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NBD: Am Pro II Jazz

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I’m coming back from guitar to bass and thought I could really use an instrument to inspire me to play. Landed on a new J-bass. Strongly considered a P but the J’s sweet little neck won me over.

I’m new to passive pickups and new to Jazz basses. Any tips, tricks, advice all appreciated. I like to play punk, metal, surf, and blues.
 
Hahaha! So last week I finally pulled the pg plastic off a bass I've had for 6 yrs. You had to get up close to notice the film was still on there, until it finally started to bubble where I come into contact with it near the volume knob. I'm a fingersyle guy and this wasn't one of my main basses, so it stayed pristine for quite awhile. Came off fine, but now every little touch leaves a mark on that dang black pickguard and I hate it, lol!

Going to replace it with a white pearl pickguard.
 
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I love the Dark Night colour, and I was very surprised to see that it is offered on their left hand models.

Hope you enjoy your new bass, I have the Pro 1 model and love it. My only gripe is that my bass had been obviously on display for a while as when I removed the sticker on the pickguard the area behind it was brighter than the rest of the pickguard as the sunlight had bleached it slightly.
 
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I love the Dark Night colour, and I was very surprised to see that it is offered on their left hand models.

Hope you enjoy your new bass, I have the Pro 1 model and love it. My only gripe is that my bass had been obviously on display for a while as when I removed the sticker on the pickguard the area behind it was brighter than the rest of the pickguard as the sunlight had bleached it slightly.
That’s a bummer about the sun bleaching. Maybe time for a new pickguard?
 
Strongly considered a P but the J’s sweet little neck won me over.
i think two pickups are better than one (e.g., a P-bass), but a comfy neck would always seal the deal for me, anyway. that ax is a looker! there's no music that you can't play with such a capable ax --- congratulations on your new instrument...and for coming back to the bass! :thumbsup:
 
i think two pickups are better than one (e.g., a P-bass), but a comfy neck would always seal the deal for me, anyway. that ax is a looker! there's no music that you can't play with such a capable ax --- congratulations on your new instrument...and for coming back to the bass! :thumbsup:
Thanks brother. Helps to hear that a comfy neck is a priority for others and not just me. Also good to know that I can hit all the genres with my new ax!
 
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That’s a bummer about the sun bleaching. Maybe time for a new pickguard?

I didn’t notice it right away otherwise I may have returned it, for some reason it has become more obvious in the past year?

Yes, a new pickguard is on the menu, the bass is in Sonic Grey with the white pickguard. I’m trying to find where I can get one of these blue pearloid one’s here in the U.K.

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I didn’t notice it right away otherwise I may have returned it, for some reason it has become more obvious in the past year?

Yes, a new pickguard is on the menu, the bass is in Sonic Grey with the white pickguard. I’m trying to find where I can get one of these blue pearloid one’s here in the U.K.

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That scratchplate is nice!!
 
Experiment with the volume and tone settings. It’s common for people to run one pup at 100% and the other one rolled off a bit . When both are on full there’s a little bit of a humbucking like “muffling” of the tone. Unsurprising, since the two pups work together like a humbucker. You can get a little bit of noise this way, so some shield their bass like crazy and others buy pups that are individually humbucking. J basses work well with an onboard preamp and many are happy with a generic cheap Chinese model from eBay, Ali expresses etc.
 
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Oh, and personal favorite is about 60% neck and 40% bridge. Or both 100% and then back off the bridge a little so the neck is dominant but there’s just a little bite in back. Have fun!
Spent a bunch of time just playing with knobs tonight. I’ll try your faves next time. Lots of variety for sure. I’m learning to navigate the 60 cycle hum which I didn’t know could be a thing with basses. My other bass has active humbuckers. Luckily, I have a strat and jazzmaster so am not in totally new hum territory. Haha. Found out tonight that turning my oscillating desk fan off cuts about 75% of the hum.