Jazz - P - or PJ?

Gear
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The longer I play, how to say this, the more other aspects of the neck are factored in along with the nut width. The radius, the profile, the frets all come together with the nut in a blissful whole.

My Dark Queen has a 38mm nut, and is super smooth satin finish. Incredibally thin with a compound 12"-16" radius, she is a racehorse. Fast chugging really suiits her.

My Corsair also has a 38" nut and 12: radius, but the neck while think is more contoured like a C, and cups very comfortably in your hand. Lends itself to just sitting back in the pocket.

My stream has a 40mm nut, and a thin U, so more contour then the Queen but less than the Corsair. With a 12" radius, she is the easiest to play, and while not the best tone, I find myself reaching for her when struggling with the fretting of a song.

I appreciate the individual necks more now. I can tell the difference by holding my two Charvels, and they are theoretically machined the same.

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Best Fender neck is the American Deluxe Dimension bass. P bass nut width, asymmetrical C shape neck profile satin finish, and compound radius 9.5*-14*. Absolute joy to play.

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Yep, dont try for tge all in wonder bass, it will always fall short somewhere. But between 2-3 basses, or 10-20, you can get everything.

I prefered the 38mm nut width in the beginning. Even 2 1/2 years in, I am still in the beginning, but at least I am out if the starring gate.
Anyway, I felt mentally and a little physically intimidated by the larger necks., but after a couple years, I have really learned to enjoy, and sometimes prefer larger, 43mm nut necks.
Sometimes the extra string spacing helps avoid mistakes, and helps keep string noise down. And sometimes it just feels better.

If I had to pick one, I would probably pick 38, but that would not keep me happy.
If I could only take 2, I would get one of each.
If I could only have 3, I would get a 1.5" (38), 1.625" to 1.65" and s 1.6875(43)

One of my favorite necks is my Dean MetalMan that is a 43mm nut width and had a Thin U profile, so it is very wide, but its very thin, not thick.
Very fun to play.

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Btw, Andertons is having a spring sale on a few bass models in case anyone is interested. Ends on the 31st.

They have the Sire MM P7 and V7’s in the Swamp Ash wood, which here in the states is significantly more expensive than the alder, for about $500+ With delivery included.

Does anyone know what the DHL fees would for an import? I know it’s like 6% for a guitar, but I don’t know what other fees there may be.

Seems like good price for the 7 models and in that wood. They’re going for much higher in places like Reverb and Sweetwater.

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US no import duty under $800.

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Nice! Here’s the reply from one of their people in case anyone is interested in scratching that itch.
:point_down:

Hi there!

Thanks for getting in touch.

The main thing we need to keep in mind that that we charge exclusively in GBP, so all our prices online are in GBP. Your bank then makes the conversion, on the day of the purchase, based on their daily exchange rate.

Although we will deduct the UK VAT, we cannot estimate how much you are likely to pay upon receiving the parcel, as each country charges a different rate, plus there could be extra tariffs and indeed DHL handling fees.

Unfortunately, as this is always done by the customer, we do not get any feedback on how much customers pay on average, so your best option would be to contact your local customs office to see if they can help, based on the price of the items you are looking to buy.

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Update: I went to try out the Squier Paranormal JB 54.

The Squier is nice. The reviews on this bass are mostly great. Some are saying it’s definitely one of Squiers best basses to date. Cool blend of the OG 54 P bass with J pickups and body. I definitely liked it.

However, I wouldn’t buy it new. If I found a good price used I’d pull the trigger and upgrade the pickups eventually.

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Next l, I tried a few PJ basses. The Squier Jaguar VM PJ, didn’t really care for it.

Tried a Classic Vibe P bass, a Fender P bass, two different types, a player, and a used Vintera. Low end for days with these.

The Fenders sounded better to me, 100%.

Tried a Sire MM V7. Sounds amazing, but the controls are too much. I guess you could get used to anything, but there is so much going on there that it did kinda put me off to it. It’s also heavier. I still like it, but it wouldn’t be my first choice from this bunch, either.

Next, I tried the Fender Aerodyne. Love how it looks, but to me it sounded almost anemic. Maybe it was the strings, I don’t know. If I ever got one, I’d definitely upgrade the pickups.

Then I tried the Fender Player JB Plus Top Limited-Edition. Not so much for its looks or color, although that was on point, but more to try out a MIM Fender. It sounded so good. Lots of growl, and just all the right things.

I could only imagine what the higher end models sound and feel like. The feel of them kept getting better as the price went up so there’s that.

What I learned was that the advice I got here when I first came on was 100% right.

Until you play them you won’t know what you’re really into and your tastes will evolve.

Surprisingly, I came in there thinking I was definitely more of a PJ guy cause of all the reviews I’d seen, or even a P cause I like all that low end, but the P was my least favorite of the bunch.

I definitely didn’t do the P justice. Compared to what I’d heard online I couldn’t dial these in. They lack definition for me. The Squier CV could definitely use an upgrade in electronics.

