PJ Club

[SteveCS]

I already have a 'Club' number (#145), but recently added another P/J to the rack. It's an early '90s "Fenix by Young Chang" in a lovely creamy butterscotch;

Full details with strip-down/rebuild here: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/nbd-early-90s-fenix-p-j.1635810/

 

[-Asdfgh-]

I already have a 'Club' number (#145), but recently added another P/J to the rack. It's an early '90s "Fenix by Young Chang" in a lovely creamy butterscotch; View attachment 5321526

Full details with strip-down/rebuild here: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/nbd-early-90s-fenix-p-j.1635810/

My first electric guitar was a Fenix Telecaster. Apparently, it had a nicer neck than a friend's 1972 Custom. I was much tempted by the PJ with the toggle switch in that same colour. Maybe I will relive my youth.

 

[Yahboy]

Taste change.....

Swap the Model P with custom wound 11.3K Alnico V neck pup. Smoother and airly tone , yes, less aggressive/attack. Still well blend with Model J .

Keep using 500K volume pot/ MN250K blend pot. The Alnico V pup alone sound darker when using 250K volume pot.

 

[Yahboy]

Final pickups swap before the PJ bass sold....

Aliexpress 9.5K Alnico V P pup mix Model J .
PJ - P - J

 

[KindofBlues71]

I'd like to join the PJ Club. I have an Ibanez Talman TMB100...

 

[Yahboy]

Remove the onboard preamp then rewire to 500K Volume / MN250K Blend only. Agressive , bite and PJ heft !!

 

[Ritter667]

P/J (reverse P), EMG Geezer Butler set, respectively wired directly to each their own jack output socket, equipped 28.6" scale 4 string Ibanez GSRM20B Mikro Bass, tuned to G# standard tuning (as in one half step bellow the upper 4 strings of a 6 string bass in regular B standard tuning) (the knob is purely cosmetic, and has since this was shot been replaced for a red chickenhead knob):

Currently I only utilizes the P pickup, but the plan is adding an external pedal form effects loop/mixer for off board switching between and active mix of the two pickups, and potentially individual signal path processing as well.

 

[CPplaysBASS]

New entry to keep this thread from zombie status I used to have several Fender PJs, but over time they were replaced with dedicated P's and J's.

My all-time fave bass is a 2011 Fender American Special Precision. So much so, I had two identical basses with CS'62 pickups, hi-mass bridge and d-tuner added later. I kept the white pickguard one tuned to Eb.

Over the past year, all the Eb songs in my band's setlist disappeared and I also decided it was time to have a PJ back into the mix. Basically I now have a custom American Performer in candy apple red. Mmmmm-mmmm.

I kept the CS'62 P pickup, which was a must and hoped I would guess right that a Fender Gen4 Jazz pickup would be a good match. Also added a TBX tone control. The best PJ I previously owned was an 80s MIJ PJ with TBX (precursor to the Duff model), and I consider it a must for PJs.

The verdict? I love it. Will still rotate through my standard Ps and Js, but succeeded in getting a different pleasing tone with this one. Incredible clarity and presence with the TBX, without adding treble or harshess. Just trims the fatty booms, but remains really dynamic and slices through nicely.

Range wise, it's either both pickups full on, or the J full off. That's OK. That's all I wanted

Oh, and I have DR HiBeams on all basses except this one. It's a subtle difference but I find the Fat Beams were better suited for the PJ. A bit fuller with both pickups on, but prefer the HiBeams on the dedicated P.

 

[Malak the Mad]

I kept the CS'62 P pickup, which was a must and hoped I would guess right that a Fender Gen4 Jazz pickup would be a good match. Also added a TBX tone control. The best PJ I previously owned was an 80s MIJ PJ with TBX (precursor to the Duff model), and I consider it a must for PJs.

The verdict? I love it. Will still rotate through my standard Ps and Js, but succeeded in getting a different pleasing tone with this one. Incredible clarity and presence with the TBX, without adding treble or harshess. Just trims the fatty booms, but remains really dynamic and slices through nicely.

I've often wondered what J-pup would blend nicely with a CS'62 pickup, having only had experience with CS 60's Jazz pups AND trying a number of different P + J permutations without a lot of success. I'm very happy you found yourself a pleasing "alchemy" with that CS+N4+TBX combo! (It wasn't until I tried a dedicated DiMarzio Sixties P/J set that found my own pleasant sonic landscape.)

