FENDER Jazz Bass vs. Precision vs. PJ 

I love that PJ tone everytime

Nothing can replace the JJ both pickup slap sound, not a PJ, not a musicman stingray.

Was look for this exact vid, thanks man.!

I'm an absolute beginner so here's what I understood (more experienced players please correct me if I'm wrong) The red bass is a J (jazz) style, the beige one is a P (precision) style, the black one is a PJ (precision-jazz) style. You can tell by the pickups: a P only has a staggered pickup, a J has a pair of straight pickups, a PJ has one of each. J and PJ have two pickups, the "bridge" (on the left) and the "neck" (on the right). They take their names from the part of the bass that is nearest to them. The P only has a neck pickup. Two of the three knobs on the body control the volume of each pickup, so you can choose to take only the bridge, only the neck, or a mix of the two. The man in the video is playing each of the three basses with different knob configurations and play styles. When you see the "BOTH" overlay you're hearing both pickups (i.e. both knobs are at the max), with "BRIDGE" the neck is muted, with "NECK" the bridge is muted. Notice the difference in timbre when choosing one, the other or both. Also notice how different they sound when at 3:46 he plucks between the neck pickup and the neck. EDIT: I actually confused P and J. I fixed them now.

Nice comparison, but it would be cool if you included examples with the tone rolled-off. J and P/PJ usually use different capacitor values, with the P/PJ having a bigger value and a darker sound. Nice for the neck pickup, but not so much for the bridge pickup. But that's my verdict: - If you're only using the neck pickup, get a P - If you want more versatility, get a J or a PJ, and to choose between the two: - If you prefer more aggressive sounds and/or prefer the neck pickup soloed, get a PJ - If you prefer more laid-back sounds, and you're also into slapping (both pickups win in both cases), and you want that Jaco-type bridge pickup sound, get a J - And, of course, check which neck and body shape fits you. But there are also P basses with narrow necks, or J basses with PJ pickups So in my case, I like the look & feel of both the body and the neck of a Jazz Bass, so it wins for me, but I also often solo the neck pickup. I actually use all the possible settings and also use the tone blend a lot. But I admit, sometimes I miss the oomph and the simplicity of a P bass. But a PJ always feels like a compromise for me.

Jazz sounds warmer and better imo. But that can be due to pickups, setup etc. not just the type of pickups

Nice comparison! I prefer PJ👏

Well done man, I enjoyed the video. It was a no nonsense, straight to the point video with great audio

I'm a big fan of the Jazz Bass, but that PJ configuration sounds tasty 👌🏿 PJ is best of both worlds.

I can't decide.... I guess I need all 3

Really nice comparison video so thank you! The difference in slap between the PJ and the J was really surprising in regards to the harmonic content that you can clearly hear being drawn out of the bridge pickup on the PJ. The variance is definitely interesting, but I think that for slap the PJ sound is a little bit more niche than a pure J slap sound. Also for the precision tones I think the one clear variance between the pure precision vs the other basses is the impact of having a circuit where the pickup is implemented in series vs parallel for the PJ & J. The result is that the low notes are fuller on the Precision whereas they comparatively feel more "pale" on the PJ & J. To me the only way to eliminate a Precision bass from being relevant for good would be to have a PJ bass where you have 2 independently hum-bucking pickups with the possibility to adjust the volume AND tone for each pickup coupled with the capacity to wire the circuit in Series and in Parallel at the flick of a switch. The only reason from my understanding that fenders don't have this switch is because of the interference noise that would arise on single coil pickups if they could be heard in series. I feel that for the PJ it would be interesting to be able to experiment with dialing down the tone of the bridge pick up in a slap sound as it might probably open up interesting usable variant slap tones that won't sound as nasal.

Doesn't matter which one you own if you run a B7K pedal

Fender Jazz Bass because its awesome sounds

PJ is love

I like the Jazz and PJ basses. Hard to choose from these two

Thank-you so much! This is super helpful! :D

I bought the Fender Jaguar PJ. P bass sound with nice J bass neck.

That's how you do a comparison video. Check the ego. Simple sounds in short clips played sequentially. I'm not a Fender guy, but if I were to buy one, I'd go PJ.

The standard jazz bass every time :)

Most helpful video! Thanks! Been trying to decide whether to get a P bass because I've never had one and I love the tone so much, or get a PJ with the added versatility. It seems that though the P and the PJ with the neck pickup isolated sound similar, there is still a very very subtle difference. I imagine it's something to do with the blend circuitry and the fact that there's not a full-on pickup selector? The neck size probably does something too.

PJ sooo nice loww end perfect

I personally like PJ or simple P most. In normal bass playing J keeps nearly up with the two. When it comes to slapping J is too nasal, too flat no personality. PJ and P are killer in that discipline. So, these are only my personal two cents ..... Everyone should use what works for him best :-) Thank you very much for that great video...

Got carried away and started jamming

excellent comparison video thanks

thank you for this essential demonstration!! :

Excellent video thanks!

Not really creating the full effect by always plucking over the bridge pickup....

Super cool video! Now with the pick, please! 😀

I've got a Squier Jaguar shortscale Vintage Modded with the PJ configuration. But I want a J bass. Is there any advantage of the J bass besides it being known to have a fifth string?

Jazz always

Precision Bass for me!!!

P bass all day. The other 2 are for the hipsters.

Doesn't say which is which which is excruciating.

Here's my preferences by technique + pickup: Slap, bridge pickup: no clear winner. Jazz and PJ sounded mostly the same. Slap, neck: no clear winner between PJ and Precision. Jazz bass sounded incredibly awful with an 'amplified tin can' tone, artificial, not very enjoyable. Slap, both pickups: Jazz bass has the perfect sound, nothing compares. Fingerstyle with alterning octaves both pickups: PJ takes the lead and Jazz pales badly in this one. So here's my verdict: can I have all three? :-)

Man your thumb placement looks crazy uncomfortable. Not knocking your style of playing it was great, I just wouldn’t hold my thumb up top the entire time.