Is there a way to improve B string on Fender Jazz?

[TomB]

It's been a while since I owned a Fender B-string, and that's because I never found a good one after 3 or 4 tries. That opinion is NOT current, so they may well have upped their game over the last 20 years.

I thought at first it might be a 34" scale issue, but owning and gigging first a Moon JB5, then a Moollon PV and a Valenti PJ, I know that scale length was not the deciding factor. All 3 of those basses have incredible and even-sounding B-strings. I agree with earlier comments that overall attention to detail and stiffness must be factors in the equation.

I owned some G&L 5's that were in the middle, B-wise. Given the potency of their MFD pickups, I found pickup height to be crucial, especially above the 8th fret. Still though, not quite on a par with the custom basses.

For whatever reason, my one Music Man Sting Ray 5 had a great-sounding B at 34", but I couldn't handle the string spacing.

That's my finding over 25 years of gigging 5's. I'm not a Fender hater and I love my P and J 4's. I hate to answer the OP with "save up your money", but it's all I got. I do agree that a smaller-gauge (125-130) B has a better chance of blending.

As always, YMMV.

 

[Wasnex]

It's a piece of metal that clamps to the headstock that supposedly helps with dead spots my adding mass to the end of the instrument. It can by moved around so the user can find the spot on the headstock that helps the most.
If you read the reviews, about 50% say it helps (a little) and 50% say it doesn't do anything, so you be the judge.
I tend to think it's mostly hoooey

Admittedly, I would expect any effect to be minimal. Some people will notice and some will not. Also there is not guarantee a fat finger won't make a dead spot worse.

As I mentioned in my previous post, adding mass to the headstock of my Ric seemed to make the E string sound a bit more focused, and the fat finger is where I got the idea. But it was not a solution since the bass already had significant neck dive.

Also the neck on the Ric is about as stiff as a wet noodle. It's super stable (as in it does not tend to need truss rod adjustments), but just rotating the body of the bass from vertical to horizontal will pull it noticeably out of tune. My belief is thie floppy neck is at least partly responsible for the way the bass's E string originally sounded; very woolly or card boardy. Actually I think this is a common problem on old Rics and often attributed to the pickups. But the problem remained after I installed Alembics.

I eventually installed a 2-Tek bridge which claims to stop string vibrations from putting energy into the body of the bass. I also had the Alembic preamp reworked and retuned by Ron Wickersham while the bridge was being installed, so I can't really say which changes should be attributed to the bridge and which should be attributed to the electronics. The bass sounds and plays awesome now, but it does not really sound like a Ric. Also, no more neck dive because the original 2-Tek was very, very heavy. If I had it to do again, I would have left the bass 100% stock, but I think most people tend to be fairly hard on their first love .

I have read comments from more technical posts that suggest what the Fat Finger does is slightly shift the resonance of the neck. So you may not actually eliminate the dead but move it a little bit. I.E. If the dead spot is squarely on C, then using the fat finger will move the dead spot about a 1/4 step so it's in between notes. Now two notes will be a bit dead, but less so than when the dead spot was centered on C.

Then again, if the dead spot is already in between notes, using a Fat Finger could move the resonance right over the center off a pitch, so you have one really bad note.

As far as my suggestion for helping the Low B. I think it's a different idea. Adding mass should help stabilize the nut slightly so the strings can vibrate in a more pure manner. The Fat Finger is not very much mass, so it may not make any noticeable improvement.

I suggest devising an experiment instead of buying a Fat Finger cold. I don't remember exactly how I did it, but I figured out some way to attach a bit of extra mass to the head stock of my Ric. I never did buy a Fat Finger.

 

[swedbass]

Try a taper core string such as the LaBella Super steps and keep the gauge lower, about .128-.135 for a more flexible string.

Many good reasonably priced Fender style 5-strings out there, Sire is one that comes to mind.

 

[chadhargis]

I've owned several five string basses of different brands. First off, Dingwalls are amazing when it comes to the tone of the B sting but you're talking about a bass that's engineered to have a great B string that is a 37" scale.

I have had 35" and 34" scale 5 string basses and there doesn't seem to be that much difference. I find it's all about resonance. The type of string, how you install the string, type of bridge, type of nut, neck, and even the way the neck is attached. I have a 34" scale Warmoth J5 with a bubinga neck and a black limba body joined using neck inserts and machine screws. I would put the B string up against anything. It's very good. I have owned Fender, G&L, Lakland, Ibanez, Peavy, Dingwall, etc. Some were fabulous, so were just so-so. Really depends a lot on the bass. Same goes for dead spots on the neck.

That's why I prefer to play a bass before I buy it, but that's not always possible.

 

[PhatBottomBass1]

Hi Everyone,

I bought a second-hand MIA 5-sting Jazz. I think it's the "standard" model (came with passive electronics). Love the look and playability, but:

The GDAE strings sound great, bright and punchy, just they way I thought they would be. The B string - poop. So bad that the tuner had troubles picking up any notes. If the tuner can't hear it then neither can I.

