Precision vs Jazz Basses: Early Vintage vs American Professional Series | Reverb Shootout Demo 

I'm not even a huge fan of P-basses, but I'd do things that my family would disown me for that '58 Precision

Love em all, but that 61 jazz with flats is my kind of tone.

That vintage Jazz has some serious tone going on.

*That* Vintage PBass + Flatwounds = Pure bliss That is the tone I hear in my head when I write.

I'm all about the neck pickup on a J-bass with flats, playing right up by the fretboard with fingers. *THICC*

The 58 P bass with flatwounds 😩😩😩 I neeeeeeeeed

Not noted, but certainly a factor in all of the basses' respective tones, was that sweet Ampeg sitting behind you. Certainly helps add to that vintage vibe.

That's amazing! The sound of the jazz bass '61 is truly exceptional, capturing the essence of the recorded version of Ramble On

The real magic of the j-bass emerges when you blend the pickups, neither full on but in different combinations. Try the neck just shy of full on and the bridge just shy of off

Riff 1 4:09 New P-Bass 4:16 New J-Bass 4:23 Vintage J-Bass 4:29 Vintage P-Bass Riff 2 4:39 New P-Bass 4:49 New J-Bass 4:59 Vintage J-Bass 5:09 Vintage P-Bass Riff 3 5:20 New P-Bass 5:28 New J-Bass 5:35 Vintage J-Bass 5:44 Vintage P-Bass Riff 4 5:53 New P-Bass 6:06 New J-Bass 6:20 Vintage J-Bass 6:32 Vintage P-Bass

Thank you for playing a jazz bass and NOT only slapping. getting sick of that, whenever i see a jazz someones slapping and half of the time it dosent even sound good.

That '58 P-Bass with Flatwounds has such an unreal sound to it!

The new P bass sounds very similar to the new J bass. The vintage basses were worlds apart.

My big takeaway from this is to use flatwounds

'58 P was the best sounding of the bunch imo.

That '58 Precision is incomparable. That tone, that growl, that sustain. Unbelievable.

One point of correction, the P-Bass does not have a single humbucker pickup as you state at the beginning. It has a single-coil pickup that is split in two and thus it self-cancels, but it is still only one single-coil. You don't want to confuse new players into thinking that has a humbucker because it doesn't. A humbucker has two stacked single-coil pickups that by their nature self-cancel. Otherwise, a good video showcasing the granddaddies of the electric bass world.

Nothing beats the pure noiseless thump of flatwounds!!!!!

the 61 jazz bass sounds like a bass that never change the strings for so many years.. :D

I love the p-bass, but I gotta say that vintage jazz with the flatwounds has some of the best tone you can get.

I agree that the 61 with flats sound the best & of course it feels the best too!!

There isn't a single episode, explained by Jeremy, that I don't enjoy. These bits are always informative, entertaining and over all, very talent filled. Good job Reverb!

That 58 Pbass sounds amazing.

the newer jazz bass sounds better to my ears. but honestly they should have had flatwound and round wound for both the new and old

in an ideal world you would have both. But if I had to pick 1 I would pick the P bass because love it's punchy beefy sound and honestly fits almost every genre (not to say the jazz bass doesn't but is a lot warmer and mellow tone)

Would have been nice to hear the basses with similar strings... Of course a modern p-bass with rounds vs a vintage p-bass with flats is going to sound radically different. What I'd have personally been more interested to hear was the american pro with flats vs vintage p-bass with flats, for example.

I don't even play bass. I don't know why I'm here.

That vintage jazz bass had the best tone!

The J with flats had an awesome upright double bass type sound to it. Great video as I just bought a P bass!

I’ve played Fender Jazz Deluxe for a decade and I completely love it. But the sound of that p bass with flatwounds is just... WOW

Those vintage Precision and Jazz Basses sounded so good, man, the Jazz Bass on Ramble On made it sound a lot more authentic to John Paul Jones' playing

that old p-bass was in the chicago music excange video. Now that I think of it, their editing is also very similar...

Thank you. Great video. Personally, I liked the old P very much. But I understand that a good modern P is just much more useful in handling and tuning. And the price difference is sufficient to pay for many lessons from the best teachers.

that '61 jazz sounds so good!

If you put the same flatwounds on that 2017 p.bass you'll get about the same tone i bet of that 58' precision.

I'm surprised that flatwounds are not more popular. They sound great. Both the 58 Precision and 61 Jazz kill it. I have the American Standard J and P, and now I have to get some flatwounds. Any suggestions?

Nothing like a Fender P Bass or a Fender Jazz Bass. However my all time Favorite IMHO is My JAZZZZZZZZ. The neck and t he 2 pickups do it for me. Great Video by the way! Very enlightening! Thank You!

Sadly the all had very different strings like flats vs roundwounds - it would have been so interesting to compare all with the same strings.

Awesome video. Would love to see how a PJ Special bass holds up to these comparisons.

Vintage jazz with tape wounds is my life goal tone sound

I must add The 61 Jazz Bass with The flatwounds! John Paul Jones sound exactly! I LOVE that 61!!!

