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Used my jazz with rounds and couldn't hear it in mix

S

Swipter

Sep 7, 2009
909
2,708
Phoenix
#1
I've been using either of my p basses, Squier with 7250 rounds or Fender professional ii with 760fl labella, and can easily hear everything I play. Today, I used my jazz with the Ken Smith rock master strings and couldn't hear anything. I have a new set of 7250s I took off for USA p bass and a set of Fender 9050l flats I took off the jazz.

I was playing through my GK 500 with everything flat.

I think I may need to change to one of those other sets of strings.
 
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#3
Swipter said:
Today, I used my jazz with the Ken Smith rock master strings and couldn't hear anything.
Click to expand...

Ken Smith Rockmasters = stainless steel roundwound = scooped compared to nickel-plated steel.
Do you play your Jazz with both pickups full on? If so, it would be more scooped than your two P basses.

Scooped strings on a scooped bass = can't hear!

By the way, do you use the Contour knob on your GK amp? More contour = more scoop.
 
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#4
michael_t said:
Ken Smith Rockmasters = stainless steel roundwound = scooped compared to nickel-plated steel.
Do you play your Jazz with both pickups full on? If so, it would be more scooped than your two P basses.

Scooped strings on a scooped bass = can't hear!

By the way, do you use the Contour knob on your GK amp? More contour = more scoop.
Click to expand...
Not normally but I tried all the settings. I had the jazz for years and never had a precision bass. I got both my precision basses last year and think now I could live without the the jazz bass.

When I feel creative I'll swap strings. You are right about the scooped sound. I hate hit. My Pedulla has roto 66 strings and it has no scooped sound. Maybe it's the bass or the string, I don't know. I know I'll never sell that bass.

Edit: I don't use any of the extra settings on the GK Legacy. All switches are off. I didn't realize a jazz bass was a scooped bass.
 
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#6
Swipter said:
My Pedulla has roto 66 strings and it has no scooped sound. Maybe it's the bass or the string, I don't know. I know I'll never sell that bass.
Click to expand...

Roto 66 stainless steels are known for their strong and aggressive midrange, not nearly as scooped as some SS rounds.

GHS Pressurewounds are my top choice for my Jazz for the fact they're very strong in the mids, thanks to Alloy 52 (nickel-iron) and its dynamically responsive properties.

Swipter said:
I didn't realize a jazz bass was a scooped bass.
Click to expand...

When the two pickups are full on, yes. You can make it less scooped by experimenting with the blending of the two pickups.
 
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#7
michael_t said:
Roto 66 stainless steels are known for their strong and aggressive midrange, not nearly as scooped as some SS rounds.

GHS Pressurewounds are my top choice for my Jazz for the fact they're very strong in the mids, thanks to Alloy 52 (nickel-iron) and its dynamically responsive properties.



When the two pickups are full on, yes. You can make it less scooped by experimenting with the blending of the two pickups.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I love the roto 66 strings. I think I'm still taking the strings off.
 
#8
michael_t said:
Roto 66 stainless steels are known for their strong and aggressive midrange, not nearly as scooped as some SS rounds.

GHS Pressurewounds are my top choice for my Jazz for the fact they're very strong in the mids, thanks to Alloy 52 (nickel-iron) and its dynamically responsive properties.



When the two pickups are full on, yes. You can make it less scooped by experimenting with the blending of the two pickups.
Click to expand...
Do the GHS Pressurewounds and GHS Precision Flatwound have similar sounds?
 
#10
Swipter said:
Do the GHS Pressurewounds and GHS Precision Flatwound have similar sounds?
Click to expand...

No, not even close.

The Pressurewounds are what GHS calls "rollerwound", meaning the outer round wire is compressed into an oval shape. Still plenty of the roundwound tone but with a smoother feel. They sound more like a well-broken-in nickel rounds than flats with tight punchy lows and extra crunch in the mids.
 
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#11
Swipter said:
I've been using either of my p basses, Squier with 7250 rounds or Fender professional ii with 760fl labella, and can easily hear everything I play. Today, I used my jazz with the Ken Smith rock master strings and couldn't hear anything. I have a new set of 7250s I took off for USA p bass and a set of Fender 9050l flats I took off the jazz.

I was playing through my GK 500 with everything flat.

I think I may need to change to one of those other sets of strings.
Click to expand...
Up your mids. It's not your strings, it's just that you're used to your p basses. Js are different. They require some pre amp love.
 
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#15
Swipter said:
I've been using either of my p basses, Squier with 7250 rounds or Fender professional ii with 760fl labella, and can easily hear everything I play. Today, I used my jazz with the Ken Smith rock master strings and couldn't hear anything. I have a new set of 7250s I took off for USA p bass and a set of Fender 9050l flats I took off the jazz.

I was playing through my GK 500 with everything flat.

I think I may need to change to one of those other sets of strings.
Click to expand...

Then the mix sucked. This has nothing to do with strings. Any jazz with any strings will be heard if the mix is slightly better than suck. You have a bunch of twisty things on that amp. Turn them.
 
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#17
Swipter said:
I've been using either of my p basses, Squier with 7250 rounds or Fender professional ii with 760fl labella, and can easily hear everything I play. Today, I used my jazz with the Ken Smith rock master strings and couldn't hear anything. I have a new set of 7250s I took off for USA p bass and a set of Fender 9050l flats I took off the jazz.

I was playing through my GK 500 with everything flat.

I think I may need to change to one of those other sets of strings.
Click to expand...
Bump up your mids; it's normal to do that to poke through.
 
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#18
Swipter said:
Not normally but I tried all the settings. I had the jazz for years and never had a precision bass. I got both my precision basses last year and think now I could live without the the jazz bass.

When I feel creative I'll swap strings. You are right about the scooped sound. I hate hit. My Pedulla has roto 66 strings and it has no scooped sound. Maybe it's the bass or the string, I don't know. I know I'll never sell that bass.

Edit: I don't use any of the extra settings on the GK Legacy. All switches are off. I didn't realize a jazz bass was a scooped bass.
Click to expand...
Yeah. It has 2 pickups. Having 2 pickups (any 2 pickups, on any electric instrument) causes a phenomenon of phasing. Your mids gets dulled, and your volume decreases. You need to up the volume, or up the mids.

Mids at 250 - 800. 250 for girth, 800 for poke. Anything between that will give you something between that.
 
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#20
If you have a pickup blend on your bass, try cheating it _slightly_ to the neck pickup. That moves you toward a more P-like tone. Do the same thing toward the bridge pickup, and it gets more "burpy." See which way you prefer it.

The thing about JJ basses is that they're scooped with both pickups equal in volume. But you only need to favor one pickup slightly to get a substantial difference in the tone.

The same thing can be done with VVT. Just dial in a bit more of one pickup.

Added: I'm using Mesa amplification now, but I used GK for several years before. IME/IMHO those amps tended to have a big bottom and cutting upper midrange. As others have suggested above, you might try boosting the lower mids.
 
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