I play all of the same stuff on my J Bass I played on my PJ. It all works and sounds good, but there are subtle differences between them. Depends on my mood and what sound I want to go with. And as Eric mentioned, start messing with EQ and you can create almost any sound you want. Not to mention the various effects pedals available if you want to go into that rabbit hole.
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Don’t expect that, as it really isn’t going to give you that.
It is an ‘in the middle’ experience.
PJs shine when you use the J to cut some of the mud of a P, but in no way give you what a J-J can. Many make that error here, I did. PJ is not the best of both worlds, its a P with options .
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So would you say that a JJ is a better option, and then I can tinker with the EQ?
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“better” is your own preference.
A J cannot give you that old P thump, some folks dislike that.
If you can, try a good model of each type and see what you think you will like.
In the end, you can end up with a P, a J and a PJ, and a MM while you are at it - see GAS thread.
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They are similar but different. It’s the pickup location. JJ is neck and bridge location P is in the middle and PJ is middle and bridge.
on the PJ you’d get the middle P that’s super familiar and punchy tone but you won’t get as warm of a tone as you can on the J neck.
The unique feature of the PJ configuration is the ability to add brightness to the tone without reaching to the tone knobs. I do this often as by default when I’m not recording is to put all the knobs in the center detent.
Which PJ are you considering?
Edit: a Jazz bass can be made close to p but not the other way around.
Of course all of this so far doesn’t even make it on to my list as important things to have on the bass. My number one is nutwidth and string spacing. Pickup config probably 4th or 5th.
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For your reading pleasure @robespierre150…
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A PJ with the J volume rolled down to 10% - 30% is a really good tone. Punch and clarity.
P, PJ, JJ, JM, M, all good sounds, comes down to the question is it your sound
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It’s all I’ve ever had! I own two. To be honest, 95% of the time, I just use the P-pups.
Ken T.
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I have owned four P/J and I am likely to get another this year, which will make both of my current basses P/J. It is a good combo.
I have also owned one P-bass, which was very good; two double humbucker basses, both great; and finally one J/J, which I did not like so much.
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A P7 from Sire, but then I saw the V7 Vintage (JJ) and I love it, although it does not seem as versatile. Any thoughts?
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Those are both really nice. I don’t see either as a bad choice.
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Personally I like P more than PJ and I also like JJ more than PJ. From experience jazz is more versatile than PJ because P on the PJ is not the same as P bass.
I’d add about a hundred or so and get the V8. @MikeC just got one there’s no doubt that’s a kick ass bass. I don’t want the “one” bass that can do it all, in fact I want the narrower range of versatility on my basses. It would make my life easy.
A good example is the Music Man Reflex/ Game changer that bass can do everything and you have nearly endless loadable user presets at your fingertips but that’s not my thing at all. lol.
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I like PJ because it’s neither a P nor a J 
It’s its own thing, which I actually like better than either P or J/J basses.
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There’s nothing exactly like a P, a J, a PJ, a PMM, an MM, a JMM, a JMMJ or any other combo of pups and placements on the body. They are each its own thing.
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They are all good in their own way and also tend to be genre specific - some work better for some genres. If you want to be Marcus Miller, you’re going to want a J/J, for example.
For the styles I generally like, J/J don’t work as well, it’s all P, P/J, or humbuckers, usually in that order. I’ve owned them all and love them all.
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Welcome to the BassBuzz community! As others have said, you really can’t go wrong with your first bass. A decent amp and any popular bass config and you will be well on your way to having secured gear for your first 2-3 years of practicing.
One of the most important things is having something you can get a clean sound out of to hear feedback from your playing - so whatever you choose, be aware in listening to what you have it set to!
Pick something that you are going to want to pick up and play. If at all possible, try something at a store and make sure its comfortable for you.
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You can be Zen and be one with everything oh wait! Have one of everything 
These 2 are super awesome but they are not producing the same tone or vibe. Yet both kickass in the same genre.
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So basically you are saying it would be better -in the long term- to get a bass for each type, as they are better at that one thing?
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In a recent interview, Sire CEO Kyle Kim hinted that the company is designing a similar bass, with an on-board DSP.
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