Fender Jazz not cutting through the mix live

[juancaminos]

So yeah, stop trying to make a Jazz sound like a P bass. My Jazz cuts thru anything but...with a J East Retro set up, aggressive/thick round wounds and a great sounding powerful amp/speaker set up. It's the entire package IMHO. I cannot get the sound I like thru a Precision.

So we are all different, I'm probably trying to make the P sound like a Jazz and your probably trying to make the Jazz sound like a P. Even though we say we're not. My set up is geared toward maximizing my Jazz, yours is set toward maximizing your P. They are so different that you have to change more than just the chord. And. as always, YMMV. Happy trials!

 

[DJ Bebop]

Sometimes you need to turn up the mids or turn down the bass on the amp.

Yes, I know the other basses sounded OK with the same amp settings but,
sometimes you just have to turn those knobs. They were made to be turned.

That set everything to noon thing is OK if that works for you but when it doesn't, time to turn those knobs.

But it always sounds good in the bedroom...

 

[wyleeboxer]

Like DJ Bebop said turn down the bass on your amp and get everything flat and we’ll balanced clear tone from string to string, then I like to start tweeking the Jazz knobs, and for me it’s roll the neck pup back a touch and work the tone knob all night depending on the song. I can go from a disco to Motown with the tone knob alone, all while cutting through the mix.

 

[somebrains]

Buy an SVT with a mid freq switch, then go buy basses so you have something for all 5 settings.

Seriously tho, the P settings are diff than what I want to hear.

 

[Yahboy]

I decide to sell the J bass and get PJ bass, but keep both Pbass and Ray.

 

[Watchootognbout]

That sounds like trying to turn a jazz into a precision. I just start with a precision.

If you can,why shouldn't you?
A bass and an amp have all those knobs for a reason.

 

[djaxup]

nice example of a Jazz bass with the neck pickup favored:





sits pretty well imo. But as always, so much depends on the arrangement and other instruments in the band. I find J-basses to be a bit harder to EQ right than a lot of other basses, but they can be great and well worth the trouble.

 

[Kipp Harrington]

Amusing typo.

Yes... that would be quite a large bass!

 

[Stranger Danger]

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?

Mids

 

[brianrost]

I have played Ps for about 35 years and my first two experiences owning Js were that they disappeared on stage. The second time I rewired it for series (simple, reversible mod). That fattens things up and solved the problem for me. Of course, you then lose the stock sound and the ability to mix the pickups as you see fit. More recently I got a AmStd J5 and almost immediately did the series mod.

I think the stock J sound works great when recording and obviously it works for most people, I have to chalk it up to using Ps for so long.

 

[dkelley]

This is why p basses are so popular. Like running the neck pickup only of a jazz, but with noise cancelling and better single pickup tone.

 

[baddarryl]

Having a Jazz with 70's pickup spacing works really well until the weather changes, which warps the coils and requires a truss rod adjustment, which will lower the strings and cause the magnetic pull to interfere with the inherent resonance of the strings, depending on whether they are reverse wrapped or forward wrapped and whether the month they were wrapped in had thirty or thirty-one days, and if it was February whether it was a leap year. This of course interacts with the tilt of the Earth's axis and the time of year, which determines how much solar energy was present when they created the core wire, which influences the degree of angularity of the hex core wire, or the purity of the circle of circular core wire. This of course has a direct correlation on whether the output frequency of the pickups reacts with the tone capacitor, along with the length of the cable you're using and also the guage of the extension cord your amp uses to plug into the wall, along with whether you're using oxygen-free speaker cable and/or if you are plugging the directional cable in in the right direction. Ultimately you may require a slight tweak at 600 hz or 800 hz, depending on whether your bass has an ash body or an alder body. If it has a sunburst finish you may find that it needs a further tweak at around 2.5K, unless it was sprayed with nitro in which case the degree of flecking will determine whether you need +3db at 2.5k or +2.5db at 2.8k.

All this of course may be rendered moot by the room you're playing in and the overall mix, which may change at random depending on the dimension of the room, relative humidity, and the whims of the other people in the band.

