Who has a P, J AND a P/J?

[BobDeRosa]

A PJ is never going to be the best of both worlds. It's essentially a P Bass Plus. It'll never sound like a true jazz bass due to the lack of the two single coil pickups. Now whether it sounds like a P bass if you turn down the jazz pickup completely is debatable. To me, it's pretty darn close and good enough to substitute in place of a true P bass but varying results depending on where the P bass pickup is placed and some say the circuitry of having two pickups wired also makes for a difference, don't know enough to make a comment about that one.

WOW, does this nail it! Well said, @Maxdusty.

 

[Claymore]

I have a P with flats (Shocker!)
J with Pressurewounds
and a PJ with tapewounds.

IMHO the P sounds best in a mix, the J sounds best when playing by yourself and the PJ just has the most versatile sound of all three. That is my favorite pickup configuration and I don't think you'll regret buying one if it's a decent build. G&L SB-2 Tribute would be a great place to start. Both volumes at 75% sounds really good.

 

[redstrand]

I have a bunch of P's, two J's and a PJ...the Jazz is at the neck

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I have a P and J and have thought about adding a P/J but havent pulled the trigger yet. Since I have one of each would the P/J be a bit overkill? I know thats a crazy TB question but I dont have anymore room for another bass. I am not in the train of thought either that getting a P/J eliminates the P and J and is the best of both worlds. I tried out a few P/Js in stores and actually preferred the sound of my P and J individually..Maybe I am just a purist...Anyone else?

You'd love it. Some people add a neck single right above the split. P, J, PJ

 

[JRA]

Who has a P, J AND a P/J?
i fit that demographic ( ), but TBH: my Js are currently disassembled as a 'time out' for bad behavior.

I am not in the train of thought either that getting a P/J eliminates the P and J and is the best of both worlds.

neither am i! for me: a PJ is a different instrument altogether --- i accept them as such and i prefer them for that. they're not better than anything (unless you prefer them for what they do), they're just different than both a J and a P....or, a J or a P can't do what a PJ does!

 

[elberon]

I think I have all three covered in a mismatched sort of way. 76 Maple P-bass fretless, 89 Precision Plus ("Boner" bass) P/J, fretless jazz (jazz neck), fretless precision (with jazz neck), and jazz (with precision neck). I have the last two because one of my fretless jazz necks needed repair and one thing led to another (an extra neck that I bought to replace the original which surprisingly ended up being repairable), as well as the repair tech gifting me a really rough mex jazz body that he literally pulled out of his car trunk resulted in two parts basses.

Anyway, the full story is complicated but gave me something to do during the covid lockdown. Only ones I don't have are a fretted jazz with a J neck or a fretted precision with P neck, not that it matters. So yes I have all three depending on your criteria!

 

[luciens]

The P vs P/J thread is a frequent visitor to TB and it's never conclusive. But I love it because, even though the argument is never resolved, we always get such great bass porn!

As for P, J and P/J, I confess I only only have a J and a P/J (pics of two of them below), but mine are fretless so they don't really sound at all like a typical jazz or precision bass so there isn't a basis for comparison to the original situation even if I did have a pure P bass.

But as for the specific sub topic of P vs P/J, my experience is that, all else being equal, it's going to be very difficult, if not impossible to really detect the difference between a P with the split-coil soloed vs a pure P. In a blind test I doubt anyone would really be able to do it. With the bridge PU turned down, you have a 250Kohm resistor in line with the pickup so, while it's not fully out of the circuit, it's effectively out of the circuit.

That said, I like the way the tony franklin does it, with the big ol honking blade switch like on a guitar. That takes the jazz pickup completely out of the circuit (as far as I know), so in the P position it's a "pure" precision bass.

The other thing I will say is my tony franklin is the first bass I've ever owned where I regularly use the neck pickup. I've always had 2 pickup basses, but that's because I could never get those basses with just the bridge pickup. I always had to buy the 2 pickup version and just always leave the switch on the bridge PU.

I know that's weird, but I actually use the switch on the tony franklin. Even my jaco I never use the neck PU - just the bridge PU.

That's how I knew the tony franklin was a keeper and just your run of the mill bass . And if I get a fretted precision bass at some point, it'll be a P/J....

L

 

[ptensioned]

The biggest problem with a lot of PJ sets is that a single coil pup at the bridge will always be crushed output-wise by a split coil at the bridge. Not only is the single inherently less hot, it's got less string movement to drive it.

The best set I've played is the EMG Geezer Butler PJ, where the J is a split coil and voiced to complement the P. Granted, you lose the single-coil clarity, and your P becomes less 'pure P', but it's an ideal compromise that creates something unique from what you can do with a standard P or J. I've got a set in a Frankenfender, and I absolutely love them. Solo'ed P sounds great (pup location is traditional P), and blending in the J adds some interesting middy characteristics that can help add definition.

