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P-Bass Vs. Jazz Bass

#42
gigslut said:
This has never come up before.

As a dyed in the wool P=Bass player, I have to say the neck pickup on a jazz falls in the "close but no cigar" category. It'll do in a pinch.
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I've just recently found this to be very true. I've played Jazz basses for years (still do and I love them) and thought the same thing....just roll the bridge pickup down and you've got a P bass tone. Uh, no!

About 3 months ago I bought my first P bass and did a comparison. I can't explain it in technical terms but to me, the P bass occupies a certain midrange territory that seems to "grind" thru more than the Jazz neck pickup does. I agree that the Jazz neck pickup will do an approximation of a P bass in a pinch, but it's not the same. Just doesn't have the same grind to it.

Yep, close but no cigar!
 
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#45
I have Jazz and P basses and in my experience I found that the majority of time I played the Jazz I had the bridge pickup full on with just a little neck pickup blended in.
So for me a P/J bass works quite well. When I want a P sound it's full on the Precision pickup, when I need a Jazz sound it's back off a bit on the Precision pickup and full on the bridge pickup. I've found the P/J to be the best bass at approximating each of the two basses in one body.
 
#46
I have played my '87 Jazz Bass Special (P/J) mostly on the P pup for 25 years, as well as my '01 MIA Jazz for the last ten years. When comparing them side-by-side I find that the Jazz front pup can indeed sound similar to the P, but doesn't have the same punch, just a similar tone. That's to be expected. As for preference, I never can decide. Both sound wonderful to me. The Jazz is "smoother," whatever that means. The only reason I might prefer a straight-out Jazz Bass over a straight-out Precision has more to do with the neck shape. I prefer the Jazz's narrower nut width. Fortunately, with my Jazz Bass Special I have the best of both worlds.

On another note, I also like the sound of either bass with both pups on full, depending on the song. While the tone is a hair scooped that way it actually seems to still cut through in a mix. If I get another bass I'd like to try a Blacktop Jazz.
 
#47
Russell L said:
I have played my '87 Jazz Bass Special (P/J) mostly on the P pup for 25 years, as well as my '01 MIA Jazz for the last ten years. When comparing them side-by-side I find that the Jazz front pup can indeed sound similar to the P, but doesn't have the same punch, just a similar tone. That's to be expected. As for preference, I never can decide. Both sound wonderful to me. The Jazz is "smoother," whatever that means. The only reason I might prefer a straight-out Jazz Bass over a straight-out Precision has more to do with the neck shape. I prefer the Jazz's narrower nut width. Fortunately, with my Jazz Bass Special I have the best of both worlds.

On another note, I also like the sound of either bass with both pups on full, depending on the song. While the tone is a hair scooped that way it actually seems to still cut through in a mix. If I get another bass I'd like to try a Blacktop Jazz.
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By that logic something like the (quite pretty) Invalid Link Removed would do the trick nicely. I would choose something like that over a straight-up Jazz any day. IMHO

--Silvie
 
#48
I love both my P bass and J bass. I installed a Varitone on my J bass which gives me the ability to control both pickups with one volume pot and both pickups tone with one pot also. With the Varitone I can switch between pickups (similar to a Stratocaster 3 way switch) and utilize the neck p/u only, both p/u's together or only the bridge p/u. My Varitone also has a 6 position non-active tone switch for tonal scoops if I want to use that too.

But to each their own and IMO, P bass's and J bass's each have their own distinct sounds. For the music my band is performing currently, my J bass seems to fit the bill better.
 
#50
it is funny. I say I prefer a jazz bass, but I just built myself one, and I used the double wound DiMarzio pickups and a Nordstrand preamp to try to get the tone I wanted

and my biggest complaint is that the 1.45 inch nut width and slim neck contour is too small for my very large hands
I know that it is not popular with a lot of bassists, but I like a little larger neck. Obviously to keep balance right, that means more body mass as well
I guess I am just stuck with large basses. Maybe that is OK thought. Small ones look like toys, in my hands
 
#52
gigslut said:
This has never come up before.

