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

[Musiclogic]

Last line says it all Grant

 

[Lorenzini]

Then maybe I may additionally look into different pickups.

I've used two pickups in this bass, 1 set of stock Fenders and 1 set of Nordstrand NJ5FS's.

Perhaps a set of Bartolinis or something is next.

 

[KingRazor]

Then maybe I may additionally look into different pickups.

I've used two pickups in this bass, 1 set of stock Fenders and 1 set of Nordstrand NJ5FS's.

Perhaps a set of Bartolinis or something is next.

If you chat with the folks at Nordstrand I bet they could modify the NJ5FSs you already have to sound closer to what you want.

 

[Showdown]

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.

I'm with you on this one. I have a Danelectro that is a plywood shell with Masonite top and back. Sounds great.

 

[Beej]

Periodically someone brings me a guitar with a "dead" or "lifeless" B or E string, the problem is that the pickup needs to be lowered, not raised, as a well meaning person has raised it too much while trying to get a good tone. Try lowering it a bit from where it is while its plugged in and you're playing it. You might hit a sweet spot...

 

[Musiclogic]

Periodically someone brings me a guitar with a "dead" or "lifeless" B or E string, the problem is that the pickup needs to be lowered, not raised, as a well meaning person has raised it too much while trying to get a good tone. Try lowering it a bit from where it is while its plugged in and you're playing it. You might hit a sweet spot...

Way to think outside the island Beej

 

[miziomix]

It's most likely my bad luck. But I've yet to play a Fender J V with a B that feels right under my fingers and sounds great..... just sharing. OK, OK...don't shoot me now

 

[Ric5]

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!

I find the American Fender bodies to be very good for tone. If you want a better B string then try:
1 - Flattening out the neck and making the action lower.
2 - Try a 4 band Audere preamp.
3 - Try lowering the pickups.
4 - Try a different bridge.
5 - Try a different brand of strings.
6 - Try some nice effects pedals for tone shaping.
7 - Try new amp eq settings.

 

[Ric5]

Then maybe I may additionally look into different pickups.

I've used two pickups in this bass, 1 set of stock Fenders and 1 set of Nordstrand NJ5FS's.

Perhaps a set of Bartolinis or something is next.

I am a big fan of Seymour Duncan pickups.

 

[Ric5]

This.

Most people use a B string that is way too light. I say a .135 is the bare minum for a low b.

Sometimes the opposite may be true ... I had a few 5 string basses that sounded and played better with lighter strings.

 

[Ric5]

I'm with you on this one. I have a Danelectro that is a plywood shell with Masonite top and back. Sounds great.

One of my basses has a plywood body. It has really nice tone.

 

[Lizooki]

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?

I wasn't trolling ..... YOU brought it up. In fact, thats your premise for the thread ..... changing the body to change sound.

Matt

 

[salman]

This may be a silly question...but have you considered the fact it may be your amplifier? Have you tried playing through other amps? Some amps or cabs are not very good at handling the frequencies of the B string. If it's not the amp I would definitely look at pickup height...+1 on lowering the pickups near the B string. as a general rule, when you depress the string on the highest fret (20-24 depending on your bass) you should have around 1/4" clearance from the string to the pickup. You can go up or down from hear depending on a few factors like magnet strength, string gauge, string material etc...
A pickup that is too height will kill your tone and intonation, especially on a low B (the magnetic pull is greater because of higher string mass, and there is less resistance to the pull because the string is looser).

Just skimming through the thread here...neck pocket may be the issue, but unlikely it would only affect the B. In addition to my comments above, improper alignment of the string over the magnet could cause this (not centered over the magnets). A bad nut (pinching the string) or a bad bridge saddle. but since you say there are a lot of 'overtones' when you play it, I'm interpreting this as 'ringing', it sounds like your pickups are way too high. I had this problem on my bass, when I went past the 14th fret...lowered the pickups, and it was cured.

I doubt very highly that changing the body will suddenly make your B string come alive...and I am not on the anti-wood side of the tone wars. Wood affects tone, but in a subtle way usually, at least more subtly than electronics do.