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Punch from a Jazz Bass

The new one will be in the company of a couple other distinctive voices I've got in the shed:
Epi Thunderbird w/ TB+ p'ups...
Modded Hamer w/ Ric 4003 p'ups/ harness...
Fretless Westone Spectra w/DiMarzio Model One p'up.
I like the idea of the Stingray, and the P-Bass is a "can't go wrong" bass. But I'm thinking the Jazz represents the broadest palette, and that seems like a good idea for someone like me, who's not going to be buying a lot of instruments. I'm really looking to get engaged with what works for me and to stop thinking about this.
That's how I was in my early years, and I miss it.
Yeah, don’t over think it. Try both the Jazz and the Pbass, pick the more inspiring one, for you. I’d pass on the Stingray, not a fan of the design.
 
honestly I find rush sort of unlistenable but for you I listened twice, once isolated and then the full hd remaster. it's scooped.
By scooped, I mean lacking midrange and without a ton of note definition, boosted lows, with additional treble, which can sometimes make it difficult to tell what the notes are. A lot of dub/reggae music has this kind of tone and it works great. Maybe your definition of a scooped bass tone is something different?
 
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My Jazzes every day of the week and thrice on sundays..
but its you who has to make it work.
Both basses will have more nuance than a casual question will answer.
Even though its the wrong answer; for your needs, I suspect the MM will be more basic less 'tricky'..
 
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By scooped, I mean lacking midrange and without a ton of note definition, boosted lows, with additional treble, which can sometimes make it difficult to tell what the notes are. A lot of dub/reggae music has this kind of tone and it works great. Maybe your definition of a scooped bass tone is something different?

yep. scooped meaning the missing middle, usually more harmonics and partials swirling through and less fundamental, typically less of an overt attack and more of a fat tail.

I don't think it's a controversial opinion that the jazz bass is scooped? it's been remarked on by many. i find your stake here a little surprising but maybe others would agree with you? I listened to a couple of Rush tracks with the jazz bass, they sound scooped to me (no matter how hard he hits the strings).

anyways de gustibus as they say.
 
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By scooped, I mean lacking midrange and without a ton of note definition, boosted lows, with additional treble, which can sometimes make it difficult to tell what the notes are. A lot of dub/reggae music has this kind of tone and it works great. Maybe your definition of a scooped bass tone is something different?
The 'scooped' thing started in the '60s with many 2 pu basses having a north-south arrangement, some more staggered than others. As Fender determined their "sweet-spot" in that regard for the Jazz bass (initially moved for purely cosmetic reasons in the '70s) I think there are basses featuring this positioning other than Fender that work really well. Like Dano's - my '68 Dano made Coral Deluxe Bass is a good example. The bridge pu is where a '60s J is positioned, but the neck pu is a bit closer to the heel. Along with the iconic/characteristic sound of those single-coil lipstick pu's - it rocks using both pu's dialed to preference. I love it!

Coral Deluxe Bass



'66 Jazz bass


1747344281829.jpeg
 
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imho the stock parallel wiring of the j-bass reinforces the scoop, i'd love to try the S1 switch for the series option.
I have a Santellan Sounds Elek-Trix harness on a Jazz bass I own that does that. (series/parallel if that is what an S1 switch offers) A very useful option indeed. Unfortunately it's no longer available.
 
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A guy just joined today who inherited a '64 Hagstrom bass. I was curious so went and listened to various pawn shop guys and legacy guitar shops who demonstrated those basses on YouTube. Does that bass sound scooped? Surf bass sound, totally unlike anything I've heard from J's, P's, or anything else made in last 50 years. Unworldly. I think "scooped" is subjective, though I agree with the definitions above, generally. Bottom line, I think you can get a wider range of sounds from a passive J than from a "classic" P. After that, it depends on the strings and the J's pre-amp. I have no MM experience so won't weigh in on that.
 
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A guy just joined today who inherited a '64 Hagstrom bass. I was curious so went and listened to various pawn shop guys and legacy guitar shops who demonstrated those basses on YouTube. Does that bass sound scooped? Surf bass sound, totally unlike anything I've heard from J's, P's, or anything else made in last 50 years. Unworldly. I think "scooped" is subjective, though I agree with the definitions above, generally. Bottom line, I think you can get a wider range of sounds from a passive J than from a "classic" P. After that, it depends on the strings and the J's pre-amp. I have no MM experience so won't weigh in on that.
Really cool basses - original Dark Star singles deliver the goods -

1747351337111.jpeg
 
Yes, the bridge cover/'ashtray' for me would be in the way of palm-muting which is something I commonly incorporate. I also commonly play over the bridge pu w/a pick (while palm-muting) ala Carol Kaye so the neck pu cover is not in my way. I occasionally play finger style above the neck pu/cover, but not often. I get low-end from my amp and definition from the bass. Different strokes etc...

So the covers holes on your '82 weren't drilled into the body/pg from the looks of it - keeps a clean look. Mine is a '66 so the holes were already there. It was refinished by Marty Bell as it was stripped when I got it.

