thegummy

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1508690337' post='3393823'] But I'd personally choose a second hand Fender Classic 50s series Precision. My fiesta red one is on my avatar (just replced the golden pickguard for an 'aged' white type one)... The neck is a bit wider than on the other Precisions, yet shallow and comfortable, and it feels and sounds just perfect. If a slightly wider neck is not a problem for you, I'd say the Classic 50s Fender would be the best choice I can think of. Comes in black, cream, red or sunburst. [/quote] Already got one with flats and I love it

Aye I've also heard good things about the Nate Mendell but I absolutely hate the way it looks unfortunately lol

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1508603252' post='3393273'] These are great basses. You really can't beat a 7.25" radius, 1.75" nut, one-piece maple neck. Feels like home to me. Very nice. I must get another... [/quote] Before I got this I was worried that the radius might be too weird for me but I don't actually think about it when playing at all, I just concentrate on playing and it's totally fine and comfortable. My other bass is 16" so it's as different as it can be but both are nice

Was looking on Reverb for used Americans - seem to be around a grand though, a bit OTT for second-hand in my opinion. Came across this - will this give a good aggressive P tone?

[quote name='Cato' timestamp='1508601341' post='3393243'] Take a punt on one of the new Sire P7s? Available in an astonishing number of finishes from Thomman. [url="https://www.thomann.de/gb/search_dir.html?sw=Sire+p7"]https://www.thomann....html?sw=Sire+p7[/url] [/quote] Cheers for the heads up, never heard of this series. Do you know if the P pickup is in the same place as on a real P? [quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1508601575' post='3393246'] SQ Classic Vibe 70s - currently got one and it`s a decent enough bass. I bought it as a backup but due to OCD it being white/rosewood didn`t fit in with the rest of my black/maple basses. I`ll offload at some point, but to be honest I wouldn`t have it as a main instrument. Nothing wrong with it, just that being basswood it`s a lot lighter than what I prefer - I like basses around the 9lb area, and the SQ is a fair bit lighter than that. [/quote] Appreciate the honest realistic writeup - I've always had the feeling that some people buy into the hype and, especially once they've paid for one, want to rave about the CV series as if they're as good as American Fenders. I didn't really think about a second hand American, will have a look and see what's available. Do you think they'd be significantly better than the Waters? I've got an American Standard guitar and it's excellent but, then again, so is the Mexican made 50s Precision! (also, nice Trump comment )

Already having a 50s P with flatwounds and it's absolutely fantastic but very much vintage based. If I wanted to get a second P to string with rounds and possibly a more modern pickup, I can see a few choices: [b]Squier Classic Vibe 70s[/b] - looks nice but I fear Squiers can be a bit internet-hyped and, while amazing for the money, don't actually rival guitars twice the price. For example, I looked for a second hand one and the honest seller admitted that one side of the neck has more of a bow than the other - something I'd wonder it might be more prone to because of the cost-cutting. [b]MiM Standard [/b]- comes in a choice of colours and could choose Rosewood fingerboard if I wanted. I could replace the pickup. [b]Roger Waters [/b]- this one looks very nice stock (and Waters is my man) with the black hardware and already comes with the pickup I'd choose for this bass. It's still more expensive than the Standard and the pickup together but it might be the case that the build quality is better on this as it's a higher end one from that factory. Any thoughts on those 3 or further suggestions? I had a look at the Schecter Diamond P and was initially loving it but then I read people who own them saying they don't actually sound like a P bass.

I just got my P back from it getting a setup there and it's obvious that to me, and many other people, the P has the magic sound. But I was enjoying the J very much when I was playing it in the P's absence and definitely want to use it some of the time. I'm going to put that into the tech also as the nut is cut too shallow then I'll see how I can utilise its sound. Was listening to some Paul Simon earlier and, I don't know if it was specifically a Jazz used on his records, but the bass had that nice defined high pitched tone and I was enjoying it.

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1508179731' post='3390326'] Light? If I want light, I play the EB4, I think that's made from wooden helium. I have to wear the strap wound my feel to stop it floating away! The 50s classic is lighter than my other Precisions, though, definitely. [/quote] I was surprised at how light the body of this bass is too. Wasn't expecting that. Re: the pickguard, I hate the gold and replaced mine with white (honey blonde body). Tort on sunburst is a classic but be sure you like it with a maple neck; I feel a rosewood neck is what the tort pickguard really needs

It seems a lot of people share my experience in finding the P "just right", especially for rock or blues involving electric guitars. Some situations I can think of that theoretically may allow the J to shine could be: [list] [*]A sparse song with acoustic guitar and light drums? [/list][list] [*]A slow ballad with clean arpeggiated guitar rather than dirty chords? (we do a song like that and I roll the P's tone all the way off and use my thumb but have thought using the J's neck pup could be good. Have tried it at rehearsal but when I'm concentrating on playing and singing it's hard to really compare the tone - would need to record both). [/list][list] [*]Songs where piano or other keyboard instrument are used rather than guitar? [/list] I think the reasoning behind the scenarios is that the P seems to have strength alongside electric guitar chords as it manages to fill a space that fits in with that. Good posts so far

Can you describe certain situations where you'd choose to use one over the other? Certain genres or styles of song? I tried searching for this kind of topic but all I find is "J vs P" threads rather than specifically when an owner of both chooses one over the other. Just for the record, I have both and tend to play the P most of the time but I do like the sound of the J too, just looking for inspiration as to when is good to utilise the J (and even which pickup config). Cheers!

