The band you’re playing in, and what instruments are in the mix, makes a big difference. Sometimes you want those wide-range Jazz Bass frequencies to fill up some space, and sometimes you need a P Bass’ mid focus to sit in a busy mix. I once heard the generalization that J Basses do better in smaller ensembles, and P Basses are the better tool for bigger bands. In my experience this is a decent rule of thumb.
The simplicity of the P really teaches you how much tone is in your hands and challenges you to refine your technique. It’s also nice that the P never really sounds bad
I have one of each and they are both my #1 basses depending on the situation. Precision has a boom attack before you hear the note. Jazz has a lighter attack and creates the effect that the note simply appears without an introduction. Precision is polite with how it sits in most mixes - almost asking permission to provide a little low end to the rest of the band. Jazz is in your face and demanding. If I'm playing C# on my Jazz and the rest of the band is in C, they sound like they are in the wrong and I'm right. Love them both but prefer the feel of the Jazz.
Philip, This is a fantastic video especially for a confused guitar player trying to learn bass. Your explanation of the differences of those two models of the Fender bass was exactly what I was looking for... concise, easy to understand and with visual aids. Thank you. Awesome channel. I'm getting a lot out of your bass course as well.
@@somedude8242 Thanks for your reply. Funny you should mention a short scale bass. My friend just took delivery of a Hofner violin bass from Germany. It plays like a guitar. Short scale and frets closer together. Nice instrument. Not the overseas copy.
@@somedude8242 That's one thing I found myself wondering, especially because we've seen Philip with his Mustang so often: Where does the Mustang fit in among the Precision bass and Jazz bass? Maybe that's a future video.
I haven't been playing long, and prior to getting my first bass I tried out my friend's P and J basses. I decided to go with a Jazz bass because I preferred the feel of the neck and the more diverse tones. Not having developed a style of my own a of yet, more tonal options seemed like a good choice to start with. I've been really pleased with my choice.
This is an excellent video, but I just want to expand on one thing that Philip mentions about the tones of the two basses: The midrange of every instrument is really where its 'character' comes from. It's the part of every instrument's sound that best highlights what kind of instrument it is. The Jazz bass with both pickups turned up has a subtle, quiet midrange, and fits into subtle music very well. The Precision has a bolder character, and bringing an aggressive sound out of it is pretty easy. It's a favorite of punk and indie musicians, but also of music producers, because they know all the tricks to dial that aggressive character up or down depending on what the mix needs.
I totally agree with your on-stage-description of how to choose between the two. Makes perfect sense. Although my answer is counter intuitive, as I play simple, pocket parts but I prefer the sound look and feel of a jazz bass. Like you said you only win when you pick one. Can’t go wrong with either.
FYI, the neck pocket in Jazz and Precision basses are actually not the exact same dimension, so I direct swap can lead to either a sloppy or impossibly tight fit. That has been my experience with neck swaps, anyway!
I have used p style basses throughout much of my time as a bassist and even after playing everything from music man to even a hofner I keep coming back to the p bass for its simplicity especially in terms of recording and my playing style feels out of place with most instruments so p bass always speaks to me
This is an outstanding video and I wish I had seen it when I started playing. Both basses are awesome, and Leo Fender gave us a great gift with the Precision and Jazz.
I used to go with the idea of having a Precision in the studio and a Jazz on stage, but it naturally just does depends on what sound you're going after. I primarily play P&J basses, but I also have just a P-bass because I like how it can sit high in a mix.
You deserve a lot more subs, you’re a natural and produce very high quality stuff. I’m a guitarist who just picked up a MIM J Bass to learn on largely because I found a good used one at a great price locally. A close guitarist friend has a P bass so we have both and can trade I guess. I like the narrow neck and the body comfort for sitting, which I mainly do. Tones don’t matter as much for me as playability for learning and just playing for fun. If I get into it maybe I get other basses but it’ll probably do me just fine for a long time.
