Artist Vintage Hybrid P-J styled Bass White

Solid quality P-J bass at this price point

By: Kieran Creagh on 10 March 2021

This is the second bass I've purchased from AG, and the 4th instrument. As usual, the turnaround on order to shipment and delivery went without a hitch. Regarding the Vintage Hybrid P-J itself, this is an inexpensive but quality instrument for beginner-intermediate musicians playing the bass. At around half the price of the entry-level name-brand models, you won't get a better deal on a budget. Tone is the main thing I was concerned about when purchasing the P-J, wanting that warmer low-end that a typical P-bass would offer with decent mid-range. The P-J has both split-coil 'Precision' style pick-ups, plus a J-style bridge pick-up, with a 9-volt battery for the active boost. The passive tone setting is OK, it is definitely quieter than I would have thought, compared to the JB2 which has a strong passive presence. The active setting is in my view definitely needed to get clear and clean gain, although leaving the dial to mid-level produces a cleaner tone than turned all the way up. The tone controls for blending the pickups works well, no issues with this. Combined with the bass and treble controls, everything does what it needs to do, with the ability to get near to the right balance between the two. Again, compared to a name-brand entry-level bass, you really cannot tell the difference by ear. In terms of the look and feel, the white gloss finish looks very sharp, and there were no observable marks or defects. Construction and joinery feel and look solid. The neck and frets play very cleanly, I didn't notice any marks, scuffs or rough edges. There's been some comment about the width of the neck, personally I haven't found this to be an issue. I find it more comfortable to play than the JB2 which has a narrower neck from the 5th to 1st fret. Children or those with smaller stature would find a bass a challenge to play, and at full-scale length with medium-jumbo frets, maybe this isn't the best option. The weight of the P-J is really well balanced, feeling comfortable for extended practice sessions. Tuning is easy, the strings hold their correct pitch once set. The bridge and truss rod positions were fine, I didn't get any fret buzz or find it difficult to hold down against the frets. The only thing that I was not entirely happy about is the quality of the tone knobs and the pick guard - compared to the JB2 model, these fittings feel and look cheap. I guess you have to make some trade-offs to get an instrument down to an achievable cost. Time will tell how durable they are. There's also no manual, it really would be nice to have even a link or QR code to a manual. I resorted to taking a screen shot off the product page. Straight-to-right-angle 3ft lead, .71mm pick and hex key included.
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By: Artist Guitars

Thank you so much for the details review and feedback. I have sent you an email to address the feedback you had with the knobs, pickguard and manual. Please feel free to reach out if you have any further questions or concerns. Cheers!

Looks great, sounds good. Neck like a RL forward.

By: Michael on 24 November 2020

I bought this bass for my son to learn on. My basses are from the 70’s and I wanted him to have an instrument to treat as his own. This Artist bass is really good value. Options for both passive and active circuitry are a good idea. The action is passable and the tone is good. My beef is with the thickness of the neck. It is much thicker than my Jazz or P bass, which does not help a beginner player get a relaxed feel for the instrument. At the nut, my P bass is 38mm across. This bass is a massive 42mm! Is that a neck from a 5string? Too tough for young hands.
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Such great value!

By: Phillip Rowe on 19 November 2020

Firstly, the bass arrived by courier in record time! (Within two days of Artist Guitars receiving their shipment from overseas!) Now to the bass itself....absolutely flawless finish, basically mint, nice neck, no problems at all! The sound is first class, plus the fact that, being passive/active electronics, there is enough tones for everyone! I will end this by saying that the best way to describe the bass is, when I put it through its paces, it already sounded like a recorded instrument, so how good is that? I have a Squire Precision bass, and a Yamaha model, and this particular AG model is actually equivalent, or better, to be honest! Oh, I almost forgot.....the price is definitely right on this one! I have to give this bass 5 stars+++! Thanks again, Artist Guitars!
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Care for customers

By: Ben Green on 15 October 2020

Bought one and was dissapointed so I wrote a bad review they got back to me in less than an hour I explained the faults and the appologised and have sent me a new one completely free I'm sure this new one will be phenominal as the bass sound was incredible really great company.
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Decent

By: Ben Green on 14 October 2020

Yeah Loved it has a great range of sound however the jack port contently comes loose no matter how tight i screw it and recently mid way through a gig it straight up fell out leaving me to re solder the wires and hasn't worked since. Great bass for short term,
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Just buy it

By: Gav Murray on 8 August 2020

Awesome bass at any price. i bought it for the studio for recording. sounds fantastic, plays well and and has all the tones you want when recording. just buy it, its a no brainer
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A good beginner bass

By: Tom on 5 June 2020

The Artist Vintage Hybrid P-J styled Bass, is a pretty good bass for the price. You have more knobs than you could think of, perfect for procrastinating, (we all know finding the right tone is more important than practising). Over all I’m very happy with bass, looks good, sounds good, plays well, and at that price point there is no competition!
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Artist Vintage Hybrid, a P-J styled Bass White

By: Craig on 5 March 2020

I just received my Bass the Artist Vintage Hybrid, a P-J styled Bass white, and I'm really impressed. First off no fret sprout and only need a minimum set up, a slight truss rod adjustment and string height to where I like it. Intonation was great straight out of the box, it only need a tune up and its good to go..!! it sounds great, I really love the PJ pickups. All my instruments are now from Artist Guitars now..!!
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Great Bass

By: Robert Comber on 10 August 2018

Very pleased with the guitar, sounds, looks and plays beautifully. Disappointed that there was no manual provided or even a basic guide. I have been playing in bands for over 50 years and have always had a guide or manual in every new guitar or amp that I have purchased. This bass has no guide to what the switch and the four knobs do. I had to contact Artist and find out, obviously I was regarded as an idiot for asking such stupid questions as everyone knows what they do, I felt sarcasm and started to feel embarrassed so I finished the discussion. I purchased an amp the next day from another supplier and it arrived in 28 hours with included manual from Sydney, my bass took 7 days to arrive. Excellent Bass, but delivery very slow, no manual or basic guide, and sarcasm is not customer service
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Great Value

By: Harry Kingaby on 17 June 2018

I am a professional guitarist who does the odd bass gig on the side. I needed a bass but I didn't have the funds for a Fender. I bought this bass thinking that as long as it is playable I could always update the electronics and get something that sounds ok. No need! I am delighted! This instrument plays well straight out of the box. All it needs are some decent strings. It sounds great. In time I will update the parts that I think might let me down: the tuners look a bit flimsy, as does the bridge. These parts are subjected to a lot of pressure on a bass. A set of strap locks and away we go. I am so astounded by the quality of this bass I will probably buy another pretty soon.
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