I wouldn't put flats on my active Jazz so I'm not sure about the OP's issue, but I have no problem cutting through and being heard with either my Precision/passive/flats or Jazz/active/rounds on any gig.
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Precision vs Jazz at a gig
- Thread starter RichardW
- Start date
2020 - 60=1960
2020-70= 1970.
There is nothing modern about 70s tones.
You don't honestly think that bass toned haven't evolved in 50 years do you?
If you put tapewounds on your jazz, or on anything, it will have less punch than the same bass with flats or rounds.
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
I like to take 3 basses and use a different bass each set
To me, P basses seem slightly honky mids... and the jazz, when both pickups dimed will not cut through in most cases. But with a preamp like an audere 4 band... to introduce the mids back in... pure fat jazz tone that slices through the mix. Love my billion of jazzes.
Effects for bass got better. Otherwise, not really.
J or P which to take to the gig?
I've asked this question a zillion times over the years too.
80's and 90's a J worked better in the mix for me
The next 10 years I went back and forth.
The last 10 have been mostly P; just seems to sit in the mix better for what I'm doing these days.
New for the last few months:
My hands are starting to cramp if I use a smaller neck so the P it is.
I've asked this question a zillion times over the years too.
80's and 90's a J worked better in the mix for me
The next 10 years I went back and forth.
The last 10 have been mostly P; just seems to sit in the mix better for what I'm doing these days.
New for the last few months:
My hands are starting to cramp if I use a smaller neck so the P it is.
I don't think it matters if bass tones have evolved or have stayed the same. Anyone who has kids and kids friends, wives/husbands, their own friends or anyone else who isn't a musician but just casually listens to music (which is most listeners), knows that most people wouldn't know a tuba from a bass guitar, much less a precision from a jazz bass. Sure it's silly that we get fixated on this stuff, but it's harmless and it's all across the industry. No one would know if your bass is pitch centered in a track either, but that happens to every track recorded these days. Casual listeners don't know or care about any of this stuff...
My .02 (coming from an amateur hobbyist) ....it's an interesting perspective, for sure, but the take home message that resonates with me is that the P is currently in fashion.....it has as much to do with what people want to believe fits / preconceived notions as it does the actual sound.....in the 70s it was a J and in the 80s maybe a Kubicki or Steinberger that had trendy winds at their backs.....I can't help but wonder how many people would insist on a P after hearing a J (or MM or whatever) in the mix .....if they couldn't see what bass was being played in either case. I am not saying they don't sound different; of course they do......but it's all bass....and most basses can be used to make beautiful, musical "bass" in most any song, IMHO.
Not to complicate this difficult pee vs. jay dilemma, but maybe rent/ borrow a Stingray for your next gig...
Like a lot of us, I started with a fender p. Changed to a jazz. It just never had the big low end sound. So i am am back to a p bass. But, a p bass is generally muddy, I have bought a Sterling Sub ray 4 for fun. But after new strings, adjust pickup, by beautiful black on black fender p bass stays home. It has a big low sound with a little punch on top
since I've upgraded the no name ceramic magnet p pickup (that does the standard beef/thud thing perfectly) with the Duncan spb-4 the p gives me the nice aggressive mid cut while the humbucker adds beef to the low end so depending on where i dial the blend pot in i can get as much cut or beef as i want. i like having such a broad variety of sounds but the center of the blend pot is where it mostly stays (besides not being super picky, it's an easy spot to dial in). nuthin but ghs boomers
Ps are the "right" sound and feel for me, right out of the box. But with some very minor tweaking, Js can sound just the same in the real world, and I love the way they look.
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Pffft! "Suitable?" That's one hell of a sweeping statement. Laughable.
We're all different. I hated my first Jazz Bass's tone UNTIL I put flats on it. These basses, and our amps, are adjustable for a reason. Different strings are made for a reason. Because what is "suitable" varies to the extreme.
I run my Jazz on the neck pickup only 99 percent of the time. It is not mid scooped. It just has a weaker output and buzzier pickup than my Ps, and poor string-to-string volume balance compared to my Ps. Turn up the gain, plug my noise gate pedal in (which I don't bother with, because the buzz doesn't bother me), demagnetize the E and G magnets (the recommended technique of Lindy Fralin himself), and nobody'd be able to tell its tone apart from a P in the real world.
Nor is it mid scooped on bridge pickup only (where I play it the other 1 percent of the time).
It is mid scooped with both pickups on.
Its design is tonal versatility, not an irrecoverable mid scoop by design, as you claim. It has mid scoop if you want it – not mid scooped only.
Ps inherently have the preferable tone and feel to me. But set for neck pickup only, Js aren't radically different. The relatively quiet A and D strings, and the need to push the amp more due to a lower output pickup, are the main differences, and both are able to be adjusted for.
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Before you give up on the Jazz, go to your amp and dial in just a little boost in your low-mids as close to 250Hz as you can. It will pop right out in the mix. That little bit of boost at ~250Hz gives a passive Jazz great definition and chest thump without mudding everthing up.
I've been playing passive Jazz Basses since 1966. My '65 Jazz was stolen in 1976 and I wasn't able to find another Jazz with the same neck profile until 1985. I used flats, then Fender black tapewounds on my '65. On my '82/'83 Jazz I used round wounds for over 30-years. First used Dean Markley Blue Steel, then DR Black Beauties. About a year or so ago I put a set of LaBella white tapewound flats on it and that's the right choice for me. Still have great sound in the upper ranges and the strings are much better balance of sound all the way across.
But the real key to being heard in the mix and sounding good is to boost those low mids ~250Hz just a little bit. on my Eden amp it's about 3 clicks. If you dial in too much it will start to honk. So if you hear a honking kind of sound, dial it back.
Here's an iPhone video of a group I played in performing Somebody to Love by the Jefferson Airplane last year. I'm running through my Eden WT500/800 amp into two Eden EX112-4 cabs. I'm running a little boost at ~250Hz and the rest of the EQ is flat. Sound isn't great on an iPhone recording, but you'll have no trouble hearing what I'm playing. If you look real closely you'll get a couple of quick glimpses of Joan singing it on the other side of the stage. By the way this was either the first or second time we performed it.
Give those low-mids a slight boost around 250Hz and I think you might go right back to using the Jazz for most of your performances.
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