 

[CPplaysBASS]

I've often wondered what J-pup would blend nicely with a CS'62 pickup, having only had experience with CS 60's Jazz pups AND trying a number of different P + J permutations without a lot of success. I'm very happy you found yourself a pleasing "alchemy" with that CS+N4+TBX combo! (It wasn't until I tried a dedicated DiMarzio Sixties P/J set that found my own pleasant sonic landscape.)

Thanks! The big downside was that the Fender Gen4 Jazz pickups are only sold as a set, so it was an expensive gamble, and I now have a neck pickup I don't need. I was determined to try it, though! I love the CS60 pickups in my Highway One Jazz, and that might have been my next try if the Gen4 didn't work!

 

[Malak the Mad]

Thanks! The big downside was that the Fender Gen4 Jazz pickups are only sold as a set, so it was an expensive gamble, and I now have a neck pickup I don't need. I was determined to try it, though! I love the CS60 pickups in my Highway One Jazz, and that might have been my next try if the Gen4 didn't work!

There are always those who prefer a J/MM config…perhaps?…a little?

 

[Flippy]

Hi all, what are your thoughts on swapping passive vol/vol/tone electronics for vol/select/tone, using a 3-way selector for P/PJ/J configuration? Good/bad? May I see pics of such mod? Cheers!

 

[atquinn]

Hi all, what are your thoughts on swapping passive vol/vol/tone electronics for vol/select/tone, using a 3-way selector for P/PJ/J configuration? Good/bad? May I see pics of such mod? Cheers!

Works for Duff McKagan and Tony Franklin. I actually prefer the V/B/T setup myself. There's definitely not a continuous range of tones you can get blending the two pickups, but there does seem to be a useful difference to me between all one pickup, 50/50 and just a little bit off 50/50.

 

[Malak the Mad]

Hi all, what are your thoughts on swapping passive vol/vol/tone electronics for vol/select/tone, using a 3-way selector for P/PJ/J configuration? Good/bad? May I see pics of such mod? Cheers!

It's not a P/J, but I've done to two basses, a J/J and an H/H, by way of Heresy wiring harnesses from Short Circuit Electronics. The big difference is the series/parallel mini-toggle switch, which gives me four sonic options, instead of three.

For sure, there's less nuance, but the simplicity is nice. It's just "'click' and you're done" without a lot of fussing.

 

[SteveCS]

Hi all, what are your thoughts on swapping passive vol/vol/tone electronics for vol/select/tone, using a 3-way selector for P/PJ/J configuration? Good/bad? May I see pics of such mod? Cheers!

I moved away from that setup on two of my P/J instruments because I find more interesting stuff happens in the off-centre blends. That said, I could sometimes use a bit of both, i.e. a switch to solo one or the other, but the middle position is via V/V or a blend pot. Not as simple as it sounds, if you think about it for a bit.

 

[atquinn]

...That said, I could sometimes use a bit of both, i.e. a switch to solo one or the other, but the middle position is via V/V or a blend pot. Not as simple as it sounds, if you think about it for a bit.

That seem like guitar wiring, like my Hamer Studio that has VVT and a 3-way switch. Interestingly, I never use the Volumes on a guitar to adjust the middle position, I only use them to adjust the balance between neck and bridge when they are soloed, which usually amounts to turning the neck pickup down to a greater or lesser degree.

Now if you're talking about a system that would let you control the blend in the middle position but otherwise not affect volume when the pickups were soloed, that would be pretty cool potentially!

 

[SteveCS]

...

Now if you're talking about a system that would let you control the blend in the middle position but otherwise not affect volume when the pickups were soloed, that would be pretty cool potentially!

Exactly that. If the blend involved, say 50% of one pickup but you needed that one at 95% soloed from a single operation it would take a bit of wiring and potentially some stacked pots. I mean it isn't difficult to work out a scheme, but it has to be simple and foolproof to operate whilst playing, so preferably not a sea of undersized knobs and switches!

 

[ElectricBass72]

My three P/J's. Fender Duff McKagan Deluxe Precision, Spector Euro Classic 4 and Ibanez Talman TMB-100.

 

[Moving Pictures]

Quite a bit of change since I last posted in this thread. Fender PJs are out. These are in:

 

[BassicJazzy]

I'm in, with my new Sadowsky MetroExpress Hybrid fretless, Pau Ferro board.