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Jazz Basses - clanky?

#42
Jackcrow said:
I’ve had several different Jazz Basses and I always find the sound to be “clanky” and kind of annoying after a while. What do you think? Is it my playing style, taste, pickups, setup? Or do you prefer that clanky sound? Is that just an inherent trait of the jazz bass?
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Depends how you set it up, and on the cleanliness of your technique. They can be played without any clank, but that is an attribute that comes out easily on a jazz bass if you let it.
 
#43
Funny this came up. Here is an e-mail I sent to my tech recently after we put together a project bass with a loaded Squier P/J body and a nice '89 Korean neck.



I peruse craigslist pretty regularly and sometimes see something that you might be interested in. FYI, that bass plays great and sounds great on the P pickups, but the J pickup is wanky and thin and not to my liking at all. When the snow clears, I'll give you a call and we'll take a look, Might need some adjusting, or it might just be the nature of the beast.

That neck is an '89 and pretty highly regarded, I understand. Really plays nicely..thanks

I just wondering what we will find. I'm sure the J pickup is stock and might not be the best, but I would expect more even out of that. We'll see.
 
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#44
i play J basses ... mostly

i get the 'clank' going when i play a bit to hard and i'm striking the string down/thru ... instead of across ... = clank

i use GHS Pressurewounds = less clank ... and play right over the bridge pup ... more tension there , less flopping about ..!

tone knob barely on ... bridge vol - 10 , neck volume - 3 ... and use Humbuckers ( i like Splits )
 
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#45
lowdownthump said:
Are you playing passive or active jazz basses. Perhaps an active where you can boost the bass and treble and back off the mids. No clank. Nice growl .

Maybe you need to try a P/J .
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I’ve played both. The active Jazz I had was a Jazz Bass 24 with 2 band EQ and the “slap switch”. It was a bit better, but not really the sound I was looking for at the time.
 
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#48
fretlessguy said:
I like the choices you have given to help you get control of the "clank". Certainly one of more will end up in favor. I currently have a set of GHS Pressure Wounds on mine. They calm the metallic clank down to a usable level that still allows a resonable level of punch. I have also used flats and tapes and they help out a good bit as well.
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Absolutely. I would love to have a jazz that I can keep around.
 
#49
Jackcrow said:
I’ve had several different Jazz Basses and I always find the sound to be “clanky” and kind of annoying after a while. What do you think? Is it my playing style, taste, pickups, setup? Or do you prefer that clanky sound? Is that just an inherent trait of the jazz bass?
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It seems like a setup. I play a Jazz that's clean, and has smooth low tones. I also have my Jazz strung with D'Addario ETB92 Nylon Tapewounds.

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#53
Jackcrow said:
I’ve had several different Jazz Basses and I always find the sound to be “clanky” and kind of annoying after a while. What do you think? Is it my playing style, taste, pickups, setup? Or do you prefer that clanky sound? Is that just an inherent trait of the jazz bass?
Click to expand...

I have a RI '62 Jazz and stock I couldn't get the twang out of it, took out the stock tone cap out (0.33uF?) tried a 0.47 uF cap, wasn't a big difference then put in a 0.1 uF tone cap, BIG difference, with the tone all the way off it sounds almost like a P bass and with it open it has all the treble I could ever want pretty much the same as it was stock, just that the tone control has a wider swing from open to closed, highly recommend it..
 
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#54
It sounds to me the "cranky" may come from your technique or the way the bass is set up presently. Without seeing you play or playing your bass, all the questions and answers are just subjective. I have been playing for 40 years and teaching price lessons for 29 years. I have changed the right hand techniques of many players and no more strings hitting the frets because their angle was bad. Also many basses that had the string action too low or a back a slight back bow in the neck caused the same effect, strings making the "clanky" noise everytime they played.
Try a good set up from a good repair guy with experience or find the best teacher for bass in your area and get them to check out your right hand technique.

Good luck resolving you "clanky" noise. I am as almost certain it's not a problem with every Fender Jazz Bass.
 
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#55
I think I know what you mean. Before you give up Jazz bass and get a P bass (and you should own a P bass with flats already) turn the bridge pickup and tone down about 1/4 turn and also get some flats or nickel strings. Leave the neck pickup on full. That should help take some of the clank out.

Or maybe you are talking about the strings hitting the frets when you play? Then get a good setup and raise the action. Make sure the neck relief is adjusted correctly.
 
#57
JZQuantum said:
I think I know what you mean. Before you give up Jazz bass and get a P bass (and you should own a P bass with flats already) turn the bridge pickup and tone down about 1/4 turn and also get some flats or nickel strings. Leave the neck pickup on full. That should help take some of the clank out.

Or maybe you are talking about the strings hitting the frets when you play? Then get a good setup and raise the action. Make sure the neck relief is adjusted correctly.
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Oh I have 3 P basses at the moment. And 0 jazz basses. I’m just talking about prior experience. And as stated my technique contributes to the sound, but it’s not something I dislike on other basses, just the tone I have experienced with jazz basses. But I think the consensus is that with some adjustment of technique and some adjustment of the volume/tone knobs I could get a sound that I would like out of a jazz.
 
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#58
Comb filtering of the mids can give an overly trebly (or "brittle") nature to a heavy attack - a heavy attack will accentuate overtones, so without the mids it's all treble. Backing off either pickup will bring back the mids, but the treble-happy nature of the bridge pickup is probably not what you're after. When you next get your hands on a J, back off the bridge pickup progressively and, at some point, you should get the tone you want (subject to strings, set-up, and rig). Of course, you'll lose a degree of hum cancellation, but what's a little hum between friends when you're getting your tone right?
 
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#60
Jackcrow said:
Oh I have 3 P basses at the moment. And 0 jazz basses. I’m just talking about prior experience. And as stated my technique contributes to the sound, but it’s not something I dislike on other basses, just the tone I have experienced with jazz basses. But I think the consensus is that with some adjustment of technique and some adjustment of the volume/tone knobs I could get a sound that I would like out of a jazz.
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I know what you mean. I disliked Jazz basses for years because of this. Overwound pickups (5% or 10% overwound) can mellow out the high clankiness too. More winds reduces the treble output.
 
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