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Whats the deal with jazz basses?

#41
Thrill-House said:
I think one thing that makes the jazz bass (and the P-bass even more so) great is that its a relatively simple design that sounds great and plays great. A jazz bass doesnt need a ton of complex electronics or features to get its great sound. Makes it easy to fix and modify. Many companies making more modern basses put all this extra stuff in them, and in the end it really doesnt sound any better than a simple jazz or p.
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How about the playability - Do you reckon that the 1.5 inch nut makes life a little easier with regard to chordal and scale positions for folks with slightly smaller hands? Also, I haven't seen anyone cover tapping on a jazz bass - is there any such thing?
 
#42
dbd1963 said:
First, I have small hands and the 1.5" neck was very comfortable. Second, it made some sounds that I recognized from years of listening to records right out of the box.
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That's why I dig them so much. I have small hands and the neck just feels great to me. Plus you get the sweet classic tone.
 
#43
R0VER said:
How about the playability - Do you reckon that the 1.5 inch nut makes life a little easier with regard to chordal and scale positions for folks with slightly smaller hands? Also, I haven't seen anyone cover tapping on a jazz bass - is there any such thing?
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I have flat hands with very long fingers, but I still prefer a Jazz width. My Jazz neck is a little thicker profile than most, but still feels right for me.

Tapping... I'll leave that to someone who knows more than me
 
#45
I saw three of my favorite bassists gravitate to or go back to j basses. flea, Tim commerford, and geddy. if you're going to cast off the pains of GAS and marry a bass, a j bass makes a great choice.

DSC_0031-1.jpg


and they look pretty in Easter egg colors.
 
#47
Like someone much better than me already stated (I was born in 1973 and he had 1963 in his nick... The year of Jason Newsted BTW...) I too was not impressed by Fender in the beginning. I found them more like "common places", if you can get me...
I loved Iron Maiden, not necessarily Steve Harris playin'. I loved Guns n'Roses, not necessarily Duff McKagan playin'. I loved Deep Purple mkIII & mkIV, not necessarily Glenn Hughes playin'.
I thought I should have been more than happy with Jackson Concert and Ibanez Soundgear I used to play, back in the day.
Alright: but why the offset Jazz bass body design fascinated me so deeply, me cold hearted headbanger?
And, foremost... Why did I always switch everything on and off? Multifx, overdrives, flangers, and this, and that, and couldn't find the clue to be undeniably listened loud in a band mix/recording/try out or whatever?

D'you want an answer?
Take a look to my profile and mind thoughtfully

Cheers,
Wallace
 
#51
Great thread.

It's all about Leo. He obsessed over those early designs and did lots of prototyping to get things just right, even making adjustments to instruments that were already slated for delivery to customers. One thing he emphasized was repairability, which is a rarity in product design these days. Leo got it right and players bought Fender basses. The rock esthetic barely existed then, let alone metal or alternative. If they had, things would have been a little different. Think about it, no one in their right mind would release a bass called a Jazz bass these days (ha ha). Aesthetically, I feel the balance that Leo achieved with the Precision, Jazz, and Stingray is pretty much perfect, so in my eyes they are like mass-produced yet original works of art. Not that I can't appreciate lots of other designs, but Leo's work just speaks to me and, I believe, to many others.

Am I a fan of the Fender musical instrument company? Meh. Is Leo one of my heros? Absolutely!
 
#53
I think what everyone has said above is very valid. About playability, simplistic but versatile design, tonal strength etc., but there is one point I've been thinking about for some time now that hasn't been mentioned.

Let's first start with another question: Why does the Philips head screw driver work so well, in so many situations? The answer is two fold, firstly it is a great design which is sturdy and useful and fulfils all the requirements of a screw driver.
The second is that since the Phillip head screwdriver was decided upon as the standard, the entire screw driver world has accommodated around the screw driver itself.

In the same way, Leo Fender did a great job designing a bass. While it's clearly not subjectively the best bass in the world for everyone, many people liked the tone and started using them in bands and studios. Here's where the game changes:
Since everyone is using the Fender Jazz Bass, bands and musicians play in a way which complements that particular bass tone. The type of drum kits, and how the drums (particularly the kick) are tuned and played in relation to the jazz bass tone. An engineer at every pro recording studio around the world needs to learn how to mix a band with a fender bass in it, taking into account the strong mid frequencies that it presents, in comparison to the P bass or the double bass used previously.

So what we end up with (sonically and aesthetically) in many many bands / genres and recordings around the world is a fender jazz bass sized whole to fill.

Thoughts?
 
#58
OOZMAN said:
I just dont understand why people think they look good either...

How can someone say this

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looks better than something like this

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But.. to each his own... I have leant to accept peoples opinions, and accept I will! :D :hyper:
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I would be embarrassed to play the nu metal machine at a show. No chance. Unless of course I was wearing a tool shirt, haha. OK sorry, not funny. But really that thing is for dorks
 
#59
When I started I didn't like Fenders, because I couldn't afford an American J-bass to play. :D Like many people I went to Ibanez, and it satisfied me for the time being. However, there comes a time in every man's life when they don't want the best bass for metal and they don't discredit other basses because they don't sound good for what they like to play; instead you learn to appreciate each basses tone for what it is. The Ibby was cool, heck I even bought another that was a bit better, but then I found that it had it's tone. That's it. It just did that Ibanez sound. I couldn't be versatile with it. So, you head back to the store with some money in your pocket. You want something versatile, something that can do it all. Maybe not the best in every style, but it's damn good. You see a Music Man Stingray, and you see the P and J basses. That's the good stuff. Now I did like to tap on the J bass, it was really easy, and the sound is warm, but if you pick harder it gets growly, and if you go up the neck a bit it gets really smooth, and if you slap and pop -- oh it's there with you.

Here's the thing: you're going to like a bass for what it does, and when you truly appreciate GOOD tone, and not just trying to emulate the tone of Flea or Dan Briggs or whoever you're into (unless they play a Fender J), you will find the J Bass just does it all, and all of it's good.
 

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