For me, both pickups in series sounds more like a P than the neck pickup solo

There's a prs se bass with 2 humbuckers. (Kingfisher) I'm not sure if they're placed exactly like mm or not. I have never tried it but the prs se guitars are incredible quality for their price. It looks great too.

[quote name='ikay' timestamp='1504338793' post='3364158'] Sounds as it should do to me. Your P may have a .100 cap which sounds darker when rolled off than the standard .047 cap in a J. [/quote] I looked up the specs of the P and you're right. It must be because I'm so used to that that I thought the J tone wasn't working. Think I'll put a 0.1 in there. Thanks for the info and sorry if I've wasted anyone's time with the initial post.

Before I was about to open it up I had another quick play at it and I'm wondering if maybe the tone actually is working as it should and I'm just so used to my P-Bass that I'm forgetting what the J sounds like with the tone rolled off. Here is a recording - does it sound like a J should with the tone off or is there a problem here? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e48_Nv4u-w0

That does look very neat. The remaining push pull switch is a coil tap. From what you say it seems like there's a good chance the issue is with a connection. I found it kind of weird that the tone control works to a measurable degree but not as audible as it should be. I'll re connect it up today and report back. P.s. Nice avatar pic, it's currently the pic on my calendar for August which reminds me it's time to turn over to September

Thanks for the reply norris. I'll disconnect the tone pot and re solder it to see if that fixes it. Before hand I had this grand idea of a perfectly wired, neat and tidy wiring but actually doing the frustrating job of soldering in such a cramped space I was happy with anything that worked lol

I don't have a multimeter unfortunately. As far as being wired correctly; I'm fairly sure the wires are connected to the places they're supposed to be but the soldering job itself may not be perfect, I could possibly try re-wiring it again when I have a day off. Here's a photo of it, although the wiring is pretty messy so not sure how useful the pic will be. Any idea what would happen if a potentiometer was hooked into the circuit like a tone control is but with the lug connected directly to ground rather than via a capacitor? Would it act as another volume control? Just wondering if I could perhaps temporarily bypass the capacitor to test if the pot itself works?

Is the extra wire definitely coming from the pickups themselves? If not, they could be wires connecting the shielded pickup cavities.

I had to re-wire my J-style bass after a bit of a drill accident and decided I'd take out the series/parallel switch since I don't use it. So I replaced the push-pull pot with a brand new normal (mini) pot and moved across the capacitor that was already on there. When I removed it from the push-pull pot I used a heatsink but, in my haste, I didn't use one when soldering it on to the new pot. When wiring it back up the tone control didn't seem to do much audibly. I hooked it up to the computer and looked at a frequency analyzer and it does make a difference visually but it doesn't go from bright to thumpy like it did before. How can I test to see if it's the capacitor that's now broken or if it's the new pot that's the problem?

I've had the bass for a while now and the glossiness of the neck is not an issue other than looking great!

[quote name='walbassist' timestamp='1496746452' post='3313561'] If the bass was new I'm surprised there are no straps included. Have you checked inside all the pockets? [/quote] I checked in the pockets and they were there! I feel so silly but happy that I don't have to buy anything. Cheers mate for pointing that out

The gig bag that came with my 50s Precision does seem to have metal loops on it. Are these for adding straps so they can be carried on one's back like some gigbags already have? If so, what straps can be used and how are they fitted?

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1488962511' post='3253217'] But how can you keep the '57 vibe without a gold anodized guard?[/quote] By using flatwound strings and wearing Ray-Bans while I'm playing it [quote]Why do you need to touch the guard during normal playing? (I can see it if using a pick).[/quote] There's no deliberate touching but the occasional accidental touches feel horrible! [quote]And where are you getting these compatible 10-hole guards from..? [/quote] WD Music. Would definitely recommend them, they take custom requests too - I opted for no thumb rest/pickup cover holes

Bit late posting this as I've had it for a while now but been too busy to post... I ordered the pickguard before I even got the bass because I wanted to change it for the looks alone but as soon as I played it with the gold pickguard I was so glad I had another one coming - I hated the way it felt! Any time my fingernail touched it, it gave me the creeps! Also put flatwounds on it.

[quote name='Skybone' timestamp='1486504665' post='3232403'] Still GAS-ing for a 4003 or 4004, but seriously considering a [b]custom jobbie too[/b]. Can't afford any of them, but I can dream. [/quote] Seeing that you're a fellow Scot I find that disgusting