• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

How do you EQ a Jazz Bass?

Ryan Mohr

Ryan Mohr

Oct 23, 2007
3,032
26
#1
Calling all Jazz Bass players (Fender, Sadowsky, Lakland, Alleva Coppolo, Mike Lull, Celinder, Valenti...). How do you EQ your Jazz Bass?

Right now I have Seymour Duncan Antiquity II pickups in my Jazz Bass, which have a really deep supportive low end, and a vintage-esque extended high end. The mids are there, just a little shy. Right now I am boosting 200 Hz and 800 Hz about 3-6 dB each. I also have the neck volume on 90%, bridge volume on 100%, and tone on 90%. I pluck in between the neck and bridge pickup, the "sweet spot" for me.

This is my tonal goal
(bass break starts around 1:30, and if you pause at 1:42 you can see he has his knobs set similar to how I have mine set)
I love the way Paul's LG-5 sits in the mix, it's fat, punchy, and well defined.

How do you EQ your Jazz? Cheers!
 
#4
AqueousView11 said:
Calling all Jazz Bass players (Fender, Sadowsky, Lakland, Alleva Coppolo, Mike Lull, Celinder, Valenti...). How do you EQ your Jazz Bass?

Right now I have Seymour Duncan Antiquity II pickups in my Jazz Bass, which have a really deep supportive low end, and a vintage-esque extended high end. The mids are there, just a little shy. Right now I am boosting 200 Hz and 800 Hz about 3-6 dB each. I also have the neck volume on 90%, bridge volume on 100%, and tone on 90%. I pluck in between the neck and bridge pickup, the "sweet spot" for me.

This is my tonal goal
(bass break starts around 1:30, and if you pause at 1:42 you can see he has his knobs set similar to how I have mine set)
I love the way Paul's LG-5 sits in the mix, it's fat, punchy, and well defined.

How do you EQ your Jazz? Cheers!
Click to expand...


Your on-board settings are close to mine. I either run both pickups wide open, or roll back the neck pickup a bit (right to that sweet spot before you get much single coil hum) when I want a tighter low end and more mid presence.

Amp settings are hard to discuss, since so much depends on the voicing of the cab and the model of J you have. With some cabs, I do boost the low mids just a touch (around 250), but with virtually every rig, I actually roll back the upper mids at around 800 hz or so a bit (especially with the J's I own with maple boards and single coils). This takes out the very strong upper mid presence of many single coil pickups, and allows a bit more 'sparkle' to come through.

Pure IMO, but if your bass has a touch of 'gank' to it (that harsh upper mid response), cutting somewhere close to 1K just a touch can really make a difference IMO and IME.

Pauls clips sound very much like my Alleva LG favoring the bridge pickup a bit, with the passive tone rolled back around 20% to smooth out the top end, played over the bridge pickup.
 
#6
i have an all or nothing approach with the pickups. it's usually both on full at once but periodically if it suits just one or the other of the pickups singularly.

i like to roll of the ultra low woofy frequencies and boost the lower mids, around 110 Hz

then I produce a bit of a dip of the center mids around 440, basically at their middle nob position or slightly less depending on the relation to the other nobs. the scoop comes from either side of those mids being boosted a bit as apposed to the middle being actually scooped any.

the higher mids are boosted at around 7.6 K and the highs are reduced from there down to avoid too much clicky attack noise

this produces what is for me a perfect kind of punch in tone.
switching pickup then becomes a way of shifting the mid focus :)

Edit: I also tend to pluck in the area between the neck pickup and where the fretboard begins.
 
#7
08 Jazz here

I usually have everything on 10

there are parts however where Ill back the bridge pup way down for slow/melodic soft parts of a song (very rare though for what Im playing)

My mesa rig usually has the mids way up, bass a little past noon, and treble a bit past the bass. Gain is also rather high to help get that jazz crunch tone
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fat bob
#8
Flat, most of the time. On my Aguilar I boost the low mid and bass a little, but I do that with all my basses.
My fretless has 100% bridge, 0% neck pickup, 100% tone. My Blade (with Aguilar OBP-1) has 100% both, 100% bass and about 60% treble.
 
#10
A-C LG-5: Both pickups all the way up, or rolling off the neck pickup a bit -- I love the sound but I still find Ken's single coil "sweet spot" elusive: in most environments I get more hum than I'm comfortable with if the neck pickup is below ~96% of max. Bass boosted maybe 15-20%, tone all the way up, treble boosted about 15% for slapping and popping. I play with my right hand over the bridge pickup.

-Steve
 
#11
On my Sadowsky I usually run it with volume on full, pickup blend at center, occasionally I'll favor the bridge pickup, tone on full, and about 10% Treble boost.

I do have mine strung up with TI flats, so even though my tone and treble are boosted, I still get a round and mellow tone.
 
#12
steve9000gi said:
A-C LG-5: Both pickups all the way up, or rolling off the neck pickup a bit -- I love the sound but I still find Ken's single coil "sweet spot" elusive: in most environments I get more hum than I'm comfortable with if the neck pickup is below ~96% of max. Bass boosted maybe 15-20%, tone all the way up, treble boosted about 15% for slapping and popping. I play with my right hand over the bridge pickup.

-Steve
Click to expand...

It is a pretty fine line between getting a 'somewhat bridge pickup only burp' while still keeping most of the hum cancelling in place. Your 96% is probably not that far off... just a little drop in the neck pickup volume can really bump up the mid response of the J without sucking all the low end that can result in a 'bridge only' mode (HC or single). IMO and IME.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kyle_S and Scott Lynch
#15
for this precise tone, I'd play with:
- both pickups full
- Tone at 60%
- Huge ass mid boost at 400 to 600 Hz (depends on the type of EQ you have)
- Slight low mid boost
- lows without boost/cut
- Slight hi mid boost
- Slight treble cut

- Stainless steel strings
- Strong attack


With that, I suppose you will get near the tone you want.
 
#16
KJung said:
Your on-board settings are close to mine. I either run both pickups wide open, or roll back the neck pickup a bit (right to that sweet spot before you get much single coil hum) when I want a tighter low end and more mid presence.

Amp settings are hard to discuss, since so much depends on the voicing of the cab and the model of J you have. With some cabs, I do boost the low mids just a touch (around 250), but with virtually every rig, I actually roll back the upper mids at around 800 hz or so a bit (especially with the J's I own with maple boards and single coils). This takes out the very strong upper mid presence of many single coil pickups, and allows a bit more 'sparkle' to come through.

Pure IMO, but if your bass has a touch of 'gank' to it (that harsh upper mid response), cutting somewhere close to 1K just a touch can really make a difference IMO and IME.

Pauls clips sound very much like my Alleva LG favoring the bridge pickup a bit, with the passive tone rolled back around 20% to smooth out the top end, played over the bridge pickup.
Click to expand...

Backing off the neck pickup a little bit does add more midrange, something I need right now.

Interesting, cut 800 Hz? I was recommended in another thread (http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=518734) to boost that area for clarity.

Paul's tone in those clips is exactly what I want.
 
#17
Impossible to comment as each room, amp and speaker combo react differently.
Best bass and amp combos recquire very little if any EQ.
With my Trace and either Berg 322 or EV with vented mid range a starting point for many rooms is:
both pups = flat and roll of tone knob as necessary
Bridge pup = +3 dB @ 60 hz / +6dB @ 100 / -6 dB @ 340
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back