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Bass for Brazilian jazz, american

C

Chicoalexi

Jun 12, 2025
15
18
#1
Hi all,
I am obsessed with Brazilian modern jazz along the lines of Hamilton de Hollanda, Arthur maia, nico de assumpcao, or Latin fusion like carlitos del puerto played in "antidote" by chic corea.

I'm just about to be learning and am wondering what main bass people would recommend or if anyone from there knows what I should look for as a five string bass.

Chatgpt has almost convinced me that since I play at home and don't need to cut through a real band for now a jazz jazz pickup five string would let me play the lower notes and be a bit warmer. I'll be playing through a Phil Jones bass cub pro and tonehammer preamp.

Since I live in usa I figure I could get something nice here without paying import fees. Chatgpt keeps recommending a sadowsky metroexpress for me but I am curious how that might work vs I see a lot of videos of Brazilian players using passive fender jazz basses.

Thanks all
 
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#2
The generic answer is: You can use any bass for any type music, but, as someone who also loves Brazilian music, I would say try an LTD TL-4.

It can get jazz bass-type tones when plucked near the bridge, but it has three things going for it to make it sound smoother:

1) Piezo pickups
2) A chambered body
3) Most importantly, an acoustic guitar-type bridge.

I'm assuming you're looking for a smoother, more acoustic-type sound.

It also comes in a 5 string.


Mike
 
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#3
5645FFD4-ABEF-4D18-8B52-D328BE556337.jpeg
35F78766-800F-4859-8375-B1A9E2165748.jpeg

Here's mine.
I think it fits most music, except heavy metal.

Mike
 
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#4
I play in a Brazilian Jazz band since 2008, and among all basses I tried, I'm most content with a 5-string Jazz Bass. Which I still play.
  • Neck pickup emphasis gives a heavy, low-middy sound, which is great for surdo drum-ish Samba approach when needed. Also works well on down-tempo Bossa songs. Sample songs: So Danco Samba, One Note Samba, Desafinado.
  • Bridge pickup emphasis gives an articulate sound for songs requiring a fusion-like approach. Works especially well on up-tempo Baião songs or soloing. Sample songs: Ponteio, Tela Cigana, Yatra Ta.
  • Diming both pickups creates a nice scoop, usable all-around, leaving space for other instruments. Personal favorite: slapping on Partido Alto songs. Sample songs: Brazil Nago, Tombo 7/4, Aquela Esquina.
Other basses I tried did only some of those sounds well, not all.

Active vs passive is a difficult debate. Both are usable, no wrong answers here, but I'd prefer a passive bass (rosewood) for woody neck emphasis and an active bass (maple) for articulate bridge emphasis. So I'd suggest picking whichever direction is prominent. Theoretically, you can get an active bass and turn the preamp off, but many active basses were designed to primarily use with a preamp, so their passive tone might not equal a natural passive bass.

I minimize this compromise by using a passive rosewood Jazz Bass and using a Sadowsky SBP-1 preamp pedal when needed. Although it's not the same as having an active-first bass, it still adds enough Sadowsky-sparkle to satisfy my subjective ears. I don't prefer an active Jazz Bass at this time simply because I enjoy the organic woody tone of my passive Jazz too much. Neck pickup emphasis and a little tone cut get into the P territory very well.
 
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#7
In my experience it's really nice to have a 5 string to play Brazilian and Latin musics. With the added B string you can play "down" in every key to get the same feel as the Surdo player does. Just my take. Here's Oscar Stagnaro who is a master at Brazilian and Latin Music. His "Latin Bass Book' from Sher Music is the something I'd recommend to you if you aren't already familiar. Lots examples with play along tracks covering all the essential styles.
 
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#10
It's more important to have a bass that you are comfortable with and play well than any specific bass for specific music.

For two decades, I had one bass, built from a jazz body and precision neck, strung with Roto Swing strings. I used it for rock, jazz, folk, church, and put band. No one ever complained that I had the wrong bass or wrong tone.
 
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#11
Chicoalexi said:
Chatgpt has almost convinced me...Chatgpt keeps recommending a sadowsky metroexpress for me but I am curious how that might work vs I see a lot of videos of Brazilian players using passive fender jazz basses...
Click to expand...
First piece of advice (which it appears you've circumvented by posting here) is don't ask ChatGPT for help on something like this lol

Most any two-pickup bass will have enough versatility to cop classic tones for countless genres. A Jazz bass pickup config, Precision/Jazz config, dual soapbars (like an Ibanez SR bass or similar), and dual pickup Musicman Stingray will absolutely get you there for whatever you need. Everything else can be covered by outboard gear (Preamps, EQ, drive, etc.)

