Jaco-Tone: Do you really like it?

[Smallmouth_Bass]

I like Jaco's bass tone when Jaco's playing it. It's not a tone that would work for me.

 

[fiendn]

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?

he overdoes it at times. that's all.

I personally DESPISE that classic "smiley face" eq setting soooo many musicians and regular people prefer. They dont realize that its a. an acoustic illusion and b. cutting out any and all definition from about 250-1000hz...
and this is where the bass player "lives"!


Look, most of you will judge Jaco's tone (and playing) from the perspective of folks who came from the rock radio "school". That's really not fair. Jaco was from a different "school" altogether and his target audience was different.
Simply put, Jaco looked at bass as a melodic instrument in the same mold as a Sax, Trumpet; he thought it equally capable of both playing the head AND being a front line solo instrument.

In so doing, he eq'ed his setup to compete with horns and other melody/ solo instruments in the ensemble.

But he was playing instrumental jazz/ jazz fusion 99% of the time... and normally to an audience of quite serious musicians or at least music afficianados who are extremely unlikely to prefer or ever use the "smiley face" eq tactic anyway.

So Jaco EQ is just not suitable for a rock band with a vocalist situation.

if as a bass player, you are playing the melody (in place of having a vocalist)... and often taking the FIRST solo of the tune... THEN "JACO" TONE ISN'T JUST AWESOME... IT'S 100% NECESSARY IF YOU WANT TO BE HEARD.

When setting EQ...or doing ANYTHING in music... or life! One must think of the purpose you are trying to serve.

If you are in a rock cover band, then this tone is not going to win you any admirers as your band mates and the audience will expect to hear some bottom and locking w the kick drum.

All this being said, if you are in a small ensemble situation (by far the most profitable and fun type!)... you STIll need to have great midrange presence. This is part of what the appeal of the Jazz Bass is; it fills out a "power trio" type thing... whereas a Precision is only strong below 500hz and is therefore optimized for a big band situation where you would want to hold the bottom STRONGLY but NOT step on the melodic/ harmonic instruments above you.

An in-between thing would be a Stingray. E.g. listen to Bernard Edwards. He invariably played in a big band but with his stingray managed to hold bottom AND chirp through the mix in the mids without stepping on the guitar/piano/horns.

(too bad i just dont like the feel of the stingray... but they do sound wonderful in that specific situation).

In a normal professional situation (for me)... give me my jazz bass, a small light amp... and i will cut through the mix and carry the low mids all night.

 

[slagheap]

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?

there's a " jaco sucked " thread? really? bet it's a pretty short thread!

 

[BusyFingers]

I do!

 

[Axstar]

Not a tone I would ever seek out or use myself, but it worked for Jaco. You only need to hear two notes and you know it is either Jaco or somebody taking a massive leaf out of Jaco's book. That sort of nobbly-bobbly rubber bullet bridge pickup tone didn't really have any sort of precedent as far as I know. Conversely I was listening to Jeff Berlin playing with Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, and the Jaco element to Jeff's tone is there in full force. I don't think it really worked in that context, but as a lead bass tone it worked pretty well for Jaco in the places he applied it. Not the best accompanying tone perhaps, but a tone that keeps the spotlight on the bassist!

 

[bucephylus]

Zombie thread!

But, I do think @JimmyM's OP was a great question, and still pertinent.

Part of the answer depends on the player and the gig. If a player is looking for one signature sound, then possibly the bridge pickup J staccato tone is not a good one size fits all. But, if the player is doing a variety gig, there certainly are tunes where the tone is useful. So, it depends.

The point of this technique/sound is to be able to get space between sixteenth notes to enhance articulation, syncopation, and drive. Part of the technique is playing pizz closer to the bridge, part of the technique is having a pickup closer to the bridge, and part requires having the right yin/yang amplification chain. For example, anyone who has used a Jazz Bass with a bit of preamp bump into an Acoustic 360 immediately will get what is going on. The proper tone is fat but tight. If you are getting farts, then you've got the amplification chain wrong.

