Why do people hate PJ basses

I have no idea why anyone would hate a P/J. I actually wish there were more options like a MIM Players series P/J

 

I think you need a much larger sample size, I have not heard of such a thing.

 

The V/V/T wiring that typically goes into these *can* compromise the soloed P pickup tone due to electronic mumbo jumbo (this can be worked around if you use 500k volume pots, but I'm guessing most PJs come with 250k volume pots), which seems like the big downside to me as someone who would probably solo the P pickup 75% of the time.

Other than that, many people seem to say that there isn't a lot of synergy between the pickups when you blend them -- they're too different in character, and also the P tends to overpower the J pickup (contingent on pickup choice of course). I've seen a few people mention that if you make your P pickup switchable between series and parallel then that can help, with the P pickup in parallel being a much better sonic match for your average J pickup.

If you were to rewire a PJ with those mods then I imagine it would probably satisfy a lot of people, but as far as I know there aren't any common production basses that do both of those things. I hope to try those mods myself one day!

 

Hadn't heard that there was a huge crowd of PJ haters. I know some folks don't like them because the bridge J is effectively solo and can't be hum-cancelled. Of course, that's easily solved by getting a hum-cancelling J pickup...

 

Who hates PJ basses? I've never heard anyone say such a thing ever.

 

I don't hate them.
I'm not a huge fan of the aesthetics of a Precision bass with an added J pickup. Just looks a bit wrong to me (as do Jazz bodies with P pickups).
Love Jazz basses, love my Am. Std. Jaguar PJ, love Precision basses, don't love Precision basses with an an added J pickups. This is on looks alone.
Tone-wise, it's a wonderful thing.

 

My take is...they don't do P like a real P and they don't do J like a real J.

My 2 experiences with PJ basses (Sadowsky and Peavey) tend to support that statement. And plus it's an excuse to own more than one bass!

 

Why do people hate PJ basses

 

My Am. Std. Jaguar in passive mode does P like a real P. It doesn't do J like a real J. It does PJ like a real....um....PJ.

 

Uh, they seem pretty popular to me.
I agree they don't do a J like a true J, and some certainly don't do a P like a true P (although I've played many that do). They're their own thing and definitely one of the most versatile and most used pickup configs. I don't think I've ever heard or read a comment which equates to: "P/J?!?! YUCK!!!"

 

Maybe they haven’t tried this one.

 

H-O-T

 

Nice. What do you have in the J position? Looks a little fat for a regular j pickup.

 

Im all about the P/J, however i prefer the wiring to be Vol / Blend / Tone.

 

Where?

 

P/Hum is the option I prefer when available. Humbuckers (Music Man pickups and almost every variation of soapbar, be them single-coil or hum-canceling) seem to be a better match with a good P pickup than a J. YMMV.

 

Without the tone pot it is too H-O-T.