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I'm About Ready to Give Up on the Jazz Bass
- Thread starter Robert B
- Start date
Years ago, I posted that there is an older bassist in St. Louis who plays an original Stingray and he makes it sound like a double bass. I can't recall his name now,
but his main job is running a funeral home, and his father was the local bandleader who gave Miles Davis his first real gig. I remember him telling me that he could make his Stingray sound like a string bass, but it wasn't until I heard him that I really believed him.
My point is that the sound is indeed in our hands, and the way we interact with a given instrument is unique.
My first bass was a MIM J. It was a winner in the playability department but didn't have the sound I wanted - lacked the low mids I suppose. I was ready to try something else, but instead did a rewiring with a series/parallel switch. The J in series is a different animal, plus I get to switch back to the J sounds if I ever want to (rarely).
Some of these posts make me feel very fortunate. Most any decent Jazz will work for me. For that matter, most any decent bass will work for me. I don't expect them all to sound the same, but I can can get a version of my sound on anything short of a Hofner.
That's why you hold a doctorate and I don't!
Truth be told told, I can't do much with a Gibson EBO either!
If you don't think you're getting low end out of a Jazz, then are you sure it's low end you're listening for?
I was The same way over the years I have owned like 6 j basses and sold them all. I hear j basses recorded and they soujd great but I could never make them sound like that. I finally picked up a musicman stingray and I'm happy with my tone now.
Maybe the jazz bass is giving up on you. I have never been so particular that I couldn't get used to a bass. I like some better than others, but I don't give up so easily after making a big investment on something like a Lull.
I've been trying since around 1970 to like the Fender Jazz bass. Back around then I had one that looked just like a Geddy Lee (black with black blocks) but could never get that nice, deep, bassy sound that I heard on record albums (that's all we had back then). Then I bought another one about 1999 that was just a gorgeous bass - translucent white ash (I think) and maple board. Couldn't get any low end out of that at all and returned it immediately.
Around 2000-2001 I came into a small inheritance and decided to get a Mike Lull M4V. Ordered it passive with aero pickups and could get no low end at all - especially on the E string. So I sent it back to be re-equipped with Fralins and a J-Retro pickup. Now it sounded wonderful, beautiful, hi-fi, like what you hear on a good recording, but somehow sterile. I just couldn't connect emotionally with the sound. For 13 years or so I tried all different kinds of setups and strings to get it where I wanted it, but was just never satisfied. So last year, I decided to remove the J-Retro and try passive and have since put GHS Pressurewounds on it. That helped, it no longer sounds sterile, and has lots low end but no matter how I vary the pickup volume controls and tone, I have highs and I have lows, but the mid presence seems to be missing complexity or something. Something is missing. I'm just not getting anything that sounds anywhere near as good to me as the rich, luscious, tones I get out of my Lakland USA Glaub.
Anyway, I'm thinking about trying one last string change to Rotosound Swing Bass and if that doesn't do it, the Lull goes on the seller's block. I mean, at some point I just have to accept that maybe they are just not for me. I've already ordered a box to ship it in. I think I'm done with the Jazz bass. Thanks for listening (figuratively speaking).
44 YEARS?
Uh, hey man, if you you're not using that Lull...
I sort of went through something similar recently.
I've played jazz basses just shy of 20 years. I love the way they sound in my house and live. They feel great.
I recently did some tracks where i recorded everything with a jazz and with a P bass i happened to have on me.
Holy crap, the P sounded way better in the mix and was how I wanted to sound when i close my eyes and imagine how i sound.
Crap.
Anyways, now i'm a P guy. You should do what you want, but give a P bass a shot.
I've played jazz basses just shy of 20 years. I love the way they sound in my house and live. They feel great.
I recently did some tracks where i recorded everything with a jazz and with a P bass i happened to have on me.
Holy crap, the P sounded way better in the mix and was how I wanted to sound when i close my eyes and imagine how i sound.
Crap.
Anyways, now i'm a P guy. You should do what you want, but give a P bass a shot.
I almost gave up on the Jazz until I learned on this forum the trick that allows me to get my favorite Jazz Bass sound. Both pickup volumes open at 70%, tone at 100% or slightly dimmed.. It does not sound like both pickups at 100% and it is the best JB sound IMO. It works best with a very flat eq and a little bit of bass. The totally scooped eq for a jazz bass is a beginner mistake and will get you lost in the mix in a second. It only sounds good in your bedroom.
Also I discovered that finding a good jazz with great pickups is difficult. I tried over 10 different set of pickups once just to realize that this particular Am Std Jazz bass I had was a lemon. In other hand, I own a cheap Squier VM Jazz that sounds like a champ.
My criteria to tell whether I have a good Jazz in my hand is this: if it still sounds supportive and heavy when you favor the bridge pickup it is a good one, if it all sound nasally and tiny it is no good.
That was my take on the Jazz Bass topic. Good luck!
Also I discovered that finding a good jazz with great pickups is difficult. I tried over 10 different set of pickups once just to realize that this particular Am Std Jazz bass I had was a lemon. In other hand, I own a cheap Squier VM Jazz that sounds like a champ.
My criteria to tell whether I have a good Jazz in my hand is this: if it still sounds supportive and heavy when you favor the bridge pickup it is a good one, if it all sound nasally and tiny it is no good.
That was my take on the Jazz Bass topic. Good luck!
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Interesting. I had one exactly like it. White blonde over ash, maple board, pretty rare for a Jazz bass, I think they only made those for the American Standard in the 90's. I always strung it with the same Fender strings that those were sold with: 8250M, with the taper wound .110 E string, NPS I believe. That bass had low end for days. Had no problems dialing in a deep low end tone with lots of growl. But, I wasn't fully satisfied with the tone if I used other brands of strings or lighter gauges. So, perhaps you need a different brand of string and maybe go to a heavier gauge?
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
Another chance for the official troll post:
I have never owned Jazz and I never will.
I have never owned Jazz and I never will.
Jazzes are awesome basses: they do what they do brilliantly, though that thing is not deep low end.
I think that is some good advice. A soloed rear pickup should sound punchy, and not too thin.
