best all around bass?

What you've got is more than good enough. I have a MIM P bass with a J pickup at the bridge, probably identical to yours, and it covers everything I've ever tried to play on it.
Go with what you've got. It'll do.

 

Well I'm no bass player, but I'm pretty partial to a Musicman Stingray. If I were out to buy a bass I'd be after one of those. Or if a miracle happened and I could find a Reverend Rumblefish, that would be the cat's posterior.

 

G&L L-2000 IMO. A real Swiss army knife of a bass. Great tones for every style. CS

 

A Fender Jazz bass.

 

Seems to me like you have the right bass with an extra pickup at the bridge.

 

I've always been a fan of the P Bass. Can't go wrong. My main bass now is an ESP P Bass copy. Its always brought the goods for me.

 

I'm going to join the PJ chorus.
You get the warmth and noise free Precision
"thump", and the extra articulation of the Jazz.
I leave everything "wide open" on the controls, and vary my right hand placement and attack to change tones.

 

As a bass player for 30 years, what you have is AWESOME!
You can cover everything with that bass... it is all about technique and style.

I have a MIM also and I have played everything from Squier to MIA, and I prefer my MIM also... just for thought.

first bass I had was a barely playable Silvertone or something like that... thought I died and went to bass heaven when I get my MIM Fender.

 

You already have a bass, and that's a fine bass, and for the most variety of styles. I have two Precision Bass Specials. One is a passive version. Another is an active version. I prefer the sounds of a Jazz bass with its two-single coil pickups, but as it has turned out, I was able to get my hands on these Precision Specials, and they are good basses in their own right. I have played mine in a variety of styles. Here's one:

 

If you can find a vintage Music Man Sting Ray they are pretty awesome. My dad bought a 1978 stingray in 1980 and it just gets better with time. lol. Really, it sounds amazing.

 

A clip of the other bass:

 

Nothing else punches like a regular P-bass.

J-basses are good for Holiday Inn Lounge music because they sound nasally and "light".

 

Lol what.

 

I'm going to hop on the PJ bass with a slight variation. I have a Fender Troy Sanders Jaguar, which has the noiseless PJ pickups, and instead of a tone knob, it has a blend knob (all the way clockwise is P only, all the way counter-clockwise is J only). It also has a switchable active EQ (treble and bass), so it's easy to boost with the flip of a switch. Pretty much usable for any type of music. Only downside is it's a little pricey, but I got mine for the same price as a new PJ so that's why i went with it.

 

Tell that to every 70's funk bass player!

 

In my opinion the Fender Jazz bass is the best bass ever...... if I could only pick one.

 

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That guitar you have will get you where you want to go.
Change the tone cap to a different value and mod the volume pot if you want the guitar to sound brighter or darker than it currently is.
You could also put a push/pull tone pot in there to change the pickups to series or out of phase; or a three way toggle on/on/on switch to get series/single/parallel out of the pickups you have.

I have a Washburn 4-string that started as a P style for $40. I routed two Js in it for JPJ layout and added a regular Strat 5-way switch. It's fun.

I'd hold off on any mods until after you do the audition.

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I've also played bass for over 30 years and I'm gonna agree that a PJ config will cover you nicely.

 

I've been playing bass for 40 years. It was my first instrument, its what I played when I use to work professionally. I've seen a lot fads through those years and stupid arguments such as don't use a pick, fingers only, four fingers in 3 fret span, guitarists that don't like popping yadda yadda yadda.

I've owned all kinds of basses; Ricks, Alembecs, Fenders, Gibsons etc. but one thing has remained true; if you can only have one bass get a P bass.

So what you have is fine. Don't worry about mods of extra pickups right now. You can do more with changing tone by how and where you strike, pluck or pop the strings. String choice will have more of a factor in your tone than pickups.

Todays bass amps are so much better than the stuff that was available when I started. Use the eq settings to get different tones, play with the mid notches to see what you like before modding your bass. You already have what you need meet 99% of what the music requires. If you want to spend money put it towards a good amplification system.