Just a tad fret noise...

[jwk1151]

Well, i searched, maybe not well enough >< but i couldnt find exactly what i needed..

recently, i decided to upgrade from a P-Bass, to a MIA fender jazz bass, but, when i played it, and record it at home, where there isnt a bunch of noise like at guitar center, i notice a lot of fret noise, like when i finger a fret, and a clangy sound when i do riffs with alot of fingering, (think muse songs, or fences by paramore) which doesnt sound well when i record...
This didnt happen with the P-Bass, and the problem goes away a bit when i roll the tone and the bridge all the way down....

i think that this is a technique issue, and not a bass issue, i set it up with medium ish action, and the bass itself was never opened before i got it, (got the guitar center people to get a new one ^^) so would anyone recommend technique fixes to help get rid of those fingering noises, and smoother chord changes?

if it helps, i just replaced stock strings with earnie ball power slinkies

thanks for the help ^^

EDIT: or for recording, should i use the defretter on the ME50B?

[JimmyM]

no defretter!!!

it's not nearly as much of an issue as you think it is. bass is just a noisy instrument. the reason the precision wasn't as noisy is because it's just not as bright as a jazz. but if you turned off the bridge pickup, you would get a pretty close tone to the precision. but it'll still be brighter because the jazz has single coil pickups, which are almost always a little brighter than the precision's humbucker.

anyway, i'd say live with it. it all gets sucked up in the mix anyway. you may call it clank...i call it character of the bass.

[JB73]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

no defretter!!!

it's not nearly as much of an issue as you think it is. bass is just a noisy instrument. the reason the precision wasn't as noisy is because it's just not as bright as a jazz. but if you turned off the bridge pickup, you would get a pretty close tone to the precision. but it'll still be brighter because the jazz has single coil pickups, which are almost always a little brighter than the precision's humbucker.

anyway, i'd say live with it. it all gets sucked up in the mix anyway. you may call it clank...i call it character of the bass.

+1 What Jimmy says.

In fact, I just got to noticing last night the all the fret noise my J was making with a set of new nickel roundwounds, but I was by myself with the amp turned way down. Cranked it up a bit and it was back to what I'm used to hearing - beautiful. Very few folks besides you notice any fret sounds when your at gig or practice... I just consider it a little "built-in percussion" - an added bonus.

[jwk1151]

Thanks, i was hoping that my problem was just the fact that the jazz bass is brighter ^^ now i dont have to fret about it

[ninepoundjammer]

Let the stings mellow out a bit before you worry too much. I change my strings pretty rarely as a like the sound much better once they've been on for a while.