How do YOU define "Jazz Bass"?

[SurferJoe46]

Skinny neck and 2 pickups; the rest is cosmetics. A hot babe is still a hot babe, whether she wears a skirt, shorts, or tight jeans.

Yeah --- and all women are beautiful --- in the dark.

If it ain't Fender --- it ain't a Jazz Bass. Period.

 

[Spectrum]

Single coil pickups. Thats it.

Really? So what is this, then?

 

[Definitely]

Well technically the Fender model, but I'll call anything with two single coils a "jazz type".

EDIT: inline single coils.

 

[JimiLL]

Really? So what is this, then?

Oh barf.... you got me on a technicality

Ok.... two single coil inline UNSPLIT pickups. Better?

 

[Spectrum]

This has two single coils. Is it a Jazz bass? (Bonus: it also has an offset waist body! LOL)

 

[Spectrum]

I'm not trying to be a jerk. I'm just saying that Fender itself seems to categorize basses by body style, not neck shape or pickup configuration.

But it's fun to argue about, anyway. Good ole' interwebz.

 

[4OnTheFloor]

For me, it's the tone regardless of who makes it. You know what a Jazz bass sounds like just as you know what a Precision sounds like. Or what a Music Man sounds like.

+1 this! Whatever it is, it has to sound like a jazz. Pickup position and decent single coils. Example: I've put jazz singles in a Warwick thumb, does NOT sound like a jazz.

 

[cnltb]

offset body, two single coil pickups at defined positions.


But really, fenders Jazz is how i#d define it.

 

[MisterMagician]

A "Jazz Bass" is what ever line Fender slaps that name onto. They own the name and they say what is and isn't a Jazz Bass.

As far as what constitutes the purposely vague "J-Bass" moniker, that is a whole 'nother can of worms.

 

[NYCBass]

It's the tone Baby ........ it's all about the tone ! ! !

 

[cfsporn]

Really? So what is this, then?

Technically, those are humbuckers.

 

[Flabass]

Fender. All the others are "Jazz Style" IMHO.

 

[lweastdad]

To me, it has to be a Fender to be a Jazz Bass. All the rest are "Jazz Style" basses.

 

[notverygood]

Really? So what is this, then?

A fancy, 1.5 at the nut, p-bass. Unless those are single coils pretending to be split coils. I can't see how the neck pup soloed would sound any different then a normal p bass, and the bridge probably adds a little clarity and sharpness to a p-bass tone. That's what it looks like to me, I've never played one. I've seen a two HB model that I believe was called a p-bass in Best Buy yesterday, IIRC. That's not a p-bass either IMO. That's a Ibanez SR by Fender.

 

[Munjibunga]

Body shape, two pickups, neck contour.

These are all Fender Jazz basses.

These are also Jazz basses.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

As plenty of said Fender makes Jazz basses... others make basses for jazz, but there is only one Jazz bass.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

A fancy, 1.5 at the nut, p-bass. Unless those are single coils pretending to be split coils. I can't see how the neck pup soloed would sound any different then a normal p bass, and the bridge probably adds a little clarity and sharpness to a p-bass tone. That's what it looks like to me, I've never played one. I've seen a two HB model that I believe was called a p-bass in Best Buy yesterday, IIRC. That's not a p-bass either IMO. That's a Ibanez SR by Fender.

I believe it is actually called a P Bass Elite II... Fender made 2 pickup Precision basses in 83-84 (maybe 82-83) I don't know if they are the original idea maker but they are the first to bring it to the masses... so the SR would be the ripoff, and I haven't actually seen a 2 P p/u SR myself though.

 

[Definitely]

I believe it is actually called a P Bass Elite II... Fender made 2 pickup Precision basses in 83-84 (maybe 82-83) I don't know if they are the original idea maker but they are the first to bring it to the masses... so the SR would be the ripoff, and I haven't actually seen a 2 P p/u SR myself though.

No it's the new Blacktop J. The Blacktop P has two humbuckers.

 

[FretlessMainly]

It says Fender Jazz Bass on the headstock. If it doesn't, it isn't. Whether a copy is better or worse than a Fender Jazz bass is irrelevant, as is what you or I call it.

 

[Kwesi]

Two jazz style pickups, though not necessarily single coils, in Fender positions or close enough to cop the tone (KSD jazzes and for example). Shape doesn't define a jazz (Ibanez Grooveline, Carvin B and SB series, Roscoe Js) but if it's shaped like a jazz and doesn't have jazz style pups I go by the tone (like Major Metal's 6er or Brad Johnson's JXB). I guess you could say that the builder intent factors in. Most of the time I'll just call something jazz if it looks like one until proven otherwise. Additionally, A PJ is not a jazz. It's a PJ.

So by my rules, the Sadowsky Moderns, the Fender Roscoe Beck and pretty much every Yamaha ever aren't jazz basses. The Jaguar bass above I'd have to hear and the the dual P equipped bass with the jazz body doesn't qualify either.

Yeah... lots o' conditional stuff. But that's how I roll.