I'm with DarkAxel on the J bass tone, I think they have less mids than a P but rustywire is right also, the bridge pickup with a J brings out a lot of higher mids and treble. A precision pickup has lower mids instead. Either way, the EQ of the amp and how the actual bass is played matters, pickups are just magnetic bars wrapped in wire under a string. As an afternote, I play mostly fingers and play on the fingerboard with an Epi Casady, clank and treble are my foes. Still, I want a P/J bass so I can get my thumpy round tone but have the option to roll up the treble or fully have the bridge full on and the P pickup at 75%.DarkAxel wrote:it's so strange for me that I keep reading people say J's have more complex midrange and stuff like that...rustywire wrote:Immediate physical diffs:phantasmagorovich wrote:I should stop looking at bass guitars on EBay. Well, or at least wait until I know the difference between a Preci and a JB.
P Bass: Single "split" bucker pickup in middle position, wide C-neck.
J Bass: Dual single coil pickups in middle & bridge position, "fast" neck. Offset body.
Immediate tonal diffs:
J Bass is brighter, with more complex midrange and treble (obv) and has rep for being preferred among finger-pickers. A fretless J Bass isand a transcendent experience.
It covers more sonic ground than the P Bass...but the P Bass is aptly named. Very well-suited voicing for more complicated band setups with multiple guitars or keys...and vocals.
Each one rules. I like J Bass with flatwounds and P Bass with rounds. Both love fuzz.
I own a marked fretless J. I'd like to get a P at some point...but anytime I see a Tele or Stang bass they sing to me like Sirens.
I just always feel that J's are boomier and actually have LESS mids than P's. J always feels scooped to mesmoother around the midrange with more snappy highs
P to me feels like having a lot of agressive, growly and cutting midrange, more "dry" toneAlmost like a mirror image, frequency-wise, to a Jazz Bass
i think it's a big difference because of the way the pickups are wired. I play a P/J and mostly play just the P pickup or perhaps about 50% of the J blended with it. When I go 50/50, I really do feel like I'm getting more high end focus but less mids and that the tone is getting this smoothness but less of that midrange impact which I usually prefer
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In the end Phanta, I would recommend a bass with a P/J setup. Best of both worlds, thump and clank, with a few twist of knobs.





