Yeah but will a harley davidson djent?
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My Jazz Bass has no balls. Help!
- Thread starter Hardbassjunkie
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- aerodyne jazz bass fender jazz
I'm talking about the Road Worn Shell Pink Jazz.Isn't that a 'Ray?
So you're getting a lot of suggestions and no one has so much as asked what you are currently doing.
How are you setting the pickup volume and tone controls on your bass? How is your amp setup? You might have to change the amp EQ when switching basses because the instruments are voiced differently.
On a passive jazz bass wide open volume sounds different than backed off volume. Backing off the volume of one pickup and leaving the other wide open changes things. If you back off the bridge pickup it should sound a little closer to a precision, maybe you'll like that better.
Let's talk about what you are currently doing before you start cutting poopie up and rewiring things
So you're getting a lot of suggestions and no one has so much as asked what you are currently doing.
How are you setting the pickup volume and tone controls on your bass? How is your amp setup? You might have to change the amp EQ when switching basses because the instruments are voiced differently.
On a passive jazz bass wide open volume sounds different than backed off volume. Backing off the volume of one pickup and leaving the other wide open changes things. If you back off the bridge pickup it should sound a little closer to a precision, maybe you'll like that better.
Let's talk about what you are currently doing before you start cutting poopie up and rewiring things
I have the neck pickup and tone dimed and the bridge pickup 3/4 of the way. Maybe strings will help? I got ddarrio right now. Maybe rotosounds will help.
My Jazz Bass has no balls. Help!
Hi Hardbassjunkie
Maybe she' s a girl?
A Jazz bass is not a P bass!
Just some stupid questions: Did you ever try to solo the front pup?
Different strings? Different settings on your EQ?
That was one of my first thoughts too!
greetings
Wise(b)ass
Hi Hardbassjunkie
Maybe she' s a girl?
A Jazz bass is not a P bass!
Just some stupid questions: Did you ever try to solo the front pup?
Different strings? Different settings on your EQ?
That was one of my first thoughts too!
greetings
Wise(b)ass
You can try new strings, also check the pickup height and see if adjusting that helps. If the string action is high you might be getting a little more boom than bite.
Sometimes volume pots don't have a lot of sensitivity and you get almost all or nothing when you dial them to a particular spot. Like, they're wide open as you start turning then suddenly drop out. Gotta play around with it.
On my jazz I like the neck pickup with very little bridge added in. When I do this I either boost my low mids for a warm sound or drop my (slightly higher) mids for a clean, crunchy kind of sound. It's all about experimenting.
Raise the pickups. If still ballless, get better pickups
My jazz was the same. A set of Quarter Pound puckups did the trick.
I would nkt trade that bass for an aerodyne, but thats just me
Raise both pickups. Do it such that with your finger pressing down on the string at the last fret of the fingerboard, both pickups are about 3mm from the bottom of the string. The neck pickup will be naturally lower because of the break-angle at the bridge, but you'll likely have them much closer with less difference between them than they are now.
Generally, when I play a bass that seems gutless, it's because someone screwed the neck pickup down too far, which is great if you want to bop and burp around, but not helpful if you want to experiment with different blending degrees between the two pickups.
Generally, when I play a bass that seems gutless, it's because someone screwed the neck pickup down too far, which is great if you want to bop and burp around, but not helpful if you want to experiment with different blending degrees between the two pickups.
Is this mod just a matter of unsoldering and resoldering wires? Pretty easy to do if you can solder? Any diagrams or how-to on this? I’ve never heard of this before.
My J has Duncan Basslines Vintage 62 pups. When I installed them I followed the instructions supplied by SD. So my guess is they are parallel.
Personally, I now just pass on basses that don't sound the way I want. I've done the replacement parts boogie but was never really satisfied with the results. Life's too short for sound I don't like.
Series wiring is a good idea. Personally didn’t care for it, but it’s got balls. You can try it hard-wired for free! (If you have an iron)
I myself have a P and a PJ, and wish one was a J. I’d be inclined to make the J work rather than trade it for a PJ
Duncan QP would be my choice for new pups
I myself have a P and a PJ, and wish one was a J. I’d be inclined to make the J work rather than trade it for a PJ
Duncan QP would be my choice for new pups
I have a little trouble getting my Js to sound thick and full, but got there.
What strings are you using? Some sound clanky other fat and full. Some a lot of low end and some with a lot of highs. Some have good mids, some hardly at all.
What are you playing through? Cabs make a huge difference. (Then there's the EQ thing.) Are you talking about live in a big room or a small room at home? Big difference.
There are a number of options before modifying the bass--which still may not get you where you want to be.
What strings are you using? Some sound clanky other fat and full. Some a lot of low end and some with a lot of highs. Some have good mids, some hardly at all.
What are you playing through? Cabs make a huge difference. (Then there's the EQ thing.) Are you talking about live in a big room or a small room at home? Big difference.
There are a number of options before modifying the bass--which still may not get you where you want to be.
+1000
You solder together the bridge and neck grounds, the bridge hot becomes the new configuration's ground and the neck hot becomes the new hot. And you wire it like a p-bass.
Sound may be the only area where those are better- and that has become quite debatable in past 20 years, just like amps
You have likely got a jazz bass with a poor set of electronic components, maybe the pickups or just the neck pickup.
I had three jazz basses before ... the one with more balls, as you say, is the one i kept the basic difference between them being in the pickups design ... maybe your jazz bass has got ceramic pickups ... you should check out how meatier AlNiCo V pickups will sound (whatever brand and model) in comparison ... my suggestion is to keep the bass, buy a good solderless harness and a good set of AlNiCo V pickups (Fender PV '74 are good and not super expensive) to start experimenting with ... my AO '60s jazz bass sounds quite similar to my Classic '50s P-bass with the neck pickup full, the bridge one at 1/3 and the tone at 2/3 ... try
Exactly ... these are the pickups on my AO '60s jazz bass as well ... super meaty !
I've always heard that the pickups in Japanese Fender basses were the weak spot. Maybe replacements are in order.