In my experience, owning a Jazz Bass was fundamental for learning the bass and developing my musical personality. Seven years later, I bought a 2007 Fender MiM Precision Bass, and this bass truly made me a musician. In my opinion, the "less is more" vibe of the Precision Bass is what distinguishes a bass player from a musician. You start to think more about the whole rather than the bass part, if you know what I mean. Btw, this P-Bass remains my primary bass; I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Started in 1982 with a J-bass knockoff that I recall weighing around 20 pounds. Graduated to an 83 P-bass the next year. I still own it. The neck is definitely a different feel--if I'm on a J-bass or a Music Man, I can really tell the difference in my fret hand. Love both, but I'm more of a pocket groove guy anyway, and I love the simplicity of the P-bass.
I have played bass for many years and the connection between yourself and an instrument is very complex. A Precision was for the root bass players who supported the band. A Jazz bass can be for the step out bassist with more tonal variation.. Either one can be great and a great bass should always pleasantly surprise you with every tone that you get while using it..
I personally prefer P basses. My Squier 60's vibe has a rather slim P bass neck with only a nut width of 40mm's, the neck is also rather flat so its a joy play on! I've put some EMG GZRs in it and it sounds really good for basically any Genres. I'd love to try a PJ or PH someday tho.
Just do me 1 favour, get one with maple or some other northern wood. The fact that we still use tropical wood like pau ferro, rosewood or ebony is just crazy. We cannot afford to cut 1 single tree in rain forrest. And yes I know, meat, soja, but with buying maple fretboards we have at least 1 less source of cutdown
Gotta say Thank You! Haven't played with flatwound strings since 1978. Thanks to your motivation, I tried a set of half rounds and am loving the feel and the tone...maybe in another 44 years, I'll be ready to try a set of flats! Keep up the great work on your videos, look forward to them each week!
I just picked up an American Original 60’s P I love P basses Maybe it’s just what I’m used to I grew up playing my dads old P bass as a kid So I’m super bias But whenever I play another bass I always wish it was a P . I played a jazz for the first time a few years back and it felt great in the hand. But I like the sound of the P better And I like how it makes me play (if that makes sense)
They are both great but I think the P Bass is always guaranteed to sound the same, if that is what you want. If you can, its nice to have one of each, to cover every sound.
I love the Jazz aesthetics, but the Precision's tone and feel is where I feel "home". One day I'll build a Jazz body, PJ, P neck franken-bass... with flats of course lol
I didn't enjoy the feel of the Jazz bass' neck I tried. I leant to the sound of a P anyways; and the neck feel was what I expected, so that was a match. Turns out I'm responding more to the flair of a Precision in general ! Great video, you are definitely nailing that RU-vid thing !
It so hard to choose between the two. I lean toward the J bass personally. I feel like I can get pretty close to the P tone with it, but then have other options with the bridge pickup. For a while, my set up was P-bass with flat wounds for blues/country/soul stuff and a Jazz with roundwounds for rock. Recently, I did get a new P/J that I have rounds on that I get the best of both worlds from. My desert island bass is my American Deluxe Jazz, but it's more about that particular bass than it is the P vs. J question. Assuming I have batteries on the deserted island.
Loved this video! Very informative, nice to learn more about the differences between basses. I personally prefer the P-bass sound, nice and moody 😄 So, when's the video about the upright coming? I recently rediscovered a band I used to listen to years ago, Stray Cats, love the bass in that 😁🎶
The P bass is the one I'd want to go to lunch with...if it were a person. But I am in my 60s and a new bass playing convert. Have a Fender P bass, a Stirling Classic RAY24 and a Sire V3P. Switching back and forth a lot and spend most of my practice between on or the other. I'm starting to see how they all have their now place. Now I get why bass players seem to own several basses.
Cool video. I'm in love with my Ibanez TMB-100 (it's affordable, quite beatable and PJ), but if I were about to buy a Fender I think I would go for a Precision (or a JMJ Mustang!). By the way, I would love to hear you talk about the upright.