I read somewhere (probably on TB) that for the standard series Fender just added an extra string and didn't update the electronics. So I went on a quest and fitted it with Lindy Fralin pickups and John East preamp, which as you expect wasn't a cheapo fix.

It helped a lot I must say. The B string now exists and has some bottom, but still bleak and wimpy sounding compared to the other 4. No sustain either. I have other 5 string basses and, as you'd expect, the B string varies between them, but none of them is as bad as the Fender.

Is my bass faulty or is this how 5 string Jazz basses are? If it's faulty - what should I look into? Changed pickups, put a preamp in, changed strings a few times, did the setup a few times. Tightened all the bolts. Didn't seem to fix it. Could the body and/or neck be defective?

TIA

Consider purchasing a 1/4 sawn Maple neck with steel reinforcing rods from Warmoth, get a set of D'Adarrio taper core steels .127-.107-.085 .063-.043 and get the nut cut buy hand for a GOOD set-up with what ya got going on and see if that doesn't make it happen.

If you really want to go crazy change out the bridge and put a 3mm Brass neck plate on it from Freedom Custom Guitar Research (Tokyo, Japan) and you'll be totally happy assuming the guy working on it has some finesse!

Good luck!

 

[Fuzzbass]

I've owned 35" scale basses, including Lull, MTD USA, and Modulus. Had no trouble playing 35", but I've gone back to 34" because I prefer the more traditional timbre (though the difference is subtle). It does seem to me that Dingwalls have the most consistent B string, but I don't care for fanned frets, nor the modern tone. I love the B strings on my Sadowsky, Nordstrand, Zon...

My collection leans boutique these days, but I've owned Fender fivers. Not the J5, but I was extremely happy with the B on the Roscoe Beck fivers I owned for awhile. The RB5 bridge was a pain to work with, but when I got everything right, the B was excellent.

I assume it's been mentioned, but there can be numerous reasons for poor B string response. It's tricky to intonate those thicker strings. Also, the thicker strings are more susceptible to damage from improper installation (don't twist!), or from severe break angle over the saddle (as noted by others, a tapered B string can help here). You don't want the string to be too close to the pickup. These are just for starters.

As mentioned, it's a great idea to try different string sets. That said: keep in mind that bum strings can happen even with top manufacturers. If you get a bum B string, maybe see if the manufacturer will replace it. Point is, it isn't really fair to judge an entire string set (or manufacturer) based on a sample size of 1. Yeah, I know bass strings are expensive, so if you get one bum B string I can understand moving on even if you love the EADG strings.

 

[BassDuex]

The "B string problem" For even tension across the strings, you need a geometric progression of diameters - each string needs to be 1.33x the diameter of the next smallest one to be right - balanced in tension. For some reason, bassists have come to expect that 40-60-80-100 or 45-65-85-105 (arithmetic progresions, not geometric) are somehow "right" when in fact they aren't.

Interesting. Are there sets that follow said geometric progression, or do you have to choose singles?

 

[Gordon Mills]

Hi Everyone,

I bought a second-hand MIA 5-sting Jazz. I think it's the "standard" model (came with passive electronics). Love the look and playability, but:

The GDAE strings sound great, bright and punchy, just they way I thought they would be. The B string - poop. So bad that the tuner had troubles picking up any notes. If the tuner can't hear it then neither can I.

I read somewhere (probably on TB) that for the standard series Fender just added an extra string and didn't update the electronics. So I went on a quest and fitted it with Lindy Fralin pickups and John East preamp, which as you expect wasn't a cheapo fix.

It helped a lot I must say. The B string now exists and has some bottom, but still bleak and wimpy sounding compared to the other 4. No sustain either. I have other 5 string basses and, as you'd expect, the B string varies between them, but none of them is as bad as the Fender.

Is my bass faulty or is this how 5 string Jazz basses are? If it's faulty - what should I look into? Changed pickups, put a preamp in, changed strings a few times, did the setup a few times. Tightened all the bolts. Didn't seem to fix it. Could the body and/or neck be defective?

TIA

Hi Everyone,

I bought a second-hand MIA 5-sting Jazz. I think it's the "standard" model (came with passive electronics). Love the look and playability, but:

The GDAE strings sound great, bright and punchy, just they way I thought they would be. The B string - poop. So bad that the tuner had troubles picking up any notes. If the tuner can't hear it then neither can I.

I read somewhere (probably on TB) that for the standard series Fender just added an extra string and didn't update the electronics. So I went on a quest and fitted it with Lindy Fralin pickups and John East preamp, which as you expect wasn't a cheapo fix.

It helped a lot I must say. The B string now exists and has some bottom, but still bleak and wimpy sounding compared to the other 4. No sustain either. I have other 5 string basses and, as you'd expect, the B string varies between them, but none of them is as bad as the Fender.

Is my bass faulty or is this how 5 string Jazz basses are? If it's faulty - what should I look into? Changed pickups, put a preamp in, changed strings a few times, did the setup a few times. Tightened all the bolts. Didn't seem to fix it. Could the body and/or neck be defective?

