Change in tone with ageing?

[Derek Kay]

Agree with much of the above. A possible clue is the time between the OP's ownerships.

When I've changed strings, bridge, sound post et al on my DB, it always takes some time before it settles down again.

I think this also happens to a lesser degree with solid body BGs. After playing a freshly assembled parts bass for a few weeks I would retighten the neck bolts, and bridge & tuner screws. It also seems to me that the entire physical continuity between tuners and bridge improves with playing.

I am a little dismayed when I see an old collectable bass, dismantled by it's seller to clean or reveal some artifact.

 

[factory presets]

Hello,

As described in THIS THREAD , I reacquired a Jazz Bass I used to own since new, after 7 years. Obviously, I cannot make a direct comparison, but from memory, I am convinced that now, after 7 years, the tone of the bass is considerably deeper and warmer. Could it be that the this is due to wood ageing, knowing that it has a thin nitro finish?

What's your experience people?

You might need to consider the notion that you have also aged. Is it possible that the bass sounds the same but you're hearing a little less of the twang it's putting out?

Edit: don't know about you. But the tone I got when I put my bass down yesterday is not always the tone I get when I pick it up today.

 

[blr2]

If you think the tone has changed and improved over time, hold that thought and be happy that you've got a better sounding bass, which is going to make you feel better when you play it, which will make you play better as a result, which is our aim when we choose a particular musical instrument in the first place.

I didn't say it's improved, just I BELIEVE it's changed. Deeper and warmer is not necessarily better when it comes to a JB. My other J (89 MIJ 62-75) sounds livelier and twangier.

 

[matti777]

I don't know about your bass, but I'm aging and my tone has changed a LOT.

Yeah I've got 2 tones now. If you don't like this one you are surely not going to like the other one.

 

[Wesley R]

I have leaned a bit more towards note definition

 

[Gervais Cote]

I tested side by side my 2015 Fender MIM maple p bass neck with a brand new one.

The 2015 was lighter, felt "dryer" and most interesting for my point of view, it sounded louder and more resonant when knocking on it with my thumb nail.

It also felt more rigid than the brand new one.

Does it make the bass sound better or different : really don’t know and I didn’t give a try with the brand new neck on the same bass so I will never know.

But, on my p bass, with overwound pickups it sounds very lively and resonant with a sustain that lasts forever so I’m more than happy with the results.

I also have some roasted maple necks on other basses and they are also more lively and punchy than the regular maple or maple/rosewood necks.

So to me, dryer wood for a neck sounds different (and better to me !) no matter if it’s natural aging or forced aging by roasting it.

 

[silky smoove]

I buy basses because I like how they sound right now. If they changed over time I'd be supremely bummed.

 

[blr2]

I buy basses because I like how they sound right now. If they changed over time I'd be supremely bummed.

If they change very slowly over a period of a decade or two, you may not notice it, especially if you play them often.

 

[mcrawfordmusic]

Nah I don't think so. You're probably just perceiving it to be different.

Some vintage bass aficionados will claim that older instruments sound better because the wood has aged. For me, I love vintage basses because they feel great and are often light and very resonant, which may lead to them sounding better...who knows.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

Wood, your ears, and your playing change in time, not to mention how you remember things sounded in the 1st place.

 

[shodan]

The only thing I did was polish the frets lightly with 2500 grit sandpaper, oil the fretboard and change strings.

Next time you do frets, try Flitz polish (Flitz Metal Polish Kit | Flitz Polishing Compound). While 2500 is pretty fine, the Flitz just removes the corrosion.

 

[Turnaround]

Hello,

As described in THIS THREAD , I reacquired a Jazz Bass I used to own since new, after 7 years. Obviously, I cannot make a direct comparison, but from memory, I am convinced that now, after 7 years, the tone of the bass is considerably deeper and warmer. Could it be that the this is due to wood ageing, knowing that it has a thin nitro finish?

What's your experience people?