And otherwise - I always love seeing your 'vintage' (sounds more topic appropriate than 'old' ;)) band pics! :thumbsup: You had some big hair back then! :)
The holes were actually drilled for the Ashtray and Neck pickup covers, but they were never mounted. Since they drilled the holes before painting them and they weren't drilled, there are just little dimple where they go:

AshtrayHoles_600x450.jpg


Yeah I did have big hair back then. My hair is actually longer now although I wear it in a pony tail. Problem is there is a pretty semi-bare area over about half of the front of my head. One night instead of parting my hair on the side, I brushed it straight back.Right before we started out third set a couple of women in their 30's or early 40's came up to me and asked if I'd settle a wager for them. One of the women thought I was wearing blond wig and the other one was convinced it was my own hair grown out of my head. I reached up and gave my hair a couple of tugs and said, "It's definitely my own hair." The other lady asked if she could touch it and I said sure. She then yanked it hard! She figured I wasn't pulling it hard enough and was sure she'd end up with a wig in her hand. I wanted to grab her hair and yank on it as hard as she had mine, but I just gave her a wide berth for the rest of the night.

A little bit before the onset of Covid, one of the groups I play with played at a BerryStock Music Festival just outside of Monroe, WA. It was an outdoor festival at a Berry farm and we were asked to dress in the style of 1969's Woodstock. I did let my hair down there and feel I did a reasonable imitation of Jerry Garcia playing bass!

The skull and bones scarf I wearing as a headband covers up most of the almost bare are above my forhead. Currently my hair is about 4" longer than pictured here because my wife keeps putting off cutting it. I usually just have her grab my pony tail and cut it to a reasonable size straight across there.

JBBandBStock2.jpg
 
A guy just joined today who inherited a '64 Hagstrom bass. I was curious so went and listened to various pawn shop guys and legacy guitar shops who demonstrated those basses on YouTube. Does that bass sound scooped? Surf bass sound, totally unlike anything I've heard from J's, P's, or anything else made in last 50 years. Unworldly. I think "scooped" is subjective, though I agree with the definitions above, generally. Bottom line, I think you can get a wider range of sounds from a passive J than from a "classic" P. After that, it depends on the strings and the J's pre-amp. I have no MM experience so won't weigh in on that.

I got curious, is it one of these?



2 full humbuckers and a 6 way switch wow. most of the settings seem very mid-forward to my ear but I would say

the first tone at 0:43 is very square sounding,
the second tone at 0:47 is rounder,
the third tone at 0:55 is scooped,
the fourth tone at 1:10 is scooped,
the fifth tone (he mentions out-of-phase) at 1:22 is almost telephonically middy but also scooped to my ear lol

a cool guitar! what say you
 
I got curious, is it one of these?



2 full humbuckers and a 6 way switch wow. most of the settings seem very mid-forward to my ear but I would say

the first tone at 0:43 is very square sounding,
the second tone at 0:47 is rounder,
the third tone at 0:55 is scooped,
the fourth tone at 1:10 is scooped,
the fifth tone (he mentions out-of-phase) at 1:22 is almost telephonically middy but also scooped to my ear lol

a cool guitar! what say you

It's a solid body, I have never seen one like it. He says the switches don't work. It has a strange metal cover over the upper part of bridge and bridge p'up, not sure if that was original equipment or added later, seems poorly placed. He posted pics of it over on the "New Members" forum.
 
Yeah a P-Bass is punchy. I had reasons for exploring the Jazz, but you're right there.
They just put that P pickup in exactly the right place to get that punchiness. I cannot get quite that same punch out of the J no matter what setting I use. Neck pickup is just a little too near the neck. Course, the P cannot get the range of tones the J can, it's more of a one trick pony.

People who are saying play near the bridge seem to be referencing a sharper attack, which is a little different from punch, but to each their own, right?

I play mostly near the neck, or over the neck pickup. Rarely go to the bridge, but I'm playing jazz. If I was playing metal or lots of 16ths I'd be down at the bridge.
 
The holes were actually drilled for the Ashtray and Neck pickup covers, but they were never mounted. Since they drilled the holes before painting them and they weren't drilled, there are just little dimple where they go:

View attachment 7228091

Yeah I did have big hair back then. My hair is actually longer now although I wear it in a pony tail. Problem is there is a pretty semi-bare area over about half of the front of my head. One night instead of parting my hair on the side, I brushed it straight back.Right before we started out third set a couple of women in their 30's or early 40's came up to me and asked if I'd settle a wager for them. One of the women thought I was wearing blond wig and the other one was convinced it was my own hair grown out of my head. I reached up and gave my hair a couple of tugs and said, "It's definitely my own hair." The other lady asked if she could touch it and I said sure. She then yanked it hard! She figured I wasn't pulling it hard enough and was sure she'd end up with a wig in her hand. I wanted to grab her hair and yank on it as hard as she had mine, but I just gave her a wide berth for the rest of the night.

A little bit before the onset of Covid, one of the groups I play with played at a BerryStock Music Festival just outside of Monroe, WA. It was an outdoor festival at a Berry farm and we were asked to dress in the style of 1969's Woodstock. I did let my hair down there and feel I did a reasonable imitation of Jerry Garcia playing bass!

The skull and bones scarf I wearing as a headband covers up most of the almost bare are above my forhead. Currently my hair is about 4" longer than pictured here because my wife keeps putting off cutting it. I usually just have her grab my pony tail and cut it to a reasonable size straight across there.

View attachment 7228092
Funny gigging story - people can be so weird! If that was a dude he probably would have got swatted. :DOur guitarist Paul let his hair grow out during Covid and it's now half-way down his back! (usually worn in a tail)

Interesting how Fender drilled the holes and sprayed over them. If they drilled the neck pu holes similarly - did they also drill them in the pg? There was a point where they didn't include covers so didn't drill the holes. Same with the 'tug-bar' - in & out of fashion.