Another question about Jazz Bass pickups..

[SquierBender]

I have a MIM Jazz Bass and a question if other PUPS would make a difference. Once again, Im looking for a Jaco '' The Chicken '' sound. Thks.

 

[eastcoasteddie]

They sure would!
I have limited experience with different tones of all the various Jazz bass pickups out there, so I can't really direct you to the best "jaco pickup" on the market. however take a peek at the Sticky thread at the top of this section regarding Jazz bass pickup comparisons. It's a long one, so set aside some time and skim through it. You'll mostl likely find some good insight there.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

A lot of Jaco's tone came from his Acoustic 360 amp. The W-bin cabinet combined with the Variamp midrange boost was how he used to get that tone.

 

[Stuggi]

Not to mention that he used a fretless.

 

[Buskman]

Rolling off your neck pickup volume and playing by the bridge will almost get you there...

Being Jaco will get you the rest of the way there.

 

[line6man]

Not to mention that he used a fretless.

Not on The Chicken. That was always fretted in most of the performances I've seen.

 

[superfunk47]

Fretless Jazz + mid boost + bridge pickup + Jaco's hands = Jaco.

 

[Stuggi]

Not on The Chicken. That was always fretted in most of the performances I've seen.

Oh, didn't notice the name of the song, not that I had remembered that fact even if I had.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

Not on The Chicken. That was always fretted in most of the performances I've seen.

Yeah, I think most of that early stuff was all fretted bass. He never practiced on the fretless either. That's probably why he used a fretted bass on that instructional video he did. I haven't seen that in a while.

 

[FunkMetalBass]

MIM pickups are horrible. I had a 96 that sounded like ******************************* every time I picked it up.

Nordstrand NJ4SVs are what you want.



My next purchase for sure.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

MIM pickups are horrible. I had a 96 that sounded like ******************************* every time I picked it up.

Yeah, you gotta figure they are going to cut corners somewhere to make an inexpensive instrument.

There are much better cheap basses these days than when I started playing!

 

[johnclassick]

It seems as though Jaco used a standard issue 62 jazz for fretless, and a 60 standard issue for his fretted. He used the bridge pick up pretty much exclusively, and he boosted the bass setting on his "Acoustic" rig to full. That's pretty much it. The rest of his tone came from his fingers.

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[Domespeed]

A lot of Jaco's tone came from his Acoustic 360 amp. The W-bin cabinet combined with the Variamp midrange boost was how he used to get that tone.

I always thought that Jaco's recorded sound was mainly DI - at least on the Weather Report albums...

 

[SGD Lutherie]

I always thought that Jaco's recorded sound was mainly DI - at least on the Weather Report albums...

He used to show people how he could set his amp to sound like an upright, so that was part of his tone. So that was a key element in his tone.

But he did state here:

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Do you use the Acoustic 360 in the studio?

Yes, mostly direct. On my solo record I used the Acoustic and direct. On most other records, it's mainly direct.

Do you aim for a certain sound when you play live?

Yeah, I turn the bass on the amp all the way up because I only use the back pick-up on the bass. I never use the bass pick-up on the front so I have to compensate quite a bit with the amp. I have a sound that's like an R&B-type sound which is real punchy and hits. An Acoustic never distorts which is why I like to use it. It really just comes out. I've gone through a direct box through the PA and I've distorted the whole PA. But the Acoustic can take it, it can take anything.

Where do you set the volume?

I don't play very loud. I just play about 2 1/2 or 3 on stage and that's the same volume I play with everybody.



From Wikipedia:

Amplification, effects, and strings
Jaco Pastorius used the "Variamp" EQ (equalization) controls on his two Acoustic 360 amplifiers (made by the Acoustic Control Corporation of Van Nuys, California) to boost the midrange frequencies, thus accentuating the natural growling tone of his fretless passive Fender Jazz Bass and roundwound string combination. His tone was also colored by the use of a rackmount MXR digital delay unit that fed a second Acoustic amp rig.

JACO'S GEAR

Quoting from an article that originally appeared in the January 2002 issue of BassPlayer .

Acoustic 360

The Acoustic 360 amp, which debuted in 1968, featured a 200-watt power amp. The separate preamp had a built-in fuzz effect, and the large cabinet housed an 18" backward-firing speaker and a folded horn. Jaco saw South Florida bassist Carlos Garcia using one on a gig with Nemo Spliff. He went to Modern Music in Fort Lauderdale and put money down on one.

In retrospect, the Acoustic was as important to the development of Jaco's tone and technique as his Jazz Basses were. "The Acoustic held up better than a Sunn or an Ampeg fliptop B-15 could. Jaco could play an open E while he did intervals up the neck, harmonics, and his muted fingerfunk style, which required punch and clarity. The timing of that amp was important, because no one would have been able to get that particular sound without it. Rumors continue to circulate regarding several of Jaco's Acoustic 360s.

 

[wraub]

Hmmmm....

Curious here... How does the Acoustic 370 head compare to the 360, tone wise, gain structure wise, etc?

wraub