Fender Jazz not cutting through the mix live

[40Hz]

Do you notice the moment when the jazz bass kicks in?

Great sound.

A JB or Ripper into an Acoustic 360/361 stack was my stage rig throughout most of the 70s on into the early 80s. That particular amp and cab loved JBs. I’m still sorry I let my dual stack go.

Legendary bassist Bobby Vega has this to say:

 

[Smooth_bass88]

And wear pants, not shorts. That will help. :>) ; )

yes!! thank you!

 

[FishDub]

Doesn't a post like this pop up every few months?
Considering the depth and breadth of recordings (live and studio) of Jazz Basses in a band setting, the Jazz Bass itself can cut through the mix quite capably, thank you very much.
Even considering that, we must accept that the Jazz Bass is a different animal. The 2 pickups and their locations promote the familiar 'scooped' sound, which is good for some things, not so with other. Lowering the volume on ONE of the pickups will change the "character" of the scoop. I hope someone better versed will chime in with the "phasing, filtering, combing, rinsing" of what I just referred to as "character". Personally, I find the Jazz more nuanced, whereas the P or PJ is a blunter, more "here I am and this is my sound" kind of bass.

Bottom line: If the sound in your head is a P, do not expect that from a Jazz, or vise versa. The other day, a friend of mine was recording at his house and I noticed his EQ had a very sharp scoop. Since I saw he was using his favorite P bass, I told him "Why don't you try the Jazz and set the EQ flat?". Indeed, that was the sound he was looking for, on that particular track.

YMMV
IMHO

Diego

+1. Exactly what happened to me earlier this year. My Flea Jazz sounded slightly scooped with everything flat and both pickups full. THEN- I rolled back the bridge pickup about 1 inch and that in itself solved the problem. In fact, I now enjoy playing that bass as much as my Squier CV 60s P..Try it, However(big however), my Flea jazz has the stacked knobs so that may be a different ball game..

 

[Chrisk-K]

Hundreds of songs recorded with ancient technologies in the 60’s and 70’s feature the Jazz bass cutting through (eg. While my guitar gently weeps). Just saying

 

[caasi91]

I’ve also never heard a well EQed JB get lost in any mix either.
I swear sometimes forums want to make you doubt your own sanity and experience if you don’t know what to look for.

 

[DJ Bebop]

If you use an equal blend of the pickups, there will be mid scoop. Run asymmetrical blends and the scoop diminishes. Running just the neck pickup of a Jazz will have a cut to it, like a focused P.
As mentioned above, a little mid boost helps. I find a sweet spot somewhere around 500-600Hz and boost as needed.

YES TO THIS!

 

[Brad Johnson]

I haven't switched basses between songs and I'm not trying to make it sound like any other bass. I just bring one bass and EQ the amp during setup. My wish is getting it to cut through properly (which is a thing I'm noticing is a problem with the other J players as well). Compressing it does seem to help, using the S-1 switch helps too, but I'm not quite where I want to be.

What EQing are you doing? Do you keep the bass' volume up? What rig?

There are lots of things that could be player error. Through a neutral rig, leaving everything flat at the bass and amp with sufficient gain at the amp should cut through. I'd have to try not to.

If it's too bright a slight treble roll off might help. Treble makes you sound louder, often at the expense of lows and mids.

I would not suggest buying or swapping anything until I knew that I wasn't the problem.

 

[Spirit of Ox]

I play a Geddy Lee Jazz bass and custom Jazz through a GK 400RB and it will cut through any mix. Sometimes it's almost too much. The Geddy Lee has very aggressive mids which allow it too cut through better than most Jazz basses. The custom has 60's pickup spacing and the mids are a bit tamer but it's a very focused sound.
Maybe try a Gallien Krueger. I think it really compliments a Jazz bass tone and helps it stand out more.

 

[Brad Johnson]

First thing to do is not run both pups equally.

Most often my pickups are on equally. Never had a problem cutting through.

I do my own setups and make sure that the volumes of each pickup soloed is equal. It helps to get a great blend when both are full on.

