Trying to nail down a particular tone for my fretless Jazz bass, link inside

[xj98jeep]

Hi friends, I just heard this youtube clip of a Rick Turner RB4 and holy cannoli that thing sounds so beautiful. I'm really in love with it's upright sound while still maintaining some of that Jazz bass growl.

I have a Ken Smith Designs fretless jazz bass with an Alder body, maple neck and rosewood fretboard so about as standard as they come. What preamp/pickup choices can I be making to get this sort of tone?

 

[lz4005]

That bass is piezo only. No magnetic pickup.

 

[Rick Turner]

The sound of my Renaissance basses is a combination of how they're built, the pickup/preamp combo, and the strings. Then there's the player...

 

[Rick Turner]

BTW, the Thomastik-Infeld "AcoustiCore" strings will not work with magnetic pickups...piezo only. They're like big, fat classical guitar strings with a nylon stranded core over-spun with bronze. They're expensive, to be sure, but they last forever, so your pennies per note ratio is very, very economical! My advice: when you put them on, run up and down the tops of the strings with some 400 grit sand paper a few times; this reduces the slide squeak without affecting tone or intonation. I have clients who have gone three years on one set.