Greetings from Bucharest, Romania. Always leaned more towards the Jazz bass. But both are cool. I have a nice Mike Lull 5-string P for when I want that traditional vibe, but most of the time I'm playing a modern J (with 35" scale and 5 strings) :)
I have one of each. I use the P for 60's and some 70's stuff. I use the J for almost everything else. If I had to pick one I'd choose the P Bass. The split pick-up makes that oh so sweet BASS SOUND...
Both basses are such a good choice because i will play according to the music, i will be locked in a groove with the drummer in certain genres, or i will be doing some more energetic playing like slapping with gospel, they are both so good. P bass with flatwounds is amazing sounding though.
Your ending visualization exercise reminded me of a pithy comment I saw on another video on a similar topic: “When you want the bass to be heard, play a J bass. When you want the bass to be felt, play a P bass.”
I picked up a fretless jazz bass at a pawn shop years ago, and have been hooked ever since. At some point in 2020 I found myself walking out of a shop with a Flea Roadworn jazz bass. I'm looking to pick up a P bass in the near future, and then possibly a P bass in the P/J configuration... So, the simple answer to which one is "Yes!" 😂😂😂 Thanks for the rundown- appreciate it! 🙏
Had both, couldn't make them work for my style of playing. I like smacking my fingers in a way that's probably considered bad technique by most professionals. The P bass sounded clanky and dull, J bass sounded thin. Got a stingray and now I'm happy because it really responds well to being hit hard
I think I prefer the p-bass. I want to get one with a humbucker bridge pickup. But I also love the sound of a jazz bass. My current bass imitates them both really well, but I think I just want one of each. Why pick one if there are really good affordable options for both?
I agree 100%, they way i look at it is If i want to stick out in a mix then i’ll play the Jazz bass. If i want to lay back and not be “heard” then i’ll play the P. Sometimes when i’m mixing my own recordings and i’m playing with a P- I wont think what does this mix sound like with this bass i think more of what does it sound without it. And typically it’s thin and dull and the bass just brings it all home.
If I had to chose I would always pick a P bass, in someway it always works. But what can I say I have 4 jazz basses and 4 P basses and I love them all:) For a first bass I would still recommend a jazz bass for the variety, but get a P bass asap for working on your own tone in your fingers! Bonus tip, get a cheap 80's P bass, they're almost all really awesome!
Great video for beginners, Philip. Good job! Some famous players did like to play a Jazz bass, but only use the neck pickup, like the great Joe Osborn. The sound is almost as mid focused as a P bass, especially with flats. Joe got some great sounds! Others favour the P, but liked the Jazz bass neck more, so they simply swapped necks, 😄. (Try doing that with a Gibson or an Alembic..., 😉). The most famous bassist who did this later in his career was the great Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn. Adam Clayton used to play his famous ‘73 sunburst Fender P with a Jazz neck too. In the early ‘70’s (late 1970-1972) Fender had the option to have a P with a Jazz neck. One famous user was Nate Mendel, with his ‘71 Candy Apple red Fender P. Others loved the Jazz bass, but liked the neck of the P bass more. One famous player liking this was Tim Commerford (Rage Against The Machine). Even Jaco Pastorius had a maple board late ‘70’s P neck on his fretted Jazzbass he used in his instruction video around 1985! He just might have wrecked the original neck... I love and use all the options: Fender P’s and J’s and hybrids; both with flats and rounds! Love ‘em! 🖖
I’ve had scores of basses over a 50-odd year career. If I could only have one bass, and landing paid gigs was the goal, it would be a ‘62 Precision reissue. I prefer P-P on a 2 pickup bass over J-J or P-J. That said, the only sale I’ve ever regretted, was a nice, light Jazz with a P-bass neck and Dimarzio Area J pickups. There was just something about the way it felt and sounded…
I have both (and others), but it's an easy choice for me. I like the wider Precision neck. Different Precisions are different, especially newer ones compared the great old ones. But whether a flat early 60s rosewood neck, or fatter baseball bat 50s (or late 60s Telecasters) maple necks, they're still wider, and more comfortable to me. I just wanted a Jazz because they look great, but the neck is what is important to me, even with the tonal advantages of the Jazz. I had and got rid of two Rickenbackers because the necks were too narrow. Same with the Thunderbird. It's just too narrow (for me). ANYWAY, that's just my two cents, as an old rock player.