The PJ’s I played there didn’t do the combo justice. The Aerodyne didn’t sound great and the Squier PJ’s didn’t feel or sound that good to me.

So the pick up combo I thought I liked the least was the one I liked the most, the Jazz bass. It was more articulate, had the tonal variation, but also had enough of that neck pick up low end I like.

I also learned that I don’t mind either neck. Maybe as I get better I’ll definitely develop a preference.

I do like the thinner J neck, but the P bass neck also felt good, just in a different way.

Long story short, I’ll keep testing the waters, but until today I didn’t think I liked Fenders all that much, but now I get it. And I definitely learned I like the J bass growl and tonal options.

I got my eye out for a Fender MIM used at a good price as an upgrade.

Any recommendations on specific models along these lines ya’ll like???

That’s it for this rant. Have a good one everyone!

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Nice review!
So fun to go learn and unlearn what we think going in. When I went shopping for my “forever” tenor sax, the ones I thought I would love were all on the bottom of the list when I was done.

A few replies…

In jazz bass land the Fender Custom Shop ‘60s and Fralin Jazz pickups are both amazing upgrades for any J bass. I can’t really say which ones I like better. Love them both. So upgrading is always an option.

I changed all my Aerodyne pickups to various things except one special edition DiMarzio set that came stock on the bass.

MIM P basses come with really good pickups IMO. A least my red Vintera P did. At the moment this is my least favorite bass (mostly due to the neck) and am considering selling it to make room for something I’m having built.

The Paranormal usually shows up in the other color configuration used, hard to find the black and gold used of late anyway.

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Thanks for the tip!

That’s what it sounded like to me. That MIM had more definition, depth, the whole thing. At least for my still somewhat untrained ear.

I agree. I guess with them being so new, there’s hardly any used ones for a good price on the market.

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I’ve got a Paranormal 54. I really like it, though I upgraded the pup to Duncan Apollos and added a hi-mass bridge. I might upgrade again to Fralin if I get to play a Jazz more. I haven’t played it much lately, but I hang onto it, because it’s a fine Jazz platform. I had a Player Jazz but culled it in favor of the Paranormal.

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With those upgrades that’s a very solid bass.

What made you switch out the player for this one?

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I really like the light satin finish on the neck and fingerboard over the more glossy player, the Duncans are just wonderful pickups, and I like the tone/volume tone/volume controls a lot more than the volume/volume/tone. I really like to have the tone dialed back on the bridge and dialed up on the neck

@John_E had not yet turned me onto the magic of Finger-Eeze, which would have probably rendered the neck moot.

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@Pablo that was a fun fun day hey?

I do have a paranormal that I modded with the EMG JV series.

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I do agree with the aerodyne feeling a bit anemic. Part of it I think many people like to use them with effects so it fits right in. I too swapped out all of my aerodynes pickups. I have/had 4 at one point, sadly they are all piano black.

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As for other recommendations I already own the CLF version of the SB2 I highly recommend the tribute series of it. You can get slightly blemished one straight from G&L. It won’t last long at $450 new. Super funky pickups and volume/volume knobs. Tons of personality.

https://g-l-online-store.myshopify.com/products/instruments-tribute-sb-3

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For a P/J I would definitely not miss trying the Yamaha BB734A. Or for a little less, the BB434.

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Yep, pretty satisfying, lol.

That’s real nice! My other favorite look for this bass. I love the black with the gold anodized pick guard, but currently I’m liking a white on black, or ivory/bone type of vibe with these jazz or p style basses. Though a lot of the others are growing on me as well, lol.

Makes sense, I guess. It was definitely too thin for my ears yesterday, but I could see what you’re saying being a thing.

I know! I love black, but I wish these came in some other variations.

I was looking at these as well. Don’t love the body shape as much, almost a bit exagerated on the proportions from top to bottom, but I’ve seen them get good praise. The one thing I didn’t love was the no tone knob, but it seems people still like these, regardless. Thanks for the rec!

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I could definitely see a Yamaha in my future collection. They get a ton of praise from everyone and they sound great! If only they’d add some variation to their color palette, lol.

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They do, but for Jananese market. They are called non-export. You can get them pretty readily but they cost more. Happy scrolling….

Mine (in case you haven’t seen) are all from a special run back in the ‘00s and all have flame maple tops.

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:exploding_head: Now those are options. I’m kinda diggin that mango colored one. I’m Cuban and raised in Miami, FL so makes sense. Lol.

Very nice!

Update: Just came back from checking out those bay listings. Why on earth don’t they sell those options here?! I saw the white and vintage white, I’d totally want one of those.

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I was waiting you you to comment on those!

And I have no idea why they don’t sell them here. Silly I’d you ask me.

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An interesting take on the PJ is the Peavey Milestone BXP. The series 3 was a JJ, the current crop, series 4, are PJs.

Super fast neck, can be set very low without buzz and is a joy to play. Did I mention the neck? The hardware is ok too, and they’re $329 Canuckistanian new, so in US Freedom Bucks they’d be cheaper. Btw, did mention how good the necks are?

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