what's the difference between a jazz bass and a precision bass?

[mbengs1]

those two types from fender are classic. what's the diff between them two?

[DeepEnd]

The P-Bass has a single humbucking pickup, the J-Bass has two single coils. The J-Bass has a neck that is thinner at the nut and more tapered. The J-Bass has a brighter tone and is more versatile, as you'd expect with two pickups. The P-Bass has one basic sound but it's a classic sound. Here's some good information: http://www.sweetwater.com/insync/bass-guitar-buying-guide/. Models known as P/J basses are popular as well. As you might have figured out, P/J means a Precision-style pickup and a Jazz-style pickup. My Alvarez "Villain" bass is a P/J style (not my bass but just like it):

 

 

You can get a lot of different sounds out of a set of P/J pickups.

[onelife]

Fender Jazz Bass...

[video=youtube;G7Q8Ual3coM]

[lug]

A Jazz bass can achieve a million sounds to use. A P bass can achieve one sound that can be used in any situation.

[WRGKMC]

The P-Bass has a single humbucking pickup' date=' the J-Bass has two single coils. [/quote']

 

??? A precision has two double string single coils. They are not humbuckers.

 

 

 

Older 50's Precision basses had a single coil for all 4 strings. They are Not Humbuckers either.

 

 

Of course there are many new versions of pickups that will fit in the same place as the Vintage.

 

The main difference between the Jazz and Precision is the Jazz had two full sized single, separate volumes for each and a master tone.

 

The Necks are different too. Precision bases usually had a wide C shaped neck with a wide nut.

The Jazz bass neck tapers down at the nut with a narrow/deep D shape to it that's easier for smaller/medium sized hands.

 

 

[isaac42]

??? A precision has two double string single coils. They are not humbuckers.

 

 

 

Older 50's Precision basses had a single coil for all 4 strings. They are Not Humbuckers either.

 

 

Of course there are many new versions of pickups that will fit in the same place as the Vintage.

 

Yes and no. True, the Precision split pickup comprises two double string single coil pickups, and they do not form a classic humbucker. However, the two coils are reverse wound, so they do in fact cancel out induced hum. Call it hum canceling instead of humbucking, if you like, but the effect is the same.

[onelife]

The two single coil pickups in a Precision are wired together in humbucking configuration.

 

From the players perspective, the Precision behaves as if it has a humbucking pickup in it.

[WRGKMC]

Yes, Humbucking as in hum phase cancellation would be a better term to describe it. When people say Humbuckers describe a specific pickup type which contain two coils and usually two magnets in the same housing, Of course there have been others that use dual coils on a single magnet core like the P100 too.

 

Strats are normally wired this way with the center pickup reverse would and opposite magnet polarity for hum cancelation but the pickups are always understood to be single coils.

 

Of course Humbucking coils do pre-date guitar pickups by many decades. Western Electric used it in telephone amplification in 1912 and since they made the tubes and wrote manuals on tube technology, its hwere the other manufacturers got their ideas.

 

Electro-voice used Humbucking in the 30's to prevent hum in Microphones and Loudspeakers. They were the first to use alnico magnets too.

 

1938 A.F. Knoblaugh invented a pickup involving 2 stacked coils for strings too.

 

Seth Lover used the same ideas for his Humbucker in 1959. The technology was already invented and in use. That's why the pickups remained patent pending forever, plus you cant re-patent technology after someone else's patents expire and became public.

[DeepEnd]

I was originally tempted to say "A Precision Bass is precise while a Jazz Bass is jazzy." But then I realized that wasn't a very good answer. I'll repeat my suggestion of a P/J style bass. The G&L Tribute L-Series basses are versatile as well: http://www.glguitars.com/instruments/TributeSeries/basses/index_new.asp. BTW, thanks to everyone for challenging WRGKMC's latest attempt to muddy the issue, and I apologize to mbengs1 on his behalf.

[*BLEEP*]

The J-Bass has a neck that is thinner at the nut...

