Jaco-Tone: Do you really like it?

[JimmyM]

Yeah, I know Jaco was revolutionary. He was immensely talented and wrote many great tunes that have become standards not only in the bass community but the entire jazz community as well. So let's get this disclaimer out of the way: I do not want this to turn into a "Jaco was great/Jaco sucked" thread like most Jaco discussions. The quality of Jaco's playing is not in question here. If you don't like his music and choose to voice that opinion, start your own weekly Jaco sucks thread with the 500 other ones. I happen to think he was brilliant, and while he's not my favorite bassist, there's no question of his brilliance, at least before he started drinking.

I, on the other hand, am questioning the quality of his tone, specifically the bridge pickup/Acoustic 360 tone. I have always hated that tone. Yes, like most bassists, I have experimented with that tone, but it never lasts long, especially on my fretless. I think it's honky and annoying, especially when other bassists emulate it. I think bass should actually have some bass response, and Jaco-Tone is almost all high mids.

Strangely enough, it wasn't enough for Jaco to roll off the neck pickup, which is high-middy enough. He had to use an Acoustic 360 amp/301 speaker, which in my humble opinion, is a godawful brittle sounding amp.

And yet, a whole legion of Jacophiles actually worship that tone and try to get it out of their gear. What am I missing here? Am I the only Jaco fan who hates his tone? Am I the only person in the world who wants to take a wire cutter and use it on the strings of any bassist who makes their bass "mwah" like Jaco?

 

[scottice]

I have not listened to his albums enough to form an educated opinion... but my uneducated opinion totally agrees with you.

 

[JimmyM]

Good enough for me!

 

[Bruce Lindfield]

I do like that tone for certain things - so on funky R&B 16th note syncopated stuff - it's great!

But of course wouldn't work on rock !

Since taking up DB it's a tone I want to emulate, less and less - but I still love hearing a Jaco solo - say on Havona - that is just a fantastic sound!

I suppose in a way it's closer to a Cello than DB - but I don't see anything wrong with that.

 

[Hazza]

I really like his tone, it's his. And he wasn't all Mwamp Mwump.

My first record was Invitation, and there is some sweet sounding non Mwump work iirc.

 

[jerry]

Yes, I really like it.

 

[vindy500]

cant stand it

 

[MAGUS®]

I'm not a JP " tone" lover as such, but the stuff he did on Joni MItchells " Hejira " album is lovely IMO.

 

[Lazylion]

I'm a big Jaco fan. I would love to hear his catalog remastered with more bottom-end phatness. But I'll take it any way I can get it!
Definitely prefer tube sound over transistor. I had an Acoustic rig in the 70s.

 

[DWBass]

In general, no! That midrangy, burpy sound is great for solos though! I just don't like the way it sits in the mix of a full ensemble! I like some 'booty' to my bass sound!

 

[allenhumble]

It doesn't bother me. It fits in the music that he is playing well. When I listen to his music it has a vintage feel to it and though I think it would sound good with some "booty" it does not detract me from enjoying the tone. Isolating the bridge pickup and crancking the mids is how he plays those harmonic cords so well. Even when I try play some of that stuff I have a hard time getting the note to come out right.

 

[Rob Lewis]

In general, no! That midrangy, burpy sound is great for solos though! I just don't like the way it sits in the mix of a full ensemble! I like some 'booty' to my bass sound!

Spot on!

 

[Matt Till]

I prefer it 100 times over the modern bass sound (Wooten, etc), at least it had some presence. I liked how he had this raw tone but played beautiful lines. But then again, in the "Worst tone ever" thread, there was a lot of Jack Bruce "Crossroads" tone bashing that I completely disagree with.

 

[Bruce Lindfield]

I'm not a JP " tone" lover as such, but the stuff he did on Joni MItchells " Hejira " album is lovely IMO.

I agree that the sound of Jaco's bass makes a huge contribution to the success of those albums he did with Joni and makes them "timeless classics"!

I like Hejira a lot, but when I listen to "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter " I am just blown away by the sound of Jaco's bass when it comes in on the first track - it has huge presence and huge bottom end!

 

[santucci218]

I had read that he used acoustic brand amps because there was no feedback on them. And besides, his tone is unique. He was out there doing his own thing and i like it.

Real big player these days told me "i dont want all these knobs on my bass because i dont want to sound like anybody else. I want to sound like myself, even if that limits my sound."

 

[Hawkeye]

I haven't listened to a whole lot of Jaco because I'm not a big fan of bass guitar as a lead instrument. I don't care for that midrangey, burpy, fusion-style of sound. Although I think guys like Jaco are immensely talented in what they do, I can't get into that music. Like Marcus Miller, I appreciate the technical proficiency he has in being able to do what he does. I just don't dig his music, or his tone for that matter.

 

[keb]

I prefer it 100 times over the modern bass sound (Wooten, etc), at least it had some presence. I liked how he had this raw tone but played beautiful lines. But then again, in the "Worst tone ever" thread, there was a lot of Jack Bruce "Crossroads" tone bashing that I completely disagree with.

Agreeing with Satan here on all points.

I loved Jaco's sound, or more precisely, that bridge-pickup-fretless sound, even before I knew who Jaco was or heard anything he'd done, thanks to other fretless players copping a similar tone that I had heard first. There is an almost vocal-like quality to it that inspired me to take up fretless myself.

 

[Philbiker]

Some players have a tone that I personally don't like, but when they play in their style, in the context of the band they're in, it sounds great. Jaco's one of those guys. John Entwistle and Chris Squire also come to mind.

Personally I like his tone a lot more than the mid-scooped clickety-clack boom-boom that seems to be popular in jazz these days.

Sometimes when I'm playing my fretless I solo the bridge pickup, too. Not often, but sometimes.

 

[lefty007]

I love Jaco and his tone. Maybe he would have sounded better with an Ampeg SVT, but the Jazz with the neck pickup soloed and rotosound roundwounds sounds great to me.

But as many here, I rarely use it in a band contest because the lack of bottom. But it is great fo soloing or for poking out little line here and there.

Like Bruce said, it is so funky on 16th-note syncopated stuff. . .

 

[KJung]

I prefer the 'Jaco' type tone live over the 'neck pickup/right hand closer to neck position' mud that I hear live a lot these days.

The problem with the 'Jaco tone' IME is that it is very articulate and very unforgiving to time and technique issues. To me, if a player is sloppy, and has 'mediocre' technique and time, then having a very articulate, tight tone will actually make a band (and player) sound worse versus the 'play over the neck pickup and favor the neck pickup tone'. On the other hand, lot's of technically good bassists who have very little 'taste' (i.e., who play WAY too much for the group context they are in) prefer this tone also.

The above two things, IMO, give the 'Jaco tone' a bad name today.

I had the pleasure of hearing Jaco live on quite a few occasions back in the day, and his tone was fat, full and amazing... and you could hear every note up and down the neck. Quite amazing, given that was 30 years ago!

IMO as always.