Fender P Bass vs Jazz (neck pickup)

[ics1974]

I have both with the same strings, action and pickup height. I really can’t decide which I like better. They sound so similar but there is a small difference.
I did a recording of both on my looper pedal so I could compare the differences. The next day I listened to it and forgot which one I played first. I honestly couldn’t confidently tell which one was the P Bass or the Jazz. I had to take my Pbass and play it right after the recording to figure it out.
What are your opinions of the P bass vs Jazz with neck pickup only?

 

[GreyBeard]

IMHO a pbass has a bit thicker/grainier tone on the low E string than the jbass. With that said, the 2 are extremely close and are really indistinguishable in a band mix. One big difference however, a standard single coil jazz pup will be noisier than a humbucking pbass pup.

 

[Alexander]

Yeah - they certainly get pretty close. I can say though that I never dial out the bridge pickup on my jazzes completely. Even when I favor the neck pickup, a little bridge sweetens things nicely. I have a great PBass (1959) and it sounds huge, but it tends to take a backseat to my jazzes for this reason.

 

[Killing Floor]

They’re close. The position makes most of the difference. But you can goose the EQ on a J and come close.
I like both. And I don’t personally know anyone who can tell which is used in an actual band recording without looking. I know I can’t.

 

[Scott Lynch]

IMHO they’re very close. I play a J bass in a wedding band and find that rolling to the neck pickup gets me close enough for Motown and other P bass inspired sounds. For live use it’s fine for me, especially when I’m on a gig where I want to dial in a couple of different settings on the instrument.

In a highly detailed environment, the differences might be more noticeable. The split coil P pickup has a little bit more of a mid range bump to my ears and the soloed J pickup is a little bit more mellow, but not my much.

 

[Pings Bass]

If you can't hear the difference in isolation, nobody can tell the difference in the mix.

It. Doesn't. Matter.

What matters way more than indistinguishable differences in tone are the notes you play and how you play them.

 

[Stewie]

The tone is immaterial. The fact that the P-bass will sit in a stand without a fight is way more importanter.

The shape matters to many. That's why Leo invented both vanilla AND chocolate ice cream

 

[Dust2Dust]

The tone is immaterial. The fact that the P-bass will sit in a stand without a fight is way more importanter.

Of COURSE the one that suits me best is the one that I have to fist-a-fight with when putting it back on it's stand

Speaking just for myself, based on the music I play, there is something "unruly and out-of-hand" about the E-string range on a P bass. I end up cutting frequencies with a graphic EQ to tame it.

I don't have to do that when using a solo'd neck pickup on a J

 

[Alexander]

Of COURSE the one that suits me best is the one that I have to fist-a-fight with when putting it back on it's stand

Speaking just for myself, based on the music I play, there is something "unruly and out-of-hand" about the E-string range on a P bass. I end up cutting frequencies with a graphic EQ to tame it.

I don't have to do that when using a solo'd neck pickup on a J

What kind of stands are you folks using?

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I have both with the same strings, action and pickup height. I really can’t decide which I like better. They sound so similar but there is a small difference.
I did a recording of both on my looper pedal so I could compare the differences. The next day I listened to it and forgot which one I played first. I honestly couldn’t confidently tell which one was the P Bass or the Jazz. I had to take my Pbass and play it right after the recording to figure it out.
What are your opinions of the P bass vs Jazz with neck pickup only?

I would imaging either PU would sound like an electric bass when using the same electronics under the "hood". Venturing a guess, the P pickup might have a little more gain.

 

[micguy]

There is often talk about the difference in sound between a P and a J pickup being due to the coil geometry. If all you have to look at is what you can see physically, I can understand why people think that. However, if you have the right instrumentation (it isn't that expensive), you can easily find that a P pickup generally has about 50% more inductance - that is a significant difference, and that's where most of the tonal difference exists, when you are comparing them with their volume controls at full.

If you do some circuit simulations, it also becomes apparent that, when you start talking about playing at less than "full" on the volume control the J has the disadvantage of having the volumes wired backwards, which shunts the pickup at reduced volumes, and it also has more load on it - 3 controls rather than just 2.

The VVT scheme is not really good at doing what you would think it should - in particular, the volumes don't act as volume controls - they're an odd mix of tone and volume. If you like what they do, and can work with them, good, but for me, the way they act drives me to distraction, so I wire my basses differently.

 

[ClusterFlux]

I have both with the same strings, action and pickup height. I really can’t decide which I like better. They sound so similar but there is a small difference.

As you seem to have found out: If you intentionally try to make the Jazz sound like a P, the difference is so small that it will be lost in the mix.

IMO, most of the time there's very little need to sweat the small stuff.

 

[BioDriver]

A PJ or PH will always get my vote over a JJ. YMMV

 

[GreyBeard]

What kind of stands are you folks using?

I use the type that hangs the bass by the head stock. That way body shape doesn't matter. Not the cheapest but not crazy expensive either.

Fender Deluxe Hanging Guitar Stand

 

[Rib 13]

I find that passive J pickups have two problems when soloing each pickup. The first is that a soloed passive neck J pickup is usually thinner than a P and a little too thin (ymmv). The second is, the way many J basses are wired, the soloed pickups on a passive J will buzz or make noise. Active Js are a different story: some active J basses do not buzz when soloing a pickup and the onboard EQ can make up for any thin-ness

Heres a video I did awhile back. One of these is an active J pickup, see if you can pick it out. The answer key is on my channel, the video right after this one

 

[Alexander]

I use the type that hangs the bass by the head stock. That way body shape doesn't matter. Not the cheapest but not crazy expensive either.

Fender Deluxe Hanging Guitar Stand

Same - I thought that was what everyone is doing these days

 

[Baker69]

In my personal experience the P and J neck pickups sound similar but then again different.

I think the P Bass has a slightly beefier sound and tends to cut through and sit better in the mix than my J bass. If I play my Jazz I usually have the bridge pickup also at about 90%, I rarely play just the neck pickup.

 

[petermwright]

I use a hanging neck type stand too (a Hercules one - nitro safe). No wrestling, works great for all my basses. Except the Steinberger of course.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I have both with the same strings, action and pickup height. I really can’t decide which I like better. They sound so similar but there is a small difference.
I did a recording of both on my looper pedal so I could compare the differences. The next day I listened to it and forgot which one I played first. I honestly couldn’t confidently tell which one was the P Bass or the Jazz. I had to take my Pbass and play it right after the recording to figure it out.
What are your opinions of the P bass vs Jazz with neck pickup only?

P sounds full and angry

J sounds dull and hollow. Like, there's something missing. But it's not half as noticeable in a live setting. It still does what you want it to by rolling back the bridge. It makes a more mid forward, honky tone. But, it doesn't do it the same as a p bass. It's a little empty.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I use a hanging neck type stand too (a Hercules one - nitro safe). No wrestling, works great for all my basses. Except the Steinberger of course.

I use the ultimate support one