i have a jazz, 2 precision, a ric, a gretsch, and an upright. if i had to choose between a j and p bass i'd have to go with the P especially coming from an upright. the J is brighter with more growl to it, the P bass is more rounded with a fat bottom end. they're both great basses and i'd say get'em both if ya can, but if only on P-bass all day every day (2nd only to my gretsch broadkaster)
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the one for me: J or P?
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Agreed. Fortunately, we live in great times for bass players, tons of options. I feel the way to go is to buy a used Jazz (if the OP wants a Jazz) and use a portion of the savings to buy some Fralin hum-cancelling Jazz pickups. Heck, he can even put the 'obsolete' jazz pups on eBay and recoup some of the cost.
Check this out and have the best of both worlds...
http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Aerodyne-4String-Jazz-Bass?sku=511988
http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-Aerodyne-4String-Jazz-Bass?sku=511988
You can make a J bass sound like a P but you'll never get a P to sound like a J bass.
The pickups on the P don't exist so you'll never get that sound.
P/J? I've had a couple but they didn't stay around for too long.
Peace
The pickups on the P don't exist so you'll never get that sound.
P/J? I've had a couple but they didn't stay around for too long.
Peace
That is the first time Ive ever heard anyone say that a Jazz has deeper lows than a Precision. What are you stringing your P with? Martin acousic guitar strings?
jallen - I have tried I short scale, I owned a Mustang for a couple months, but since I am always reading charts when playing electric the short scale really threw me off. I could see digging it and it being easier on my left wrist if I really really got some practice in on it, but the 34" scale is much easier to use for me when I can't look at my left hand.
Ned - unfortunately there is nothing 'typical' when it comes to me on electric bass, except my poor playing. But, I will likely never use a 15". My last gig was a 5 piece w/ 2 guitars, keys and drums, but I think a more typical thing will be a lighter trio/quartet. That gig this past week I brought my DB to was the loudest I have every played, hence my serious thought about having a dependable Bass guitar.
Ned - unfortunately there is nothing 'typical' when it comes to me on electric bass, except my poor playing. But, I will likely never use a 15". My last gig was a 5 piece w/ 2 guitars, keys and drums, but I think a more typical thing will be a lighter trio/quartet. That gig this past week I brought my DB to was the loudest I have every played, hence my serious thought about having a dependable Bass guitar.
- Aug 5, 2005
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- Endorsing Artist: J.C. Basses
Man, just go with the one that you like the best. I prefer the J but either one will work well in a variety of situations. A lot of musicians get hung up on one or two features that they just have to have on their bass and in my opinion that's the wrong way to go about deciding which instrument to buy. I've realized that pickups, neck profile, electronics, ect. aren't as important as the sum of all of the parts which is why I prefer the J. Man, I sure like the neck on those Ibanez basses and there was a time when I would have bought one for that reason alone. But, there isn't much else that I like about them. Other's won't play anything else. Are there basses out there with better individual features than the Jazz? You bet. However, the way that all of those parts come together on the Jazz just works for me. I have been eyeballing Sandberg and Modulus J's here lately.
Play a lot of basses before you buy one. Go to a music store and pick out 4 or 5 different basses and spend 20 or 30 minutes with each one and not just J's and P's. You'll find the one that's right for you and I hate to say it but either the J or the P may not be the right bass for you. Have fun and let us know what you end up with.
Play a lot of basses before you buy one. Go to a music store and pick out 4 or 5 different basses and spend 20 or 30 minutes with each one and not just J's and P's. You'll find the one that's right for you and I hate to say it but either the J or the P may not be the right bass for you. Have fun and let us know what you end up with.
I think you'll find a lot of folks on here agree that a jazz oftentimes does have deeper lows due to the placement of the neck pickup. Precisions are typically more present in the low-mids, which gives the bass a whole lot of punch & thump, and a different sense of fullness than a J. A lot of reggae players opt for the J because the neck pickup has more of the deep sub-bass than a precision typically does, although either bass is completely workable for most any genre. Given, all of this can be tweaked with amp settings, strings, technique, or pickups, and a lot of its just opinion, but more often than not I'd agree with Nedmundo.
agreed. if the OP wanted the extra versatility I think a PJ is the way to go, though it sounds like simplicity is what he's after, in which case I think a precision is most likely the best bet.
some folks seem to think PJ's as a whole aren't as good as a precision or a jazz, but I'd have to disagree. A "good" (meaning well put together, well setup) PJ should sound exactly like a Precision when the Jazz pickup is rolled off. Not "kind of" or "close", but exactly. It is a precision pickup, in the exact same position. Some folks insist that due to the difference in wiring (having an extra volume pot, essentially) or possibly more wood routed out of the body that the P sound of a PJ is somehow inferior, though I seriously doubt anyone could tell the difference in a blind test between similar basses with P vs PJ. Now I will agree that the Jazz pup by itself doesn't exactly = a jazz bass, that pickup adds a lot of versatility to a precision, and is particularly helpful if you want extra definition or edge. And for some people, if they're just after the burpy bridge pickup jazz tone, it allows for that sound as well. Generally speaking I consider a PJ to essentially be a precision bass, with some of the added versatility of the jazz. Examples of "good" PJ's include the Tony Franklin signature model (fretted or not) and Lakland Bob Glaub w/ a factory installed jazz pickup (i've played both and they both kill), also the new fender american deluxe P looks pretty sweet, but i have yet to try it. Sorry for the derail.
Oops, duh.
In that case I would say P. I'm a total P guy, and in your case I would do the P simply because it's closer to the upright thump, and it's a match made in heaven with the flats you want to put on it.
No doubt that either bass can be tweaked with amp settings, strings, technique, pick ups and can be affected by wood type and neck construction as well. But if you take a Standard J (not 70's spacing) and put it up against a Standard P and played with the same rig, strings and settings with the same right hand position, I think you would be hard pressed to convince anybody that the J has deeper lows. It is all opinion as you say. But there is such a thing as consensus. Im not knocking the J. I love em both but for different reasons.
I have those Fralins in my Jazz. They are amazing, and I agree this would be an excellent approach. I roll off the bridge pickup about a third for max phatness, and get zero hum.
Thanks for the clarification, ishouldbeking. That's what I meant. On average I hear more "medicine ball" bottom from a J, but more thickness from a P, but of course it depends on rig, pickups, etc. No question the split-coil in my G&L SB-2, for example, delivers monster deep lows.
The J is a bit more accepted across all genres, but no one will turn you away for playing a P bass.
T
tifftunes
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As an aside, if you're interested in having the EB sound more like your DB, I found the Rickenbacker (4001 and 4003, specifically), and the Hofner basses get closer to a DB sound than any other EB I've played. It is what they were designed to sound like as well. And of these 2, the Ricky will be more tolerant of different rigs, and is a longer scale. I use Hofners nearly exclusively for cover gigs.
IME a jazz with both pickups right on has a bit of a mid scoop, this may make it sound like its lows are deeper, because they are contrasted with the mids, as opposed to blending with them.
Yeah, for that exact reason I typically play with one of the pickups dimed and the other set around 8 (which pickup is set to 10 depends on the song, and my mood
) as I typically prefer a mid-forward sound.If anything can be taken from all our minor back-and-forth quibbling is that both of these basses are great, both will work for almost any genre, and either way, you really can't go wrong. As a whole I think both basic models fall into the same tonal category, and both have an inherent degree of versatility for most genres (the J has a bit more due to the dual pickups, but a P can transform its tone greatly with different hand positions and tone control settings). For the music you're talking about you really can't go wrong either way, though personally I'd probably recommend a precision, particularly since you mention simplicity.
