"P" bass verses Jazz... comment from practice last night

[LetItGrowTone]

Comparing the P to the J neck pickup, I think the P is a little more nasal (don't mean that negatively), but the single word I like is that the P has "bombast" - one vivid example is Duck Dunn on the Blues Brothers soundtrack - (less so if played lighter and/or closer to the neck). This "bombast" is like a big guy with elbows out a little, pushing through a crowd. That is one kind of "cutting through".

I think that blending in some J bridge pickup doesn't make the J sound closer to a P, and it "cuts through" in a different place.

I don't feel this "bombast" in my personality. Very personal thing.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

About a year or so ago I scored a 2004 MIA Jazz and started using it with the band I play in... Prior to that my regular player was a 2015 P, one of the Z Zounds special edition 50's reissues (MIM). After I got the J, I played around a bit with the P swapping out the MIM PU's with a Lindy Fralin set, and went to flats (the wiring and pots had already been upgraded). I was pleased with the upgrade, but the J was a little lighter and the contour was a little more comfortable to play so I kept using it with the band. Last week we added Pretzel Logic to the set and when I working on it, I decided to grab the P... With a few quick EQ adjustments on the amp I was pretty pleased with the tone, and I had forgotten how quiet it was playing with flats.
Fast forward to last night at practice... afterwards while chatting with one of the guitar players he mentioned that I wasn't playing the Jazz and... it was cool cause the P really cut through the mix and he could hear me much better than with the J. I use an Ampeg BA115v2 combo at practice, and I made a few EQ adjustments, maybe tweaked the volume up a hair. I have to admit it was nice going to the single volume control, but it always seems to me that I basically sound the same. Is there that much difference between the two bass type tones?

Not so much with the Neck PU of the JB solo’d when the notes start flying imo.

 

[MtManiac]

^^^ All this.

One of my first instincts was "don't trust the guitarist's opinion on where the bass should sit in the mix." And i say that as a bassist and a mix engineer.

All joking aside, there are way too many variables going on to make a universal assumption about one person's opinion about one song at one rehearsal using different basses. So don't take as gospel what this one guitarist thought worked better for the mix in the one situation in this one room with a lot of variable changes. It might be true this time but not next.


Yes and no.
Do they sound different? Yeah. But also, a J bass sounds different from itself depending on if you use the neck pup, bridge pup, or some combination of the two. And also every bass sounds a little different. Every P bass sounds a little different from every other P bass, and they all sound like P Bass.






These statements are a hint, perhaps?

It seems like you're making EQ adjustments with the bass in isolation for your own ear and not for each bass in the mix while everyone is playing. That plus the volume adjustment.
- Maybe the P bass fit better in the mix and was louder because its frequency response curve suits the sound and the guitarist's ears better.
- Maybe he could hear it better because it was just louder, because you turned up the volume.
- Maybe it was because your "arbitrary" EQ adjustments for the P worked better in the mix than your EQ adjustments for the J. (Arbitrary meaning "to suit your tastes" not "to suit the mix")
- Maybe it was just that combination of P plus Amp plus Room plus all the tones the other musicians in the band were using for that song.

All this was a long way of saying, don't sweat it too much. The two basses sound different, but not so different you couldn't make either work tonally for your band if you spent some time dialing both of them in, in the context of the mix. They're both great basses.

I agree with all of this 100%.

 

[MtManiac]

This is me too. Long time P player, I’d owned Jazzes in the past and just couldn’t take to them, so sold them. This year I picked up two Jazzes that are a bit different from each other, and have been playing them at band practices and am gaining an appreciation of the different things they do versus a P. I find on the first 5 frets or so, they can give this tone when I dig in that is what I’d call very bubbly or burpy. It’s not just the addition of the bridge pickup, as I do not experience this on a PJ. It’s more of a Geddy Lee type of growl.

My guitar player doesn’t pay much attention to what type of bass I’m using, he moreso recognizes them by colour - out of all of them, he strongly refers “the blue one”, which is a stock American Pro II P bass.

Just want to add that I don’t often pay mind to what the guitar player wants.

 

[BassicJazzy]

I didn't read all the previous posts but will just weigh in since I am playing my P today, and loving it. What the P does better than anything is play deep blues, effortlessly, without adding too much color to the tone. It is just an effortless bass to play, I'm bebopping my butt off today. Compared to the Jazz, it is a more basic tool and more consistent sounding, with a bit more presence. For nuances, the Jazz excels. For good solid thump and solid bottom, the P excels. Need one of each. All I'm saying....

 

[sean_on_bass]

About a year or so ago I scored a 2004 MIA Jazz and started using it with the band I play in... Prior to that my regular player was a 2015 P, one of the Z Zounds special edition 50's reissues (MIM). After I got the J, I played around a bit with the P swapping out the MIM PU's with a Lindy Fralin set, and went to flats (the wiring and pots had already been upgraded). I was pleased with the upgrade, but the J was a little lighter and the contour was a little more comfortable to play so I kept using it with the band. Last week we added Pretzel Logic to the set and when I working on it, I decided to grab the P... With a few quick EQ adjustments on the amp I was pretty pleased with the tone, and I had forgotten how quiet it was playing with flats.
Fast forward to last night at practice... afterwards while chatting with one of the guitar players he mentioned that I wasn't playing the Jazz and... it was cool cause the P really cut through the mix and he could hear me much better than with the J. I use an Ampeg BA115v2 combo at practice, and I made a few EQ adjustments, maybe tweaked the volume up a hair. I have to admit it was nice going to the single volume control, but it always seems to me that I basically sound the same. Is there that much difference between the two bass type tones?

Something about a P really sits nicely in a mix. With that said, a Jazz bridge pickup sound can really cut through in a different and more direct way. I think which is best really depends on the music you are playing and your playing style.

 

[tothemax]

Cool feedback...

At home this week I did a quick comparison between basses with the the same amp settings and the P really does seems to have a little better punch, I think the upgraded PU also makes a difference. I guess there is a reason so many pro's main go to is a P. I have a medium light set of flats on the P, after putting some time on it the last few weeks it may be time to go a little heavier (not much... it plays too nicely). Having a little more umph on the D and G strings would be nice. Now that the newness of the J has worn off, that 1/2 lb. really doesn't seem to make that much difference.

At the end of the day I'm very appreciative to have a pair decent players to choose from.

Cheers

 

[sean_on_bass]

yep, a good P and good Jazz will set you up for most all musical situations.