Quick question about p/j basses

[theophilus762]

Hey guys,

I just had a real quick question. On a P/J bass, when you solo the neck pickup (p pup), does it practically become a p bass?

Thanks.
-Joash

 

[BillytheBassist]

It actually becomes a soloed split coil pup in the neck position... not a precision bass. You could say a precision bass tone would be achieved by soloing the neck pup on a P/J.

 

[Rattman]

hehe! Why do so many thread-titles start with the word "Quick" I wonder?

Do the TBers that start the threads fear we might not read them if not prefaced by "Quick"??

Just an observation.. That and lots of thread-titles have misspelled words!!

 

[Jezz8me]

hey i don't read the threads that have more than 3 pages

 

[pickles]

The only reason it wouldn't would be:

a) if the neck is a J-bass neck, the tone won't be quite the same.

b) There is passive electrical "loading" from the J pickup and extra pot, but this effect is pretty minor. If you wire it up with a rocker switch instead of vol/vol of vol/blend, you avoid this. I imagine you could also wire up vol/vol/tone and add a "bypass" switch that hardwires just the P pickup strait to the output for the ultimate in unloaded P tone.

 

[PilbaraBass]

the original poster used the term "practically"...

and yes, definitely, it will be "practically" a P bass...

especially if it is a Fender P-bass special that has a Fender P-bass neck with a P-pickup in the correct P-position.

This other business about "loading" by the J-pickup is so minimal, it's not worth putting any kind of "bypass switch" in.

P-basses are cool..and P/J basses are even COOLER!

 

[pickles]

Hey man, he asked!

In a quiet/studio setting you can hear the difference loading makes ... live, no way. Its minor.

I'm gearing up to go back toward the PJ myself after a long break.

 

[PilbaraBass]

Hey man, he asked!

In a quiet/studio setting you can hear the difference loading makes ... live, no way. Its minor.

I'm gearing up to go back toward the PJ myself after a long break.

you may be right about the studio think, pickles...

but I think it probably has more to do with the J pup "bleeding" into the signal (even when dialed off) than it does with "loading" of the P-pickup.

Case and point...a P/J set up V/V/T using 500k pots will have the nearly identical loading as a P-bass (set up V/T) using 250k pots

 

[Taurus]

As long as the P pickup is in the same spot as a precision then the tone is going to be spot on. Any minor differences in the tone are most likely to be down to the difference you get between 2 otherwise identical basses.

 

[ibz]

IMO the differences are so slight, the benifits and flexability far outweight them.

When I so my P pickup, or have someone else solo that pickup, and close my eyes it sounds like a P-Bass.

 

[ed khalimba]

The only reason it wouldn't would be:

a) if the neck is a J-bass neck, the tone won't be quite the same.

a j bass neck on a p-bass will still sound exactly like a p-bass. do you mean if the neck pickup is a jazz pickup the tone won't be the same?

 

[pickles]

a j bass neck on a p-bass will still sound exactly like a p-bass. do you mean if the neck pickup is a jazz pickup the tone won't be the same?

No. This has been discussed quite a bit around here. Many of us think the higher neck mass on a P-neck alters the overall tone of the instrument slightly, compared to the lower mass J.

 

[ed khalimba]

No. This has been discussed quite a bit around here. Many of us think the higher neck mass on a P-neck alters the overall tone of the instrument slightly, compared to the lower mass J.

really? how does it affect the tone? i understand the higher mass theory, but there's not that much more mass in a p bass neck than in a jazz neck. and what about five strings, a five string p-bass neck has way more mass than a four string p bass neck as compared to the difference in mass between 4 string jazz and p necks. does that mean a five string p bass doesn't sound exactly like a p? and remember fender used to make many different necks for the p bass, like u-shape, c-shape, v-shape, etc, and all of these necks would have slightly different masses, possibly the same difference in mass between regular modern day p and jazz necks. by the way, i am not trying to start an argument here, i'm just curious about how this could possibly affect the tone that much. and trying to help the o.p. with his question. joash, i don't think anyone would be able to tell if your p/j bass was not a p bass if you soloed the p pickup, no matter what neck is on it unless you told them. does anybody reading this think they could tell in a "blind hearing test" whether a p bass had a jazz or precision neck on it?

 

[pickles]

does that mean a five string p bass doesn't sound exactly like a p?

Most definitely!!! At least I've never played one that does (and I've looked -- a lot).

and remember fender used to make many different necks for the p bass, like u-shape, c-shape, v-shape, etc, and all of these necks would have slightly different masses, possibly the same difference in mass between regular modern day p and jazz necks. by the way, i am not trying to start an argument here, i'm just curious about how this could possibly affect the tone that much. and trying to help the o.p. with his question. joash, i don't think anyone would be able to tell if your p/j bass was not a p bass if you soloed the p pickup, no matter what neck is on it unless you told them. does anybody reading this think they could tell in a "blind hearing test" whether a p bass had a jazz or precision neck on it?

It all depends on how sensitive and picky you are. There will often be differences in tone and dynamics between two basses of identical design.

 

[4Mal]

J neck vs P neck ? Which P-neck ? The base ball bat '54 ? a 57 in maple ? a 62 in RW ? A 62 RI in maple & rosewood but of more recent harvest ? Crazy mon ... there's been way to many necks offerred on the P to be able to generalize P & J necks.

For all practical purposes, solo'ing the P-Bass pickup on a PJ provides a good virtual P bass. Your hand position, shape of the bridge pieces, break angle, nut material, strings and picking technique will have a significantly greater
impact on tone than the presence of the J pickup ... and I haven't even gotten to body & neck wood yet ...

The PJ is such a useful setup. Probably the most versatile you can achieve in a passive single coil setup with the possible exception of the dualing Dark Star Lakland Decade.

 

[theophilus762]

thanks for all your input guys.

oh and thanks to pilbara for catching the "practically". the reason i ask is because if i can make a p/j bass sound much like a regular P bass, then why not get that extra J pickup for extra versatility if i need it?

My main concern was the placement of the p-pickup on p/j basses. i wasn't sure if they were placed differently than on a typical P bass, which would definitely have an impact on the tone.

i really appreciate all your opinions!

 

[Steve]

Most definitely!!! At least I've never played one that does (and I've looked -- a lot).

Come play my PJ5