^^^^ OMG Priceless!

 

[jblock]

When I played a jazz bass I had this problem if I ran both pickups full on. Turning down the bridge pickup 25% solved this issue for me as it got rid of the really scooped sound.

 

[MoeTown1986]

If it’s a American Standard Jazz with stock pickups, that is likely the problem. I find modern jazz pickups to have this problem. It’s just how they’re voiced. I swapped all my Jazzes to 60’s voiced pickups and have no longer have an issue in the mix.

 

[Hounddog409]

You can't EQ a Jazz like a P bass or a Warwick. J basses have naturally scooped mids, some folks are looking for that sound, slappers for instance need the mids cut to keep from being harsh, depending on the tone your after and your technique, your amp settings need to be adjusted accordingly.

You can't just expect to pull the plug from your P and plug in your J and have the same place in the mix.

100% correct.

for the Jazz - back off the neck PU just a tad. Lower Bass on amp. kick up the mids.

 

[ClinicianBass]

Wilson Pickett's Hey Jude is a quiet track in general (unless there's some mix or remaster I've never heard), but I've never really had a problem hearing the bass once it and I think the main drum part kicks in. Jerry Jemmott was almost definitely playing a 60's Jazz with flats at the time, through whatever amps they had at Atlantic (probably a small Ampeg). In fact, the Beatles were interested in how they got such a great low-end in the mix after hearing it.

 

[Hounddog409]

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.

I have a MIM Jazz, so I will chime in.

Had to replace all pots after 3 months, because they stopped making any volume difference. could turn off both and would still have full volume. The tone pot made zero difference at either extreme.

Since I had it apart, I also replaced the Jack, since it was getting loose. Also replace the stock PU's with Seymor Duncan Quarter Pound.

now all pots work, jack is snug, and i got rid of the crap (IMO) pickups. sounds MUCH better.

even before these mods and fixes, i never had an issue "cutting through" or being heard. yes, I had to move those nobby things on the amp (Mesa D-800) to adjust for the Jazz. Bass went down. both Mids went up. treble down a bit.

I find it perplexing the number of folks that think they can plug any bass into an amp and get the same sound out.

the difference between my Jazz, T-Bird, and 4003s settings on the amp are extreme. i am not trying to make the T-bird sound like a RIC or Jazz either. I adj to get the best tone out of each. I want the Jazz to sound like a Jazz, and the RIC and T-Bird to do what they do best.

 

[mattjbass]

Having a Jazz with 70's pickup spacing works really well until the weather changes, which warps the coils and requires a truss rod adjustment, which will lower the strings and cause the magnetic pull to interfere with the inherent resonance of the strings, depending on whether they are reverse wrapped or forward wrapped and whether the month they were wrapped in had thirty or thirty-one days, and if it was February whether it was a leap year. This of course interacts with the tilt of the Earth's axis and the time of year, which determines how much solar energy was present when they created the core wire, which influences the degree of angularity of the hex core wire, or the purity of the circle of circular core wire. This of course has a direct correlation on whether the output frequency of the pickups reacts with the tone capacitor, along with the length of the cable you're using and also the guage of the extension cord your amp uses to plug into the wall, along with whether you're using oxygen-free speaker cable and/or if you are plugging the directional cable in in the right direction. Ultimately you may require a slight tweak at 600 hz or 800 hz, depending on whether your bass has an ash body or an alder body. If it has a sunburst finish you may find that it needs a further tweak at around 2.5K, unless it was sprayed with nitro in which case the degree of flecking will determine whether you need +3db at 2.5k or +2.5db at 2.8k.

All this of course may be rendered moot by the room you're playing in and the overall mix, which may change at random depending on the dimension of the room, relative humidity, and the whims of the other people in the band.

Yes. Best most informative post in forever!

 

[pappabass]

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.

Well, now that you mentioned it, I just bought a MM, it has the punch that my jazz did not.

 

[nickpc]

But he's wearing shorts, so the example is nullified.