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Mustang PJ vs. Precision PJ

Bortron

Bortron

Apr 10, 2018
174
436
#1
I have a Squier P-Bass that I've converted to PJ (from JJ... weird), but it's a 5-string and I'm struggling to get used to the neck. It's not so much the width, just the radius and how flat the fingerboard feels. Hopefully I'll find my way around it comfortably eventually. However...

In the meantime, my eye has been drawn to other PJ basses, particularly the Fender Player Mustang PJ (or Player II). Now obviously, that's a short scale bass (which I like, a lot), so my main question is this: does the Mustang PJ sound similar to a Precision PJ despite the scale difference?

Also, how would a Yamaha BB434, BB424 or BB1100S compare to either in terms of tone?

(I'd try some out, but despite living in the UK's second largest urban area, with a rich musical history, there are only about 3 or 4 small guitar shops since PMT went bust.)
 
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#3
i'm gonna open myself up for abuse and say that i doubt anyone but eric johnson can tell the diff between a 30" and 34" bass in a song. and i think i can probably eq my shorties ('78 musicmaster, recent gretsch electromatic) to sound extremely close to my p or bb434.

as for playability, i *loved* my player mustang when i was sitting down. i found it difficult to play standing up for some reason, and only having 19 frets annoyed me. sounded good.

the bb434 is a helluva lot of bass for the money, esp if you can find one used.
 
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#5
Honestly... the Mustang with P pickups gets damn close to me and I think they sound similar. I agree with others that no one honestly other than bassist will care. It's like fishing, driving cars for me. I think everyone will think I'm cool fly fishing on the saltwater but not one person probably cares or even knows the difference... I mean yeah maybe some people do but in reality if you don't care about bass playing they probably won't care probably just bassist.

I found the Yamaha's BB have a big neck so be aware, maybe Ibanez is a good luck for five strings. Go with what you like, short scale is great if you dig that.
 
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#7
Bortron said:
I have a Squier P-Bass that I've converted to PJ (from JJ... weird), but it's a 5-string and I'm struggling to get used to the neck. It's not so much the width, just the radius and how flat the fingerboard feels. Hopefully I'll find my way around it comfortably eventually. However...

In the meantime, my eye has been drawn to other PJ basses, particularly the Fender Player Mustang PJ (or Player II). Now obviously, that's a short scale bass (which I like, a lot), so my main question is this: does the Mustang PJ sound similar to a Precision PJ despite the scale difference?

Also, how would a Yamaha BB434, BB424 or BB1100S compare to either in terms of tone?

(I'd try some out, but despite living in the UK's second largest urban area, with a rich musical history, there are only about 3 or 4 small guitar shops since PMT went bust.)
Click to expand...
I usually don't like the feel, response and resonance of most any short scale bass I've tried, nor do I particularly care for the tone, all of this relative to a standard 34-inch scale bass. They're not terrible instruments, but if I have a choice (and I always seem to), I choose standard 34-inch scale instruments. Might be fun for banging around at home, perhaps for certain songs.
 
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#8
These . . . .

1750738236217.png

Mustang P/J

. . . . are WAY better than these . . .

1750738296748.png

OG Mustang with those 'Chiclet' pickups

The PJ Mustang can sound very close to a full scale bass, but you simply have to weigh IF the convenience of the smaller size and easier handling are worth the small tradeoff in tone vs. a true longscale instrument.

As far as Yamahas, a BB1100S is pretty elderly by now with a big neck, but a current BB to me would be preferable: Yamaha mastered the PJ tone years ago and is still the best at it, albeit in a full-scale size.
 
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#10
Thanks for the input everyone! I hadn't noticed that the Mustang only has 19 frets, and with where the neck joins the body, it would make some of the songs my band plays borderline unplayable - my Squier Rascal is short scale but still has 21 frets and fantastic upper fret access.

I'll consider the Yamaha BB434 as an option if I do go down the 4-string PJ route.
 
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#16
AK Bass Guy said:
Here is a great vid I saw a while ago that covers all the Mustang basses
Click to expand...
It’s a very personal, and slightly biased review. Conrad dinged the one PJ in the comparison because it had a J pickup. Forget that he didn’t need to use that pickup, or that it gives tonal flexibility, he said he didn’t like it because the J pickup gave the bass “an identity crisis.” 🙄
 
#17
FretRiff said:
It’s a very personal, and slightly biased review. Conrad dinged the one PJ in the comparison because it had a J pickup. Forget that he didn’t need to use that pickup, or that it gives tonal flexibility, he said he didn’t like it because the J pickup gave the bass “an identity crisis.” 🙄
Click to expand...
Agreed. Just a vid I’ve seen before that popped up on a quick search.
Lots of other vids out there and I’d recommend OP dig through them before making any purchases.
Better yet, OP should get hands on some bass in a big box store.
 
#18
I had a Player P/J Mustang briefly and found the ergonomics to be very unpleasant. …for me, anyway. Both the neck and the string spacing were uncomfortably narrow and the way it balanced on a strap didn’t suit me at all. It just wasn’t my thing.

The tone was perfectly acceptable, though. Not exactly like a full-scale P/J but close enough that nobody would ever know the difference in a mix. I didn’t love the stock pickups but I didn’t hate them, either. They were okay.
 
#19
A Fender MIM P/J is going to have a 1.5" nut width like a Jazz bass. A Squier Classic Vibe also has a 1.5" nut width. American Mustangs have wider nut widths. Also the road worn sig model (JMJ?) has a wider nut width.

A P bass is going to have a wider nut width. Some are wider than others so you'll have to check on the model you're interested in.
 

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