Would a P/J work as a full P and a partial JB?

[jpaulo]

Hi there,

2nd post, just starting on bass and the forum - bear with me, please...
I have a lent Jazz Bass but like the Precision sound better.

In order to get that and keep somewhat of the Jazz Bass versatily, I am looking at the Mustangs.

Do they sound 100% like a Precision if the Jazz Bass pickup is not active?
How much of the JB sound is then lost?

I know there is always a compromise in hybrid solutions, is this the case?

Tks,

Joao Paulo
Ibanez Gio 180 JB

 

[EmuBass]

Most of my Basses are PJ. I Like the Look and Sound. Both PUs together still Sound different than a J-bass. Still mostly depending on your Electronics. Beware of the J-bass circuitry. It's crap. You never Dial in a "correct" Ratio of Bridge / Neck PU. Prefer a simple Switch with passive or "Panorama" with active. That's it. Some provide active + passive tone-blend. Even better!

 

[groove pump]

Agree with our pal EmuBass above in terms of a P/J not really sounding like a Jazz with both pickups in the P/J running together. But I think that the good news is that a P/J can sound like a bold, aggressive P when that pickup is solo'ed and also sound a bit more laid back (in a potentially good way) with a little of the J blended in. If I bump my lows and highs just a little, this partial blend also gives me a pretty decent slap sound.

My P/J has active EMG's and I usually play it with a little of the J pickup blended in to take a little of the edge off the tone compared with the P running alone. I can actually get too loud sometimes with that bass when running the P pickup solo'ed if I don't cut the highs (at the onboard preamp) or maybe cut some high mids at my amp.

More potential good news in the realm of Jazz bass possibilities - some J pickups are humbucking and can offer some options, too. I have a set of humbucking DiMarzio Ultra Jazz pickups in a bass that give me three really useful tones:

1) Bridge full open, neck cut just a little - this gives some of that jazzy, nasal tone that's a little burpy, snarky, etc. Rather nice with a little boost of my lows at the amp.

2) Both full open - this make that bold J-bass tone that reeeeeally wants to be slapped when the passive tone isn't cut back too much.

3) Solo neck pickup - while it's not a P pickup, this is a humbucker and it gives me a nice round diesel sound with a little more of that P-bass "honk" that's not typical with a Jazz.

 

[bwildt]

I have a 1999 Fender Hot Rod Precision that is a PJ. With both pickups up, it doesn't sound like a full on Jazz bass, but it does bring some Jazz nasality into the sound. It works for me because I like P's better than J's. I also put no requirement on myself to sound exactly like this bass or that player. I sound like me.

One thing that Fender did on the Hot Rod, was to put a slightly hotter version on a J pickup in it to better match up with the louder P pickup. That was a good move.

Another thing you can do is play with the pickup heights to balance out the two pickups to your liking. On two pickup basses, I often raise the bridge pickup a little higher than the neck pickup in order to get a little more volume out of it. Be careful that you don't raise the pickup to much. If you get woofy, muddy, phasing or beating sounds, the pickup may be too high and the pickup magnets are interfering with the string vibration. Lower it until they go away. Then maybe also lower the neck pickup a little to balance the sound back out. I try to balance the height so that I get the pickup mix I like when both pickups are full on.

 

[garp]

Bear in mind that the Mustang is a short-scale bass (30"), whereas the Jazz and Precision aren't (34"). Scale length often adds another tonal variable, so merely looking at different pickup configurations/control settings isn't a true apples-to-apples comparison.

 

[chris_b]

With the PJ config you don't have a Jazz. You have a Precision with an additional bridge pickup.

You prefer the Precision bass sound but like the versatility of a Jazz bass. A lot of us do, which is why we have both basses.

 

[Rabidhamster]

The mustang with a P pickup solo will most likely sound a bit tubby, or softer when compared with the P Bass. This may be good, bad, or irrelevant

 

[AngelCrusher]

Matters what you get. I have had P/Js where the J was something you added in for taste. I now have a P/J where I can easily use the bridge pickup on it’s own, due to the pickups being so even in tone.

I think for me, the acid test on a P/J now is if I can play a set with bridge pickup only. That usually means I will have that tone, plus a legit P tone and a very usable tone with both pickups on. Both on ends up being my go to majority of the time.

 

[Badwater]

Yes, it would work. But more will depend on how dynamic your playing is. And how good you can fake it.

 

[Svento]

How come it's not more common putting a hbpb close to the bridge -- MM position or even farther back? Then perhaps some whatever sc thing as neck pickup. Or an other hbpb for that sake, maybe a bit closer to the neck than standard.

Should probably create a rather wide range of possible sounds to chose between. Especially if they hb has a switch for changing to parallel. Might sound similar to MM. In series perhaps somewhat like a Rickenbacker? Then maybe a phase switch for the neck pickup, if that one is a humbucker.

I do realize that you would have none of either the traditional P or J. This would make an entirely different creature. Not necessarily any worse though. Some players actually do aim for other kinds of sounds.

I intend to try some of this. Some time. Not sure when, but I do at least have the gear.

 

[micguy]

A P/J will sound very much like a P if you use a switch to control which pickups are active, and have 1 volume (wired forward like a P) and 1 tone control. Using the VVT circuit of a J, you can't get away from the load of 3 controls on the neck pickup - it just isn't the same. You also have the backwards (shunt) J volume controls, which means they're tone and volume controls - they don't just turn things up and down, they filter differently (they cut highs) when set at less than full.

Both pickups on on a PJ will never sound like both on on a J - the comb filtering on the G and D strings is very different due to the different pickup placement, and that's something you can't eq out.

For as simple as old Fender designs are, there are little details going on there that most people don't appreciate or understand.

 

[wraub]

I have a P, a J, and a PJ, and I find that I play the PJ the most, as it gets a good balance of each of the others.

The P soloed sounds enough like a P, especially EQd in a live mix, that it does the job fine, and the J soloed has the same thin J bridge thing as any J bass, but the tone knob does a lot of heavy lifting in the tone search.

Generally, I'll have the P on full, the J varying between not quite full on to not quite full off, and the tone knob around 1/3 on, but, it also has bright stainless strings, so... This gets me a kinda MM tone, but with a bit more honk.

 

[Wfrance3]

on a short scale, I have to vote neither. It's a different animal. A cool animal, but not the exact same. In my humble opinion, A P is a P, a J is a J....

Having said that, I think you can get closer with a 34" scale PJ bass. It will sound less "tubby" with the P solo-ed. A music store visit might get you a better idea of what I'm trying to describe. Play both kinds if you can, be sure they are both passive (no on-board preamp). It's doubtful you would find a pre in the short scale, but just might in the 34".

One thing I like to do on a passive PJ is play with full P and then blend in some J until it sounds "right" to me. Also roll off a little tone and see what that does. I usually leave the tone on full, but sometimes take a little out if there's excessive high end attack clickyness.