More Mids w/ Ash/Rosewood Jazz...

[lolaviola]

Okay, this is my new Jazz bass... Played it live last night and almost felt like it was lost in the mix (3-piece rock n roll).
I was thinking some Nickel strings to give a better ammount of mids. The bass is kinda "scooped" sounding.
Maybe something higher-tension.
Right now it's got the stock black-silk Fender strings. They are pretty good feeling, but are pretty floppy.

[ghostjs]

jazz basses have a scooped tone when using nickels.. i always get that sorta tone and im also curious on how to make it less scooped and more mid-like. try new strings first before anything

[lolaviola]

Hmmm, I thought nickel would ADD mids?

[bluesblaster]

I would try and compensate with the EQ on your amp first, If thats not doing it than maybe back the bridge PU volume off a bit and turn the amp volume up a little. I guess you could try a outboard pre like a sadowsky or a sansamp OR... maybe give flatwound strings a try, I actually prefer the sound of flats on a jazz bass, good luck.

[DavePlaysBass]

Mid scoop does not necessarily follow string type in my experience. And the mids cover a wide range. IME, two strings that appear to have prevalent mids are the Fender 7250s (nickels) and La Bella Hard Rockin Steels (steel). Another string that comes to mind is the TI Superalloys. But these are pricey. I would stick with the 7250s.

[One Drop]

Originally Posted by bluesblaster

I would try and compensate with the EQ on your amp first, If thats not doing it than maybe back the bridge PU volume off a bit and turn the amp volume up a little. I guess you could try a outboard pre like a sadowsky or a sansamp OR... maybe give flatwound strings a try, I actually prefer the sound of flats on a jazz bass, good luck.

This.

You can also try rolling off a bit of neck PUP instead.

Playing towards the bridge can help, too.

I like the mids of DR Lo Riders on a J, bigtime.

[Lorenzini]

In my experience, mids really come out with nickels.
Get some D'Addario XL nickels or DR Sunbeams or something

Stainless strings will not give you more mids!

[narud]

Originally Posted by Lorenzini

In my experience, mids really come out with nickels.
Get some D'Addario XL nickels or DR Sunbeams or something

Stainless strings will not give you more mids!

we talking low,mid-mid or high mids?

[SwamiRob]

Yeah I wouldnt say that, pretty much all the stainlesses Ive played have had loads of high mids.

[Lorenzini]

Low and mid mids.

Enough to give some more honk on slapping and more body on fingerstyle.

[VroomVroom]

IMO/IME, Sunbeams will add some color and zing in the lower mids. If you really want to cut, I'd go SS, and along the DR product line would recommend Fatbeams...their "midpoint" is higher. FYI/FWIW, I run Sunbeams on my alder/rosewood Lull Jazz-ish bass, and I love 'em. I run Fatbeams on my ash/maple Sadowsky Jazz-ish bass, and...I love 'em. A new set of strings - again, my opinion - are a worthy investment for your new bass. That said, trying some EQ changes can't hurt...bump the lower mids a bit, and/or bias the bridge pickup. Good luck...

[DavePlaysBass]

On a jazz bass you get instant mid boost by slightly favoring one of the pickups.

[SwamiRob]

Yeah I've seen alot of people saying that having 2 spaced out pickups makes for a scooped sound, obviously the degree and nature of it is gonna be different with all the possible variables, but it does seem to be the case with all the dual pickup basses I've played having a scooped effect of some sort. Probably something to do with the interaction of the different sounds you get from 2 different places on the body.

So like people have said favouring 1 will bring back some mids as well as finding new strings, along with a hell of alot of other things you can do. The neck pickup on most Jazzes seems to have plenty of low mids to my ear, also you could try balancing it toward the bridge pickup and taking some of the tone off to round off some of the higher end if it's too harsh for you.