Precision vs. Jazz?

I was wondering what's the difference between a precision and jazz bass? My birthday is coming up and I want to be able to pick a good bass that I wont regret buying later but when I see the Fender basses I keep seeing P-bass or J-bass. Is there a difference really?

Also,when I do get my bass, what would be a good amp to buy that would be good for just practicing at home?

I don't have a proper jazz bass (or P bass actually, just a cheapo P bass and a PJ Ibanez). But from my experience of using the P and J pickups on my Ibanez seperately, the P has a thicker sound and is great for rock, metal, etc while the J is thinner sounding but great for slapping and funky styles of music. Js are also supposed to be more 'growly'. Both have distinctive tones so you might want to try before you buy.

I really want to try a JJ bass (well, I've tried a Fender Jaguar, but I didn't really listen to the tone (doh!)... All I remember it was a good all rounder). Actually, my next bass will probably be a jazz (Fender Marcus Miller hopefully woo!). Anyone tried a jazz in a rock (or metal even though I don't play metal) setting? How well does it do in a mix?

I was waiting for this topic I've actually thought about doing one already on it, but here's the basics...

First things first: NEITHER IS BETTER THAN THE OTHER ONE!

Ok, now that's out the way... A few main differences:

Neck:

Jazz: The neck on the Jazz is quite thin, so the strings are fairly close together. This gives it what people call a 'fast neck', as you can quickly move around the neck - perfect for slap playing, and improvising etc.

Precision: This one is much thicker than the jazz, so the strings are further apart. If you have small hands you may struggle with it, but some people prefer the fatter neck. As the strings are further apart, playing with a pick is a little bit easier.

Body:

The two basses are very similar in terms of size. They both have cutaways near the neck, to allow you to reach all frets easily, without having to reach over the body.

The Jazz has an offset body, which (if I'm right) means that the middle of the bass, where the body curves in, don't align. I don't know of any major benefits of this, but it looks cool...

Pickups: Probably the most important thing!

Jazz: The Jazz has two pickups - one by the bridge, one closer to the neck. Because of this, you can control how much of each pickup is being used, and get a huge variety of sounds from it to suit the type of music your playing, or to whichever you prefer Playing over the neck pickup gives a nice warm, almost soft sound. Playing over the bridge pickup gives a much more harsh & defined sound, as the strings have higher tension towards the bridge (and nut).

Precision: The precision has one pickup, which is split down the middle & are placed on top of each other, to form an almost 'Z' shape (just extend the two lines ^^). This means that you don't have as much variety over the sound, but it's one of the best sounds in the world... It's a much more 'crunchy' sound I suppose.

Uses:

Well, what do you want to use the bass for? Rock? Metal? Funk? Reggae? Slap, fingerstyle or with a pick? While both basses are suitable for all genres you will find that...

NOTE: Both basses are suitable for ANY kind of music, with ANY tehcnique. The following is more my opinion, than facts.

Jazz: The fast neck & the pickups make it perfect for slap playing - quickly move around the neck & get a great funky sound from it. The closer string spacing also helps fingerstyle.

Precision: The string spacing makes it great for playing with a pick, while the sound can cut through anything - playing in a metal band, your sound won't be lost over those heavy guitars...

I think that pretty much covers everything...? If you have any questions, just ask!

The main thing I suggest, is going & sitting down with them both in a shop. Try them, and try them again. Don't pick one based on what people say, pick one based on which one feels better, when it's in your hands When I bought my Jazz, I went in there knowing I wanted a Jazz for the slap playing, funk etc. When I played them, I prefered the Precision, but still went with the Jazz as I had it in my head thats what I should have bought. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE the Jazz... But I ended up going back a year later & buying a Precison

I'll add some pics tomorrow too!

Smaz

adding to what smaz said

smaz says that a p bass only has one pickup
although that may be true for some, i have seen a couple of p basses that have a neck and bridge pickup


having said that im not sure if with that combination they are then still called p bass or just 'bass with two p-pickups on it' if u get what i mean

EDIT:

Great post Smaz

And maxf13, that's one crazy looking P bass

Awesome info smaz...this would be a great sticky post

XD
its the whackyest i could find XD

maxf13 wrote:adding to what smaz said

smaz says that a p bass only has one pickup
although that may be true for some, i have seen a couple of p basses that have a neck and bridge pickup


having said that im not sure if with that combination they are then still called p bass or just 'bass with two p-pickups on it' if u get what i mean

Actually, that's quite interesting - I've never thought about that!

I would assume that they're not precision basses, as the precision bass would surely be the thick neck, single pickup, standard body etc. that was originally made by Fender. Anything else would be similar, but not technically a precision bass. That's what I would guess at, but I couldn't say that's fact or whatnot. I'll look into it

much thanks that was a lot of info, i guess i never payed attention to the neck or pick-up location on each.
hehe that is a pretty funny looking bass maxf13

I'm pretty sure theres a few p/j basses going around.
Precision body, jazz neck, p pickup at the neck and j pickup at the bridge.

I don't think there are any production p/p basses though, they're probably all custom built.

Smaz wrote:

maxf13 wrote:adding to what smaz said

smaz says that a p bass only has one pickup
although that may be true for some, i have seen a couple of p basses that have a neck and bridge pickup


having said that im not sure if with that combination they are then still called p bass or just 'bass with two p-pickups on it' if u get what i mean

Actually, that's quite interesting - I've never thought about that!

I would assume that they're not precision basses, as the precision bass would surely be the thick neck, single pickup, standard body etc. that was originally made by Fender. Anything else would be similar, but not technically a precision bass. That's what I would guess at, but I couldn't say that's fact or whatnot. I'll look into it

yh
thats y i said it might just be called " BASS WITH P PICKUPS ON IT"
not sure tho

maxf13 wrote:yh
thats y i said it might just be called " BASS WITH P PICKUPS ON IT"
not sure tho

It'd be called a P bass I reckon. P bass is the name that they (whoever 'they' are) gave any bass with precision pickups in it, as Fender trademarked the name 'Precision'. So a Precision bass would refer exclusively to Fenders while P is anything else. Read it in a book once

maxf13 wrote:adding to what smaz said

smaz says that a p bass only has one pickup
although that may be true for some, i have seen a couple of p basses that have a neck and bridge pickup


having said that im not sure if with that combination they are then still called p bass or just 'bass with two p-pickups on it' if u get what i mean

EDIT:

I dont think that is a Fender bass.

SuperMaximo93 wrote:Anyone tried a jazz in a rock (or metal even though I don't play metal) setting? How well does it do in a mix?

Listen to Led Zeppelin, John Paul Jones uses a jazz bass quite a lot.

Smaz wrote:I'll add some pics tomorrow too!

Fuzzydice45 wrote:I'm pretty sure theres a few p/j basses going around.
Precision body, jazz neck, p pickup at the neck and j pickup at the bridge.

I don't think there are any production p/p basses though, they're probably all custom built.

Guess that looks like mine

This thread is a bit old, but I found a vid that explains Precisions and Jazzes surprisingly well

Good vid, provided a good history though unfortunately didn't have any soundclips which would have really helped in my opinion.

cool vid i actually got my first bass today, (i couldnt get one for my b-day) it's a J-bass and i love it^^

leora667 wrote:cool vid i actually got my first bass today, (i couldnt get one for my b-day) it's a J-bass and i love it^^

Congrats, hope you stick around these forums.
Have fun learning loads