• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Severely Underwhelmed by New Bass

#41
To the OP, I would recommend swapping out pickups in the bass and then putting and active/passive pre-amp in it. What I would recommend is Nordstrand pickups and pre-amp. Nordstrand has many great options to choose from, and can get you pickups wired to produce more of the specific tone that you are looking for. And then, with their pre-amp, if you get an active/passive one, it will give you even more versatility and in active mode, you will then have the eq on the bass to boost or take away any frequencies you want to boost or take out. The passive mode, will then still give you the ability to still keep the true jazz tone.

Below is my K B Guitars custom shop T-Hawk bass. It is set up like I described to you and is incredibly versatile across the board. If you’re wanting to go that route, feel free to message me on here and let me know the specific sound you are wanting to get out of your bass and I can recommend what Nordstrand pickups and pre-amp to get.

07B02615-F361-40B2-B7E3-427AD45DA995.jpeg


DCDA823F-9E95-4D02-A637-D8F9573F6F03.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: _HunterB_, Skillet and tubatodd
#42
Tony In Philly said:
I personally find that I can't truly evaluate a bass until I gig with it using the right strings.
Click to expand...

^^^^
this - playing a bass in a live situation (rehearsal, jam session, gig) through a rig you know is the test for how a bass performs on all levels - and the bass will pass or fail that test.
 
  • Like
Reactions: _HunterB_, Bassist Jay and Tony In Philly
#43
_HunterB_ said:
Alright. This one really hurts. For the longest time, the Hot Rod Red Fender Deluxe Jaguar bass has been one of my grail basses. For whatever reason, it (so I thought) just did it for me. I figured it'd be years until I got one, as I wanted to upgrade my amp first. However, a few weeks ago I walked into my local guitar store and there it was. My Red Jaguar. I traded a G and L for it and went home giddy like a 4 year old. However, I feel like i haven't stopped messing with it since I got it. Different EQ, pickup combos, hand position, and Im still just disappointed. So much so that I'm considering selling it to buy an Ampeg V4 w/ a 410. I should add that I also have a Stingray that feels and sounds perfect for me, so I'm thinking that maybe my taste has just changed. I'm kind of sad that it's come to this, so before I say goodbye, does anyone have any advice? Anyone been through this before?
Click to expand...

Try different pickups. Dimarzio Model J's bring the thunder for not a lot of cash!

Good Luck!
 
  • Like
Reactions: _HunterB_, Jonathan C, jefff100 and 1 other person
#44
_HunterB_ said:
Agree with this 100%. I think for me it's the fact that it has jazz pickups. Interestingly, Geddy Lee's jazz bass tone is one of my favorite tones of all time, but I've always preferred a fatter sounding instrument to be in my hands. Stingrays and P basses seem to be the right instruments for me. I've considered changing the pickups to Fralins for more low end.
Click to expand...
I have been wrestling with this dilemma as well. All of my bass playing life I have used a precision (split coil) style bass and Ive ventured into single coil territory and can never find the tone Im after, I think were programmed to expect the warm depth and power of split coil tone by now. I had a beautiful Fender Jazz bass that I modded with Seymour Duncan Quarter Pound pups and still wasnt satisfied. I think its a gradual acceptance thing, I miss that Jazz bass now, it played beautifully.:(
 
  • Like
Reactions: _HunterB_
#45
My experience with jazz basses was that it took about a year and a half before I found the one. I'd play various renditions of the make and quickly realized that, even within the same model the basses sounded different. I finally found the one, which happens to be a 2007 with an s1 switch.

The other thing that helped is that I have a Fender Rumble so I have a pretty good idea how a bass is going to sound since most guitar shops have Fender Rumbles.
 
  • Like
Reactions: _HunterB_
#49
Back in the late 90s I wanted to get a 5 string and I was convinced from reviews that a Fender Roscoe Beck V was just the ticket. So I searched out a used one, got a good deal and picked one up. But I never bonded with it - I just couldn’t manage to get my personality in its sound. I tried lots of different strings, external preamps, pedals, amp settings, the whole nine yards. No knock on the RB - lots of people love them, but it just didn’t work for me. So after a couple of years of messing with it, I sold it and got a Roscoe SKB which I love. Different strokes for different folks, but the lesson I learned is that I can’t always make a given bass work to my liking.
 
#52
There's simply a fundamental difference between single-coil Jazz pickups and those big humbucker MM-style pickups in Stingrays or G&L's.

Obviously there's a difference in single-coil to humbucker, but I think guys often overlook the effect of the width or length of string that the pickups is sensing. Imagine the length of string over the Jazz shell and the length of string over a MM shell, couple that with the tone difference in single-coil and humbucking, and as you've found, it can be quite a switch, even before you factor in the difference in how this axe feels, plays, etc., over the previous one. Those big humbuckers are just stronger and they're hearing a more complex mix of tones from that greater length they're beneath, relative to the Jazz pickups. That relatively narrow sampling is part of the Jazz signature tone, but may not be what you're after.

It could be you're just not gonna bond with the Jag, it happens.

IF it were me and I really wanted to try to make it work, I'd get some sort of humbucking Jazz-sized replacement (either a stack or preferably for me, a side-by-side) and update it with an appropriate active control system if the pickups alone don't do it. Going to humbucking might close the gap you're hearing.

