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Q: On upgrading a bass body - win or fail?

Lorenzini

Lorenzini

Dec 31, 2004
4,804
196
41
Los Angeles
#1
Hi All,

I hope this is the right forum for this. I wanted to post here, because I feel you guys will know more about how wood resonates than the rest of these great forums.

I have a Fender American Standard Jazz V, made in 2008. It's a wonderful bass with a pleasant tone. The neck is straight, stable and easy to play. I've upgraded the pickups to Nordstrand NJ5FS. I'm getting plenty of output from all the strings, but there's a basic problem.

My problem is what I think is caused by the body.

I don't get a punchy B string on this instrument, and the overall tone of the other strings lack the fullness that some other basses achieve. The body is light, and the bass weighs about 8 lbs. When I put my ear up to the horn and play, the E and B strings are present, but very anemic sounding, and with a lot of overtones that confuse the fundamental.

In other words, acoustically, this bass is very "resonant" but not very punchy or full.

I was thinking to purchase a Warmoth, Allparts or what-have-you ash body to replace this one, but do you guys think that it would help my situation? Something tells me it will help a lot.

Thanks!
 
#4
The sound deficiencies are caused by the pickups. The body, while resonant to a point does not translate to the pickups in any real appreciable way. Changing the body wood will effect your sound little. You may want to look to a stacked pick-up, if you talk to the guys at Nordstrand about something stacked with more output on the bottom end, they can probably hook you up. BiLl Bartolini winds some nice classic sounding jazzers with a better bottom. Also try a heavier string on the B and E. This can also help.
 
#7
Lots of responses here. Here are my answers:

1) The problem was present before the pickup change.

2) I've played this same exact make and model that didn't suffer from this problem.

3) I won't even go into the B string gauge. I've played instruments that had a .120 B string and it sounded clear, focused and punchy. I personally use between .125 and .130.

My last point is, I am constantly amazed and perplexed at the sheer amount of people that do not believe that the body and neck, or the wood types themselves, make or break a bass sound.

This bass still sounds like the same basic bass, even though I upgraded the pickups. Not to mention that all the pickups are doing is amplifying the basic sound of the instrument. The problem I am having occurs both when it's amplified or not amplified, so what gives?
 
#14
Just a thought ... but have you tried raising the pick-ups under the B and E strings?

Matt

btw-A word of caution about the tone wood deal.
The best sounding electric guitar I've built had a plywood and fiberboard body.
Neither of which would classify as a tone wood.
 
#15
Lorenzini said:
That's pretty interesting. Where does one find that, or would I just make one myself?
Click to expand...
I think some hardware stores carry the threaded inserts. Or you can just buy them from here: http://www.ezlok.com/Home/index.html

I've read bad review about the hard wood ones, people have been successful using the "soft wood" inserts in hard woods like maple, so I'd recommend those.
 
#17
Lizooki said:
Just a thought ... but have you tried raising the pick-ups under the B and E strings?

Matt

btw-A word of caution about the tone wood deal.
The best sounding electric guitar I've built had a plywood and fiberboard body.
Neither of which would classify as a tone wood.
Click to expand...

Yes, I've tried raising the pickups under the B and E strings.

I'm not even going to enter the tone wood argument, but good try!
 
#19
Lorenzini said:
Lots of responses here. Here are my answers:

1) The problem was present before the pickup change.

My last point is, I am constantly amazed and perplexed at the sheer amount of people that do not believe that the body and neck, or the wood types themselves, make or break a bass sound.

This bass still sounds like the same basic bass, even though I upgraded the pickups. Not to mention that all the pickups are doing is amplifying the basic sound of the instrument. The problem I am having occurs both when it's amplified or not amplified, so what gives?
Click to expand...

The reason is that I repair and mod guitars and basses for a living, I also build guitars, basses, and viols amongst other instruments. I have been in this business for almost 30 years now, and I see these particular basses in my shop every month. I hear the same thing from 50% of the musicians playing them. The neck pocket may help, but using the proper pick-up for your ear is also something you need to understand. Just because something is trendy, doesn't mean it is going to sound great to your ear. We as humans hear things differently, and nothing is one size fits all.
I wish you luck with your quest and will abstain from offering my experience any further.
 
#20
im on the fence about the wood factor; certain woods do better jobs at holding up i.e. in the neck; and body and fingerboards do differ the overall tone ,tho i find mostly in overtones; as in a little brighter or muuddier, but what your describing really sets off bells in the hardware/setup catagory;
for an example i have never found a B string ive liked under 35" scale or at least strung thru the body; guess its a tension preference; the neck screws are an interesting idea, but for the most part as long as the heel is sitting nice and flat/tight(which 1 screw can accomplish(not suggested)) you shouldnt have a problem. one time i had a low b that wasnt holding its own; i did a bunch of stuff just out of frustration, including widening the nut slot so slightly and smoothing the edges of the saddle grooves; mostly to keep myself busy as i entered a nervous breakdown, i retuned it to refresh my mind of the problem; and that guy just sang, good feelin, but without having it right infront of me it could be just about anything
 

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