Why Do You Prefer a Jazz Over a Precision?

[Count Bassie]

Tone? Neck? Look? Just askin'...

I swapped my P for a J and am happy with the choice for my present situation... but I'm interested in hearing about how these two are viewed in an A/B setting.

 

[Absentia]

Just about everything, the neck on P's is just uncomfortable to me feels to fat in my tiny girly hands.
Tone, I have yet to get the brightness I like out of my P.

Playing is just smoother on a J.

 

[Count Bassie]

I'm in agreement about the 'smooth' thing- I think the neck and the larger body contribute to that.

 

[AltGrendel]

Just about everything, the neck on P's is just uncomfortable to me feels to fat in my tiny girly hands.
Tone, I have yet to get the brightness I like out of my P.

Playing is just smoother on a J.

^ This.

 

[sonic assassin]

its much easier to find a 5 string J. i roll to the neck pickup to get a P vibe anyway.

 

[MarTONEbass]

IME Jazz basses are much more tonally diverse than P basses. Never was a fan of single-pickup instruments.

 

[InLeoWeTrust]

Neck, balance, versatility, looks, and sometimes the tone. But sometimes I just gotta have that P tone. . .

 

[ubado]

I don't.
I like a combination of the two. The body of a P ... then neck of a J ... and the pickups of both. (if I had to choose PU's ... I'd go jazz or a double P)

 

[johnboy65]

Does it count that I don't? Each is it's own thing, the primary deciding factor as to which one goes to the gig is... which has the newest strings.

 

[Atticus]

P bass necks are too uncomfortable, but J bass pups can't nail the thick P tone. If I took the neck from a J and stuck it on a P, then maybe I'd be happy, but that leaves me with a neck I hate and a body that is only passable. This is why I don't like Fenders. Well, that and the machine head arrangement on their 5ers.

 

[Catbuster]

Tonal diversity in a bass-heavy band. I'm no longer in that band, and am stuck with a Jazz bass.

Otherwise I'd have a P.

 

[allexcosta]

If I had to choose only one thing, balance for sure...

 

[JimB52]

I can't decide. I choose both.
I like a P body and a J neck best, but straight P & J are cool too.

 

[TonyP-]

Really everything

Most imporant

- Tone of the pickups (better highs and not so honky-like)
- The feel of the neck slimmer easier for me to move around

Followed by

- Body contour
- Esthetically speaking of the instrument itself (I love blocks and binding)
- The players I dig are J guys not P guys (Very little to do with this...but just saying)


I'm a J guy for 4 strings and I love them I have something silly like 6 at the moment...LOL

 

[4-string]

Simply because I don't like the P-bass sound much. Actually, my favourite "P-bass" tone comes from the old, passive BB series from Yamaha.

 

[HillBillyWannaB]

I would imagine that, although most won't admit it, it's because <ENTER FAVORITE BASSIST'S NAME HERE> plays one. Same for any bass really.

That's why I started playing one, then I fell in love with the tone, feel and look of them.

 

[pringlw]

I like the range of a J, and the neck. However I do miss that P split coil pickup. A bass I have on order is a P/J with a neck I know I'll like. I believe that will hit the spot.

 

[Mikio]

I love P's neck and I think a P looks better on me than a J Bass. But the J bass is more versatile for me, it sounds ""better""

 

[Kraken]

Despite the fact that a few of the players I admire from the early 70's played P's I can never get a tone I like out of them, Jazz's on the other hand, I get plenty of tones I like from them, and as an added bonus they tend to cut through the rather Bass heavy sound that my band has much better.

 

[80'sRocker]

mainly for the slim neck, plus I love the tone and the body lines - best bass ever