Why do people hate PJ basses

[socialleper]

I don't think anyone "hates" them, but yes, there are purists that will tell you that only a Fender split single coil with a wide neck is an acceptable "precision" bass. Those people are @$$ hats for a number of reasons.
I have proven with a blind listening test that people can't tell the difference between a soloed P on a PJ and a straight P.
I agree with jazz bass players that a PJ doesn't sound much like a dual single coil bass, and my personal experience is that the bridge pickup of a PJ has never sounded like the bridge pickup on a standard J bass. With both pickups on a PJ is sort of its own tone. To me that is the sound of the late 80s and early 90s.

 

[India_Sierra]

Yeah, I hate them, definitely wouldn't want to own one, definitely not a 1994 Pedulla Pentabuzz anyway...

 

[Two-Spirit]

I never liked using the bridge pickup on my Peavey Cirrus. I think I'm going to get a Jazz V this time. I've used Jazz copies and Precision copys. So, I really can't comment on the difference. I should try them out when I get my money together, but I loathe music stores. Actually It's the jerks that spend all of their time there trying to find bandmates, get discovered or whatever it is they think their doing there.

 

[thedukeofno]

I wouldn’t say Ed hates PJ basses, but in this article he does touch on some points that some manufacturers don’t consider in their PJ offerings, IMHO...

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[mdogs]

troll

 

[LadyLoveStingRay5]

I don’t hate them . But I do think that the original Yamaha BB3000 & BB5000 are the best PJ basses ever made.

My Musicman Caprice looks like a P/J but it’s actually a P/H (inline humbucker ).
Best passive bass I’ve ever played.

I don’t care for Fender P/J with the one exception of the Mustang P/J.

 

[deernaes]

Most of my 15 basses are P/J basses.
Best pickup combo ever I think....

 

[B-Lo]

Maybe they haven’t tried this one.
View attachment 3230940

You need to add NSFW when posting something like that lol. That is some serious bass porn right there!

 

[Basshappi]

PJ is a very common pickup config, I have not seen a inordinate amount of hate expressed against it.
Adding a Jazz pup near the bridge on a Precision bass was a common modification that gained popularity back in the 1970's. It was to get more top end definition out of the Precision. It was not an effort to make a bass that could sound like both a Jazz and a Precision (notice that adding a Precision pup to a Jazz bass was not common until fairly recently).

 

[CallMeAl]

I think theyre great. Like a P with a lil sumpin extra. Very versatile.

The only thing i see is the single coil bridge pickup doesnt have another pickup to balance it, so it will always hum. But plenty of people run bridge only (or mostly) and dont care. Its just my preference, but if i owned one id put a split coil in the bridge.

Some say the extra pickup in the circuit changes the p bass tone and P > PJ..... But here's a neat little test that (i think) disproves that theory:
P vs P in PJ set --- Can You Tell Which Is Which?

 

[Kevan Campbell]

I’ll admit it, for years I really disliked PJ basses. I thought they looked weird (not a “pure” P or J but a weird Frankenstein of the two), didn’t like how one pickup tended to overpower the other when combined (which pickup that was depended on the manufacturer of the bass and/or pickups) and felt that it was too much of a compromise trying to get the benefits of both pickups in one bass.

Fast forward many years to where I’ve played a number of refined boutique PJ’s and my tastes have definitely changed. I’m now awaiting a highly customized Sadowsky PJ5 of my own, so I guess you could say I’ve come around to the concept.

 

[lfmn16]

Recently, I've been seeing more and more people wanting fender to go back to exclusively jazz/precision basses instead of the PJ models. Is there any reason for this? Does the jazz pickup cavity damage the sound of the precision pickup for example?
Is it a matter of nostalgia?

Thanks in advance.

You might want to think a little more before making you next post.

 

[Edmang]

Some people hate PJs.

Some hate Js, Ps, Rics, and MM....

Basically because they can..

 

[Gorn]

PJ is the objectively best pickup configuration, in my opinion.

 

[petrus61]

I think they’re fine with the right switching layout. You just have to have realistic expectations going in. All other things being equal and with a regular VVT, I think they have a throatier scooped sound with both pups dimed that is slightly less defined than a J with same controls engaged. I feel they definitely lean more toward a J in character with the VVT setup, which is why I prefer them with selector switches. It’s a matter of preference and I’m fine with people not noticing the difference enough to worry about it either way, because they don’t play my basses and I don’t play theirs.

 

[gt96g]

I think for PJ's its critically important that the pickups are specifically sold as a pj set and the jazz is a liniar humbucker.

If those requirements are met I actually really like them. I actually find mixing in the jazz pup 50% vol or less adds a nice tightness a punch to the p sound. I have a true p bass and even though I really like it, i also have a pj and a appreciate with just enough of the Jazz pickup added can do.

 

[AndyPanda]

The good is that if you are playing full neck pickup, it's just like a P and if you are playing full bridge pickup it's just a J with the bridge solo'd.

The bad is when you have both pickups on, the scooped tonality you get between the bridge and neck pickups is different for the E-A strings than for the D-G strings (which might be a plus if you like it). I mean on a J-J with both pickups on full, the tonality is consistent between all four strings because the pickups are equidistant from each other ... but on a P-J you can definitely hear the change when you cross to strings that have half the neck pickup closer or further away from the bridge pickup than the other half.

The other problem with P-J (assuming a single coil J) is that there is no bucking of the hum for the bridge pickup.

 

[mmbass21]

As someone who just bought the new Fender American Performer PJ and posting in another thread about it I can whole-heartedly say there is hate for PJ's. What I've gathered is mainly 2 things, some don't like the Greacebucket circuit for the tone knob, others don't like the single coil J pickup because they think it has too loud of a hum. The latter don't want noiseless or a humbucker which they feel compromises the tone. There are some that think the J is too close to the bridge and sounds thin too.

I can't speak on any other PJ's besides what I just bought and an American Elite that I compared it to at the store. I absolutely love the tones I'm getting from both pickups on mine. I liked it over the Elite. Does the J have some single coil hum? Of course, but it's not unbearable like I've heard before and with both pickups blended (which sounds great to me) there's no hum at all.

I'm sure there's more than this but in 1 thread this is what I've come across.

 

[jd56hawk]

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

Not mine, but I considered buying it.
Regardless, it’s the regular MFD J pickup.

 

[BrentSimons]

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

They are both G&L's Magnetic Field Design (MFD) pickups.