Jazz bass with PJ pickup combo

[jeid]

Hello, I'm a bit of a lurker around here and I'm looking for some info/tips/advice from this community.

I'm a six stringer, so my knowledge of bass guitars is a little rusty.

I currently own an SX Precision bass that I bought on this forum. I quite like the sound it has but I've never been overly keen on the looks of the Precision. I find the neck a little bit on the wide side. I've played several Jazz basses and loved the neck and I actually really like the look of them. I'm not overly fussed on the Jazz sound though.

So, I'm looking to get a Jazz bass with a Precision neck pickup and a Jazz bass bridge pickup (just for the added option if I need it)

I've looked all over the place for a Fender with this sort of combination in it. The Aerodyne falls into this category, but it's bare look has never appealed to me at all. I've always liked the Jazz bass with the pickguard on. Is there anything out there in £4-500 range that fulfills my needs or am I going to have to get a nice Jazz and route it out? (I'm looking second hand as it turns out)

I've seen the Squier Jags and Fender MP Jags with the PJ combo but it's not what I'm looking for.

I'm open to other companies that fall into the price range/looks/pickup combo I'm after. I'm just not sure what's hot and what's not.

Many thanks for any suggestions

J

[jezzaboy]

I looked into this very thing a year or so ago. It was going to be about £70 for the routing and new pick gaurd plus the cost of the P pickup. Get a s/hand post 2009 MIM Jazz or a Classic Vibe and the whole thing would be in your budget.

I think there is/was a MIM Tony Franklin Jazz (edit: it`s a Reggie Hamilton) with a P pickup in it but I haven`t seen many around. Or a Stuart Ham P which is a Jazz body with a P pickup. Add a Jazz pickup and your sorted.

Edited September 16, 2013 by jezzaboy

[Bigwan]

Tanglewood/Overwater Classic?

[gjones]

They are called precision specials. I'm sure you could find one secondhand for around your budget [url="http://www.thomann.de/gb/fender_deluxe_pbass_special_mn_bp.htm?sid=d6149817654e59871e46d36fc156c66d"]http://www.thomann.d...e46d36fc156c66d[/url]

Edited September 15, 2013 by gjones

[jeid]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, it's not a Precision with a PJ pickup combo I'm after, it's a Jazz with a PJ pickup combo. Cheers.

[Matt P]

i'd go with finding a jazz that you like the look and feel of then converting it to a p/j, contact the bass doc (member on here) and ask about the mods, he will be able to sort you a direct replacement for the scratchplate with the correct cutout for the precision pickup, he might be able to supply a pickup from his stash as well,

Depending what the body is like you might not need to rout it out to get the new pickup to fit, if it does need wood cut out then the bass doc could do that too, i know that he converted a 5 string jazz to a 5 string p/j so a 4 should be no problem.

your biggest problem is deciding which jazz you want! but buying from the basschat marketplace would be my recommendation.

Matt

[gjones]

[quote name='jeid' timestamp='1379255416' post='2210374']
Thanks for the suggestions guys, it's not a Precision with a PJ pickup combo I'm after, it's a Jazz with a PJ pickup combo. Cheers.
[/quote]

Aha.....A Reggie Hamilton then? [url="http://www.richtonemusic.co.uk/products/fender_reggie_hamilton_jazz_bass_rosewood_fretboard_3-color_sunburst.asp?gclid=CMCt8I_RzbkCFY_KtAod-FwAuQ"]http://www.richtonem...CFY_KtAod-FwAuQ[/url]


Looks like you just missed out on one [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Reggie-Hamilton-Jazz-Bass-/290967377052?clk_rvr_id=516147249668&lgeo=1&vectorid=229508&nma=true&si=08kLPMboRNi8n5kmkqtvaXKzDGY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fender-Reggie-Hamilton-Jazz-Bass-/290967377052?clk_rvr_id=516147249668&lgeo=1&vectorid=229508&nma=true&si=08kLPMboRNi8n5kmkqtvaXKzDGY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557[/url]

Edited September 15, 2013 by gjones

[Machines]

[quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1379254756' post='2210362']
Tanglewood/Overwater Classic?
[/quote]

This

[Lozz196]

If it`s the Jazz shaped body you`re after fair play, but if it`s the Jazz sized neck, many of the Precisions with P/J config also have Jazz sized necks, such as the Duff McKagan, Precision Lyte, Jazz Special etc. May be worth a look.