I'm usually a P bass guy, but that 61 Jazz Bass has captured my heart

Great Video! I owned both but use my Jazz for almost everything! It's all about the neck and the 2 pickups for me.

P and J are both indispensible instruments in any bassists lineup, I feel! I love em both. Of the four instruments in this video the 61 J-Bass was my favorite, and other than for the picking riffs, I preferred both with flats. In my collection, I have a "real" J, and a P "substitute". I have a 2008 American Standard J-Bass with roundwounds, which I've kept on forever and have let get dark sounding. And while I don't have a proper P-Bass, I have a 1984 (83?) MIJ Electra Westone X-700JB Futura Bass (Matsumoku made) which definitely doesn't look anything at all like a P-Bass in terms of body shape and cosmetics (if you're unfamiliar, go Google it - it's pretty wild), but it is functionally a P-Bass clone with a P-Bass shaped/sized neck/fretboard, and P-style electronics, which I've modified with a late 2000's American standard P pickup. It has Labella "Jamerson" flats on it and a makeshift foam mute. So, the thing looks 80's metal, but sounds 60's Motown. While I can't afford to splurge on an American Standard (or even Mexican Standard) P-Bass, or an additional MIA/MIM J-Bass, I do toy with the idea of maybe picking up a couple Squiers (in the vintage vibe series), so that I can have round and flat tones out of each instrument, or maybe even a third J-Bass to "Jaco" (as opposed to just buying the Squier "Jaco" with the plastic fretboard). Maybe it'll never happen, or maybe It'll be a half measure, like I only get one Squier, and forget the rest. Only time will tell. :-) But to conclude, I don't think one can declare a winner, outside their own personal preference between the two. P is more iconic and prolific, J is more diverse and flexible. Which one wins? Only the individual can decide for themselves. My winner, personally? For looks and feel, I prefer the P-Bass. For sound? I prefer the J-Bass. Overall? I prefer the J, but your mileage may vary, of course. Cheers!

Definitely the 61 jazz for ramble on.I don't know what JPJ used for the recording but when you just played it , that's the sound I remember!

I've got a fender elite Jass bass American deluxe black I really feel comfortable with the jazz bass style

I thought 1960-61 J-basses only had the stacked two knobs and not the modern three? Even on your website it claims the three knobs were introduced mid 1962.

Thank you for making a very pro video that stays on topic and finally thanks for not shouting and speedtalking like many do today. Your calm voice fit the topic perfectly.

Jazz with flats... that's the sound i've been looking for... Thanks you :) :)

The last year of felt mutes on the jazz bass were in 1963. There’s a black and white video of Led Zep performing how many more times (1969) with the felt mutes on his ‘63 jazz bass still on.

I live for a Precision bass with flats.

I got both Precision and Jazz Basses at home. If your band has a Strat player, I’d go for the P-Bass due to their resemblance.

I have an American fender frettless bass I bought new a few years ago. I swapped out the noisy thin stock Fender single coils "Jazz" pickups for "Bartolini b-axis J44J-L/S B-Axis 4-string J-Bass Pickup Set" these are a split coil humbucker pickup. It's now the only bass I own. It does it all for me. P-Basses are a one trick pony. Though it's a good trick.

I've been trying to push myself into. P-basses for ages, and call me what you want, but I keep gravitating towards the power, versatility and growl of a jazz bass. I guess you can get the best of both worlds with a J as the neck pick up sounds reasonably close to a P. I'm a MM Stingray guy anyway though 😁

They all sound lovely and somewhat muffled but to me the jazz with roundwound sounds amazing, although the jazz with flatwounds is making me think I should change my string choice!

That 61 jazz is exactly what I want a good bass to sound......

My first proper bass after a cheap practice one was a P-bass. I judge everything else off of the P-bass now. I know the feel and tone of them and honestly love them. People give the P-bass hate in preference of the Jazz bass and i can most certainly see why, but i love the dull beefiness of them.

I’ll just take a mustang PJ bass. That’s my preferred bass. It has everything I like. Both a jazz and a precision pickup and offset body with a short scale. Just perfect 👌

I'd like to hear all of them with the same brand and gauge flat wound strings. I bet there wouldn't be that big a differences between the old ones and new ones .

That vintage Jazzbass is my kind of tone

I think Jump Into the Fire was recorded using a Jazz Bass with tapewounds. I know Herbie Flowers used a j bass on nearly everything he’s ever done, and I’m pretty sure it was around those years that he used Rotosound 88 tapes

Wow, great comparison. Flatwounds sound so much better. Now, hmmm, flats on a Jazz or on a Precision? I just picked up a Classic 60s Lacquer Jazz to go along with my Classic 50s. Both have flats, now to decide which has the better tone.

P body, J neck, Tapewounds, Rosewood fretboard, Maple neck, vintage pickups

That '58 Precision sounds like an SVT!!!

Flatwounds on a J Bass make difference.