Rocco used part of this, playing closer to the bridge, with a P bass to good effect. But, the P pickup position results in the notes developing a little more slowly. That also gives an interesting result. But, it's just different.

I suppose it's a bit like spices in food. You can say that the spices in Indian food aren't good, and that you wouldn't want to eat them all the time. But, then you find out after going to a bunch of restaurants that Indian spices have their place and make for pretty interesting fare in certain situations.

BTW, I especially like the staccato J tone to drive horn sections. That aggressiveness really adds a lot to the Big Band drive; though it is not a traditional sound.

 

[Jay Corwin]

no.

 

[NoiseNinja]

I never really either understood his choice of music or choice of tone.

Both sounds wimpy and lifeless to me, which you can't really say about his playing.

I acknowledge that he was in deed very talented, just don't understand his choices musically.

 

[Altitude]

Jaco's tone was great if you're featuring the bass in the music. Otherwise I think it's intrusive. It's debatable which was the case on the Joni recordings, but I do like those.

I think I would say the same thing about a lot of showcase players' tone. Best example - Mark King had a cool thing happening; it wasn't exactly bass.

On the other hand, I prefer Marcus' tone when he is a sideman.

 

[rtslinger]

Jaco was an extremely talent person as for his tone it wouldn't be my choice, but as bass players, we all have "that tone" we hear in our heads, that was simply the one he was hearing imo. rts

 

[fermata]

To answer the question, Jaco's tone isn't my favorite...although it works really well for much of what he does.

When setting EQ...or doing ANYTHING in music... or life! One must think of the purpose you are trying to serve.

^Exactly. (Good) tone is situational. I'm in an acoustic instrumental band, and my modded Thingray with it's mid-forward tight sound is just the thing. In general, I'm more into the pillowy tones of my Hofner, but that's not the best instrument for that project. (But the situation is reversed for an alt-country band I'm in.)

 

[DavidEdenAria]

I don't like his tone...never did...may never do...

his playing is not in question...UNREAL!


i think jaco was going for a brass like tone (trombone-ish?) to really stand out.

Given his playing style, it works...sorta

but personally...I prefer the understated, "under the music" tones of folks like Rocco Prestia...

Jaco's done a huge service to bass-dom...he brought the instrument out front...It's too bad, he couldn't have chosen something (instrument and amp) that sounds a bit "better" up there

Just my opinion...don't shoot me...

When I was in band, they brought in Warren Covington the trombonist for Doc Severinsen on Johnny Carson.

Warren definitely showed what could be done with a trombone and yes, I always thought Jacos tone resembled a trombone, the same way I always thought Andy Frasers tone resembled a tuba with his EB3 thru Marshalls on the 'Free' albums.

 

[Tom Howland]

I liked the bridge pickup Jazz tone Jaco had....It worked for him. It was a different tone for the 70's. It stood out. His amp had a lot to do with his tone also.

 

[nutdog]

Good or bad, it's apparently mandatory that every bass review includes, "gets that Jaco burp."

 

[leegreenman]

I was just having this conversation with a friend. Neither of us are "Jazz guys", but we both have wide ranging taste in music. Our conclusion was that the "Jaco" tone would not be something either of us would dial in under any circumstance, but in the context of his music it magically works.

 

[Gorn]

I wonder if he ever talked about his tone and explained what he liked about it.
Anyone know?

 

[kesslari]

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

This is exactly what I was thinking.

 

[DreadyDiggs]

Not really my type of tone at all, but I can definitely respect it.

 

[Funky Ghost]

I'm gonna be wishy washy and say "It depends on the song."

Some I'm more than cool with the tone. Others, not so much.

 

[prister]

Not really my type of tone at all, but I can definitely respect it.

Me too. I appreciate how influential Jaco was, and I know there's a lot of stuff he did that I haven't heard, but the stuff I have heard doesn't make me want to seek it out. For the record I did purchase the eponymous album. I like the funkier stuff well enough; the fusion stuff leaves me cold. I have a Jaco tribute fretless jazz, what is going on?