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Squier vm jazz

L

Lukehwd

Mar 18, 2013
33
0
#1
Hello! Hope you all had a good Easter!
I'm looking for some suggestions. I have a squier vm jazz bass. It sounds pretty good as is, but I am trying to get a bit of a different sound out of it. I really like flea's tone (something about that really funky bite). Any suggestions on how I could get closer to that kind of tone? (Pre-amp, pickups, strings, etc)
Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
#2
I had a major change in sound by switching the strings on a Standard Squier Jazz (CV's and VM's predecessor). I had light flats on it along with a new Quarter Pounder neck pickup. It sounded pretty weak. I was about to take the new pickup out and sell the bass, but just to test a nagging doubt I had, I switched to Ernie Ball Cobalts which I really dig for it's brighter, more aggressive sound.

The difference was nothing short of magical!

Although I eventually ended up trading said bass, I didn't do it because the sound was too weak. It taught me how much impact strings can have on sound, regardless of the bass or amplifier. Don't get me wrong, they too have a considerable impact, but to paraphrase Jonas Hellborg, "Sound starts at the string".
 
#5
Malak the Mad said:
I had a major change in sound by switching the strings on a Standard Squier Jazz (CV's and VM's predecessor). I had light flats on it along with a new Quarter Pounder neck pickup. It sounded pretty weak. I was about to take the new pickup out and sell the bass, but just to test a nagging doubt I had, I switched to Ernie Ball Cobalts which I really dig for it's brighter, more aggressive sound.

The difference was nothing short of magical!

Although I eventually ended up trading said bass, I didn't do it because the sound was too weak. It taught me how much impact strings can have on sound, regardless of the bass or amplifier. Don't get me wrong, they too have a considerable impact, but to paraphrase Jonas Hellborg, "Sound starts at the string".
Click to expand...

At the moment I have Ernie ball regular slinky strings and it's just lacking that little bit of punch to it. Would cobalts give it a really aggressive, punchy tone? What other strings could I use to get that effect?
 
#7
Lukehwd said:
At the moment I have Ernie ball regular slinky strings and it's just lacking that little bit of punch to it. Would cobalts give it a really aggressive, punchy tone? What other strings could I use to get that effect?
Click to expand...

Hmmm…the strings you have should be fairly punchy already. Mind you, I tend to go for the slightly thinner strings myself (45-100's). To me, that does have a little more impact.

To be more specific, the strings that "saved" my Jazz were the Regular Slinky Cobalts (50-105's). They were much livelier than the light flats it previously had (D'Addario Chromes 40-95's). Currently, I have Ernie Ball strings on two of my P/J configured basses, the Cobalt 45-100's on one and a normal set of 45-100's on another. Both have a similar sound and feel, but to my ear, the Cobalts sound a bit better.

If you want to try out the Cobalts, I'd recommend the lighter 45-100's. If you don't want to drop that much money (they go for about $30) try the standard 45-100's ($17 or so). Hopefully one or the other will bring you a little, or even a lot, closer to the sound you want.
 
#8
you could also try DR high beams,they are really bright strings,almost obnoxiously bright when new. Flea has his own set of GHS boomers,but my experience with GHS has been less than stellar. I killed a set of electric guitar strings playing less than three hours a week for three weeks,and the strings looked like they'd been on the guitar for 6 months.
 
#9
the wako kid said:
you could also try DR high beams,they are really bright strings,almost obnoxiously bright when new. Flea has his own set of GHS boomers,but my experience with GHS has been less than stellar. I killed a set of electric guitar strings playing less than three hours a week for three weeks,and the strings looked like they'd been on the guitar for 6 months.
Click to expand...

I've also had good experience with DR's. I put a pair of Black Beauties (coated DR Sun Beams) on an Affinity Jazz and it sounded very nice. I'm also sporting a set on my Aerodyne right now, but like before, I think the slightly slimmer ones had a little more "pop".
 

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