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First bass, what am I looking for? Jazz or Percision

#21
I started out on a Precision in the 60's. That one was stolen from me. I progressed through a number of basses over the next few decades. Gibson, Rickenbacker, Hofner, Peavey, G&L, to a Fender Jazz. Then finally back to a Precision. I sold all the others except the Jazz but it just sits unplayed. I now play, gig entirely with one of my 6 Precisions. I'm not looking back.
 
#22
kanoharuayu said:
I like metal / rock. I just want a good bass for playing those songs. I'm very confused, do I buy a JAZZ or a Precision or some other model? Should I get a 5 string? I don't know if you guys can tell what type of bass plays in these songs, but I'm mainly looking to play/cover songs with bass sounds like these:


(percision?)



(is this percision bass again?)


(jazz?)



really hard for me to tell, I only know about Jazz and Precision so far TBH. I see metal bands often have humbuckers and 5 strings. I should just buy one already and start playing, I hate research lol
Click to expand...

Both are iconic basses. Lots of love on TB for both with the P edging ahead of the J.

You can get a J to sound close to a P, but you can’t get a P to sound like a J, sans any peddles.

If you’re serious about metal then I’d go with the J, especially since you can get more treble out of a J than a P. Much metal songs require a 5 string bass because many metal songs need notes lower than E.

You could get by on some metal songs with a drop D tuner on your E string, but that won’t help for a metal song that has lower notes than low D. So if you’re serious about metal I’d say a 5 string J bass is what you want.

But then, that’s just my opinion.
 
#23
All the tracks presented sound like they’ve been done on a midi keyboard.

I’d go Jazz bass. Just solo the neck pickup if you want a beefier tone. Jazz basses are the most flexible in the tone department. Think of a Jazz bass as a 2 for 1 over the precision bass.
 
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#24
kanoharuayu said:
I like metal / rock. I just want a good bass for playing those songs. I'm very confused, do I buy a JAZZ or a Precision or some other model? Should I get a 5 string? I don't know if you guys can tell what type of bass plays in these songs, but I'm mainly looking to play/cover songs with bass sounds like these:


(percision?)



(is this percision bass again?)


(jazz?)



really hard for me to tell, I only know about Jazz and Precision so far TBH. I see metal bands often have humbuckers and 5 strings. I should just buy one already and start playing, I hate research lol
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter which you get. I've never played a Fender bass in my 40 years since I started playing.
 
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#25
OP - Is this for live stage use, recording, or just playing at home?

The P bass typically has a bit wider neck than the J bass does. I prefer the J width but some prefer the P. This is the first thing you need to figure out.

The P bass has a smaller body. Maybe this matters to you?

Tone-wise, both work great for recording and playing at home. Some people find that when playing with a live band in a real room with an audience, the J bass can sometimes get lost in the mix. I think much of that can be addressed by using just the neck pickup on the J bass, which makes it sound very much like a P bass.

My personal choice is a single pickup P body with a J neck. None of mine are from Fender, by the way. If I were forced to buy Fender, I'd buy a Jazz for the neck shape and then solo the neck pickup to get as close as I could to the Precision sound.
 
#26
The biggest difference between a 4 string P and J is the neck with the J being skinnier. Tone wise, they sound very similar and most people, including bass players, can't hear much if any difference in a mix. Try them both and get the one that feels best. As to 5 string vs 4 string and I play 5, back in the 90's the music I was playing called for that low B. Given the types of music you want to play, 4 string will cover it just fine. (hope this helps)
 
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#28
kanoharuayu said:
I like metal / rock. I just want a good bass for playing those songs. I'm very confused, do I buy a JAZZ or a Precision or some other model? Should I get a 5 string? I don't know if you guys can tell what type of bass plays in these songs, but I'm mainly looking to play/cover songs with bass sounds like these:


(percision?)



(is this percision bass again?)


(jazz?)


really hard for me to tell, I only know about Jazz and Precision so far TBH. I see metal bands often have humbuckers and 5 strings. I should just buy one already and start playing, I hate research lol
Click to expand...



Welcome, I would get a Fender P/J, most hard rock is done with P basses, they have stones that Jazzes don't have and work very well for music like that if you want to be heard but you also get more highs and mids with the extra J bridge pickup. (own Fender both J and P/J's) and love both) but as someone else said both would cover that.
 
#29
Advice from some one who can not stand Metal but I am a research fanatic.

Both Randy Rhodes (Guitar player) and Cliff Burton (Bass player) who made major impacts in metal where both trained in classical music.
Both of these Musicians(God Bless both of them) where known as players of great depth and in their own words was from their classical back ground.
They searched for instruments that played well enough to do this.
Playability before working with the sound for that can be adjusted.

This is where you come in; find a bass with a neck/fretboard you feel comfortable with and the brand does not matter.
As you build your skills this will be a good start.

Just remember this, metal is a form of music that is very theory extensive so study/research is coming. Enjoy your Journey.

IQ36ESM

Start with a four/five string that is up to you. To start I would use a four, why?
That is where metal started and with the few extra notes a five gives you is it worth dealing with a taller, wider neck.
 
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#35
lug said:
My reasoning is that we've all been in that place where when times got tough, we had to sell a bass to make rent. With the Ritter, he can make his rent for many many months!
Click to expand...
Did you mean to say..with a ritter, he can spend the money for many months of rent in just one go?

That sounds like a good deal. No?

;)
 
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#36
Welcome to Talkbass.

Not really sure why in the past few years especially, that folks think Fender, particularly the P bass, is some magic do all bass. Being a Fender owner myself, I will say they are nice sounding/playing basses, however there are a lot of others out there like Schecter, G&L, Yamaha, Ibanez, ESP that are excellent instruments as well. Personally I build my own these day, but if I were to buy a production bass, it would probably be a Schecter or Yamaha.

If possible, go play a few different types of basses. See what feels good and comfortable in your hands. Good luck and happy bass shopping, hope you find what you're looking for.
 
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#37
I’d probably recommend something with a pair of active soapbars.

Avoid the Jazz unless it has humbucking or noise cancelling pickups. The P bass is humbucking based on the pickup design.

The soapbars and P pickup will have more gain - better if you are using overdrive on your bass.

Ultimately, you can play pretty much any bass and get 90% the way to the tone you want. Then after lots of practice on the instrument, you’ll know what changes you prefer.
 
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#38
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#40
If it's a 4-string, then I'd go with the P Bass. I'd take the Jazz Bass if I needed a 5-string. I haven't had good luck with the three 5-string Ps I had.

If you're open to non-Fenders, then check out the Yamaha BB434, BB435, BB734A, & BB735A.
 

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