What would a beefier Jazz Bass be?

[Killing Floor]

P neck on a J?
Fralin overwound pickups?
East or Audere preamp?

For my money a neck J sounds exactly like a P would sound if you moved it slightly back. I always convert the middle control to a blend and go 60% neck so it kills the hum. Sounds just fine. I totally understand the neck because I have oafish mitts and prefer a little bigger neck.

 

[Alessandro Cruz]

Find a Fender Roscoe Beck model

I second that...

 

[andare]

Might just be a matter of finding the right set of pickups for a standard J bass.

OT but are you going to keep your Joe Dart II? IIRC the pickups are kind of weak.

 

[sxaxsx]

Dimarzio Ultra Jazz pickups might be a good option.

 

[retslock]

It might look like this.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Maybe Dr. Cheese's fairly new acquisition...

That looks like it could get beefy

 

[darwin-bass]

A Stingray is a beefier version of the J bridge pickup.

For overall beefier Jazz, run the neck solo to restore some of the oomph from the mids that were dipped with both pickups on.

Use an EQ to boost frequencies from say 80 Hz to about 250 Hz by maybe 3-6 dB. Cut stuff above about 1.5 Khz by about the same.

 

[DJ Bebop]

^^ this

A beefier J bass? I have a name for that: "My Fernandez J with Rio Grande Muy Grande pickups". So beefy, I had to switch to flats.

If like me you "don't really care much for J bass tone" this would be my #1 recommendation.

(Unless you don't already own a J, in which case I vote "dual reverse P" or "anything with an EMG cutout where the bridge pickup isn't too close to the bridge" for maximum pickup swap options.)

So the name is all of that?

 

[Hevy T]

Maybe if you could find a Blacktop Jazz and replaced the pickups with Geezers or Quarter Pounders

 

[REV]

I regularly use an EBS compressor (which fattens up my tone) and a VT Bass pedal which makes it even fatter.

 

[sdjfoh]

I like Lollars and Delanos in my jazz basses. Different reasons. I had an Aguilar pre amp for a while in a build and while I got some big tones it was incredibly noisy despite all grounding/shielding involved. Not a ton of folks back the Lace Man’o Wars but I kinda like that pickup.

 

[kerrycares]

Fralins and a Sadowsky preamp floor pedal

 

[mikeswals]

All you need to do is rewire the pickups to series configuration: instant fat jazz. And you'll only have two knobs: 1 volume and tone.

Or if you really want to spend money, get a set of DiMarzio pickups, they're split coils, so its like having dual p pickups.

 

[Hans Gruber]

DiMarzio model J's. The beef is strong with this one.
View attachment 4785675

I also have a G&L JB in white with Model Js. PHAT

 

[MisticoRitualista]

Throw some bartolinis in a jazz bass

 

[Arthur U. Poon]

Might just be a matter of finding the right set of pickups for a standard J bass.

I agree 100%

Being a diehard P-Bass guy, I felt the same way as the OP about the tone of the Jazz Bass. But I needed a Jazz Bass type of tone. I tried a couple of different brands of Jazz replacement pickups, and I was about to call it quits. Then, I tried a set of DiMarzio Model J pickups, and “Boom!”, there it was.

Definitely try the DiMarzio DP123 set.

 

[Bulky Bass]

I’m in the same boat as the OP and wanted that J Bass growl and P Bass heft in a passive setup and not spend money on mods. Found an Ibanez RKB-900 and it does the trick nicely! And it’s completely stock plus the middle knob is a balance knob.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I've always been very ambivalent regarding Jazz Basses. I don't like them, they feel thin, I only kind of like both pickups open all the way, and still I think it's a bit thin, I don't like the bridge pickup soloed or preponderant, the neck pickup lacks the heft of a Precision.

Still, I've found myself needing a full-on Jazz Bass-like sound sometimes, especially played with a pick. The alternatives:

- PJ combination. It sort of works but you tend to have quite a difference between the lower and the upper strings.
- double split. Very nice, very aggressive, looks a bit crap.
- double humbuckers. They don't have the pick attack you get with a Jazz Bass and they tend to sound more throaty. When it's modern sounding humbuckers, they tend to sound a bit too "hifi" in my experience.
- Stingray. It can play that kind of role (bright, tight) but it's overly mid-heavy and a bit too grindy, even boosting the bass or cutting the mids.
- jazz + humbucker (the other way round basically doesn't exist), this seems like the most viable solution, and in fact I had a look at an Ibanez ATK800 (I think) which sort of does the kind of stuff I need.

Any other ideas? And any offerings in the €500-ish range?

Harley benton. Slap some nordstrand J Blades in it. Mean booty Jazz bass.

 

[Sputnik23]

Two different off the radar suggestions:

Any of the Yamaha SuperBass Series. Fat tone. Solo neck P/u sounds like a P. Bonus: P-neck dimensions.
Reverend Raymond. "Jazz Bomb" neck p/u with passive bridge humbucker. Highly versatile, highly under rated.

Both fit budget.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

Given you budget, I’d probably try wiring for series first