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PJ's do not bring a jazz bass tone. get over it

#101
jellymax said:
a good set of jazz pickups delivers a burpy tone. a pj cannot deliver it.
i have 1 pj. when i use it, the bridge pick up is off, even though its a good
one it does not improve the sound or clarity. p only is a killer, usefull tone.
but the two are different. you cannot get a burpy jazz bass tone from a pj.

go ahead and bring the heat. i can take it lol
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#104
jellymax said:
a good set of jazz pickups delivers a burpy tone. a pj cannot deliver it.
i have 1 pj. when i use it, the bridge pick up is off, even though its a good
one it does not improve the sound or clarity. p only is a killer, usefull tone.
but the two are different. you cannot get a burpy jazz bass tone from a pj.

go ahead and bring the heat. i can take it lol
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lol l... what are you even taking about? The “burpy” Jazz bass tone, as described by thousands of bassists for decades, is LITERALLY the bridge pickup soloed- perhaps you have a different interpretation of what ‘burpy’ means or something, but other than that you’re as close to objectively wrong as you can be about something as subjective as tone.

most people would describe the 50/50 jazz bass pickup blend as something like scooped, modern, complex, 3 dimensional, detailed, crunchy. I’ve never heard not thought of the 100% blended Jazz sound as burpy. I agree that a PJ mixed will not sound like a jazz bass, but I’d hope most people aren’t under the illusion that it would.. there IS something really special about a plain-ol jazz bass, I’ll give you that, but I’d say the same about a PJ. I guess there are probably people who think they can get the best of both worlds

In fact I have a PJ plugged into my amp as we speak, with an extremely burpy mid-forward tone with the bridge soloed, and that great grunty/punchy PJ sound with them blended.
 
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#110
jellymax said:
you are butthurt. i get that. shall we get into a swordfight over who can play their instrument? lol
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I said nothing about your skill and knowledge as a bassist. Or, musician period for that matter. I simply stated that you haven't become one with your bass yet. Like you have with your Jazz. Im sorry that you think your bass sucks. That sounds like a terrible feeling.
 
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#112
DavC said:
if you only use the bridge pup on either ... it is the same kinda sound .. ! that is , if they're both in the same spot ..?! like the 70's position ... and they'd need to be the same pup for an equal comparison .. !
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It's not. Singles lack an entire mountain of mid range. It cant compete. Even with heavy EQ.
 
#115
Inara said:
I don't play a PJ to get a jazz tone. I play one to get broader tonal options, with the P pickup as the starting point. I've never liked the "both J pickups on full" sound anyway. If I did want that, though, yeah, I'd get a jazz. I don't think anyone really thinks they can get that scooped, thinner "both J's" sound from a PJ anyway though. A PJ is its own thing, with its own range of sounds. If they are sounds that work for you, cool. If not, cool.
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I believe this is the reason for a PJ in the first place. In other words, the intent is mainly to add some of the Jazz Bass sound (brightness, burpy, or however you describe it) to the P Bass sound. Not to make a PJ sound like a J or vice versa but rather to provide an option to blend the two pickups together for a third flavor of tone (PJ) or to lean slightly more towards a J or a P.

If you want the full J tone then use a J Bass. For the full P Bass tone then use a P Bass. Or if you can't decide then get a PJ but I doubt a PJ can replace either the full J or full P sound.
 
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#116
My 2 main basses are a JJ and PJ.

Naturally, both basses sound very similar when soloing their bridge pickups. This is the tone I prefer when playing live gigs because it has a more aggressive edge. Lots of bright upper frequencies the P lacks.

I use the P soloed when the song calls for something more authentic. Not my favorite tone but it's undeniable that a musician playing classic covers should have a P bass pickup in the tool box.

Then there's the question of the sound of both pickups blended full in a JJ bass. I'e heard various descriptions of that tone and I'm not sure how accurate some of them are. What I do know is I can instantly recognize the difference between a solo neck J verses a solo bridge J verses both pickups together. There is truly nothing else that sounds quite like both Js together. A few words that come to mind for me are "nasal" and "buzzy".

By reason of purely personal taste, I virtually never blend the pickups in my PJ. Either one or the other. Others may love it but I can't think of a use for both together. For a similar reason I rarely or never use a soloed neck J.
 
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#117
Chad Michael said:
A PJ can sound terribly good, credit Pedulla / Bartolini / and, most of all, Doug.

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Good GOD what a player! Never heard of Doug John before! Reminds me of how much of a “Meat and Potatoes “ player I really am...

anyway, my view in P/J’s is that’s it’s all about the selected pups and how they work with each other? I roll off the Neck pups 25% ish anyway and play over the bridge pup so my sound relies on the bridge pup mostly and I can get a pretty close to jazz bass tone that works for me with either configuration
 
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#119
The Fender Tony Franklin signature PJ bass uses a hotter J pickup. That's just one of the TF mods that make a TF bass different than other Fender PJ basses. I would think that the hotter J bridge pickup would cause the TF PJ Bass to lean more towards a J Bass sound when the 3-Way switch combines the bridge and jazz pickup together.

Can any Tony Franklin bass players confirm that this is the case, or not?
 
#120
Well I play my PJ 75% of the time and play with both the pickups on....LOVE the tone.
No it doesn't sound like a jazz, but it does sound better than one.
I matched my pickups and took the time to find a great sounding tone I enjoy and others enjoy.
(SPB-4 & STK-2JB)
I actually get a great sounding tone with some upper mid grit when I dig into the J pickup when I want the tone to feel aggressive.
But just my taste...
 
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