 

[Matty Koff]

The tone knob is also another consideration. I love, that milky sound of the tone being rolled off at home but I find when I'm playing in a band setting if I roll the tone off too much I start to struggle to hear myself in the mix no matter which bass I'm using, my P, my Jazz, or my latest addition a 5 string P/J. Lows come through but start messing with the D or G string and it gets lost.

I also agree with the notion that playing in a 3 piece leaves a lot of sonic space vs playing in 4 or 5 piece band where you have a dedicated rhythm guitarist + maybe a keyboard player dancing around the frequencies of the higher notes we'd play. I mean.. if it's a funk band, it's all about the space between the notes and each instrument having it's own place, and playing off of eachother but in a more typical rock like scenario, if you've got a rhythm guitar playing 16ths with no palm muting and no rests, it's just a little too busy to try and get away with certain fills. At least in my experience, which isn't as much as many of the posters on these forums.

 

[somebrains]

Maybe OP hasn't tried a newer SVT, rolled a V back, played with mid freq switch, or used J pickups with just enough gain for that nang-y in your face thing that PJs kinda do but fizzy 80's guitars ate for lunch. Suicidal Tendencies is the perfect example of when to use a J.....or J equipped something or other.



I get some guys wanna sound like they're playing a P thru a cranked GK 800rb all the time. You don't have to always pick and pogo everything to be there.

 

[gregmon79]

Hi guys,

Whenever I take my American Jazz to a gig it seems like I'm having difficulty to find my place in the mix, no matter what tweaking I do on the amp or pickups. The same seems to be the case for two other bassists who regularly play there on J-style basses in that venue. I 'feel' the bass lines, but don't really notice them.

When I have my P, it cuts through. Another guy's Warwick cuts through... so I figured out it's not the amp.

When I'm jamming my J along to music on the computer, plugged into Amplitube, I encounter the same problem. It kind of drowns. So I'm assuming it's not the venue.

Is there a magic setting or anything of that sort to make a J jump out a bit more? I'm sure the stock pickups on an American J should be good enough, right?

What do you guys think?

Try Dimarzio Model J's. They will most def help you cut. They are like a really beefy. mid voiced Jazz sound. I love mine in my geddy.

 

[SleepyShark]

And wear pants, not shorts. That will help. :>) ; )

Wait a minute... I thought the best outfit for a boomy low end, smooth mids, and crisp highs was a Hawaiian shirt, cargo shorts, dad sneakers, and white tube socks (that, of course, have fallen down to ankle-length).

TalkBass, you've lied to me!!!

 

[rafitoprtx]

Just turn down the neck pickup just a little. It will be less boomy and will let the bridge pickup snap more prominent. The compressor advice given before helps too.

 

[somebrains]

 

[pappabass]

That is why I sold my perfect Fender jazz. I was a last second fill in. I played a beat up house ibanez with active eq. I was asked back the 2nd night. I brought my jazz, it could not touch the ibanez in sound.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Hundreds of songs recorded with ancient technologies in the 60’s and 70’s feature the Jazz bass cutting through (eg. While my guitar gently weeps). Just saying

Everything this guy did...

Joe Osborn - Wikipedia

 

[somebrains]

Waiting for the MM guys to chime in at some point.
Yadda yadda Leo perfected the humbucker something something final design is perfection some suchlike.

 

[Nick Danger]

My MIJ '62 Reissue Jazz has no problem cutting through the mix. I don't use both pickups at equal volume and tend to favor the bridge pickup. I do adjust the low mids on my POD HD500X (with HD Bass Pack) to fit the venue I'm playing.

 

[2F/2F]

If you are running both pickups equally, stop doing so. That takes all the midrange guts out of a J (and they already don't have much guts to begin with, compared to a P).

It also helps to either raise the D and G magnets, or to slightly demagnetize the E and G magnets. The string imbalance is severe with a J, unless you are really running heavy compression or distortion.

I run my J on neck pickup only 95 percent of the time. I might run both pickups on or the bridge pickup only for the other 5 percent.

In general, run a J with more gain than a P in order to get more compression and a gnarlier attack. They are weak/flimsy sounding basses if you are used to a P.