I swapped the stock pickups in my American Pro with Aguilar AG 4J 60s and noticed a significant improvement.
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Help me improve my jazz bass tone
- Thread starter roccobladr
- Start date
FullumMusic
Commercial User
- Oct 13, 2022
- 2,010
- 5,688
- Disclosures
- Audio/Music software developer, contracted with a company you've heard of and deving my own stuff.
I really don't love the usual Jazz Bass tones. As an experiment i got two Squier J basses to try to find different ways to get tone i like from a J setup:
- On one I put Nordstrand Big J Blades (Warm & Wooly option), La Bella Olinto Flats, and either a .047 or .1 microfarad capacitor (i forget which). It sounds pretty killer now. Really big & beefy. Ballsy.
- On the other i put Nordstrand NJ4s, 60s winding with AlNiCo3, La Bella Superpolished, and either a .047 or .1 microfarad capacitor. It's almost there, for me. Tone is subjective. Tone is arbitrary. Tone is contextual. You might be looking for this tone. It's definitely more alive than it used to be. And more full spectrum than scooped, without being too bright. The other bass growls and woofs. This one is more a guttural scream with a little snarl.
Why it's only "almost": I want a little more hit-you-in-the-chest tone out of it. Considering a Series/Parallel switch. Considering an onboard Pre. Could probably just bump the low-mids on my amp's EQ, but the experiment is to get the basses to be tone-monsters themselves.
- On one I put Nordstrand Big J Blades (Warm & Wooly option), La Bella Olinto Flats, and either a .047 or .1 microfarad capacitor (i forget which). It sounds pretty killer now. Really big & beefy. Ballsy.
- On the other i put Nordstrand NJ4s, 60s winding with AlNiCo3, La Bella Superpolished, and either a .047 or .1 microfarad capacitor. It's almost there, for me. Tone is subjective. Tone is arbitrary. Tone is contextual. You might be looking for this tone. It's definitely more alive than it used to be. And more full spectrum than scooped, without being too bright. The other bass growls and woofs. This one is more a guttural scream with a little snarl.
Why it's only "almost": I want a little more hit-you-in-the-chest tone out of it. Considering a Series/Parallel switch. Considering an onboard Pre. Could probably just bump the low-mids on my amp's EQ, but the experiment is to get the basses to be tone-monsters themselves.
I would say finding the right pedal setup can be a great way of doing this. With my pedalboard I can make any bass sound good. Whether it is EQ or a preamp pedal (the Broughton SV-Pre sure is magic) or some tone magic stuff with tubes or a colourful compressor it really can add up or even one of them can do more than you might expect.
My "always on tone magic" pedals are a Broughton BBA (buffer and clean boost) into a Broughton Monocomp (optical compressor with tone magic) into a Broughton Messenger for a bunch of things but mostly HPF, LPF, Volume control and final EQ tweaks if needed. If that doesn't sound beefy enough I kick on the Broughton SV-Pre. Or the Fliptop if I want a more vintage type tone. 4 pedals as an always on may sound wild at first but they all bring a subtle something that really adds up.
Even the just the BBA or a clean boost can be surprisingly good for what you need. Lower the jazz bass neck pickup to 80 or 90% volume, adjust tone to taste and raise the volume back to normal with the clean boost and it opens many more tone options for a jazz bass or passive basses in general. Probably my favourite super deep tone, even more than my P basses for that to my happy surprise.
I think a Source Audio EQ2 may do a lot of these same things in one pedal. Except the compressor I think, I don't own one but love my SA Ventris.
Or just use your amps EQ but I like being able to keep it flat and switch things up with pedals.
My "always on tone magic" pedals are a Broughton BBA (buffer and clean boost) into a Broughton Monocomp (optical compressor with tone magic) into a Broughton Messenger for a bunch of things but mostly HPF, LPF, Volume control and final EQ tweaks if needed. If that doesn't sound beefy enough I kick on the Broughton SV-Pre. Or the Fliptop if I want a more vintage type tone. 4 pedals as an always on may sound wild at first but they all bring a subtle something that really adds up.
Even the just the BBA or a clean boost can be surprisingly good for what you need. Lower the jazz bass neck pickup to 80 or 90% volume, adjust tone to taste and raise the volume back to normal with the clean boost and it opens many more tone options for a jazz bass or passive basses in general. Probably my favourite super deep tone, even more than my P basses for that to my happy surprise.
I think a Source Audio EQ2 may do a lot of these same things in one pedal. Except the compressor I think, I don't own one but love my SA Ventris.
Or just use your amps EQ but I like being able to keep it flat and switch things up with pedals.
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Well, lot of these advices, as good as they may be, sound a bit overkill to me. 
No need to go swapping necks, resoldering electronics or messing with pickups!
Cheaper and easier:
1 - if you haven't already done it, turn your tone knob down!!!
2 - if not enouth, put flat wound strings.
3 - go with an outboard preamp! A Sadowsky spb-2 you can find second hand for 50$ will give you a huge bass boost for a killer tone!!
No need to go swapping necks, resoldering electronics or messing with pickups!
Cheaper and easier:
1 - if you haven't already done it, turn your tone knob down!!!
2 - if not enouth, put flat wound strings.
3 - go with an outboard preamp! A Sadowsky spb-2 you can find second hand for 50$ will give you a huge bass boost for a killer tone!!
I don't get all recommendations for the Model J pickup. I tried them in my J along with the Area J and Ultra Jazz. Model J was heavy and dark compared to the others. I liked the Area the best and felt the Ultra was more of a modern sound which suited solo neck fretted bass tones.
