Severely Underwhelmed by New Bass

[hypercarrots]

So many suggestions here but I think they are all incorrect.
You need to change the strap.
That will procure you the sound which you desire.
If that doesn’t work, change the strap buttons.

 

[donotfret]

This is all very confusing for me.

So a bass is available in your local guitar store and you only notice at home that it doesn't sound and feel right? But you'll surely have tested it until the staff of that store were at the brink of kicking you out?

The other thing is - with all these modifications you're making, how do you expect to get rid of this bass for a reasonable price? I would definitely not be willing to pay a lot of money for a bass that's not in its original state, unless done for very good reasons by a very good luthier.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

First thing I would do is tear out the 250K Ohm pots in there & replace them with 500K Ohm pots.

Also, ditch the Ampeg & buy a Rumble

Another alternative is to return the Jag & find a Ibanez SR eXtreme (SRX).
The best value on the market & formerly endorsed by Carol Kaye herself:

 

[Fun Size Nick]

Have you put your favourite strings on it yet? I wouldn't judge anything based on the stock strings.

EVERYTHING starts with strings, IMO.

 

[somebrains]

Agree. I've never known a single person to ever love an instrument more than they did when they first got it.

You didn’t hang out with me when I soldered in a pair of Nordstrand Bigmans into one of my $$’s.

MECs went into a drawer and I played it passive.
It wasn’t shielded at the time and I still played it a bunch.

Eventually I’ll throw another preamp into it to see if there’s anything more in there.

 

[jefff100]

If you like the body and the neck, there's so much you can do to influence the tone. My first thought was what @Fun Size Nick posted just here recently about strings.
Sometimes I'll go through 2-3 sets of strings until I find the ones I like on a certain bass, and sometimes they are not my "favorite" string.

Have you taken itn to a good luthier for a setup? If this bass came from one of the larger chain big box music store, I find their setups (lack thereof) to be a major detractor of their business model. Its not like these are electronic keyboards.

Chalk it up to a learning experience. Personally I would not have traded away a G&L for a Fender, but that's water under the bridge and not the subject here.
Generally I let each bass stand on its own merit. new basses come in...I generally try to live with them and see how they work out for at least 6-8 months of practicing and gigging. During this time there are so many things to play with. Strings are the cheapest change and will give you the most tonal bang for your buck. Pickups and Preamps are doable but as others have said, this is getting into mod territory so affects resale, you need to be happy with the body and neck before you pull out the screwdriver and soldering iron.

If you are a pedal guy.....geez - sky's the limit as to what you can do to influence tone.

Basses that don't work out after this 6-8 month trail period get sold off. Basses that do work out are keepers. Basses that fall out of rotation for more than a year can get consideration for the auction block when you suddenly realize you need to thin the herd.

 

[Nighttrain1127]

Wait you can't get enough low end out of a MIJ Fender Jaguar? There is something wrong here . I had a Hot Rod red Jag and with the pickups in series and the preamp on and a touch of bass boost was Very deep and fat sounding. Maybe someone messed with the electronics or something because they are not known to be light on the lows.

 

[bolophonic]

If you liked it with a different amp, I would get a different amp or maybe an EQ pedal or preamp before I got rid of it. But I would play around with it more before another purchase. Very likely you are setting it how you think you would like it instead of how it needs to be.

You would literally consider going out and purchasing a new AMP to go with a bass that you were disappointed with? That is a new level of tone-chasing.

 

[Jack]

Can't you just take it back and get your G&L back? You're probably going to have to pay, but it'll be worth it. You may be able tto fix it, ou may be able to modifiy it or you may just get used to it. But if you don't love it then you probably won't ever.

Every time I hear someone play a Fender Jazz or a Markbass amp I love the sound, they just never sound the same in my hands. This may just be the same thing, clothes that look great on the hangar but don't fit your shape.

 

[brianrost]

Funny enough, it was great in the store through a fender rumble. It seems to have lost its tone through my Ampeg BA210.

Rumbles have a huge low-mid bump that make any bass sound like Godzilla. Try some EQ to get the booty back.

 

[40Hz]

Personal tastes do change over time. I remember gassing for a Warwick for the longest time. But fate (as in an unexpected bill) kept intervening every time I seriously thought about buying one.

Was in a place not to long ago that had a Euro Thumb plus three others. Tried all four. And after I did I couldn’t figure out why I had ever imagined I wanted one.

 

[James Collins]

You would literally consider going out and purchasing a new AMP to go with a bass that you were disappointed with? That is a new level of tone-chasing.

I know that I like A(jag) + B(rumble). I have A but don't like A + C(ampeg). I guess I could get B and have a setup I know I like. Or I could trade A for D(new amp) and continue chasing the elusive tone...not to mention, either way you cut it, he is getting a new amp.

 

[gjohnson441496]

You would literally consider going out and purchasing a new AMP to go with a bass that you were disappointed with? That is a new level of tone-chasing.

bolophonic I'm with you on this 100%. It doesn't make a bit of sense to me for someone to buy a new bass that they can't use with the equipment they already own. Changing strings is another thing. Sure, change the strings to find out if that makes a difference. Other than that he'll be spending money on a worthless cause.

 

[Hopkins]

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.

Before you change your pickups, consider a series/parallel switch. There is no mod that will beef up a pair of Jazz pickups more.

 

[Nighttrain1127]

If it is a MIJ Jaguar it has a Series / Parallel switch already. It is the switch closest to the Master vol. On the lower Bout

 

[mrjim123]

The Fender Rumbles are really biased towards emphasizing the low end. Maybe you need to do some extreme EQ'ing with your amp? Maybe its new amp time?

 

[Hounddog409]

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?

You liked it in the store.....my guess, its not the bass.

 

[IronLung1986]

just put it in the closet and forget about it for a year then give it a fresh review

This has worked for me several times. However, I can't recommend it in general as it means you get zero value out of the instrument for a year. For me the bass in question was always in addition to several others that I didn't mind playing in the meantime. In this case, OP traded a bass he loved for one that he didn't, so the best course would be to reverse the trade or sell this new bass and get another G&L.

 

[BassBrass]

He bought a bass that needs different eq-ing than his usual basses. I prefer high output humbucker sounds too but there are some beautiful sounds to be found in more bright centered basses, and they usually just need a pre amp boost with eqing. Maybe an adjustment to the compression too. Of course the Fender Rumble sounded better for that bass! The Ampeg has a non booming box and is a bit clinical, no boom. That's one way to compensate for the bright bass, it's like they Used to do when people played Dan Electro or Hofners, other lightweight basses.

 

[chadds]

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?

One of my students has one, a red one. There is an out of phase thing happening with the pickups that makes it not sound good. It didn’t have a basic just great sound. After fooling with all the possibles I gave up.

My take is it’s a design flaw. That is was an idea born of creating a new model from a nostalgic design but the actual implementation other than appearance is lacking.