Precision with Jazz bridge pickup

[Baronialhall]

I have a S8 USA Precision bass, late seventies...blah blah. It has a great tone but I like Jazz bass sound too. Is it worth getting a bridge pickup fitted to increase the scope of tones available? I thought about getting a Fender Jazz but they are so expensive and it's a pain lugging two basses to gigs.

[LewisK1975]

Do what I did - get a cheap squire PJ.

Modding your 70's P bass is something not to be done lightly. It's irreversible if it doesn't work out.

Here's the thread where I asked a similar question:

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/311537-buy-cheap-backup-vs-modify/page__fromsearch__1

[Baronialhall]

thanks for that, I guess it's a good way to go. I might get a cheap jazz, then if I prefer it I could sell both basses and buy a better jazz bass. food for thought anyway....

[timhiggins]

I would keep the 78 p and buy a Sire v7 in addition
you will then have all bass's covered !

[NJE]

I love P necks and the overall aesthetic but I always seem to shift them because I miss that tighter sound of a bridge pickup. Don't mod your original 70's bass, as that wise fellow said, try one of the Squier PJ basses and see how you get on. I was blown away by how good they were, and I still need to save a few quid from gigs to get one.

If you get on with the sound then think about getting a higher quality one if you think you need it.

[dmccombe7]

[quote name='LewisK1975' timestamp='1506331907' post='3377887']
Do what I did - get a cheap squire PJ.

Modding your 70's P bass is something not to be done lightly. It's irreversible if it doesn't work out.

Here's the thread where I asked a similar question:

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/311537-buy-cheap-backup-vs-modify/page__fromsearch__1"]http://basschat.co.u...__fromsearch__1[/url]
[/quote]


+1 I'm with NJE on this. Its too good a bass to start cutting into. Think it would devalue your P bass.


I have a Jazz and went for a Fender deluxe PJ and its a great bass and has a good variety of tones but you don't get a true Jazz sound from it because it lacks the neck J pick up. You do get the P sound from it and can add a little more bite to the P sound but generally speaking i tend to run it mid-point and have both on equal split.

Going for a cheaper PJ would be the better option and if its not for you it would be easy to move on.

Dave

[mcnach]

[quote name='Baronialhall' timestamp='1506331558' post='3377876']
I have a S8 USA Precision bass, late seventies...blah blah. It has a great tone but I like Jazz bass sound too. Is it worth getting a bridge pickup fitted to increase the scope of tones available? I thought about getting a Fender Jazz but they are so expensive and it's a pain lugging two basses to gigs.
[/quote]

If you really like that bass, I'd say to hell with 'resale' and 'original' and add that Jazz pickup to it. I personally prefer a P/J to a Jazz. You don't get exactly the sound of a Jazz, but you get something that adds a few extra great tones. It's a simple operation, and P/J basses are not exactly hard to sell, in case one day you decided to move it on.
If you buy another bass, it's another bass... I prefer to keep playing a bass I've bonded with and feel comfortable with and modify it to suit, than search for an entirely new instrument, if it's just a matter of changing electronics or adding a different pickup.

[afterimage]

I have a jazz p j bass

https://reverb.com/item/1372259-fender-vintage-hot-rod-70s-jazz-bass-candy-apple-red-rosewood-187

[uk_lefty]

[quote name='afterimage' timestamp='1506376349' post='3378378']
I have a jazz p j bass

https://reverb.com/item/1372259-fender-vintage-hot-rod-70s-jazz-bass-candy-apple-red-rosewood-187
[/quote]

Always liked the look of those. Nobody ever asks about fitting a p pickup to a jazz, always fitting a jazz pickup to a p...

[machinehead]

[quote name='afterimage' timestamp='1506376349' post='3378378']
I have a jazz p j bass

[url="https://reverb.com/item/1372259-fender-vintage-hot-rod-70s-jazz-bass-candy-apple-red-rosewood-187"]https://reverb.com/i...ed-rosewood-187[/url]
[/quote]

I have that bass too. I really like it.

The P pickup is 20mm closer to the nut than an actual P bass and I wonder what difference it makes to the sound? The position issue plus the fact that it has a jazz-style blend circuit rather than switching, as on my USA Jaguar. I don't hear much, if any difference on a gig.

Frank.

[yorks5stringer]

Or get a Jaguar Bass, the Squier has a PJ set-up.

[Quatschmacher]

Depends what you need it for. If you want the sound of a Jazz with both pickups in use then a Jazz is the only way to go. If you just want to use the P pickup soloed and the J pickup soloed then a PJ is great choice. I have a Fender PJ (PJ pickups in the normal (60s) position, P body J neck and it's very versatile. I personally don't like the sound of both pickups on full though it's a different sound from a Jazz with both pickups on full.