• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Got a P, want more grind or clank, get a J?

A MIJ Geddy Jazz certainly has a lot of grind but there are also some P pickups out there that will give you some of that. The EMG Geezer pickups come to mind. What kind of strings are you using?
 
String choice and action are the bigger things here. It sounds like you might be looking for the subtle J "growl".

I'd try the brightest strings you can find, maybe like a 60/40 pickup split (bridge 60, neck 40), tone to taste (but not too much) and try playing through something like a Hartke. That might give you the full-range sounds you're looking for, the articulate piano tone. (Overtones are a big part of a piano's tone, and you want to reproduce that.) Roll off the bass a bit to give the sound space to breathe (pianos don't move air like fridges do).

Or maybe I'm wrong! Wouldn't be the first time.
 
Last edited:
.

Grind? not even close.
its get more 'Bonk'. turn up the tone knob and it's either bonk bonk bonk or gong gong gong depending on the strings. :D

Someone here doesn't like Ps.

I loved the sound of my old Jazz with Rotosound swing steels. That was as close to a piano tone as I ever heard.
 
I am a P player all around and my tone is defined by grind and clank. I am willing to bet you have dead strings. Throw on a fresh set of rounds, use a pick, and drop the action to where you start to get a little fret buzz. Also, make sure your pickup height is right and bump the mids on your amp.

You can make any bass clank, but a P can get aggressive real fast with fresh strings and a pick.
 
Thanks for all the other non J bass suggestions but i'm only interested in whether a J will get more in this area that a P (for various reason too boring to type)
BTW, have previously owned a stingray. Much prefer passive basses
 
Stingray for clank. It was made for that tone.

Agreed, but depends on what the OP is looking for. I suggested PJ mainly because of the fundamental P tone +J for that extra clarity. It bridges the gap between P & J without giving up the P tone entirely, and you can still solo the P pickup.

If OP is looking for entirely clank and to move completely away from any resemblance of P-tone, definitely a Stingray or something modern & active. Or even perhaps jazz bass (70's pup spacing maybe) and stainless steel strings - that ought to do it just as well. But the Ric tone is too unique due to pickup type & position to achieve without a true Ric, IMO.
 
Last edited:
You want grind with a p ?
GED sansamp
With stainless roto on p

Been there....when i 1st joined TB, i swallowed the massive GAS that was around at the time for sansamp. Really did not like the tone and i agree with john10k's review of them now. I now have several pedals that are both cheaper and better sounding (and grind more!) than the sansamp. But i'm not really asking for advice on pedals...just the J vs P with this tone in mind.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Coot
Have tried these out but really don't like the neck radius on them...way too flat for me. So much so it rules one out (short of a neck change)

Yeah I hear you, it's very thin and flat. I hated it at first but than got used to it and realized that it has alot to do with the attack and growl of the tone. It's hard to explain but I had a Geddy Lee body with a different neck (p bass) and it was missing the characteristic of the tone that a stock Geddy Lee (CIJ) has.
 
Neither bass should be "clearer" than the other unless you happen to interpret the mid-range focus as impacting clarity. It is possible that you might interpret a less mid-range-heavy tone as more like a piano.

That is a good point and you may be right in this. However to my ears i've always found any humbucker pickup to be slightly warmer with less top end. A split P maybe less so than other humbuckers. Single coils nearly always sound clearer to me...apart from when you have 2 on together at equal volume so they effectively become humbucking.