Jazz or Precision Bass - What's your preference?

[Dingus]

So my first instrument was a Samick SG copy guitar that I gave up 3 months later for an American Standard P-Bass. I've gone most of my life thinking that was all the bass I could ever need, but after trying an American Standard Jazz Bass at my friends house for an extended period of time, I think I'm now a J-Bass convert.

What's your preference and why? (if you only had to have one or the other, I dont want an argument on why each is good for different reasons, we know that shit)

[Ankhanu]

Jazz Bass deluxe

I prefer the feel of the larger Jazz Bass body and the narrower neck; I find it more comfortable and faster to play. I love the sound of a Jazz Bass too, but I like the Deluxe for it's greater flexibility; Precision pickup in the neck gives you your P-Bass thump, Jazz pickup in the bridge gives you your jazz bite, and the two together offer depth and aggression Great rock instrument.

If I had to choose a standard model, however, it would be a Jazz.

[jcyphe]

I don't play bass but in my experience of hearing those of friends I like the styling of the J-Bass but the punchy thump of the P-Bass. There are a lot of good j-bass players though.

[Ankhanu]

Haha, nice edit, jcyphe

[dots]

i think the p-bass might edge the j-bass out in terms of versatility because you see a lot more starting bands with precisions, but i think a lot of that comes from it being cheaper. i dig that warmth you get from a jazz bass, personally, though honestly, i think so much of this depends on who's playing, what they're playing through, and their style.

[hotrodperlmutter]

shortscale jazz bass.

[George]

I like them both in spades but would always pick a P-Bass because they're easier to handle.

[Bacchus]

Jazz. I can play much better on a skinny neck, the pickup setup sounds awesome (there's not much nicer than a J-bass bridge pickup growl), they're pretty versatile, and look class.

Plus, Jaco played one. You should too. Maybe you'd be a better person the more like Jaco you can make yourself.

[George]

Maybe you'd be a better person the more like Jaco you can make yourself.

Probably true.

[Gabriel]

Jazz bass, love the range of sound and skinny necks

[Viljami]

P-bass. More to my taste with teh thump'n'rock'n'roll!

[Boab]

I feel very conscious of the fact I'm a guitarist & not a bassist when I play either (i.e. I just look stupid playing any long scale bass, stretching and slapping/plucking my fingers) but I'd choose a Jazz bass, for looks, playability and sound.

Yet P-Basses obviously have their merits, but most of us here seem to be in the J-Camp.

[damienblair17]

Stingray.

[ultratwin]

I'm definitely a J-guy for the body/neck feel and tonal control, as I do a lot of pickup switching and will go between finger thumping over each p'up and picking when needed.

I've found the thump of precisions to be a little more hard to control under less-gainy amp settings (in an "explosive" kind of way) also experienced when lacking the tasty compression that comes with a cranked all-tube bass amp, often rendering my beloved Pedalworx McSqueeze slightly less useful on account of the low end hitting the compression threshold much harder than the other frequencies, which I really want to shine through. Hence, I think my heart gravitates toward the more balanced tones/attack of J-basses.

Just the same, I really like the sound of picking between the bridge and the pickups on a P-bass, and how the throaty rock tone you can get when overdriven as such. Though not in a rush, I'm thinking about picking up an MIM Precision in the coming year.

[Aeon]

I tend to like the Precision slightly better.

[gaybear]

man, this is always a hard one. to me, the p-bass is more versatile, and can get some sweet cleans, but aesthetially, the jazz is way hotter, and the neck is fun.

[Freddy V-C]

Don't own either, but they have both at our school so I've played both. Until recently I'd never noticed a difference between them, probably because I just picked up whichever one was nearest, but a couple of days ago I ended up playing one right after the other. I dunno what it was about it, but I just really preferred the Jazz. So that's probably what I'm gonna eventually get as my bass to replace my horrible Tanglewood Rebel 4k.

[Billy3000]

This is my main gigging bass these days:



It is a MIM jazz bass modified with a badass II bridge and seymour duncan quarter pound P bass pickup and quarter pound j bass pickup. It sounds awesome. I love the combo of the p and j pickups. I prefer either just a P pickup or the P/J combo. I really don't like the sound of a normal jazz bass though. It's a bit too shrill for my tastes, It has too much high end and not enough of that low end growl that you get from a good p bass pickup. I prefer the feel of a Jazz neck, but after gigging regularly with this bass for a couple months now, I miss the feel of my p bass body. I think I'm gonna route my MIA p bass for a j bass pickup in the bridge and put a jazz neck on it, and put the same pups into it and see if I like that. The singer of my band has an older deluxe series P bass (before they started making them with the active circuit) , I love the way that it feels, but I prefer the sound of mine. I might just mod that instead of routing my american p.

[sdgails]

love the Jazz necks

[theshadowofseattle]

P-bass all day. I love the sound, feel, weight, controls, everything.

My main bass for years and years has been my MIM P-bass with the 70's MIA pickup and the ancient BADASS bridge. I had a shortscale Daisy Rock semihollow bass with active mini-humbuckers for a long time, but the only thing I liked about it more than my P was the Smithtonez.