Making my jazz bass punchier

new strings.....

 

EQ on your amp. Lower the treble, crank the bass!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

It could be a technique thing but strings may help. Another thing may help if you want to get into some modding is an active 3 band preamp. That way you can have complete control over your mids to bring out some punch, plus some added headroom too. Just a thought. As far as pickups are concerned, I know SD Bass Lines are pretty punchy, especially the hot ones.

 

DR LoRiders.

 

2nd these. You have a choice of nickels or steel. The nickels are warmer.

 

I like EMG soap bars like the EMG 40 J's, but I've never had experience with the single coil jazz pups. I know the Bass Lines have some heat to them. I tried a Fender Jazz 24 with them and I almost walked out with a new bass. Good thing my wife was with me or I would have been in some debt.

 

Try dropping in a East or Audere... super.

 

Warm, punchy, and percussive = flats for me.

 

Dead, dull, thud = flats for me

I had a set on a American Jazz Bass and it sounded very lifeless.

IMO and IME


i use to use Steels and they were quite punchy in a band context

 

That's a fine question... I replaced my original j pups with Dimarzios yonks ago, with the East as well the eq is just amazing!

 

I believe in order to get the EXACT tone you're looking for you would probably need to switch out both. A set of EMG/Bass Lines and an active preamp would totally change the tone of your bass, IMO and IME. If you do it one at a time then go for the pickups first and then the preamp later.

 

I use DR Lo Rider on my 60 RI Fender Jazz. Feels good and sound good but i think i will use 40-100 gauge next time.

And for pickup choice i replace the stock pickup with a set of Dimarzio DP123 jazz set and it bring the low end very good while the bass keep its high end.

Not to mention i use a MXR-M80 with color switch always on which give me that nice warm punch sound without too much hassel

 

There are passive EMG's and passive BL's as well. I'm not sure if the active pickups and active preamp would conflict or not.

 

I would keep the pups and drop in a preamp... see how that goes.
I'd had the Dimarzios in there since 1980 and they were pretty unimpressive. Since I dropped in the East, it's just exploded!

 

Nickel Strings will be less clanky... that will probably deal with the "too bright" issue. I prefer D'addario XLs but that is simply a matter of my taste. Lots of Nickel strings to choose from.

Favor the bridge pickup. That's where the attack (punch) lives on a Jazz. The bridge pick up has less low end than the neck pickup so an eq modification may be needed on your amplification depending on the style of music you are playing. Passive pickups have maximum punch as active preamps add some degree of compression. My opinion is that bit of compression is worth the added clarity and eq.