[jeid]

Thanks for the suggestions. How good are the Overwater basses?

I'm leaning towards the modification of a Fender MIM Jazz at the moment. There's a rather good tech/luthier around here that could do the work for me.

Cheers

[borisbrain]

I've seen and heard a couple of Aerodyne Jazzes, and they seem pretty mean on both fronts to me. Lovely look and sound. However, if you don't like them then perhaps you could look at getting a Jazz and replacing one of the pups for, say, a Seymour Duncan or EMG, with the same shape to avoid having to re-rout the body? Alternatively you could try a Jazz neck on the P Bass.

I have a MIM Jazz and a CIJ Precision at the moment, and I share your view that the neck on the P is horrible to play, despite a lovely sound. As a lefty, I have fewer options than most, so I'm considering two options:

1. Getting an Aerodyne Jazz, though lefties are harder to find. Not sure I want to risk buying an overseas one from eBay, and my budget is limited.
2. Getting a luthier to shave the neck of the P (and maybe swap the pup, too).

Bestaluck,

BB

Edited September 15, 2013 by borisbrain

[tonyf]

[quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1379254756' post='2210362']
Tanglewood/Overwater Classic?
[/quote]

I picked up an Overwater/Tanglewood Classic J a couple of months ago in a trade.

They're SERIOUSLY good basses for the money and come up quite regularly in the "for sale" section. Pop in a J-Retro at some point and you get even more flexibility.

T

[jeid]

Cheers for the help guys. I'm pretty sure I've sorted myself a bass now.

What is the recommendation for an even sound from the pickups? I have an SX Precision just now with a Fender USA Pickup in it which I like. I'm really considering going for Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders unless there's a reason not to get them?

[DarkHeart]

Ive got a Jazz with a musicman type humbucker in the neck position and its a bit of a monster, both coils wired seperately to a stacked volume control so i can have either coil or full humbucker as well as the standard jazz pup at the bridge.

[Damonjames]

I'm not a huge fan of the aerodyne myself, can't quite figure why but it doesn't do much for me.
You could get a mark hoppus signature bass, and then add a jazz bridge pickup, then you don't need the scratch plate. Might need to add a volume pot though. If you really wanted a jazz neck you could do a trade via these pages. There are plenty of people wanting a precision neck on a jazz bass so you shouldn't have a problem. You should e able to get this done for your budget or close to it.

[Mornats]

[quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1379254756' post='2210362']
Tanglewood/Overwater Classic?
[/quote]

Another vote for this. In fact, there are two on sale on Basschat right now: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/216595-overwatertanglewood-classic-jazz-bass-car-pj-l250/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/216595-overwatertanglewood-classic-jazz-bass-car-pj-l250/[/url] and [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/216567-overwater-classic-j/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/216567-overwater-classic-j/[/url]

I use one as my main gigging and recording bass with my band. It's used on all of the tracks on here: [url="https://soundcloud.com/beautiful-skin"]https://soundcloud.com/beautiful-skin[/url] (forgive my lame mixing attempts on those). It's a little heavy for me, mine's around 10lb so I'm looking for something a little lighter.

[jeid]

See a couple of posts up guys, I've gone for a Fender Jazz Bass and I'm going to modify it to take the Precision pickup.

I'm just wondering what pickups to get for it now. Planning on going for the Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound set

Cheers

[Damonjames]

Seymour Duncan spb3 quarter pounder are awesome p bass pickups, really growly. The sj3-b is also good (this is the set I have in my mike dirnt) but being single coil it picks up a little noise. Maybe check out the stk-j2b which is a double coil but still same size (same bridge pickup as the duff Sig bass) but overall I'm really happy with mine!

[Lozz196]

Agree, the stk-j2b (hot-stack) is a great pickup. Hum-cancelling, which is nice.

[jeid]

You think it'll mix well with the Quarter Pound Precision pickup?

Thanks again for the help