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Fender P vs J

#21
Ostie said:
Well, you could buy both, keep the one you choose and return the other.

BTW, I played a Squire 70s CV Jazz at GC today and I was very impressed. It was surf green, maple neck with block inlays. Very cool. It was calling to me.....
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Fender?squire? Stick with Ibby u will be better off, for the same amount of money
 
#22
minddrain said:
I was looking at a Schecter. I found one place on Reveb that had one and one place on Amazon that had one. Ideally, I would like to get it from somewhere that I do not have to pay for it all at once. The place on Amazon was trying to confirm if they had one or not and did have financing.
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You have to remember, here on TB you're in deep Fender country. P's and J's infinity. I have two main Ibanez basses, the SR300EL and the SR500EL. I've also owned J's and P's over the years.

If you want a narrow neck the Schecter will be your next best choice. It's cut exactly like the Ibanez basses. Lean and fast. I'm looking at a "furniture" finish Schecter in Honey natural finish. That will probably be my show bass, rather than my two Ibanez workhorse basses. I hope Amazon can come through for you. Stick with what you are used to. If you do end up with a Fender, make sure you can return it if you don't like it. Good luck!
 
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#25
minddrain said:
I just don’t want to order something uncomfortable to play
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all the advice about playing instruments (upside down if necessary) is spot on. then you won't be dependent on the opinions of others who care more about their own comfort than yours...which frees you from posting (in the future) the rant about trusting other's opinions "for the last time."

do some online research about the different neck profiles of the axes you think you'd be interested in and then go and play as many as you can --- especially axes which have those preferred profiles (or anything close) so that you can seek/find the one you're likely to appreciate! don't make excuses which limit your quest: be proactive and find out for yourself! good luck! :thumbsup:
 
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#28
I’d say buy the bass for its sound. If you happen to choose P, and you don’t like the neck; just get a J neck for it. Bolt on baby!

That’s what I did. I played Ibanez and Yamaha for many years. I tried (bought) a P and a J just a few years ago. The Jazz neck felt better, but the P worked better for my band. So I got out the screwdriver!

But, OTOH, the more Precision basses i play in store, the more I think it’s not such a big difference; something I could easily adapt to with a little more time (than I gave it the first time.) TBH I’m seriously considering a new P, just to prove (to myself) I can do it.
 
#29
The closest thing fender makes to a soundgear it's a fender Jazz Bass... Or a p-bass special with active electronics. The P bass is a bigger, thicker neck than the Jazz - I play a jazz and honestly I'll say that a good P neck is a beauty to play as well. The Jazz has two pickups while the P has one. Both are passive unlike your Ibby if I recall. Both are good basses, generally. The P-bass special is a precision with a jazz pickup at the bridge and a thinner Jazz neck, and some iterations have an active preamp. If that's an option I'd grab that if you want "the closest thing possible" to your Ibanez. If you don't want that, however, I'd say your best choice would be to muck around with the limitations of the P bass standard - applying limitations and working within them can be great for your creative approach. If you still want the closest thing and the P special isn't an option, the Jazz is the next best thing, and would probably still be different enough to warrant some creative juices flowing.
 
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#30
I have Ibanez SR1600 and Am Std Jazz bass. I don't measure them, but IMO both necks are similar in size, they felt the same. Changing from Ibanez to Fender (or the other way around), feels like playing the same bass... except for the weigh.

One caveat, I don't know if SR300 has the same neck size as SR1600. If they're the same, then it has similar size to the neck of Fender jazz bass. So take this with a lots of grain of salt.

One difference is the neck finish. Jazz bass has gloss finish, while my SR has flat natural finish. I prefer the Ibanez neck, it feels and plays much nicer than Jazz bass neck.
 
#32
Keep your eye on the local Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. I recently sold an unplayed MIM Jazz Bass for $300. There are so few lefties that it is difficult to sell a used one, so the price has to be low to get someone to buy a second bass they don't really need.
 
#34
Either Fender will have a much “larger” neck profile. The P will be wider than the J. The J will be similar width wise to the Ibanez. Both necks will have more girth front to back than the Ibanez.
 
#36
J is closer to your Ibanez, neck-wise, though not exactly the same (it’ll be a bit fuller). Ps are great (got the classic sound), though the neck is wider and is flat in the back. There can be variations model to model though


Happy hunting and good luck!
 
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#37
minddrain said:
I, last night, did find one on a reverb store. Not the model that I was looking at originally.

Schecter OMEN EXTREME-4 LH | Musician Madness
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I had one of these (a right-hander) and liked the playability once I lowered the action a bit. I'm used to a Hamer Cruise bass which I believe is close to a Jazz style neck and maybe even slightly narrower. The Schecter was similar in size. I've always preferred the smaller J to P necks (I have Trump hands).

I only got rid of it because I'm a junky for the Jazz sound which the Schecter definitely does not have. I loved the playability though.
 
#38
The P bass is a bigger, thicker neck than the Jazz

Depends on what model. I have a Squier CV P bass and it is noticeably more comfortable to play than my Fender 60s J. I still enjoy playing the J but when I picked up the P (after playing the J for a couple weeks), I was surprised at the difference. FWIW, I have small hands and short fingers. A modern C profile is a very comfortable neck profile.
 

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