Is there anything that cannot be done with a Fender Jazz?

[Korladis]

One sound which I was never able to emulate on a Jazz was the classic deep, clanging Rickenbacker tone. If you roll off the extremes on a Ric and aim for a nice, smooth, melodic tone, then it can sound very Jazz-like indeed - but the punchy and clanging Ric tone was outwith my capabilities on a Jazz, anyway!

Has anyone here had the opposite experience? Can anyone get a convincing clanging Ric tone from their Jazz?

The thing I find disappointing about every Fender Jazz Bass I've tried is that I always want the bridge pickup by itself to be just as useful a sound as the Rickenbacker's bridge-pickup-only tone, but it just isn't.

When people say that a Jazz Bass can sound a lot like a Rickenbacker, they're usually referring to the sound of the Rickenbacker with both pickups on and all the controls at maximum.

I never use that particular sound, though. I typically play my Rickenbacker using just one pickup on at a time. My main tone is the bridge pickup only, and then when I need a radically different tone, I switch to the neck pickup for that deep, pillowy thump.

I've not found the Fender's bridge pickup soloed tone to be all that close, really. Nor is its neck pickup soloed tone really all that much like my Rickenbacker's.

Still a great, very versatile bass, though.

 

[slapbass06]

Why do people crave the p bass tone so much I hate to hear one lol p/j r great but the p bass is just a dead tone to me

 

[slapbass06]

I never heard any1 say that p bass sound sweet!!!

 

[One Drop]

I never heard any1 say that p bass sound sweet!!!

As many have said, it might not be the sweetest sound soloed but in a mix it comes alive and does all the right things- punches hard, fills out the bottom, leaves room for the other instruments, marries beautifully with a kick drum, etc.

That sounds pretty sweet to me.

 

[mystic38]

The P bass sound is sweet!..

I hate to see people wait

I never heard any1 say that p bass sound sweet!!!

 

[jnammy]

I'm a jazz bass guy, but i do agree that a p leaves more room sonically for other instruments, meshes better with the kick drum, and can sound more bassy; basically it blends in better, so it's a matter of whether you want to blend in for the sake of the music or you want to stand out; I want to stand out .

once in a while though you hear a grunty p bass tone that's a mixture of fret noise, a slightly overdriven amp, good split coil p pickups, and good technique and I really dig that tone, but IMO, it's very hard to achieve, while it's relatively easy to have a standout tone with a J.

 

[GG7]

You can get a Jazz to sound like a P bass on tape. I use to do it all the time, but I would leave a bit more upper mid in the sound to help it punch through the mix, but just as much bottom there in the signal.

To the guy with the Rickenbaker... I hear ya on the bridge pickup complaint. I generally have my Jazz pickup volume blended 50/50. Thats the sound I like for most stuff I do with it.

For that Rick sound you are talking about I would use a Rickenbaker. That is one of the tones I love out of the 4001/4003 and why I bought BOTH!

 

[JoeWPgh]

A J bass can come much closer to the sound of a P than the other way around. I have nothing against a Precision, but they are but one stick in the mud. A J can plant several

 

[Kenzy]

You can get a Jazz to sound like a P bass on tape. I use to do it all the time, but I would leave a bit more upper mid in the sound to help it punch through the mix, but just as much bottom there in the signal.

To the guy with the Rickenbaker... I hear ya on the bridge pickup complaint. I generally have my Jazz pickup volume blended 50/50. Thats the sound I like for most stuff I do with it.

For that Rick sound you are talking about I would use a Rickenbaker. That is one of the tones I love out of the 4001/4003 and why I bought BOTH!

+1 To..well..all of this, actually. Good show, GG7.

 

[punkjazzben]

If I play closer to the bridge I can get a fairly Jazzy sound out of my Precision. But I'm not going to argue that one is necessarily 'better' than the other.

