J Bass vs. P Bass

[Indiana Mike]

I voted jazz but love the tone of a P ...

I will have a P with a J neck

 

[treekiller]

Great idea.

Will any Fender J neck fit on any Fender P body?

Usually yes and vise-versa, FENDER being the key word. Deluxe basses are a different critter. Fender/Squier not always without modification.

 

[treekiller]

I have both, but much prefer the P neck. My Am. Std. Jazz rarely gets played. Having said that, my current project is an MIM Jazz that I swapped the neck for an Allparts maple P neck. Hopefully I'll have the best of both worlds. However, nothing beats a P with flats!!!

 

[Funkbass Levi]

I have had several p's over the years but I really like how the j sounds in certain situations. I saw a fender pbass special one time at a guys house I was buying a p bass at used and I'm determined to find one.

I think it's a p body, jazz neck, a split pickup like a p in the normal spot and then a jazz pickup towards the bridge. Seemed like the best of both worlds and I fell in love. I think the electronics allowed pickup selection but if not I would mod it to a three way switch.

 

[Donger]

I voted P only because I own a P which I bought way back in 1977 and still use. Never owned a J but sure wouldn't turn one down.

 

[meatwad]

I started out playing bass on Jazzes exclusively, and didn't own a Precision for several years. The first P for me was a sunburst/maple from the mid 70's, and it was great, but the neck was twisted so I unloaded it and stuck with my Jazzes. Eventually, every Jazz I had either got stolen or crapped out, and I ended up with a black/maple '78 Precision. That particular bass transformed me to a P guy!

Now I'm a Precision/StingRay/Tobias through an SVT kinda player, but a GOOD Jazz would be always be nice too.

 

[rockosocko]

I've owned both. In terms of feel, tone and versatility, I prefer the Jazz bass.

 

[Gaolee]

I have a P. Don't have a J. That makes it easy.

 

[gjbassist]

J all the way! Love that growly Geddy style Jazz bass tone!

 

[VWbug]

I have Both.
Mostly use the Jazz these days. I hear it better in the mix but I do have a serious respect for the P bass tone!

 

[CharlieC]

If we can agree that a J solo'd neck pup sounds like a P then it's game over

Do you guys think a solo'd J neck pup can sound like a P despite some single-coil hum?

 

[SteveC]

I think. It gets close. Not quite the same. Probably "good enough" for most of us for live use at regular every day type gigs.

 

[Kael]

Just pick a bass and take it to the gig. Chance are no one cares which one you are playing other than you anyway. Go with whatever floats your boat.

 

[mccartneyman]

If we can agree that a J solo'd neck pup sounds like a P then it's game over

Do you guys think a solo'd J neck pup can sound like a P despite some single-coil hum?

Not really.

 

[SteveC]

Just pick a bass and take it to the gig. Chance are no one cares which one you are playing other than you anyway.

Ain't that the truth. That's why I'm now playing a Squier instead of a Sadowsky. Ad no, I'm not saying a Squier is as good as a Sadowsky so al the Sadowsky lovers and Squier haters can relax. I'm just agreeing that most people don't care.

 

[Gab124]

If we can agree that a J solo'd neck pup sounds like a P then it's game over

Do you guys think a solo'd J neck pup can sound like a P despite some single-coil hum?

It sounds close enough to a P for me to hate using it alone
Really though, there has always been something about the "tone" of a P that I just could not enjoy - and the neck pup of my J sounds close enough to it that I never solo it, or even favor it.
Though I do believe this question is a bit hard to answer, because of several factors, what pickups, what strings, what amp, where do you pluck on the neck, how "busy" of a player are you, how do you eq? I like the deep sound of the P (not the tone) and because of that I always replace my jazz pups with something with more depth, but still retaining the clarity of a J. That way I can have that supportive feel with J like note separation. So I guess I like/play Jazz basses but needed to choose carrots Its all good in the end

 

[duff84]

i like jazz bass's they just seem to work for me, i also like p/j bass's with a jazz neck, those are good. i try to like p bass's but the necks are alittle to much for me sometimes.

 

[countrybass007]

I flipped a coin to vote, since I use both and enjoy playing them equally. Now I feel like a politician.

 

[Lesfunk]

P/J!

 

[RaginRog]

Jazz bass....BUT...only because I have Dimarzio Model J's in both of my Jazz basses. If I could only have the original single coils, I believe I might have voted for a P bass.