 

[ELG60]

That MIJ double P is sweet. Are those two identical matching Js?

They're both Japanese domestic market JB75-94US OTM/R's. The darker one is a '95 with the 60's bridge pup position and the other is a 2010 with the more correct mid-'70s position. The necks are identical to my '69 which is my personal favorite configuration.

 

[blmeier7]

I've got two P's, one J, and a PJ. I use the PJ when I need a P bass with more tonal options.

 

[Bob E]

Agree, Precision + is better description than P/J. Fender calls them Precision; in fact [I may be wrong] I know of no basses 'labeled' P/J

I have one.

 

[mcnach]

I have a P and J and have thought about adding a P/J but havent pulled the trigger yet. Since I have one of each would the P/J be a bit overkill? I know thats a crazy TB question but I dont have anymore room for another bass. I am not in the train of thought either that getting a P/J eliminates the P and J and is the best of both worlds. I tried out a few P/Js in stores and actually preferred the sound of my P and J individually..Maybe I am just a purist...Anyone else?

A PJ will give you another flavour of something you already have, which can be pretty cool. I have a Precision, a Jazz, and several PJ types and they all have their own thing going on. I justify it to myself by using different kinds of strings so that I have very specific tones that each bass is better for.

 

[Frank77]

I've tried a few J basses but could never bond with them and/or make them sound good and over the years I've become essentially a P-bass guy: My main players are a G&L LB-100 and a (passive) custom headless P/J. I also have an active HH (G&L L-2500) when a 5er is needed, but it hasn't seen any serious action in a while. For 95% of what I do, the P sound is a perfect match, but there's a few songs where the added "burp" of the bridge J pickup fits better.

For this reason, when I had my P/J built I went for a 3-way switch instead of independent volumes: This way, I can take the J pickup completely out of the circuit when I want (which is most of the time), and add the burp when it's needed. You just have to adjust the height of the J pickup for the amount of burp you like with your P sound, then Bob's your uncle. I tried using independent volumes but I didn't find it gave enough perceivable, useful tone nuances to justify the added complexity. I prefer simplicity.

 

[garp]

Several Js, one P and one P/J here. Like @Frank77, my P/J has a simple three-way switch, so it doesn't offer any sophisticated blending options, and I prefer it that way.

 

[John Webb]

I have a Hot Rod P and a USA Jazz.....I had an Aria P but gave it to a friend. I would like to have a nice Fender P but the Hot Rod is my goto.....sounds so good to me. I am toying with the idea of a J neck for the Hot Rod but I'm not on fire for that mod.....maybe in the future.

 

[electracoyote]

I own one of each, but the only way I have gotten a PJ to work for me and offer something substantive that the other two do not is with active electronics. That gives the Jazz rail some real power and lets it actually keep up with the Split P, giving me useful blend and on-board EQ options. With every passive PJ I played, the Split P dominated to the point it didn't make sense; if I wanted that tone I'd just play my Precisions. With a couple passives I tried, I might hear a slight nuance from the Jazz rail, but not enough to add it to my stable. When I bust out my Fender P Bass Deluxe Active, it turns heads. Guitar players stop playing and ask me what I've got there.

 

[Spearsy]

I have all three and subscribe to the notion that all three are very different/very usable voices.
FWIW - My P/J has been my #1 for years.
It covers a lot of ground on its own ...

 

[FishDub]

I own one of each, but the only way I have gotten a PJ to work for me and offer something substantive that the other two do not is with active electronics. That gives the Jazz rail some real power and lets it actually keep up with the Split P, giving me useful blend options. With every passive PJ I played, the Split P dominated to the point it didn't make sense; if I wanted that tone I'd just play my Precisions. With a couple passives I tried, I might hear a slight nuance from the Jazz rail, but not enough to ad it to my stable. When I bust out my Fender P Bass Deluxe Active, it turns heads. Guitar players stop playing and ask me what I've got there.

Interesting about the active option..never played one

 

[Pings Bass]

in my 80s jam bands days I really wanted a fretless jazz and a fretted p. I spent a couple days searching Chicagoland for a fretless j, and the closest I could find was the P/J jazz bass special. That and the walnut P were my only two BGs for decades, and the fretless P/J was effectively #1. I picked up the J to match the P late last year because that's really what 1987 me wanted. Fretted/fretless notwithstanding, I think the J is the best sounding and best looking of the lot. But I think fretless sounds pretty good with active PJs.

 

[Frank77]

Interesting about the active option..never played one

Besides adjusting the pickup heights, the thing with passive P/J setups is that the J pickup being so much closer to the bridge, it will inevitably be much quieter than the P pickup where the strings vibrate a lot more to begin with...so when you go from 100% P to 50/50 P/J for example, the overall output level will drop somewhat. That can explain why PJs with active electronics can be a good (arguably better) combination. You can also work around this with a boost pedal or a quick tweak of your amp's volume.