 

 

I would recommend using the term "narrower," as thinner is typically used to describe the neck profiles's thickness (as in a "thin" speed-neck).

 

 

The neck width at the nut of a standard common MIA Fender 4-string Jazz Bass is 1.5 inches (1.475 inches for mid-70s and '60s models).

 

The neck width at the nut of a standard common MIA Fender 4-string Precision Bass is 1.625 inches.

 

Also, the bodies of the modern common MIA Jazz Bass and the modern common MIA Precision Bass are fairly different. The body outline of a modern Precision Bass is somewhat similar to that of a Stratocaster. The Jazz Bass body is a bit larger overall and heavier than a Precision bass body, and shaped with fatter cutaways.

 

As for pickups: The modern 4-string Precision Bass has a pair of two-string hum-cancelling pickups that are arranged in a way to sense all four strings, as opposed to a single four-string integrated hum-cancelling pickup unit (a.k.a. -- a "humbucker" pickup).

 

A common Jazz Bass will be equipped with a pair of single coil pickups, of which one pickup is configured with a reverse-wound coil and reverse polarity magnets (RWRP). The Jazz Bass pickups will provide full hum cancellation when the volume controls for both pickups are set to equal volume.

 

 

​

[Mikeo]

I have owned both the American P Bass and the American Jazz, but Fender.

Somewhere along the way I bought a Fender American Jazz Deluxe with active pick ups. The thing has all the thunder of the a P bass and the many tones of the Jazz. The Deluxe has a slightly smaller body and a smaller thinner neck.

 

I liked it so much that I sold the P bass that I had for 18 years.

 

Mine came with a plastic molded hardshell case and looks like this one that was posted on HC. I have the original tortoise shell pick guard.

 

They made in in a see thru white for years and mine is in the same see thru white.

 

http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/forum/ForSale/acapella-83/31410673-fs-fender-american-deluxe-jazz-bass-trans-white-ash-body

 

 

 

 

The only bass amp I have is a UK made Ashdown AMB 500 4x10 combo, which weighs a ton.

 

 

It was a good choice for a guitar player that wanted a decent bass set up for home recording.

 

I still have the Am Jazz Standard too. That was a keeper.

 

[Mr.Grumpy]

Bass was my primary instrument for a couple of years, I played in a country band and I really enjoyed it even though I don't listen to country music that much. Basses sound pretty much the same to me. The amplifier and cabinet you play through affect the tone as much as the pickups. Technique, namely how close to the bridge you pluck (or pick) also affects the tone. In any case, you can get a very good tone from either bass, there is a difference between them but not a huge difference.

 

Jazz bass has a narrower neck, as a guitar player you might prefer a narrower neck. The P-bass has a nice tone that just WORKS for performing and recording. The hum-cancelling pickups are a huge plus for me, I hate hum/buzzing especially on recordings. My main bass is an ideal compromise - a US made G&L SB-2, a "P-J" style bass with a split pickup in the middle, and a J-type pickup on the bridge. It has a nice, narrow, comfortable (for me) neck.

[DeepEnd]

I would recommend using the term "narrower' date='" as thinner is typically used to describe the neck profiles's thickness (as in a "thin" speed-neck). . . .​[/quote']

Fair enough. I routinely see the J-Bass neck referred to as "thinner" than the P-Bass neck and I figured that was okay.

 

. . . My main bass is an ideal compromise - a US made G&L SB-2' date=' a "P-J" style bass with a split pickup in the middle, and a J-type pickup on the bridge. It has a nice, narrow, comfortable (for me) neck.[/quote']

I also recommended a P/J bass. My main advice to the OP would be: Go out and actually play a couple of basses and see what works for you. If there's a music store near you, go there. If there's a pawn shop near you, go there, but go somewhere and actually try something and see what you like. IMHO, the most important thing is how the bass feels, how the neck fits your hand, how the shape and weight feels. If there are two that feel right, then start paying attention to how they sound.

