less tone from a jazz bass...??

Fine Cut · #1 01-15-2008, 12:13 PM

...WHAT??!!!!

well yea, i play in a bar band, and as many of you bar band players may know, sometimes for certain songs, the best tone, is very little tone...but that's really not possible with my Squier VM jazz, and i think it's the stock strings. i love having the tone waitin for me when i roll into the tone knob, but sometimes i just want a smoother sound. With the tone full on, it sounds like someone smackin' a couple pieces of steel re-bar together onstage, and w/ the tone rolled off playin on the neck pickup it still just isnt smooth...what kinda strings am i lookin for here?

**disclaimer** for all you non-J bassers who will argue the tone i seek is impossible from a J...clam it...i've played a-many-a tonal monster jazzes capable of this sound...

mjolnir · #2 01-15-2008, 12:18 PM

Flats, maybe?...

Fine Cut · #3 01-15-2008, 12:23 PM

this is gonna sound extremely newbie-ish lol, but would u be able to recommend a brand? i've played for a while, but usually i just pick up ghs boomers, but judgin by the tone of those on my P, theyd prolly be the same way as these stockers

mjolnir · #4 01-15-2008, 12:28 PM

D'Addario Chromes are a brighter flatwound string, though I dunno if flats are necessarily what you're looking for.

droskobass · #5 01-15-2008, 12:33 PM

you want nickel strings, they sound way more mellow than steels yet when they are new they really sing.

Nickels will mellow niceley i recommend D'addario XL nickels 45-105 or 45-100

manicbassman · #6 01-15-2008, 12:48 PM

I have a set of Picato flats on mine... nice blues tone when I solo the neck pickup and roll the tone right off

Ben Rolston · #7 01-15-2008, 12:49 PM

you seem to be saying that tone = treble.

Turn the treble, and high mids down on your amp. (That's what a tone knob does)

KrispyJones · #8 01-15-2008, 01:57 PM

flats helped me in the "coverbandsituation" ^^

steamthief · #9 01-15-2008, 09:56 PM

Fender Pure Nickel 7150s.

Either that or Kentucky Fried Chicken, original recipe, no finger-lickin'.

Pilgrim · #10 01-16-2008, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fine Cut

....the best tone, is very little tone...
...i love having the tone waitin for me when i roll into the tone knob, but sometimes i just want a smoother sound
....With the tone full on, it sounds like someone smackin' a couple pieces of steel re-bar together onstage, and w/ the tone rolled off playin on the neck pickup it still just isnt smooth...

I am very confused by your use of the word "tone". I don't think it describes what you are actually asking. Most posters seem to use "tone" as a highly non-specific word that refers to the final overall sound they achieve as a result of instrument, effects and amp. Your terminology isn't clear to me at all.

Like another response above, it sounds to me as if you're hearing too much brightness and treble in your sound.

The Tone control on your J has a specific function - as you turn it from treble to bass, it attenuates (turns down) the high frequency response. Seems to me that you simply need to work with the tone control on your bass and any EQ found on your amp to shape the sound in a way that's attractive to you.

And if the sound is still too bright, consider changing to flatwound strings, which are less bright and last just about forever.

perucci · #11 01-16-2008, 11:30 AM

In general, I prefer the old-school "thump" sound from the 60s. This was made with flat-wound strings and tube-amps. The flat-wound strings were made specifically to sound like an acoustic bass. The tube-amps used then were typically under-powered, but actually sounded pretty good when mildly distorted (unlike solid-state)...

...enter the "modern age". These days, the sound is much more "piano-like" from the strings, and the distortion is typically solid-state sounding. While this works much better for hearing the pitch of the notes played, and gives us "slap", when you want the ol' style bottom "thump" of ages past, it just isn't there.

Ideally, assuming the above captures much of the "tone" issue, you could have 2 bases - one with flats and one with rounds. There are "comprise" strings somewhere in between (TI Flats, ground-wounds and chromes), but a compromise is a compromise.

For true old-school "thump", La Bella and Fender flats work quite well.

BTW - You mention that you have a Jazz. The Jazz tends to emphasize the mid and high frequencies, but not so much the low frequencies. Some basses have much more "bottom", although I personally love a good (or cheap) Jazz.

Fine Cut · #12 01-16-2008, 01:06 PM

i appologize for my previous lack of proper terminology lol...

yes, most of you are correct in assuming that by "tone" i meant the mids/highs response. but the reason i think its the strings and not the amp is because i have fiddled with my amp since i got the bass (this past september) and even with the highs rolled off on the amp, and the mids/lows halfway on the EQ, i still get the clank...i messed with it somemore today, and im startin to wonder if my pickups are a bit too high, and the strings are striking the poles...im gonna mess with my setup a lil, and get some flats, and see what that does for me.

thanx guys