TIA

I'm not sure what your problem may be. 4 of my basses are 5s, and 2 of them are Fenders. I have an American made Precision V with a passive pickup and an American Jazz Elite V with active pickups.
I chose my own string gauges and set up/calibrated the bridge myself. Both basses play and sound great. Maybe American made models are better.
Does your model have all the tuners on the same side of the headstock? Mine are set up in a 4 and 1 configuration. I don't know if that would make a difference, because the B tuner would be in the same place on both. The 5 on one side set up does use different tuners, though.
I don't know if my set up skills are so good, or if I just got lucky...

 

[tony caskey]

The best way to improve the B string on a Fender Jazz is to sell it and get a Dingwall . Sorry I had to

love this passive KILOTON 5 usa G&L. its the first 5 ive played were the B felt connected to the rest of the strings "factory XL 170 5". The sustain is the same as the rest of the strings, bass is loud . I like it so much i ordered a CLF L 1000 5 string from custom shop!

 

[gidbass]

Interesting. Are there sets that follow said geometric progression, or do you have to choose singles?

Some manufacturers sell "balanced sets". I haven't tried any yet, but have a balanced set on order from Kalium.

5 String | Kalium Music

Good Luck!

 

[tony caskey]

Steve Araujo has raved about the G&L CLF research L-2000 low B. Are they that good? I have not played a G&L 5 string and I like the idea of having one.

I also seem to remember a Sterling bass I had that didn't seem to flop like the Fender. Maybe there is something to that.

Somebody just be buying the Fender fives since they still make them.

 

[tony caskey]

love this passive KILOTON 5 usa G&L. its the first 5 ive played were the B felt connected to the rest of the strings "factory XL 170 5". The sustain is the same as the rest of the strings, bass is loud . I like it so much i ordered a CLF L 1000 5 string from custom shop!

View attachment 3993924

love it

 

[micguy]

Interesting. Are there sets that follow said geometric progression, or do you have to choose singles?

Kalium will do that for you. D'addario has some 4 string sets that are decently balanced, as does GHS - you can look at their tension charts and see how balanced they are.

When it comes to 5 strings, other than Kalium, you're either buying singles, or a balanced 4 string set plus a single for the B string. Standard packed 5 string sets have B strings that are too small to balance the rest of the.

 

[joel406]

I have 2 Fender American Pro 5 stringers. Rounds on both. B string is perfect on both. Maybe the V-Mod pickups made the difference. Who knows. But I got 2 winners.

 

[amper]

The best way to improve the B string on a Fender Jazz is to sell it and get a Dingwall . Sorry I had to

I mean, where's the lie? A 37" scale B is always going to sound better than a 34" scale B.

 

[amper]

IMO, there is no such thing a 34" scale B string that sounds good, but that's just my personal opinion. It's not exclusive to Fender. 34" scale doesn't sound good below D, to me. If you want a tight, booming B, you need a longer scale length.

 

[FunkHead]

I have 2 Fender American Pro 5 stringers. Rounds on both. B string is perfect on both. Maybe the V-Mod pickups made the difference. Who knows. But I got 2 winners.

Same here. Very nice low B on my 2018 Pro P-5. I have DR pure blues on it. The B is even better with Ernie Ball group flats. I need to put them back on...

 

[FunkHead]

IMO, there is no such thing a 34" scale B string that sounds good, but that's just my personal opinion. It's not exclusive to Fender. 34" scale doesn't sound good below D, to me. If you want a tight, booming B, you need a longer scale length.

The problem with b strings for me has never been the low notes. It's when you're playing up the neck and trying to sound just like 5 frets down on the adjacent string. IME lighter gauges work better for that. I have 3 34" 5'rs and no problems on any of them. There are 34" strings that are higher tension than other 37" strings so it's not about 37's being "tighter".

I'm not sure about Op's bass but I would not be afraid to set it up with some good strings and rock it.

 

[amper]

The problem with b strings for me has never been the low notes. It's when you're playing up the neck and trying to sound just like 5 frets down on the adjacent string. IME lighter gauges work better for that. I have 3 34" 5'rs and no problems on any of them. There are 34" strings that are higher tension than other 37" strings so it's not about 37's being "tighter".

I'm not sure about Op's bass but I would not be afraid to set it up with some good strings and rock it.

My next two basses are almost certainly going to be Warmoth versions of Fender 5-string Jazz Basses, at 34". But, I plan (right now, anyway) to tune them DGCFBb.

My main bass for 18 years was a 1992 Fender Jazz Bass Plus V Ash, Fender's first true 5-string bass. Maybe the Lace Sensors and Kubicki preamp helped.

I definitely understand what you mean about the string-to-string difference, but that never bothered me much. I was more concerned about the lack of fundamental in anything below low D.

 

[Spooky88]

5 string B blues.... Yeah I know what that's about. Too cure it, I built a Warmoth Gecko 5 string medium and a fearful cabinet to go with it. Now I can demolish small buildings with little to no effort. It's very nice, most fun you'll ever have watching sheetrock rattle off the walls. FWIW I'm building a 5 string PJ bass for the hell of it as I have the parts laying around.