Not a slight against the P-bass, I'd just prefer to have a Jazz bass on-hand if I'm showing up at a gig and don't know what the general vibe will be. Fender, Sadowsky, Squier Classic Vibe, Sire...find a used one in decent shape and rock it. Whatever you run into, it's nothing some mods or outboard gear can't fix to get you there.
 
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#12
Ostie said:
From the title of your post, are you saying that you want a made in USA bass?
Click to expand...
I'm just trying to avoid the conversation steering a lot to "get a tagima" which i am sure are great basses but there is a premium to pay in the US vs brasil while in Brazil they pay a premium for the US brands and use those a lot in professional recordings so I am looking for basses that I can get on reverb, Facebook, Sweetwater, talkbass etc... that best match the modern Brazilian jazz sound.
 
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#13
Ric Vice said:
In my experience it's really nice to have a 5 string to play Brazilian and Latin musics. With the added B string you can play "down" in every key to get the same feel as the Surdo player does. Just my take. Here's Oscar Stagnaro who is a master at Brazilian and Latin Music. His "Latin Bass Book' from Sher Music is the something I'd recommend to you if you aren't already familiar. Lots examples with play along tracks covering all the essential styles.
Click to expand...

That is what my reading shows a lot of as being helpful with the faster transitions in Brazilian music.
 
#14
Kerem Koseoglu said:
I play in a Brazilian Jazz band since 2008, and among all basses I tried, I'm most content with a 5-string Jazz Bass. Which I still play.
  • Neck pickup emphasis gives a heavy, low-middy sound, which is great for surdo drum-ish Samba approach when needed. Also works well on down-tempo Bossa songs. Sample songs: So Danco Samba, One Note Samba, Desafinado.
  • Bridge pickup emphasis gives an articulate sound for songs requiring a fusion-like approach. Works especially well on up-tempo Baião songs or soloing. Sample songs: Ponteio, Tela Cigana, Yatra Ta.
  • Diming both pickups creates a nice scoop, usable all-around, leaving space for other instruments. Personal favorite: slapping on Partido Alto songs. Sample songs: Brazil Nago, Tombo 7/4, Aquela Esquina.
Other basses I tried did only some of those sounds well, not all.

Active vs passive is a difficult debate. Both are usable, no wrong answers here, but I'd prefer a passive bass (rosewood) for woody neck emphasis and an active bass (maple) for articulate bridge emphasis. So I'd suggest picking whichever direction is prominent. Theoretically, you can get an active bass and turn the preamp off, but many active basses were designed to primarily use with a preamp, so their passive tone might not equal a natural passive bass.

I minimize this compromise by using a passive rosewood Jazz Bass and using a Sadowsky SBP-1 preamp pedal when needed. Although it's not the same as having an active-first bass, it still adds enough Sadowsky-sparkle to satisfy my subjective ears. I don't prefer an active Jazz Bass at this time simply because I enjoy the organic woody tone of my passive Jazz too much. Neck pickup emphasis and a little tone cut get into the P territory very well.
Click to expand...
This is perfect and thanks for sharing your experience. I think I might start this way since I'll probabiy be playing the slower and older stuff anyways. When I run into limitations then I might get an active jazz. I'll probably know a bit more what I like by that time too.
 
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#17
Please don't take this wrong. There are a lot of posts on here about what type of base do I need for a specific type of music? It doesn't matter! Watch several Brazilian bands and I'm betting several if not all BP's are using different basses. It's like thinking a different fork will make a steak taste better.
 
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#18
I've been looking for a few weeks but since asking this found a short clip where Andrew vasconcellos is asked if he needed one bass for all Brazilian styles and said a five string active bass that can play passively too so am probably going that direction. Thanks all
 
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#19
Chicoalexi said:
I'm just trying to avoid the conversation steering a lot to "get a tagima" which i am sure are great basses but there is a premium to pay in the US vs brasil while in Brazil they pay a premium for the US brands and use those a lot in professional recordings so I am looking for basses that I can get on reverb, Facebook, Sweetwater, talkbass etc... that best match the modern Brazilian jazz sound.
Click to expand...

I don't think anyone on TB would recommend buying a Tagima simply because they are made in Brazil. They are just FSOs anyway and there are plenty of cheap versions of those already.
 
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