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In Your Words...P vs. J ??

#142
georgestrings said:
For me, it's just the opposite - a P bass works better in a 1 guitar band, while a Jazz works better in a 2 guitar band because of it's ability to cut thru better... Whatever works for ya, though...


- georgestrings
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This has been my experience as well. When my punk band plays as a three piece the P-bass rounds out the sound wonderfully. However, when we play as a four piece the J-Bass is preferred as it cuts through the two guitars. This is not just my preference but the whole bands.
 
#143
electracoyote said:
If I didn't have at least one of each in my stable I would lose my mind.
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Pretty much what I'm coming to. I only have a cheapie precision and I'd like something nicer. I'm gonna start savings some money and pick up a Fender Jazz and then a Fender Precision.

I could save some cash by going Squier VM Jazz but I'm not sure. Where are the Fender standard Jazz & Precision's made..like the ones here: Invalid Link Removed
 
#145
rydin4lifebass said:
I could save some cash by going Squier VM Jazz but I'm not sure. Where are the Fender standard Jazz & Precision's made..like the ones here: Invalid Link Removed
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Yes, Mexico.

But some of the Squier offerings are pretty darn nice, great bang-for-the-buck, and compare favorably to the other lines. Some players even prefer them over MIM and MIA. Do some searches here on TB and play as many as you can before you decide.
 
#147
adivin said:
I doubted this at one time but now I can vouch for it. I have one of the best PJs out there, Lull passive with VVT. It gets close but only close. To do the job, I should have got a switch to bypass the J pickup.
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Can you demonstrate this with some recordings by playing with the P on the bass and then rewiring it to true P only so we can hear the tone difference? Could you make the clips anonymous so someone could guess which is which?
 
#149
I currently have just one bass, which happens to be a J with flats. Before I started following this thread, I was toying with the idea of getting another J for my second bass by having rounds on it for tonal variations.

Now I'm not so sure as I'm starting to feel I should have a P for my second bass. If I'm serious about being versatile as a bassist, maybe it would be a good idea to have one of each.
 
#150
michael_t said:
I currently have just one bass, which happens to be a J with flats. Before I started following this thread, I was toying with the idea of getting another J for my second bass by having rounds on it for tonal variations.

Now I'm not so sure as I'm starting to feel I should have a P for my second bass. If I'm serious about being versatile as a bassist, maybe it would be a good idea to have one of each.
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Can't hurt. Often in the studio one or the other will be specifically requested.
 
#152
JCheung said:
The precision also, as mentioned, does much better in a band situation, seeming to find its own way into a niche pocket that rounds out a band's sound.
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This is a matter of never ending debate :)
One of the obvious differences though is that the pick up placement on a post-57 split P-bass makes the sound on the G&D strings thinner compared to the deeper sounding E&A strings. This positioning seems to be wrong if you consider that the thinner strings would need more bottom to balance. But this is the way Fender made it in -57 and it seems to have been working pretty good through the years :) even though some manufacturers have been offering reverse placement.
The Jazz bass and the single coil pre-57 P-bass has a deeper low frequency response with it's pu placed further back, closer to the neck. Also the sound on these basses tend to be more even across the strings. If you prefer the post-57 P-bass stronger, more low mid bark or the smoother, deeper sound of a SC P or a Jazz bass with soloed neck pickup is entirely a matter of taste but I think both have their place and I'm happy to own both types of instruments.
The jazz with it's double pu system gives you more tonal variation if that's what you're after and a full Jazz bass sound, rightly tweaked, sits just as good in the mix, IMO of course. Love them both.
 
#156
rydin4lifebass said:
Excuse my ignorance here...what do you mean by wiring the Jazz pickups in series or parallel? How are these by default on the MIM Jazz basses?
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Standard wiring is parallel. This gives you two volumes. An alternative is series, where one pickup feeds into the other. Then you have a master volume as you now effectively have one very wide humbucking pickup. There are those who claim series can be done with two separate, passive volumes but I can't see how it would work.
 
#157
dmusic148 said:
Standard wiring is parallel. This gives you two volumes. An alternative is series, where one pickup feeds into the other. Then you have a master volume as you now effectively have one very wide humbucking pickup.
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Pre-2008 MIA Jazz came with what's called "S-1 switch", which is designed to do exactly what we're talking about. One thing I'm not sure of is what year this feature became standard on the MIA Jazz.
 
#158
Marial said:
The biggest difference is the ergos of the two different neck types. Sound-wise the Jazz is generally a bit sharper, but that certainly doesn't mean you can't get a stupidly aggressive tone out of a Precision, or a stupidly rich and warm tone out of Jazz. Or vice verse, or a bunch of intermediate tones on either.

If you know how to work the knobs and can apply different playing techniques, both instruments are quite versatile.
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I felt really inspired to share this recording of an insanely aggressive sounding P-bass. Definitely check out the song "Barbarism Begins at Home":

:)
 

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