Or this may be a wrong turn that nothing will fix. Only time will tell.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ihaveaquestion and Rumbledore
#53
_HunterB_ said:
Thinking about Fralins. Funny enough, it was great in the store through a fender rumble. It seems to have lost its tone through my Ampeg BA210.
Click to expand...
Are you able to take it back to the store where you bought it and try it out there again using that Rumble or any of their other amps? You could check to confirm whether you are really disliking the bass or disliking something else in your rig.
 
#56
I mean, the amp is the big factor here if you ask me. Gimme a bass with jazz pickups, and it'll sound like three different basses thru a 2x10, 1x12, and 1x15. It just will.

I've got an Ampeg SVT-210AV cab and have decided it's the standard by which I'll judge basses I acquire, and you're not wrong for doing the same with your own. But if you've got what you really consider a dream bass, then there's nothing wrong with that overriding the rest of your rig. I would, too. Fit the rig to the bass! If it needs a 12" or 15" cab to sound like you want it, then congrats: you're getting a new amp. If you wanna. I think you should, personally, since you've confirmed it sounds nice thru a different one.

Remember: life's too short to play basses you don't like. If you like the bass, and just the sound needs work, keep the bass. There's a lot more in the signal chain that contributes to the sound of your bass, your favorite bassist's bass, the Friday night local dive band's bassist's bass, etc. Keep it and love it and play it thru a chain that lets it live its best life.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ihaveaquestion
#57
_HunterB_ said:
Anyone been through this before?
Click to expand...

Yep

I wanted a MIA P Bass w/a nitro finish. Couldn't justify the cost of the ones I would come across in local shops and never found one with a finish I liked anyway.

But one day I stopped by a local chop to have some tubes tested and hanging on the wall was a USA Nitro Satin honeyburst P. It was the FSR Guitar Center sold for a couple of years with the American Special neck. (I didn't even know they existed) I walked over and looked at the tag and it was only six hundred bucks. It was gorgeous. So I wound up grabbing it.

After a year with it, I realized that between the long scale and the wide neck profile I was going to tear my fretting hand up.

So I had no choice but to sell it and start looking for a short scale.

I had been gassing for a Torino Red Mustang PJ ever since I saw them online but only found White and Sonic Blue ones locally. I did find a Sonic Blue one that had chromes on it that was set up very well. Most comfortable and easiest playing bass I had ever held in my hands. Could have got it for less than 450 out the door but decided to think on it for a couple of days. Went back to get it and they had rented it out.

But it turned out to be a blessing because after stopping by the shop on the way to work a few times to see if it came back in, I stopped by one day and it still wasn't there but hanging behind the counter was a Torino Red one they had just unboxed. Played it for about an hour and decided to rent it for a week to make sure it was going to work for me. Went back less than a week later and they applied the rental toward purchase price.

The pain in my fingers and wrist is gone and after putting TI Jazz Flats on it I forgot about the one that got away.

Now I know why back in the late 70s and early 80s when I was gigging in cover bands I always reached for my Fender Mustang over my Gibson Ripper, Peavey T 40, Ovation Magnum, and my Hondo II P copy.

Took me 40 years to figure out a Fender short scale was my huckleberry.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ihaveaquestion
#58
No need to spend more on swapping pickups and stuff. Some have suggested series wiring. I strongly encourage you to try it. I've played Musicman since forever, but still love how a full on J sounds. What I don't like is the scoop, can't live with Musicmans' authority and focus in a mix. Series wiring is great for those who like both pickups full on from a Jazz Bass but get frustrated because it doesn't have the presence, lowend authority and punch in a mix compared to, say, a P-bass. Makes any pair of Js lose the scoop they produce in parallel. The S1 mod is cheap and easily done (just change the neck PU volume for a DPDT push-pull with the same value) and gave new life to both a Jazz Bass and a P+J I tried it on.
 
#59
_HunterB_ said:
Alright. This one really hurts. For the longest time, the Hot Rod Red Fender Deluxe Jaguar bass has been one of my grail basses. For whatever reason, it (so I thought) just did it for me. I figured it'd be years until I got one, as I wanted to upgrade my amp first. However, a few weeks ago I walked into my local guitar store and there it was. My Red Jaguar. I traded a G and L for it and went home giddy like a 4 year old. However, I feel like i haven't stopped messing with it since I got it. Different EQ, pickup combos, hand position, and Im still just disappointed. So much so that I'm considering selling it to buy an Ampeg V4 w/ a 410. I should add that I also have a Stingray that feels and sounds perfect for me, so I'm thinking that maybe my taste has just changed. I'm kind of sad that it's come to this, so before I say goodbye, does anyone have any advice? Anyone been through this before?
Click to expand...
Before you set your heart, play a few examples of the object of your desire just to be sure. I’d never heard of my (future) #1 until i walked into a music store and saw it hanging there. After about ten munites of noodling i knew i wanted one. I was about a week from changing states for work so i decided to wait until i was moved and settled in to my new home/job before getting serious about hunting one down. It took me a few months to get settled and find the new US Jazz Plus i wanted. I made a six hour round trip to get it, something i’d never had done without actually trying one.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back