As a dyed in the wool P=Bass player, I have to say the neck pickup on a jazz falls in the "close but no cigar" category. It'll do in a pinch.
Click to expand...

Exactly, close, but not the same. I've only played a Precision for the last 6 or so years (with occasional T-bird action tossed in), but I recently aquirred a AVRI 62 Jazz to go with my AVRI Precision. I love both, an have spent the last couple weeks playing the jazz almost exclusively to break it in. I've been favoring the neck pup with the volume and tone pretty much wide open (for some Zeppelin I've been rolling the tone back to about 1/5th open) and the bridge pup with tone wide open but volume at about 1/5th open. That's the closest I can it to sounding like my Precision. The Precision, with Roto Swing 66s into a Sunn, run wide open, is like a fire-breathing monster. The Jazz is like a bit more civil of a dragon, who simply likes to nicely seer his victims. The Precision also has a noticeably higher output. I think how I'd describe the Jazz compared to the P is that it has a bit more of a "choked" lower mid range and bottom, especially with the tone rolled off. Keep in mind this is with a Stack Knob, which cane dull the sound a bit more than a 3-knob.

I've been using the Precision in a power trio for years, and it's always been fantastic for filling up a huge amount of sonic space. I've often read the Jazz has been favored in power trios, due to their more cutting sound, treble, and mid range, but for the life of me I don' know why this is a common mind set. I think with bright roundwounds the Precision cuts just as much, and has a fuller bottom, taking up even more sonic space in my opinion. With that said though, I think they're both great instruments, and honestly, both probably sit about the same in a mix. But the Jazz does NOT sound like a Precision. Like Gigslut said, "close, but no cigar"
 
#54
A Jazz or P/J or even a P/P just complicates things too much. You have to remember to check that the bridge pickup is turned to 0, and you might accidentally move the knob and end up with some bridge pickup signal there. Why risk it?
 
#55
I'm not scared of checking my pickup balance. If the tone isn't quite right, I'll adjust, what's the big deal?

My main bass now has two Big Singles in it, and the neck pickup does a fair imitation of a P pickup. If I boost the mids a bit I can get a more snarly P tone. I just A/B'd it with my P5, and while it's not perfect (the P has flats so it's a bit hard to tell), it's pretty close, and it's worth it to me for the added versatility.

A PJ or something similar is ideal for me (although I don't have one at the moment). The P pickup gets that cool "dopey" sound when you dig in, and the bridge pickup (usually a hum-cancelling J) gives you extra growl when needed.

Also, I really like the low notes on the B string, and these in general don't seem to speak as well through a soloed P pickup, at least on the basses I've tried.

I used to have one of those much sought-after American Precision Deluxe V basses with the humbucker in the bridge. Beautiful bass, but the P pickup never sounded very P-like to me, too modern and clean. My Nordstrand Big Singles sound/feel more like a P to my ear.
 
#58
tonymcbony said:
A Jazz with the pickups in series gets VERY close IMO.
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I'm not sure how. A (standard two single coil pickup) jazz wired in series still uses both pickups at the same time. This does not sound like a P bass. Actually the closet I've heard are the side-by-side split Jazz humbuckers, running in series with just the neck pickup, but that totally losses the Jazz
Bass sound.
 
#59
king_biscuit said:
I'm not sure how. A (standard two single coil pickup) jazz wired in series still uses both pickups at the same time. This does not sound like a P bass. Actually the closet I've heard are the side-by-side split Jazz humbuckers, running in series with just the neck pickup, but that totally losses the Jazz
Bass sound.
Click to expand...

Like I said, gets very close but it's not the real thing. Does a similar thing in the mix but not quite as good as a P does. The series setting gets a lot more mids and more output than the standard Jazz wiring. It gets you in the ball park for sure, although I think it loses the Jazz vibe too much. If you only had one bass that had to be variable, I'd get the Jazz and put a series/parallel switch in. If you've got the coin, get both a J and P and embrace their unique characteristics.
 

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