There are a number of factors at work. The wood aging (regardless if the finish is nitro or tung oil or anything else) will change the responsiveness of the bass to certain frequencies. The aging of the magnets in the pickups can also have an effect. Aging of the electronic components can also have an effect.

 

[Turnaround]

Next time you do frets, try Flitz polish (Flitz Metal Polish Kit | Flitz Polishing Compound). While 2500 is pretty fine, the Flitz just removes the corrosion.

Just don't get it on your fretboard, especially open pore woods like Rosewood, Wenge, et.

 

[okabass]

Difficult matter. I *feel* that my ’65 P and ’68 Tele Bass do have some kind of warm nice presence and personality, mojo, on their sound, which I feel as better. I can compare Mex PB 2012 and 7ender Japan ’51 PB 1995. Difference is subtle but if I have those old and newer basses side by side, I pick the old ones. Especially the Tele bass.

 

[basslust]

I didn't present any evidence. Just shared impressions, that's not evidence.

However, I may be able to do something a bit more objective if/when time permits.
I recorded a couple of tracks for an album in 2016 using this bass and new Fender flats. We did it in the studio of our drummer (who's a professional sound engineer), with whom I work to this day. I just asked him, and he confirmed that he still keeps the isolated tracks for the whole album. We use different converters nowadays, but the ones we used back in 2016 are still available as spares in the studio.
One of the bass tracks is a pure DI, and I happen to still have the DI box I used in 2016.
In short, we may be able to recreate the same signal chain and track part of the bass line of one of the songs. Then we can compare on high quality monitors/headphones and do some FFT analysis.
Again, not a 100 % scientific experiment, but way better than a sonic memory.

Please do try it and post the results. I personally feel that it is logical that there might be some minor differences that present in an A/B test, but I wonder if they are enough to notice.

Do you usually play with your volume / tone wide open?

 

[buldog5151bass]

Is it possible? Maybe. In seven years? Unlikely...

 

[DonaldR]

Before @micguy post I would have suspect pots/switch/output jack/capacitors.
Next would be pickups height.

 

[Ostie]

I didn't present any evidence. Just shared impressions, that's not evidence.

However, I may be able to do something a bit more objective if/when time permits.
I recorded a couple of tracks for an album in 2016 using this bass and new Fender flats. We did it in the studio of our drummer (who's a professional sound engineer), with whom I work to this day. I just asked him, and he confirmed that he still keeps the isolated tracks for the whole album. We use different converters nowadays, but the ones we used back in 2016 are still available as spares in the studio.
One of the bass tracks is a pure DI, and I happen to still have the DI box I used in 2016.
In short, we may be able to recreate the same signal chain and track part of the bass line of one of the songs. Then we can compare on high quality monitors/headphones and do some FFT analysis.
Again, not a 100 % scientific experiment, but way better than a sonic memory.

Interesting. Please share your findings here.

 

[micguy]

I will say that I have tines when the sound of my basses changes quite dramatically. I play them daily for months on end, practicing for weekend gigs - most weekends I have a new tune to learn and memorize (sometime more than one). Anyway, its 2 to 3 hours a day (occasionally more) of time with an instrument.

Then I take a vacation - one, two, sometimes 3 weeks when I don't touch an instrument at all. When I get back, no matter which bass I pick up, for the first few days, whatever I am playing is literally the best instrument ever (I'd swear that on a stack of Bibles and completely mean it) - the thing just seems to do precisely what I want it to and more. Then reality sinks in, and although they're very good instruments, they....aren't completely magical.

My basses also sound different in the evening than they do in the morning. If I tweak something in the circuit of one of my basses, I can get an idea, but I really need to wait until the next morning to know if I really hit the mark - my morning ears are much better than my evening ones.

Sometimes, it is all in your head.

 

[silky smoove]

If they change very slowly over a period of a decade or two, you may not notice it, especially if you play them often.

Likewise you may perceive a change when none exists as it relates to the age of the instrument through variables being misattributed such as pickup height, string life, setup, playing technique, listening environment, etc. or even confirmation bias, all of which are far more likely in my non-scientific opinion.