Great video. Very Fender specific, maybe should have been tagged as Fender/Squier Precision vs. Jazz?
Only reason I say that is that I would NOT be playing a p-bass if the only p-basses out there were Fender/Squier, because I oh so do not like the standard Fender/Squier p-bass neck. My favorite two p-basses are the Kiesel PB4 and the Schecter P-4. Both are fairly standard p-basses but have thin and fast necks (PB4: 14" radius/.77" thick @ 1st fret/.88" thick @ 12th fret, P-4: 16" radius/.787" @ 1st fret/.866" @ 12th fret).
Yep, there are all sorts of neck spec variations and hybrid configurations available from a kajillion brands other than Fender classics like the P and the Jazz, but the point of the video is to compare the quintessential characteristics and the classic characteristic tones of the originals: the Fender Precision and the Fender Jazz.
All examples are Fenders because Fender is the standard, as evidenced by the killer players and the ungodly tones presented in the example bass lines.
Amen! Attempting to traverse the rabbit hole of P and Jazz variations made by an untold number of manufacturers - with all the neck widths/profiles as well as pickup variants - would be a massive and ultimately pointless endeavor: it would never end and it would prove nothing.
Fender is now one of the myriad makers of P- and Jazz-like variants. It entered the fray years ago to compete with all the other brands who sought to offer different neck/pup configs to Fender’s own classic designs.
Still, the point of how a classic Precision (with its signature pup and a generally chunkier neck profile and nut width) and a classic Jazz (with its narrower nut width and two single coil pickups) differ in tonal variations is the quintessential apples-to-oranges comparison that is most worthy of consideration.
Yeah, I think we’re all saying the same thing, even if I phrased it poorly.
I’m not saying that the video should cover all the different permutations of p- and j- basses; it’s perfect covering the standard Fender p- and j- basses. I’m just saying I think it should explicitly say that it’s covering the specific Fender p- and j- basses because of all the permutations.
You’re right about that, but the video arguably isn’t aimed at beginners.
Scott and Ian are two longtime pro players sharing bass tones and lines from world-class players who have massively impressed them, for the expressed purpose of demonstrating the wide versatility of tone capable from a classic Fender Jazz bass.
The artists and tunes in the examples are very likely esoteric to (and largely unknown by) many viewers of the video, beginner or not. But the tonal examples clearly speak volumes about how crazy different the true classic Fender Jazz bass can sound in the hands of players who have spent their careers exploring its possibilities.
It’s interesting for me as the one bass I have never been interested in is the Fender J. You can get a nice gluggy scooped tone with them, especially into an Ampeg or G-K, but they are thinner sounding and lack the punch I want for the styles I like. You can make them work, but it’s a lot easier with a P or humbucker and the thicker, mids-rich sound those other pups bring.
I’ve owned a 1974 Fender Jazz bass. It was the classic, heavy Jazz that Fender is rightfully famous for. It could sound quacky with the bridge pup soloed, I could make it sound scooped, but with the neck pup soloed, it sounded anything but thin.
Years later, I got my Jabba with humbuckers. Definitely a very different voice, but it is an active Jazz on steroids. It’s capable of producing a ton of tones, but it can’t sound precisely like a true Jazz. That’s what I got my Sire V8 for.
It is an active Jazz with hot pups and a stellar preamp. It definitely can produce any and all classic Jazz tones, plus a whole lot more. It sounds thick and rich, even with the preamp knobs set at noon. It sounds great played passive, too.
Obviously, neither a true classic Precision nor a Jazz will hit every player’s taste or genre. But that’s what makes horse races.
Interestingly enough, I have a 20th Anniversary Edition Squier PJ (2002 model) that has a PJ pickup set with a Jazz neck profile (says Precision on the headstock, but has the narrow nut).
