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P or J for me?

#61
For all those suggesting a PJ…I was under the impression that the P pickup in a PJ is positioned slightly differently than in a straight-up P. So, not exactly the P tone. Not exactly that P magic. I could be wrong.

I think you want a P. And I think $3k is a weird budget for one, haha, all due respect—an awful lot for a new USA P, and not enough for a nice vintage one.

(Although, that being said…
Fender P Bass Commemorative Bass Guitar (Westminster, CA) | Reverb)

I would find a nice used USA P with a B neck (the exact width at nut eludes me atm…1.625”?) and put the other half of your budget in a drawer for 6-8 months. At that point, you’ll probably either A) want another P with a different type of string; B) want a Jazz Bass, too or C) realize that you already have the bass of your dreams and whew, aren’t you glad you didn’t spend 3 grand on it.
 
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#63
BlueTalon said:
You really should be providing links with posts like that.
Click to expand...
Reverb, of course, number one site for basses you won't find elsewhere.
Rare Mint Momose MJ-SKR-SP21 / PH Electric Bass Jazz Bass Sakura pink 8 Limited Edition | Reverb
This one would be just fine with me.
Stewie said:
A Jazz Bass is tricksy to put in a stand. The Precision sits better. Based on your music styles, I’m betting you’ll want flatwound strings.
Click to expand...
Not with a good stand.
 
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#65
bmusic said:
For all those suggesting a PJ…I was under the impression that the P pickup in a PJ is positioned slightly differently than in a straight-up P. So, not exactly the P tone. Not exactly that P magic. I could be wrong.

I think you want a P. And I think $3k is a weird budget for one, haha, all due respect—an awful lot for a new USA P, and not enough for a nice vintage one.

(Although, that being said…
Fender P Bass Commemorative Bass Guitar (Westminster, CA) | Reverb)

I would find a nice used USA P with a B neck (the exact width at nut eludes me atm…1.625”?) and put the other half of your budget in a drawer for 6-8 months. At that point, you’ll probably either A) want another P with a different type of string; B) want a Jazz Bass, too or C) realize that you already have the bass of your dreams and whew, aren’t you glad you didn’t spend 3 grand on it.
Click to expand...

I recently did an experiment with 5 basses: one was a P, another a PJ with soloed P, the rest were neck pickups and asked listeners to find the P......all the basses got votes, some more than others, the soloed P on the PJ got the most votes as of this writing

We are bass players that tend to split hairs in our conversations.....for practical purposes, almost all of them would work as a P in a recording....ymmv
 
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#66
P the whole P nothing but the P
You say not thin, not farty, sits in a mix... that's a P
Some people love PJ's but others myself included don't need the extra J bridge pickup and never use it anyway.
Below are videos of a P comparison and a J comparison hearing a whole bunch of both played back to back should give you a pretty good idea of how they sound differently.
But with a 3K budget to be honest you could easily buy both.

 
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#67
rawchuck said:
Hi friends,

I’m buying a bass!

I’m mainly a guitar player, but have decided a bass will be a worthwhile addition to my studio. I want to buy something nice, and my budget maxes out at $3K

I’m only considering 4 string P and J basses, but am looking for a little direction.

I will be using this for recording, di without an amp.

I want something with strong fundamentals, that sits well in a mix.

I want it to stay clean, and I don’t slap or get crazy with bass. I mainly play roots music, Americana, country, and singer songwriter stuff. I just mainly focus on solid strong grooves that serve the song. Nothing flashy.

I honestly love the idea of a p or j. I’m leaning towards a p bass, but was hoping for some direction. I want a bit, thick, strong tone that sits well in a mix. I don’t want anything thin sounding, but also don’t want the bass to have a farty low end.

Looking forward to some ideas!
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I played a passive Jazz for a long time before I added a P/J to my gear - I wanted something different as my alternative/backup player - and I quickly found the strong fundamental that I didn't quite have with my particular Jazz. The P option could be the first one to look for based on what you're describing here.

I'm not recommending a P/J, but if you look at any of those, I think it's easy enough to get a lot of that pure P sound when soloing that pickup. I like to solo that pickup or only partially blend in the J if I need to smooth my tone over just a little bit. This gives me a little more range than I'd have with this instrument if it just had the P pickup in there.

Regardless of what you get, I think it will be important to scrutinize the necks on any basses you can test drive. Many J's are more narrow - typically 1 1/2" nut width - and many P's are wider and perhaps more chunky with a 1 5/8" nut width. Those neck dimensions vary, but I've run into trouble lately with a couple different necks that were either too narrow or too shallow to fit my hands. This might not be an issue for you, but if it is, I think a little patience with finding a better fit will go a long way toward getting something that's useful for you.

I think you can eventually track down both a decent P and solid J for your needs given your budget... and I think that could be the best way to go. I'm hoping to have one of each going forward, but it's just been tricky to find a lighter J with a wider, better fitting neck for me. Now that I've spent a lot of time gigging with both, I can't say I'd want one without the other. Both are a whole lotta right.
 
#68
Long time J player here, recently transitioned to fivers and four string Ps.

For that budget, I recommend the Reverend Mercalli. It has a reverse P pickup at the neck and a humbucker at the bridge. It's like a souped-up P/J hybrid with massive tones. I've got the five string version and it's my #1 axe.

If you want a separate P, Sire P5 is fantastic for the price.
 
#70
How do the American Professional II Precision V’s hold up? I think I’m going to get a P Bass….it seems to tick all the boxes. I am also getting intrigued by the V, but want to make sure that extra string doesn’t change any opinions..:
 

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