[WRGKMC]

I wasn't attempting to muddy the issue, You said the P bass had a single humbucker which is an honest mistake on your part. Someone who is thinking about purchasing one may have mistaken your comment and though the bass may have had full humbuckers like many other basses do. I simply wanted to clarify the bass uses singles wired to phase cancel hum.

[WRGKMC]

I find it interesting that the Precision was built more like a Telecaster in the beginning. It wasn't only till later it was reshaped to look like a Stratocaster.

 

They make a Squier Classic Vibe precision now that is closer to the original which is very reasonably priced.

 

 

 

 

This is nearly identical to the 68 telecaster bass.

 

 

 

 

You can see how the horns were changed to look more like a tele here.

 

They began putting Humbuckers in them too. My Bass player back about 75 bought one of these Tele Basses with a single humbucker. They were less expensive then the precision being sold back then. It actually sounded pretty good too. They did make dual Humbucker models that looked like Custom Tele's too.

 

The big differences playing it was the neck was fairly round, between the flatter precision and narrow Jazz.

The sides were squared off like a Tele too.

 

[isaac42]

Fair enough. I routinely see the J-Bass neck referred to as "thinner" than the P-Bass neck and I figured that was okay.

 

Sure, it's okay. It's just that, if you say thick, people usually know that you don't mean wide. Thin could mean either not thick or not wide, but narrow is more universally understood as meaning not wide, so most of us use it in that sense, and use thin for the opposite of thick. No usage is wrong, but the more we use the same words, the better we understand each other, in my opinion.

[DeepEnd]

No mistake. My terminology could have been better but the fact remains a P-Bass essentially has a single pickup that behaves like a humbucker. If the OP is going to be confused by anyone it won't be by me, it will be by you and your usual BS.

[DeepEnd]

Got it.

[*BLEEP*]

 

As for the wide/narrow versus thick/thin usage in the description of a neck, PRS has for many years used "wide" to describe the measurement across the fingerboard and "fat" to describe the dimensional comparison of neck profiles -- or distance from the centre of the back of the neck to the fretting surface of the fingerboard.

 

• The Regular (sometimes called Standard) neck is a round neck shape that is 1/32 narrower and not quite as thick front to back as our Wide Fat neck.
  

 

 

• The Wide Fat neck has the same nut width as the Wide Thin neck, but it has a deeper profile. Because of its strength and longer "heel", the Wide Fat neck produces warm tones with lots of sustain.
  

 

 

• The Wide Thin neck has a thinner profile front to back than the Wide Fat. It is a favorite of fast players and lead guitar player
  

 

 

[WRGKMC]

The letters V, C, and U are used today by Fender as analogies to describe the "neck profile" or shape and contour of the back of our instrument necks. Necks described by these letters will correspond roughly (although not quite as exaggerated), to the visual appearance of these letters.

 

The V shaped necks come in two different versions, a "soft" V and a "hard" V. The "soft" V shape is a bit rounded off, whereas the "hard" V is somewhat more pointed.

 

There are a couple of other neck shape descriptions which do not have directly corresponding letters. These are the "oval" and the modern "flat oval". Many people, however, simply use the letter "C" when referring generally to these "oval" shapes.

 

The "U" shape is chunky and rounded, with high shoulders, as seen in the exaggerated letter U.

 

There is no doubt that it is easier to understand the application of these terms to the necks when you put your hands on them and get the feel, however, the use of these letters is pretty accurate in describing the shape of the back of Fender necks.

 

There is often confusion between the use of the letters V, C, and U used to describe neck shapes, and the use of the letters A, B, C and D in describing Fender neck widths. During the period of time from the early '60's to the early '70's, Fender used the letters A, B, C, and D to refer specifically to the width of our guitar and bass necks at the nut. These letters were stamped on the butt end of the necks, and had no reference to the shape or contour of the neck. An "A" width was 1 1/2" at the nut, "B" was 1 5/8", "C" was 1 3/4" and "D" was 1 7/8".