Which bass has Fender sold more of?

Assumption: P bass by a long shot.

 

Probably a lot of Precision and Jazz basses.

 

The Fender Performer, of course!
(OK, maybe not, but I needed an excuse to post this picture)

 

Around here, all you see are Jazz basses (myself excepted: check out avatar). It seems like every body plays a Jazz through a Peavey, and they all sound alike. Me, I played 'em too, until I got my hands on a Precision.

Other places, other times: I have read that the P outsold the J into the early '80s, but I have no idea where that factling came from. Fender has long been cagey about production and sales numbers, and Fender is the only one that knows.

Of course, the P got a 10-year head start on the J.

Me, I have owned 0 Jazz Basses and 5 Precisions, so I have probably skewed the averages quite a bit.

 

Not a scientific study by any means, but I see way more Precisions in use by bands I've seen on TV than any other, the Jazz would be second. I'd be curious to see some actual statistics from a reputable source, though.

 

my gut tells me precision, my heart tells me jazz.

 

Back in the late '60s (when I started playing) and well into the '70s I think most guys were buying Precisions. As I recall it was pretty common to go into a shop and see the same Jazz basses hanging on the wall for months while the Precisions seemed to turn over pretty regularly. My guess is that may not be the case over the last 20 or so years. As to which has sold more over the years I would guess the Jazz with as many players as there are now and I think it's a more popular bass these days.

 

I played throughout the seventies. At that time, the P was the workingman's bass. The Jazz was considered to be much fancier. Glitzier. More expensive. I'd hazard a strong guess that P's outsold J's by a substantial margin at that time. In fact, I've heard that P's outsold J's from the early fifties into the early sixties.

 

I think that in the past, the Precision was much more popular. I think that in the last fifteen or twenty years, Jazzes have become more popular. I think the P-bass is currently making a comeback.

 

I'll bet sales of J's were pretty flat until 1960 or so...

 

Yeah, no stats to back up my claim, but I would have to go with the P - and by a long way.....

 

It's interesting how many say Jazz. In my experience, it's not even close! If I were to walk into any music or pawn store in my area or do a search on my local craigslist, I would find P-basses out number J-basses by at least 10 to 1. I might even venture to say that Jaguars, Telecaster, and Mustangs each individually outnumber Jazzs around here.

Maybe people hold onto J-basses so they don't show up on the used market? But that seems statistically unlikely....

 

These guys

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f8/fender-p-bass-best-selling-electric-bass-all-time-932072/

say the Jazz, according to the second (behind Wikipedia) most reliable source, Musicians Friend.

 

Probably Precision... Only because you don't have to buy 5 Jazz basses to get the "right" one!

 

In LA there is a lot of bass diversity, it's seems like people are trying not to play a jazz or a precision, but i'd say i've seen more jazzes overall in the last three or four years

 

I feel like when you are only looking at Fender basses, probably P-basses. In the world though I think the Jazz is the most widely used when you include other companies like Sadowsky, Lakland, Mike Lull, Valenti etc.

 

My guess P-Bass.
The Jazz got hot in the mid to late 80's. ( Jaco Marcus)
And was strong till say 2005.
Then the P-Bass came back again.
From the late 50's to late 70's it was all P-Bass.