The HX Stomp is a complex piece of gear. It has everything in there but it is much more difficult to dial in than other boxes with knobs and switches. For a more simple bass signal chain I am a fan of the SansAmp ParaDriver DI. Set correctly, it can give a nice bit of natural compression plus some boost to the mids (P territory). Cheaper than the HX Stomp and much easier to dial in. I tend to use my HX Stomp only when playing egtr and the PDDI with bass.
Before you rule out a P pickup swap, remember the route in the body would be hidden by the pickguard. You can swap back and completely hide the P route under the old J pickguard.
The HX Stomp is a complex piece of gear. It has everything in there but it is much more difficult to dial in than other boxes with knobs and switches. For a more simple bass signal chain I am a fan of the SansAmp ParaDriver DI. Set correctly, it can give a nice bit of natural compression plus some boost to the mids (P territory). Cheaper than the HX Stomp and much easier to dial in. I tend to use my HX Stomp only when playing egtr and the PDDI with bass.
Before you rule out a P pickup swap, remember the route in the body would be hidden by the pickguard. You can swap back and completely hide the P route under the old J pickguard.
A touch of overdrive with a jazz bass can sound fantastic in a mix and really make it sit well. There are a ton of not too expensive pedals out there that will accomplish this.
The improved versions of the Model Js, the Relentless Js are great. All the good stuff the Model Js have and none of the bad stuff. The Relentless Js are not a ceramic pickup they are neodymium and the poles are set internally in an arch layout. The Relentless Js in series are massive. The neck solo has lots of meat and clarity. The bridge has some nice bite.
On my jazz, I experimented with plenty of pickup and string changes, pickup height etc to get close to that p-bass thump. I ended up with Kent Armstrong Lipstick Single Coils, DR Flats and a Starr Guitars Harness with a series/parallel switch. I dial the tone right off and solo the neck pup and with that, my jazz gets more play time then my p-bass and sounds "thump-a-licious". No need for an active preamp IMO.
If the J bass sound great for other projects leave it alone.
IMHO the easiest solution is likely to either get good setup on the P so it plays more to your liking. If the problem is not really related to setup, then maybe you need a different P; perhaps one with a J neck. There are probably off-the-shelf options from Fender; you just need to do a bit of research.
Not a huge fan of this channel cuz these guys are sometimes too slappy jazzy and fusion vibes which gives me a rash...
but this is just pure gold:
In general a jazz bass all out 100% volume is a great thing, I respect it. but even not for a very dark tone, when you play and you just roll a bit off it's really good.
like say --
*any tone setting
*volume of neck 90%
*volume of bridge 90%., or say 80%...
is just a great thing to do on a jazz!
in other words play your amp loud enough so you are good with 90% volume, even with only one pickup... (like the video example)
I think a jazz does this better than other basses no idea why.
but this is just pure gold:
In general a jazz bass all out 100% volume is a great thing, I respect it. but even not for a very dark tone, when you play and you just roll a bit off it's really good.
like say --
*any tone setting
*volume of neck 90%
*volume of bridge 90%., or say 80%...
is just a great thing to do on a jazz!
in other words play your amp loud enough so you are good with 90% volume, even with only one pickup... (like the video example)
I think a jazz does this better than other basses no idea why.
The dimarzio model Js are supposed to be about as close to a P as you can get in a J, and they’re fairly inexpensive. The Audere preamp is also a great bargain and easy to install, and with the 4 band eq and Z mode switch, has a lot of tonal shaping.
The Stomp will definitely give you tons of options that you’ll like, but it is its own thing with its own learning curve and rabbit hole so be warned.
The Stomp will definitely give you tons of options that you’ll like, but it is its own thing with its own learning curve and rabbit hole so be warned.
Audere 3 band and Guitar Madness (Chinese 30.00 for set) linear humbuckers in a self built bass.
FAT punchy and full. Plenty of top end and silent.
I'd go with Seymour Duncan Apollo pickups. They retain a lot of the Jazz sound, but being split coils, they sound way thicker like a P- bass.
Okay, gonna be that guy. Since you like the jazz neck and need to cut through in a loud pop-punk band, go get a G&L tribute sb-2. Used, for greater value. Will absolutely solve your problem.
If you like the bass, stick with it. You didn't mention whether you're a pick or finger player, but IMO the key to jazz bass tone is to get some sizzle. Slightly backing off either pickup brings a J to life. You've got two great tones there before you even touch the the tone knob. With tone full up, I use the 60 cycle hum as a guide, backing off one pickup until I start to hear a tiny bit of hum. Then I know I've got the sizzle.
Agree about set up. Get the pickups as high as possible without warbling and experiment from there. Depending on strings, tweaking the amp EQ to bring up high mids or low mids is very effective. I think changing out the pickups would be last resort (and you'll become a tone chaser) but the standard MIM ones might not be top of the range. Although my 2016 MIM flea has awesome pickups, so who knows.
Don't forget the pickguard too, often overlooked. Swap in an 11 hole one if unsure
Agree about set up. Get the pickups as high as possible without warbling and experiment from there. Depending on strings, tweaking the amp EQ to bring up high mids or low mids is very effective. I think changing out the pickups would be last resort (and you'll become a tone chaser) but the standard MIM ones might not be top of the range. Although my 2016 MIM flea has awesome pickups, so who knows.
Don't forget the pickguard too, often overlooked. Swap in an 11 hole one if unsure
Just boost your mids and cut the bass a bit on your amp if you do full both on. Or educed the bridge a bi or maybe even the neck, so that it is not scooped.
