[rouxroux]

I have many P's and J's...Honestly, I suggest to my students to start on a P-bass (mainly because of the uniform neck taper. The J to me is more of a "step-up" bass once good left-hand technique is established (many of my students double on double bass as well and find that it is an easier instrument to transition to...I feel the same way about 5 and 6 string basses as well). Yes, nothing wrong with the Fender "Squire" models, I seldom have to tweek them out of the box. There are plenty of nice little "practice amps", many of them with headphone outputs.