Upgrade or Sell my Jazz?

tonymcbony · #1 05-04-2012, 12:34 AM

Righteo, I have a 2011 American Standard Jazz bass that I quite like the feel of but I can't get it to sound the way I want with a band; either too many mids and not enough bass or vice versa.

I tried a friends bass with the same pickups as mine (Dimarzio Model J's)but with an Audere preamp and it sounded great!
Not sure if it's just throwing good money after bad to upgrade it with the Audere. I have three basses, a P, a Ray, and the Jazz. The Jazz is probably the least favourite of the bunch due to the different neck and not being able to vibe with the tone.

I'm just about at the end with Jazz basses so I've got two options.
1) Sell it
2) Upgrade it with the Audere preamp

What say you?

Borzi_4 · #2 05-04-2012, 12:44 AM

Seems obvious that you want the upgrade, and if its the sound you want it's worth the $

joelb79 · #3 05-04-2012, 12:56 AM

Jazz bass is about the most mod-able bass out there on the market. If you don't like the way it sound but love the feel, there is about a million or more combinations of sound you can find.

I for one did not like active setups though. FWIW the pickup and string changes make all the difference and the active detaches the instrument from your pickups. I like the interaction of the pickups to body. What kind of sound do you want from your Jazz? Some of us have done a lot of combinations of strings/pickups/pots&preamps/bridge and can point you in the right direction for anything your looking for.

tonymcbony · #4 05-04-2012, 01:04 AM

Basically after big mids and big bottom, a punchy fat tone that would work a treat in rock and prog rock settings.

fcoda · #5 05-04-2012, 04:51 AM

Went with carrots because there was no other option but how about the Sadowsky outboard pre-amp. You don't have to upgrade or modify the jazz and it can be used with all your basses.

tuckomf · #6 05-04-2012, 05:03 AM

Get 4 alligator clips and two lengths of wire and make them into clippable wires. Hook them up to your tone pot and try different value capacitors. You can get a handful of ceramic caps from Radio Shack for a few dollars. It's surprising how much they can affect things like that. You can also try different value pots, but it's harder to A/B them without wiring up a separate rig. Just food for thought.

4OnTheFloor · #7 05-04-2012, 06:42 AM

I love my MIA Jazz, but live I've always had the same problem as you. Too middy or too muddy is the way of the jazz bass for LIVE stuff, at least IME. I have an Aguilar DB 680 which cleaned the sound up about 50% and I was satisfied with it for a long while running the jazz through it live, but now I just use a Warwick for shows. In the studio however, my '04 MIA Jazz is hard to beat.
That being said, I did replace my tone cap with an Angela Aluminum Foil Paper in oil .047uf cap (I tried the copper too and didn't like it). I also did the threaded inserts in the neck and swapped the pups out a few times ( I always go back to the stock pups, tried Fralins, Nordies, Aguilar and I thought they were by far inferior to the stock Fenders) Pickup swapping didn't improve my live sound either, in the bedroom the different pups sound very different, but something about the pickup position in the Jazz when the volume goes up all I get is mud. I have a GK1001rbii for the power section, so it isn't the amp.
You can mod the bass, but for live the Jazz sucks IMO. Active Jazz is probably a different story, but I never liked the sound of an active Jazz, but it might sound good with a band. The Warwick sounds pretty ugly by itself, but with the band it has the perfect amount of punch and clarity that the jazz can't even come close to.
So my opinion is the Jazz is perfect for recording and barely passable for Live stuff. The Warwick is mediocre for recording and really REALLY nice for live situations.

Band plays funk/rock/fusion and I use Rotosound Swing 66 nickel from GC with bare (no silk) ends. Info added per below post

mdogs · #8 05-04-2012, 06:48 AM

Not enough info: strings, amp, eq settings, etc...

DWBass · #9 05-04-2012, 06:55 AM

I trashed all the Fender electronics and installed a full Bartolini setup! Classic Series, Single Coil Bright pickups and a 3.3AP preamp. The bass smokes now!

tonymcbony · #10 05-04-2012, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdogs

Not enough info: strings, amp, eq settings, etc...

Ok, so I've used both Chromes and Sunbeams on the Jazz, favouring the Sunbeams as I like their roundwound tone. I play it through an Orange AD200b mk3 with mids cranked, bass halfway and treble 1/4 up into a Genz Benz NeoX 212T cab.

tonymcbony · #11 05-04-2012, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fcoda

Went with carrots because there was no other option but how about the Sadowsky outboard pre-amp. You don't have to upgrade or modify the jazz and it can be used with all your basses.

Funnily enough I have a friend who has just lent me that very thing to try out. We'll see how we go with that.

tonymcbony · #12 05-04-2012, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4OnTheFloor

I love my MIA Jazz, but live I've always had the same problem as you. Too middy or too muddy is the way of the jazz bass for LIVE stuff, at least IME....
So my opinion is the Jazz is perfect for recording and barely passable for Live stuff.

I think you've nailed how I feel about it. I wouldn't hesitate to take a Jazz to the studio, and I love the recorded tone, but live just doesn't work for me at the moment.

DWBass · #13 05-04-2012, 07:41 AM

Wow! A Jazz middy and muddy!??! Of all my basses, my jazz gives me the most presence in a live setting! I have enough low end to shake the rafters and enough 'Larry Graham' like high end to crack windows!!

Are you guys playing a clean signal or using pedals and effects?

SteveC · #14 05-04-2012, 07:41 AM

I didn't care for my American Standard Jazz either. I bought a used Geddy Lee and have never looked back!

gt96g · #15 05-04-2012, 07:54 AM

go for the audere, also consider a pickup upgrade, and throw a new bridge with more surface area contact. Bad electronics on a bass are like a vocalist with a piss poor mic. The vocalist may be great but if the tools for getting the voice across are sub par the voice will sound sub par. If you like the feel of the bass than consider the upgrades. Finding a bass that is comfortable and plays well is half the battle in my opinion, and if the upgrades will deliver the sound you seek than do it.

HoofHearted94 · #16 05-04-2012, 08:45 AM

all you gotta do is put a pair of bartolini J-pups and an active aguilar preamp in it and i guarantee it will sound amazing

joeyl · #17 05-04-2012, 09:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonymcbony;12583420I

have three basses, a P, a Ray, and the Jazz. The Jazz is probably the least favourite of the bunch due to the different neck and not being able to vibe with the tone.

I see that you mentioned the neck. Could it be that being uncomfortable with the neck profile, you are not bonding with the instrument and hence not playing to your full potential or not hearing it? How do your bandmates describe the sound in the mix? Do they like it? Does the audience?

Modern Growl · #18 05-04-2012, 09:27 AM

Sounds like you have the itch to just mess with stuff.

If you have "too many mids", just cut them a bit on your amp.
If you have "too little bass", dial in some bass.

An audre preamp is just going to give you a mini EQ right on your bass. Its not going to work some sort of magic.

Modern Growl · #19 05-04-2012, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonymcbony

Orange AD200b mk3 with mids cranked, bass halfway and treble 1/4 up into a Genz Benz NeoX 212T cab.

maybe this is why you have "too many mids" - why are you cranking your mids and complaing you have too many mids

Set your amp FLAT - do a soundcheck and see where you need to EQ to get the sound you want.

BigOkie · #20 05-04-2012, 09:39 AM

Ok, I'll display a little humility. "Carrot it"?