Fender Precision Bass vs. Jazz Bass: What's the Difference?

Today we're finally tackling a long-asked question about Fender bass styles-- the venerable Precision (P) and Jazz (J) basses are two iconic body shapes and tone profiles in the bass community. We've got Carlos "Bump-Day" Jimenez in the studio to talk and play through the differences. Take a listen and let us know which is the right one for you!
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0:00 Intro/Specs
9:03 Demos
11:55 Final Thoughts
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[@Superfarts]

Man I've been playing bass for twenty years and loved your intro on the history of the pbass, hell yeah brother

[@yarbooa]

One of the best J vs P reviews I've seen! Great job!

[@jimmythefish]

Great breakdown Carlos!

[@danadane2501]

You nailed it when talking about the double bass (upright bass). I use to play guitar many years ago. The last 2 years I have played exclusively bass and I absolutely love it. The bass (guitar) has opened me up to styles of music I never knew existed before. Learning all these different basslines has changed my life for the better. I've learned how to play finger style, slap and of course using the plectrum. All to say your rundown of these 2 basses is dead on and honestly IMHO any serious bassist should eventually want to own a precision bass and jazz bass.

[@ianblack7934]

Who knew the history of the bass was so interesting 👍 Love the fact that there was resistance from the old double bass players to this new gadget... "it'll never catch on" 😄

[@billytrance6893]

GREAT job! 2-thumbs up!

[@pgrove]

Cool video, always kinda wanted to know the difference.

[@charlesbranch4120]

Thank you, Carlos. It's all good, especially your playing both with the same tunes back to back. Great comparisons! 🤠👋

[@dhirenjazz8100]

I read p bass ideal for recording songs so can we record with jazz bass similar tone qwality?????

[@michael_caz_nyc]

Jazz & Stingray are my 2 favorite basses of all time. I also love the sounds of upright & fretless in a specific context. I just bought a Stingray (and as a guitarist) I love playing bass equally as much. oNe LovE from NYC

[@kleinkaufman8940]

This was one great video. And in the end, I fully agree with it, there's no wrong choices as to which one someone should pick( especially for novices) When I worked at the music store, i always suggested Jazz for comfort alone, it's so easy to maneuver with that neck and the body shape is awesome, you will be sitting playing for hours. That for me is the sole factor that puts it above the P bass( and that clean Jazz sound is unmatched for me, but you're not gonna tell that to a novice)

[@TrevorBoggs]

A Fender Jazz Bass Deluxe with active electronics provides incredible tonal variety - its got everything.

[@danadane2501]

For all intents and purposes the J and P basses haven't been around all that long. The Precision Bass came out in 1951 and in1957 the design changed to what we know it to look like now. The Jazz was released in 1960 and still is pretty much the same as what we saw 62 years ago. In the 1950s the Precision Bass had a thicker neck opposed to the 60s and there after when the bass began to have more of a taper. I really like the 1950s baseball bat feel of the 1950s style neck. I found a bass that has that feel and huge neck and as of now it's all I want to play even though I really love my jazz bass as well. All to say you're right in saying "it all comes down to what you want, what you like". Great review.

[@seangarland]

I was trying to decide between a Squier Affinity PJ bass and a Squier CV Late 60's Jazz Bass, as Fender has a big sale going on right now. Wasn't sure about which to go with, as I liked the idea of having both P & J pickups, but I believe the quality of the Classic Vibe line is worth the extra $20 difference.

[@Williaem00]

Not sure if it helps but I have a squier 60s vibe p bass, and it sounds amazing. Sounds like a mexian fender or better. I also am borrowing a friends squier jazz bass, and while I like the neck on the jazz the P bass sounds better for the music we play. (punk, metal, thrash, emo etc.)

[@dhirenjazz8100]

Can we boost the sound of jazz bass with EQ pedal??????

[@lordsanityfree]

It sounded like the P bass was pushing the amp to its limit, peaking it.

[@ge1saman]

Thank you for playing somewhat slowly. Better for hearing the tone differences

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

The Bass Guitar (P Bass for example) was originally designed as a cheaper alternative to the Upright Bass because it's smaller so it's much easier to carry, and the frets made it easier to play in tune. The first Bass Guitar that Paul Tutmarc built was indeed a Fretless Bass, 5 years later they added frets to it and the Fretless Bass died out until lots of companies and musicians (most notably Jaco Pastorius) bought the Fretless Bass back home.

I didn't hear the scale length of each bass. What are they?

[@paulg3686]

34 inch scale length.

[@user-qn6dn1ht4j]

Black bass, black background, perfect

[@zachtbh]

Black shirt too

[@almaximus03]

🙏🏼

[@dhirenjazz8100]

Which one should use p bass or jaz bass????

[@jhayrolozanodulantonoobpro4411]

P bass

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

The Bass Guitar actually enhanced virtually all genres of music that have Bass.

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

Each string on a Fender Bass actually has two magnets

[@cosimobaldi03]

The strings??? Where?

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

@@cosimobaldi03 The Pickups, those have 2 magnets for each string

[@cosimobaldi03]

@@RockStarOscarStern634 ohhh ok, i misread

[@RockStarOscarStern634]

@@cosimobaldi03 They're Double Poled Pickups, each string uses 2 Pole pieces because they're tuned super low, & the 2 Pole pieces really gives them more clarity which is important.

[@cosimobaldi03]

@@RockStarOscarStern634 also if I remember well I read that each string uses 2 poles so that the output is more constant when It vibrates a lot, because if it had only one pole it would easily get out of the magnetic field

[@kogabear1]

Probably one of the better P, J comparison I’ve seen. Thank you for saying just play them. If you end up playing bass chances are you’re going to acquire both styles anyway. A person will get used to switching styles of basses as they play more, probably better on your to mix it up a little.

[@vikingmike8139]

Both.

[@seamusbrowne4909]

What is the Fretboard Radius and Scale Length difference???😎😎😎

[@paulg3686]

No scale length difference, 34 inches .

[@rrdream2400]

I think both the modern P and J are 9.5" radius while the older ones through the 1970's were 7.25" for both.

[@rrdream2400]

The Jazz is always amazing by itself while the Precision kind of dull and boring... until the band starts playing, then the Precision becomes the perfect bass tone to sit in the mix while the Jazz seems to need fiddling and diddling to fit in the mix just right.

[@chickenlickin3820]

this p-bass is not the original design so your spiel is irrelevant. get more informed about your presentation.

[@danielkrawiec9859]

Gratitude is everything, isn't it?

[@donnix1192]

Your existence is irrelevant.