I am so happy that flatwounds are so popular these days. Why? Well, I play a Jazz Bass with EMGs or the original passive p-ups and every time I'm in a recording studio or at a gig, the engineer or soundman proclaim "your bass sounds amazing." With my ancient rackmount Ashly pre-amp pretty well set flat coupled with my J Bass and roundwounds I'm good to go making soundmen very happy in every province of Canada, down to the southern border of that Russian colony called the USA and across the pond throughout Europe.

while the neck on a jazz is more comfortable and easier to play .. the tone of a pbass is far superior ... I have 5 different basses and I play my pbass 99% of the time

Excellent demo. It's definitely the '61 Jbass. It just has that TONE all over the neck. Could it be the flatwounds? (No disrespect to the other ones. They obviously hold their own.)

I can’t believe it because I have always wanted a jazz bass. I have owned a couple basses in a pj configuration and always wanted a jazz bass but I really really like both p bass in this video

I like the look of the Jazz a little more but the sounds that come out of any p-bass is the growl of the Gods!

I bought a Fender Road Worn ‘61 Flea signature bass a while back of which I play through an Ampeg. Slapped some flats on her and I’m not kidding, it sounds exactly like this ‘61.

You know what this is a hard decision, I like them all!

The vintage Jazz bass was by far the best sounding, in my humble opinion... besides, any bass that's good enough for John Paul Jones is good enough for me!!

is it me or does a jazz bass sounder better with roundwounds and a p bass sounds better with flat rounds? or is that all down to personal preference?

The tone difference between all four is so pronounced and different, anyone who says they can't hear it is clearly deaf. Gods, I love the J-Bass. That '61 sounds just amazing. That said, I'd not trade my MiM '98 P-Bass for anything. At all. Love it. Beast of tone in that baby (but then again, I put '62 Reissue pups in it).

That 1958 p bass is fantastic, had a great sound

As a bassist for over 45 years I can say IMO the 58 is the winner.

As often happens in this kind of tests, the difference is small but decisive in favor of vintage instruments. nearly like comparing Tube Amps vs Solid State models.

I personally don't use flat wound strings so I don't know whether I have to attribute the woody tone to having a flat wound string or it being a vintage bass but either way I really like the woody vibe from it. If it is from having the flat wound string I'm buying one right know

I prefer the jazz bass because I love to slap bass and the jazz bass feels like it was made for slap and it really fits with tone of the bass and I love the look the fender jazz bass I have is a fender jazz bass road worn fiesta red

I'm an intermediate guitarist but for some reason, I've been getting a feeling that my higher calling is to be a bassist. I've been digging around for info on bass guitars and came across this video, which was no accident. I think I might go with a Precision Bass but I love the Jazz sound as well. Any recommendations?

Thanks for doing this video. Each bass and string type had its own voice, it's own song to sing.

Thanks for posting this. I literally didn’t know much about the differences between the two. I scored a new Classic Vibe Jazz Squier bass this past holiday. 50% off. Bought it cause of the deal. I noticed the differences between the vintage jazz and modern jazz. Wow. That vintage version is too bad ass! But i definitely would have been happy either way. I prefer the two pickups. Seems like I can do more with it. 🤷🏿 I’m so excited. I know the more expensive part is finding the right amp setup. I know this is gonna be very expensive.

YES, Ramble On!!! One of the best basslines ever

Thinner necks aren't generally more comfortable. It is personal preference.

Good Lord, I'm in love with that old Jazz.

Can you tell me which flatwound strings are you using on the 58' Pbass? They sound amazing.

'58 to '62 P-Bass is the only one I need. The current American Professionals are good too though...

Will you guys ever do a sound tutorial on DIIV? They have an interesting pedalboard to say the least.

The tone on those vintages!! SO GOOD!!!

Have owned both, loved my american standard Jazz Bass in olympic white, but when im working i always use a red p bass.

Jeez that jazz bass with flats to me just sounds head and shoulders better than the P bass in every way. It has so much character.

I loved this review and now I have fender flatwounds in my fender 70's jazz bass and I love it!!

Tat 58' P-Bass is da bomb, love the fresh maple fretboard neck

It's weird to try to compare a new and an old Jazz Bass with different strings. My taste goes to old round wound.

Gna throw it out there, I have a modern P and J, both strung with flats, that sound better than the vintage instruments - IMHO obviously. I can get that 'vintage' (imo, better described as 'slightly broken') sound easily by just adding a pluggin or two. I guess I just don't get the vintage instrument thing, as so many of them are just riddled with issues, and even when they are in perfect condition it's almost impossible to tell them apart from something like a squier if you use the same set of strings. The only difference is that you don't have to remortgage your house to fix or replace the squier

Real bass player demoing basses. What a nice change of pace.

that 61 jazz with flatwounds O.O 0:17

3:24 5:19 such an underrated bassline

I don't understand why you I don't understand why you had flatwounds on the Vintage basses compared to those clingy nickel roundwounds on the new basses. Was the point to hear how they sounded during their time periods?