bass and the neck (70's or 60's) style suit me better than the necks of Jazz basses i've tried.
Also in my experience the A and D string sound weaker on jazz basses without compression.

I always felt this about the G string on my Jazz, until I put flats on it. Now the tonal balance is better. I also recently read in the strings section that the reason roundwound G strings sound different from the other three is because there is only one wrap on the core instead of two. GHS have started making balanced nickels with two wraps on the G

 

[ArteK]

I played a MIJ '75 Reissue Jazz bass for over ten years, making a ton of mods to make it sound fatter. Bought a Precision (with a J pickup) fretless bass that had that tone for days. I've been a P guy ever since (about 20 years now), although now I play fretted Ps. I've found that I prefer the punchiness of the Precision pickups. My current Precision does have a Jazz neck on it, though, so I do like the skinnier necks (well, right now after playing a fat P neck for the past 20 years, so it might change back, because I still have the precision neck).