I went to the Fender Mod site, ordered a Mocha Burst bass, and specified the PJ configuration. Sure, it cost me over $2K, but I believe I have the perfect bass guitar. My bass teacher got excited and played it the entire session, and didn't charge me at all, LOL! It is the perfect bass. It did cost me... and my second bass is a Hofner Ignition series violin bass (less than $500), like Paul McCartney used in his early Beatles years. That one's in the shop now. The luthier is fixing it up now. It will have flatwounds and sound more like a stand up orchestral string bass. For many years I played saxophone, alto and bari, plus a year of cello. These are my first guitars, and as a recent retiree, I am overjoyed with the great sound the Fender makes. I would highly recommend the Fender Precision bass (with the PJ configuration option on their MOD website) above all other contemporary Fender basses. My expert (and teacher) seriously covets it!
I’ve got wide hands with short fingers. The P-Bass neck has been my nemesis since day one. It’s too chunky for my left hand. Fender starting offering a PJ Bass with a J-Bass neck. Problem solved….that was my main bass for a long time…until I lost my job during the pandemic and was unemployed for an extended period of time. I had to sell all my music gear to not become homeless while seeking employment. I found work and bought myself a Tagima J-Bass, however I quickly realized I missed the P-Bass sound…sooo I bought a pick guard blank and cut a new pick guard for my J Bass. With some careful measuring and tracing of a Duncan P-Bass pickup I had in my parts box, I fit that pickup to the new pick guard I made, wired up the pickup to the bass’s control set and voila, I created a replacement for my former Fender PJ bass. It sounds and looks great and is easy to play, at least for me.
Easy, do what i done & buy a Jaguar PJ Special ,ebony fretboard with reversed P pick-up & you have both,well 95%...i also bought the Fender 75th Anniverary Jazz bass with matching headstock with Fender logo in a silver version of the American Elite gold logo...maple fretboard...with flats it sounds brilliant....treat yourself ,buy both or get a Jaguar PJ...when used live ,a PJ will do both a Jazz & Precision....good demo bud...
I have a 1973 telecaster bass, and a 1968 telecaster bass body parts bass. I love a single pickup, passive, fat necked bass. The charm of simplicity, indeed. I am very OK with not being noticed. I just bought and tried a 1977 Guild B-301A. It wasn't for me, so I am letting a mate try the guild. If he likes it, he will trade to me his 2006 Fender highway one jazz bass. I never have been a fan of the offset body. Stay tuned.
John Paul Jones actually started with a pbass..most of the recording are done on a p bass....a 66..67 fender if memory serves me right....30 years ago when I started playing the salesman says to me this is late 80s early 90s when I bought my first bass ..he says look at all tge greats..what do they play..well for the music I listen to it was Rickis and P BASSES..Geezer Butler .... Roger Waters....Lee Sklar ... the list goes on..so I became a p bass freak...in tge past 5 years I've just started to appreciate the versatility of a jazz bass....I know this video didn't talk about modern basses but just to touch on it..I'm just getting into modern basses with active preamp and humbuckers
I got a Squire J bass mostly because I thought two pickups was better value than a one pickup P bass. It was only latter that I started really getting into playing that I found I was lucky with my selection. I love the setting of tone all the way down and both volumes all the way up. I find I can get notes to "bloom" with that setting.
My main (only for years) has been a 2005 Mexican J and it’s treated me very well. What’s funny about mine is the sweet spot is bridge off neck open 100%. Get’s a growl and punch like nothing else
I prefer a jazz bass.... you can make a jazz bass sound like a p bass but you cannot make a p bass sound like a jazz... I feel like Jazz bass has more options/ways to play... the real question is active or passive?
