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precision sound from a jazz bass... is it possible?
- Thread starter andbaggio
- Start date
Tell the guitarist u don't like his tone an you'd like his les Paul to sound more like a telecaster
+1
Low-mids is where it's at on that. Make sure you've got fat midrange going and you should get in that neighborhood of P-esque tone. I will have to say though, you can't beat the real deal
godofthunder59
Life is short, buy the bass.
- Feb 19, 2006
- 9,060
- 38,448
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Cataldo Basses, Whirlwind products, Thunderbucker pickups
With your stock Jazz turn the bridge pup completely off and roll back your tone a bit. If you mod the bass either get a stacked humbucker like the Model J mentioned above (I love Dimarzio pickups) in the neck or route for a Precision pup.
Some of the ideas that have been suggested might get you close, but I think the best advice would be to tell your guitarist that you did one of these methods, then play as you always have & see if he can even tell the difference (or lack thereof, in this case).
godofthunder59
Life is short, buy the bass.
- Feb 19, 2006
- 9,060
- 38,448
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Cataldo Basses, Whirlwind products, Thunderbucker pickups
LOL I did this once, the band wanted me to get a 5ver so I told them buy me one...........................and they did !
Having just installed a set of these in my old MIJ Jazz, I have to agree. Solo'd the neck pickup is very P ish in the lows and low mids, lost some of the Jazz top end rattle/growl, but so far I really dig the change. Also, they are humbucking, so you can run fuzz with only one pickup soloed and not have a hum monster on your hands.
I have a Jazz with SD Quarter Pounders in them and they come as close to a Precision as a Jazz can get. Jazz basses are my favorite but they just don't have 'the' Precision tone. In fact it made me crave that fuller sound of a P and I wound up buying a couple actual Precisions.
So if a pickup choice is on the table, check on the Seymour Duncan QPs
So if a pickup choice is on the table, check on the Seymour Duncan QPs
Yeah, I've found them to be the closest to a P pickup.
OP, listen for when the pickups are in series here, esp on the neck soloed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULMfgUHPkMo
Boost the mids? Huh? My idea of the pbass sound has everything to do with scooped mids. Boosted mids is exactly what GIVES you the growly sound associated with the jbass. (Boosting the low mids in your amp eq would give you a thicker sound--but boosting mids or high-mids is no good if you're trying to sound like a pbass.)
The most common answer here is the right one: solo the neck pup and roll off the tone knob (If you have onboard EQ, cut the mids, back off the highs, and boost the lows). It won't sound exactly like a pbass, but in a mix it will sound darn close--close enough for a guitarist who doesn't like jbass growl, anyway.
The most common answer here is the right one: solo the neck pup and roll off the tone knob (If you have onboard EQ, cut the mids, back off the highs, and boost the lows). It won't sound exactly like a pbass, but in a mix it will sound darn close--close enough for a guitarist who doesn't like jbass growl, anyway.
Scooped mids is probably the last thing I would think about a Precision having, at least in its most fundamental state at an Alnico 10.5-12k winding. Cutting the mids from a soloed jazz neck single coil would be just that: making the low end an unfocused woof that turns to mud and gets BURIED in a mix. I call shenanigans.
