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Jazz Bass

I

ipbassist

Aug 11, 2006
8
0
Ireland
#1
Hello Folks!

I recently got myself a 1978 original Jazz Bass. Its great! I had been playing a Music Man and always loved it. When I first go the jazz bass, I decided straight away I'd make it active. I've ordered a J-retro and its on the way, I went with this because there was no mods required on the bass. But now the more I play the Jazz the more I like it. Im wondering now if I'd be making a mistake by putting in a preamp at all. Im playing it through my Ampeg and it sounds amazing. Anyone been in this situation before? What would you do? I reckon I'll just try the preamp when I get it!
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#2
ipbassist said:
Hello Folks!

I recently got myself a 1978 original Jazz Bass. Its great! I had been playing a Music Man and always loved it. When I first go the jazz bass, I decided straight away I'd make it active. I've ordered a J-retro and its on the way, I went with this because there was no mods required on the bass. But now the more I play the Jazz the more I like it. Im wondering now if I'd be making a mistake by putting in a preamp at all. Im playing it through my Ampeg and it sounds amazing. Anyone been in this situation before? What would you do? I reckon I'll just try the preamp when I get it!
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Nice Jazz!

I would put the J-retro in a MIM Bass and leave this one original.
 
#3
I have the same exact bass.

I recommend you to leave it like that for at least a month, so you can know the bass, and then if you do a mod, you can actually hear the difference.


I changed the bridge for a schaller roller bridge, and the pups for Dimarzio model J. The pup change made a HUGE improv!
 
#4
I was planning to change the bridge alright, was going for a Bad Ass II (as you would!)

I suppose I'll just try the preamp and see how it goes.

I suppose when I can afford it I can have a collection of nice 70's jazz basses that I can choose to mod or not :)
 
#5
Funny, when I started playing in the 70's, the current Fenders were considered dogs. My '71 Jazz had a thick neck that developed a nasty kink.
Now they're all considered retro classics, but I think the recent Fenders (including the better Japanese ones) are a big improvement on the clunckers they made in the 70's.
I have played a couple of good Fenders from that era, so I guess the ones that are still around demonstrate 'survival of the fittest'.
 
#8
I was in a similar situation recently. I've got a Highway 1 Jazz on its way to me (been expecting it at the shop for a week now). I was so sure right off that a Benavente preamp was gonna go in. But I sat around and played one in a different shop, and realized that for all the upsides to the Preamp, when you stick with passive, you retain a lot more character to the tone, IMO. So this bass is gonna stay passive. But eventually, I might spring for some kind of Jazz 5 string (maybe a Lakland Skyline JO) and throw in the Bene electronics.
 
#9
I love my J-Retro in one of my Jazzes (my main bass, actually), but adding any pre-amp will change the character of your bass quite a lot and there's certainly something to be said for the "old school passive" vibe. I've kept one Jazz that way myself. If you like the bass the way it is I'd keep it that way.
 
#10
Well I got the J-Retro, installed it and I've used it a few times. Its different alright! Lost that old-school passive vibe but now I've got a sweet sounding bass with plenty of balls. I think I'll stick with it for the moment anyway. It really sounds great. And the EQ on it is fantastic, plenty of options right at my fingertips.
 

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