There is another option, another classic bass Leo Fender has created aside from the P Bass and J Bass. It is the Music Man Sting Ray which many rock and slap bass players use exclusively. This is my goto bass indeed.
I started playing bass 3 months ago and I have a PJ with flats on it. I love a nice quackie slappy bass sound, but that isn’t what I want to play. I get that P sound with the slimmer J style neck. I don’t know why PJ’s get so slept on.
I think a lot of it for me comes down to how much I want to fuss with tone. You can be a hyper minimalist with a P bass directly into your amp with 30 year old flats and die happy. I personally like experimentation and risks so it will always be a J or similar for me. I currently love my G&L Kiloton but that's a whole different thang. Lovin your content my friend, keep it thumpin.
Nice job! For many years I had one of each - I considered these the "hammer and screwdriver" for a bass players toolbox. Although a Stingray might be a nice addition to that toolbox...
I have those three 😊 American standard P with flats, 1964 P with 2 active EMG jazz pickups (in 60s Jazz bass configuration) and a StingRay Classic 2 band EQ. All great for different tasks for different reasons and I love them to bits!
Unpopular opinion time: I feel like I’m one of the few people in the world that actually dislikes p basses... just can’t stand how muddy and gross and bleh they sound, like a cheap $60 diy bass.. imo they’re good for about 2% of music, motown and disco, besides that, any other bass would sound better than a p ...... oh and sound “engineers” who claim the p bass is the holy grail are actually just lazy talentless hacks who don’t want to do anything besides press the record button and they don’t care if every single thing they produce sounds the same... they probably record with an entry level tama kit that hasn’t had the heads changed in ten years and thinks it sounds just fine, because why have things sound excellent when they could sound like crap ? Sorry, end of rant.
J can sound similar to P on the neck pickup with the tone off, but P cannot sound similar to J. If it is your first bass get a J. You will get another bass anyways. At the same time P sound is so good at the things it is designed for that everyone need to have one just in case. It can fit in every mix and it is the best supporting bass. While j implies you need more active, lively, open sound. The problem with versatility is that an instrument can pretend but it is not 100% that sound. I own a 6 strings dingwall that can do everything, but it is not the same as p, j or mm sound as their marketing manager states and I still want a good old P or J bass
I am new to bass, but as a longtime guitar player, it is odd to me that the bass community seems to argue *either* P bass *or* J bass. I don’t typically see the same argument in the guitar community of either Telecaster or Stratocaster, for example. For guitarists, the answer is both/and.
I've had a P bass for years playing a lot of melodic bass lines, more suitable for a J Bass, but the low end the P bass gives you with flats on it it's incomparable, not that great for slap tbh, but not bad when you do slap on something like it.
Excellent primer on the fundamental differences. My compliments on a eloquent, concise, explanation on the differences and benefits of each instrument. Hell, yeah!
Any bass really Depends on you P bass out of those ones shown For versatility regarding styles, clearer bass and gnarlier mids But your fingers and ears will make any bass sound good. I love the instrument Bass is the shit yeeee
If you wanna be a p bass player and be noticed go for a dabbath vibe. Greezer holds down that groove but will wail all over the place when its time to rock out.
Buy a PJ if there’s any doubt in your mind about which one you want. It makes no sense to buy a regular precision unless you absolutely would NEVER use the bridge pickup. Gives you some jazz tones as well. I have a Jaguar PJ, and I don’t really feel I NEED a jazz bass. I can get close enough with my PJ
Love my Fender Made in Mexico Jazz Bass with black flatwounds and Seymour Duncan Vintage pickups. Recently (from someone on RU-vid) discovered playing with just the bridge pickup but the tone right off (I.e. treble wound right off). Always something new to learn. Just ordered a Sire U5 PJ bass. Short scale ‘cos I’m getting on a bit and the J Bass gives my pain in my fretting hand in long sessions.
what about the PJ config, i have three and find it very difficut to get a solo P or J .wouldnt the PJ be the best of both worlds? would you do a review of all 3 types?
