Fender Jazz V Standard B string question

could be a dead string. Try changing to a new or different brand of string, maybe thicker guage. You should also double check the intonation and truss rod adjustment just to be sure those are both set up properly.

 

Some of the best B's around are on 34" basses,eg: Musicman and Pedulla Rapture, which proves that it's the bass, not the scale. I've played 35" basses that were no better than the Fender, which brings me to the point. I have had two Fender Jazz Vs, one a USA standard, and one a USA deluxe, and both had crap B strings. The only strings that seemed to work reasonably on them were La Bella SuperSteps. I've tried many, many Fender Vs out, and the only one that's any good is the Roscoe Beck, IMO.

 

but I notice that with a 35' scale, the B has a more defined sound.

 

I have two Fender Jazz fives with solid B's... a MIA Jazz Deluxe 5 and an FMT.

IME there are basses anyone can get a solid B string performance out of and there are those you have to finesse. In the minority IME are those that just don't work. I blame the results I get on setup, my technique, tonal adjustments andthe bass in question. I know it's not that hard getting a nice B sound, I see way too many players, amateur and pro, getting it and I get it myself.

What you described sounds like it needs a tweak, maybe adjust the pickup and string height as a start. Certainly not deal-breakers but I can understand wanting to know the results before making a purchase. Buying a bass and hoping it'll work after you've played it is a risky proposition IMO.

 

I personally own a USA Am. Std. Jazz V, and I think that the low-b sound problem might be the pickup itself more than the actual bass or length of the scale. I think perhaps maybe adding a preamp would help things out. Most good sounding B strings you hear about are all basses with preamps.

 

That may be because most basses these days, especially those with more than four strings, are active. IME you can achieve the same results with a well made passive bass, tweaking at the amp if necessary. One of the most drop-dead gorgeous B's I've ever laid ears on is my semihollow Elrick NJS fretless. I also have an old Tobias that has a killer B, in active or passive mode.

 

a lot of the prob with those is in the pickups, they're just not strogn enough under the B string.

 

Mr Lurker, you are confused. The pickup does not need to be "strong' under a B string, because there is such a huge mass of metal vibrating. The Roscoe Beck is passive, has a pretty darn good B string, and this is achieved by the pickup being made deliberately weaker under the B. (this fact referenced from the Bass Player Mag interview with Roscoe Beck.)

 

This is a very interesting read,,,because I'm considering one of these as a possible purchase.

Here's a question for Brad Johnson (& everyone else, too), does this mean that if active pickups are used,,, that it's likely,, or at least a probability that the "soft B" will be sured up?

 

I completely agree.

I own and play a Fender Jazz V standard passive and mine sounds incredible across all strings all the time. I play softly and crank the amp, and I have a big 130 B string.

McHack, I'd say that the bass you're looking at simply needs a new set of strings and a good setup. I recommend Fender "Super Bass" nickels, they sound fantastic on my Jazz V.

 

I have several basses with low B's and only one has active pickups... my MTD 635. Every one has a B string that I'd rate from very good to phenomenal.

I can't say whether or not an active pickup would cure a "soft B". If you actually meant active electronics and not pickups, the ability to dial in some bottom at the bass might help. Otherwise you could dial it in at the amp.

Even better IME is what Philbiker already mentioned. Turn the amp up, lighten up on your touch. I play both an MIA JD5 and an FMT live and they sound very good. Always get compliments with them.

B strings are big... I typically adjust my basses with the B slightly higher than the rest of the strings (I keep my overall action pretty low) and I adjust the pickups closer to the smaller strings and farther away from the B.

 

My B string on my Fender V sounds great. It does feel a little soft but that's because I went from a longer scale bass to the fender. Also I have a Jretro pre amp but I really want to hear a passive Fender jazzV I have a passive 4 string Fender Jazz and love that tone. I have a diffent opinion on string gauge for a low B than most. For some reason I want to get my low B sounding similar tone wise to my E string so I go with a thinner guagestring. 125 or 128 sounds great to me. Lots of growl instead of thud.

 

I use .125

 

This is great input, as I'm in the market for a quality 5-stringer. You know, one I'll acquire & have for the foreseeable future.

 

Could be a dead/faulty string.

Could be the pickup is too close to the string.

Could be that the intonation is way off.


IME, B strings on music store basses tend to go dead fast. My theory is that this is because everyone who picks up a fiver starts bangin' on the B.

I think almost all fivers of reasonably good quality (and that includes Fender) have good B strings if they're properly set up. And I'm talking about 34", 35", or longer scale length.