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looking for lighter 'burpier' Fender Jazz

bob atherton

bob atherton

Mar 8, 2005
307
116
69
#1
After 30 years of exclusively playing Rickenbacker basses I am now a Fender Jazz convert. I have been playing Jazz Basses for about three years and I can’t see me changing.

I have two basses a MIA 62 Reissue and a MIA natural ash with maple neck. The 62 rocks and growls and the natural is funky and great for fusion. What I’m looking for is a Jazz that has a bit more of the Jaco ‘burp’ and is a touch lighter in weight. The ‘62 is about 9 ¾ lbs and the ash one about 10 lbs.

Would a standard Jazz give more of the Jaco tone and should I just wait till I find one that is lighter? Also if I find one with the S1 switch; does the S1 switch in anyway effect the normal jazz tone compared to one without the S1 switch?

Thanks, Bob
 
#2
I don't think it was Jaco's bass that created that sound. He had his main bass but he also played others over the years. There's one story of him jumping out of a car in a traffic jam to run into a store and buy one. I think part of the burp sound came from his obsessively filed fingernails. They had to be just right at all times because he used them allot. Also going fretless can create that sound too.
 
#3
I think body wood and pickups have some impact - yes, its all in the fingers etc, but the burpy/honking jazz basses I've played and owned have had lighter more resonant (alder) bodies and traditional single coil pickups. EMG's can do it too, but its a bit more refined. My understanding is that he owned a few basses, but the ones you hear in most recordings were a pair of early 60's Fenders. In his last years he played whatever was provided, but these were usually older Fenders or copies.

The S1 option gives a darker sound, more Pbass in character to my ears.
 
#4
As Jaco himself would say, "the sound is in the fingers".

If you study what characterizes the "Jaco Sound" it has one thing that dominates his sound; how he attacks the stings. For lyrical ballad playing, his sound is characterized by lots of Mwah from a flat fretless finger board with a soft touch by near or on the fingerboard. For the 16th note funk, bridge pickup played near the bridge. His eq was always middy and very articulate, you never hear sizzling hi end or huge low end whether in the studio or live. Whether Jaco played his own basses or someone elses, he got that same sound...why?

Any Jazz bass will give you this sound to one degree or another. I think alder or ash makes some difference. The burpy sound of a bridge pickup with an eq curve favoring mid range will get you there regardless. That is easy part.

Knowing how to touch the string is the harder part.
 
#5
Going fretless will help quite a bit with getting the Jaco pop, though if you're strong enough and have a good plucking technique you can get pretty close on a fretted bass. Jaco played fretted basses a fair bit and still got that tone. I think the secret is the strength - you got to have a lot of it. But taking the frets off reduces the amount of force you need to apply considerably.

If I may suggest the humble Modern Player Jazz, that's the first place I'd go with an FMIC jazz bass for getting the Jaco tone. The humbucker pickups have a fuller sound without having to smack the strings with all your might like on the other single-coil equipped jazz basses. I defretted mine and the results were even better.

The weight and type of wood will have no effect. The poppy tone is a function of technique, strings and partly whether it's got frets or not and, a little bit, how you set it up (action in particular).

LS
 
#8
Fender basses and passive basses in general are SUPER sensitive to pickup height adjustment. I am surprised more people don't talk about this. For a burpier more aggressive jazz sound, raise the back (bridge) pickup a whole turn of the pickup screws. You'll be amazed at the result.
 
#10
Davo-London said:
Get yourself a pre-CBS Jazz, it'll be light (8 lbs) and give as authentic a tone as possible.

Davo
Click to expand...

+1. Also, the Fender and Squier JV serial # guitars and bases made in Japan in 1982 and 1983 are known to have been made to exact Fender specs for 1957 and 1962 models. (the first and best reissues IMO)

I own a 1983 Fender Squier JV serial Jazz in black w/rosewood and she weighs in at 8.8 lbs

www.21frets.com for info on Fender JV
 
#12
Oddly enough the closest I've been to Jaco's sound was on a defretted P bass with a vintage Bartolini Hi-A pickup. I think they stopped making the Hi-A line in the late 70's ImageUploadedByTalkBass1372689493.961063.jpg
 
#13
Thanks for all the good advice guys.

I'm not really trying to nail the Jaco sound just get more of that mid bump into the mix.

I guess I should just try all the under 9lb Jazzes that I can get my hands on till one talks to me.
 
#14
If you want mids in your jazz bass. the best way to do it without blowing a ton of $$ is to use a preamp. A great match for the jazz bass is the aguilar tonehammer. It adds mids to the J with everything set neutral. If that is not enough it sweeps from 150 to 1k, and usually what your ear wants is around 700-900. Easy.

There is no s1 switch or fanciness needed.

Also, the point about the pickup heigh is very important.

You need to learn the jazz bass..master it. Its crazy how much you can get out of a basic MIA style Jazz bass if you just spend time playing it, setting it up how you like and matching it up with the right strings and pre.
 
#16
It's not really down the the bass really I'd say, right hand position and mids have a lot to do with it.

Take any bass, roll off all the tone so it smoothens out the sound, roll off the neck pickup and turn the bridge pickup all the way up, boost the mids and bass on the amp and play over the bridge pickup. That will give you a nice burpy type tone. I always use that as my base and add from there for different songs via my pre-amp in my beauty of a bass.
 
#17
4OnTheFloor said:
Fender basses and passive basses in general are SUPER sensitive to pickup height adjustment. I am surprised more people don't talk about this. For a burpier more aggressive jazz sound, raise the back (bridge) pickup a whole turn of the pickup screws. You'll be amazed at the result.
Click to expand...

This, for sure! IMO degrees of tone change on passive bass go in this order: technique, pickup height, strings, then stuff like fretboard/body wood.
 

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