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Jazz Basses - clanky?

#81
Agreed, set up and playing style on J bass. For years, I used rotos 66, VVT dimed, some eq scoop, lower action and finger attack more like Harris, Lee when playing hard/prog rock. Clank city and perfect. But the same bass now set with TI flats, tone and bridge pup rolled back, some eq mid boost, and pluck less hard and nearer to neck and it is full and warm and covers soul, jazz standards and pop very nicely. A versatile bass for sure.
 
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#82
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...

Clanky will depend on several factors, I'd say mostly a combination of setup + strings + playing style.

If you don't get clanky on a Precision (or whichever other bass you have at hand) then I'd look at the differences in strings (are the Jazz ones very new? are the other ones very old? or maybe flats?) and setup (is the other higher action?)

But, in short, no, a Jazz does not need to be clanky.
 
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#84
The last Jazz I owned had those railroad tie wide frets Fender sometimes likes to put on their basses. I’ve been playing for 45 years and I could not get that bass NOT to clank. Plek’ed the neck; no difference.

I think there’s a reason Leland Sklar often replaces the frets on his basses with mandolin frets.
 
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#89
Recently did a complete setup on my Jazz bass with new strings and checking neck relief, string action at 17th fret, string radius to reflect that of the fingerboard and lastly pickup height. All I'll say is that the whole bass was out (at least a little) and when I put all those things to spec, the clank went away, the sound opened up and it plays like buttah! Immediately noticed I didn't have to work so hard to get the notes to ring out. I don't know how all that stuff goes out over time, but it does / can. YMMV. Long live DR Sunbeams!
 
#94
I thought they were thin and clanky when I was a P-bass and upright only player. Now I have 4 Jazzes, and am considering a Fender 5-string elite.

IMHO, if the pioneers of Reggae bass could be happy with Jazz basses, they clearly need not be clanky. Strings, EQ and technique are your friend.
 
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#95
Several factors for clank on ANY bass....

Each saddle has a couple of grubs.
Pickups have screws.
Neck has a truss rod.
Nut has slots.
Board has frets.
All that falls under fretwork and setup.

Control plate has two Vs and a T.
That falls under knowing what is available and how to properly utilize such.

Then there are picking/plucking and fretting...
Different folks do not play the same...
That falls under player technique.

To make a blanket statement can sometimes be a bit silly...

If 'clanky'? Setup, Controls, Player, one or more of those....

If I said P bass necks played like whale tish, some would go full spidermonkey, some would tell my to GFM, and a few would say WHICH P neck I was referring to and if I had played said neck long enough to acclimate.

A good friend of mine that is an incredible player, plays a bit heavier than I do. He bitches when he plays my basses because he has to play a lot more lightly on mine than his....
When he first sits down with one of mine, he's clanky. Why?
After a few minutes, he's not clanky, rather smooth as silk, and bitches at me because my basses play too freaking easy. Why?
Same bass, a few minutes apart, clanky and not clanky. Why?

On my fivers, I was using D_SBs and loved em except the B was clanky (tension) unless I played very very lightly on the B...
I changed to NYXLs. The B is not clanky.
That was on Stein, Ray, Dimension, Jazz, PJ.... Piece of tish clanky basses? Nawt.

Just bought another Jazz.... DRs on it.... Clanky ass bass... until I did a setup on it...

Now, if it clanks, you're doing it wrong... because it damn sure ain't the bass....
 
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#96
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 think I know of what you speak. 1st of all, I know you are NOT talking about your playing style or the set up of the bass causing you to slap the strings against the frets. If that was the case, it would be the same for YOU on any bass you set up and play. Since it's obviously only noticeable to you when playing a Jazz style bass, it's not string to fret noise only.

What you are experiencing is the loss of (whatever frequency or frequencies it is) that are present in the signal coming from a P-bass style pickup, but missing from a J-bass / single coil pup. Single coil pups sound like they do because of the way they are made, which also has the most impact on their inductance. Single coils generally have a lower inductance value than a P-bass split coil (two coils in series). This affects the output of the pickups as well as the the frequency(ies) produced by each.

If the bridge pup on a Jazz was moved up next to the neck pup and wired in series with that pup, the bass would sound more like a Pbass. If half of a Pbass pup was moved back near the bridge and wired in parallel with the other half, it would make the bass sound more like a Jazz (although neither half of a P pup would be wide enough to pick up all strings....).

Conclusion, you prefer the sound of a P-bass pup, and a Jazz just doesn't do it for you. It's not a bad thing at all; you have a lot of peers....
 
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#97
Words cannot describe how much I love the versatility of a jazz bass. Clanky is definitely a tone you can get. Tone knob and pickup blend are our friends.
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...
nope
 
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#98
pappabass said:
I kinda agree. I started with a fender p, had to have a jazz. Sold the p, bought a beautiful fender jazz, never was happy with sound. I was a last minute fill in at a church. Played the beat up active eq ibanez church bass, next night i brought my jazz, it never could match the sound of the ibanez. So i changed to active eq basses. I am now back to a fender p
Click to expand...
“I am now back to a fender p”

What are the chances!
 
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