 

[JimmyM]

To be honest, I don't think much about what a Jazz can and can't do, because what it does is what I like, and I never once felt like I brought the wrong bass to any gig when I had a Jazz. Or a PJ. Or a P for that matter, though I do remember a band I was in giving me flack for using a P back in 1982. They sucked anyway

 

[petrus61]

To be honest, I don't think much about what a Jazz can and can't do, because what it does is what I like, and I never once felt like I brought the wrong bass to any gig when I had a Jazz. Or a PJ. Or a P for that matter, though I do remember a band I was in giving me flack for using a P back in 1982. They sucked anyway

I have felt a bunch of times that "I really should have brought my P-bass". That isn't to say a Jazz can't get the job done. Maybe I'm just a minimalist in the sense in that I'm more secure on a gig pretty much knowing what I have at my fingertips. Too many times have I been on a gig (not just with jazz basses) where no FOH or personal EQ'ing could compensate for what I find is a certain all encompassing "warmth" that a good P provides.

All that said, the grass is always greener...

Just as, IMO, a jazz's neck pup will NEVER come close to what a traditional split coil can provide, a P can not do what a jazz's bridge can. There is magic in that bridge pickup, be it location or whatever. Not having a Jazz now, I really do long for that mid-range burp.

 

[Mike M.]

I have both a P bass, a few J's and love them all. Mind you, my only gig is at church where 95% of the time I play a Jazz bass and I've always gotten compliments from the other bass players in attendance on how well it comes across.

But I do agree that while the neck pickup on a Jazz bass can provide a good approximation of P bass pickup, the same "grind factor" isn't quite there. But it's still a good sound, IMO. But for me and my money a Jazz bass is a pretty versatile bass. They also play and look pretty good too.

But I have been playing my P bass a lot at home lately! Still would like to try a P/J bass one day. Never tried one.

 

[Kmonk]

Any style can be played on any bass, as long as you know how to use it.

+1

 

[Nedmundo]

I have always found a J to suit smaller groups better, like one guitar and a drummer. There is something that gets buried with a jazz when you start adding the other frequencies that come from multiple melodic instruments. That's just me, I simply cannot get them to compete with dual guitars and/or keys. It can definitely happen though, but I've seen more concerts where the J just becomes either mud or clank when put in the context of multiple melodic instruments. My 2 cents.

I've only played in electric rock bands, and my experience is the opposite. In heavy power trios, I prefer P-bass thickness to fill out the mix, but with two guitars and keys, I like the deeper, clearer lows of a Jazz to "slide under" everything else. Then the highs can cut through a little bit up top. But of course the rig plays a role, and with some rigs --especially more old school rigs with fifteens IME -- a Jazz can get buried as you describe. My G-K rig is voiced incredibly well for Jazz basses, which no doubt contributes to my experience. Plus, in either situation, the other has worked just fine for me, so I've used them almost interchangeably. Overall, though, I prefer Jazz basses with good noiseless pickups.

 

[georgestrings]

I've only played in electric rock bands, and my experience is the opposite. In heavy power trios, I prefer P-bass thickness to fill out the mix, but with two guitars and keys, I like the deeper, clearer lows of a Jazz to "slide under" everything else. Then the highs can cut through a little bit up top.

+1...


- georgestrings

 

[St Drogo]

You know those 'challenges' that used to be posted on tb? Where someone would post several unlabeled soundclips of a j and a p and we had to guess which one is which? I would love for someone to do that again, but not with solo bass tracks but rather with a full band mix. Because i was squarely in the camp that could not hear a difference between a solo'd p and a solo'd and well dialed in j, yet everyone keeps saying that it's al about context, and everything changes in a bandmix.

 

[bassdude51]

A stock J Bass is one of the most versatile basses. But, "one size doesn't not fit all".

 

[bigdaddybass12]

You can't sound like a P bass.

Yeah. Mud.

 

[bigdaddybass12]

I also prefer a Jazz in series, and over a P Bass, unless it's a 1 guitar setting... To me, a Jazz in series thumps like a P, but is clearer in a busy mix than a P Bass is...


- georgestrings

Just say it. Less muddy