Stingray vs. P or J bass... Which and why?

[BasEd]

If I could have only one bass it would probably be a P with a narrow modern neck profile and 9.5 radius. But which one… a rosewood with flats or maple with rounds. Tough choice. Luckily I have both. I tend to play rosewood for my bands Soul set. For Funk (our second set) I much prefer a J. It nails the funk vibe and is great for slap. I never liked the slap sound of a Ray. But if I had to sell all but one bass, I’d keep my handmade Shuker J passive bass with 70s spacing and EMG active pickups. Killer.

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

You are so right. I was all about the Jazz Bass a year ago. I finally found a StingRay5 that is perfect for me . Quickly became my number one followed by my PBass. Now my Jazz basses are the low men on the totem pole. It is still a great bass. Right now….. I’m loving my Ray and P more.

I have now progressed to owning 4 StingRay Specials and a Sandberg which I like a J/MM. Funny thing is that bass has no single coil pickups . So the neck pickup can do a great PBass clone . But both pick ups engaged gets super Jazz sound. The active engaged goes to a very modern sound. 90% of the time, I have a StingRay in my hands.

 

[shojii]

I have all 3. The J is probably most versatile, but as long as I have a good FoH person I'm happy playing any of them. Nobody in the audience notices anyway, unless the FoH is really bad!

 

[groove pump]

Short answer: a P/J and an alternative that can be tweaked into a few different tones.

If my basses are going to be useful at my gigs, they need to give me audible sound. I also really only want to have two fretted 4-strings that are different from each other - that's just what I prefer for backup and not having extras around gathering dust.

My old Jazz only kinda-sorta sounds okay in a band mix with the neck pickup solo'ed. I generally only play this bass at home where it's semi scooped tone sounds pretty nice without guitars, etc. to drown it out. It's also too heavy for me to enjoy at gigs anymore.

My passive P/J is easily more of a stand-out in the band mix and partially blending in the J pickup at the bridge can smooth over the tone if I want that (along with adjusting the passive tone control). It works for lots of stuff I play and it can be my #1 for a full night's work, but it's primary sound is that P pickup. When I'm not playing this bass, I want my other one to give me different options.

I'm happy using something like an HH with an on-board preamp as my other bass. Different pickup blends and eq settings can give me at least three different useful sounds for gigs. I prefer something like a G&L M-2000 or my current LTD B-1004 Deluxe to a Stingray with a HH layout, but I'm trying to find something with a chunky neck that's also down near 8 lbs.

 

[123four]

What bass sounds best with some overdrive for a grindy bass tone? For heavier rock/ noise/ punk.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

What bass sounds best with some overdrive for a grindy bass tone? For heavier rock/ noise/ punk.

For those sounds, for me, it’s got to be a P or a Ray.

 

[Luckydog]

Short answer: a P/J and an alternative that can be tweaked into a few different tones.

If my basses are going to be useful at my gigs, they need to give me audible sound. I also really only want to have two fretted 4-strings that are different from each other - that's just what I prefer for backup and not having extras around gathering dust.

My old Jazz only kinda-sorta sounds okay in a band mix with the neck pickup solo'ed. I generally only play this bass at home where it's semi scooped tone sounds pretty nice without guitars, etc. to drown it out. It's also too heavy for me to enjoy at gigs anymore.

My passive P/J is easily more of a stand-out in the band mix and partially blending in the J pickup at the bridge can smooth over the tone if I want that (along with adjusting the passive tone control). It works for lots of stuff I play and it can be my #1 for a full night's work, but it's primary sound is that P pickup. When I'm not playing this bass, I want my other one to give me different options.

I'm happy using something like an HH with an on-board preamp as my other bass. Different pickup blends and eq settings can give me at least three different useful sounds for gigs. I prefer something like a G&L M-2000 or my current LTD B-1004 Deluxe to a Stingray with a HH layout, but I'm trying to find something with a chunky neck that's also down near 8 lbs.

So thats what I’ve been doing wrong!

 

[wnorsworthy]

For me, it’s all about the neck and my Stingrays just feel right.

 

[smatanovic]

I'm a noob, been playing for about a year, and I adore both my P and my J. They play and sound very differently, but, gun to my head, I would likely choose the P. I LOVE the chunky neck, the throaty, woody sound with flats, and the aggressive rock/punk growl with rounds.

The stingray sound has never done it for me, though admittedly I have never played one. Currently GASing for a Thunderbird for the Krist Novocelic/Simon Gallup tone, so I'm not sure where I fit on this spectrum...

 

[Jim C]

Started out with a P in 1973 and that was my only bass for years.
Started playing a J bass in the 80's and this has been my main bass ever since.
Bought a SR also in the 80's and used it for more modern projects.
I recently went back to a P as my 65 year old hands feel better on a wider neck.
After reading all of this, I'll try the SR tonight and then become even more confused about a favorite...
I have a 83' and 2000ish SR and they are both better built than either of my early 70's Fenders. One of them weighs 8.5 lbs the other anchors ships.

 

[JustFunk]

I've got one of each.

P: solid but limited
J: solid and versatile
Ray: solid, bright, slap happy (yet more versatile than you think)

If I could only have one of those 3, it's the J, easy, because of versatility.

I also have an L-2500, which I'd easily choose over the other 3, also for versatility.

Don't you think that jazz is slappy too? I found slap good on MM but even better on the jazz.

As fir the choice, not being a P guy and having a MM, out of the three I would sacrifice the P since where the jazz sounds thin (let me say, in most rock styles), MM comes to offer you that kick and lows you miss when playing rock with a jazz. In other words, in my opinion, a P isn’t necessary when you have a MM. even though MM can’t replace a P nor a jazz, but talking about its function, the ability to cover genres, MM doesn’t make you to miss a P. At least for me, with a jazz and a MM, I feel I can cover all I need. If I really would have to look at a third bass, a rock one but this time out of Leo’s babies, I would look into a warwick over a P. Nonetheless that’s not my case as I don’t play anything that a MM and a jazz can’t play great, one (rock = MM over jazz) or another one (old funk = jazz over MM) or both (lots of modern funk, disco, old classic rock too playing the jazz on the neck pickup).

 

[smeet]

For me - PJ5 with the P pickup coils reversed (treble string coils farther from bridge). Volume/blend, 3-band preamp with a passive mode, and a passive tone that works in both active and passive modes. Prefer 17.5-18mm spacing at the bridge, and a 12” or larger fingerboard radius, ideally compound 12” to 20”.

So far, the best I have found are Sadowsky and Lull basses with Nordstrand electronics.