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Who’s playing a Jazz?

#21
Jonny Reese said:
This thread is so timely for me. I had a quick woodshed session today preparing for a gig this weekend and I've committed to playing my J for the whole night. The reason I'm committing to that is any time I switch to one of my other main basses (P and EBMM Sterling) [or worse yet - switching FROM them to the J!], the J just sounds like a weak toy.

This is my second attempt in life to own and love a J. I'm bringing my most mid-favoring amp and cab to this gig to try to get some balls out of this thing. Playing at home today, slapping away and digging in hard fingerstyle, I was really enjoying the sounds coming out of the speakers. Why do I fear I'll be lost and disappointed at the gig??
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My at home sound is completely different from my band/gig sound.

Band/gig sound is much more aggressive and mid present. If I try my solo/home sound at band practice or gig, I end up fighting the guitars on high mids and I fight the stage/room acoustics on the low end with too much rumble.
 
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#22
Highway One Jazz, Geddy Lee sig, Sadowsky MV4... all played live, no problems hearing myself.

Better believe if my guitarist and drummer couldn't hear me, they'd be speaking up.

Usually run the neck pickup at 100%, bridge at 80-90%, tone ~ 50%. On my amp, mids/treble are bumped slightly and lows/mid-lows are cut, as much.
 
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#23
Spidey2112 said:
Highway One Jazz, Geddy Lee sig, Sadowsky MV4... all played live, no problems hearing myself.

Better believe if my guitarist and drummer couldn't hear me, they'd be speaking up.

Usually run the neck pickup at 100%, bridge at 80-90%, tone ~ 50%. On my amp, mids/treble are bumped slightly and lows/mid-lows are cut, as much.
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That's about how I run, too. Neck just slightly favored over bridge. I usually go active, so EQ favors mids. Because I play a very low action and my active is bright, I also cut treble. Leave lows flat, normally.
 
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#27
PhinDog said:
Who’s playing a jazz as your #1? Do you feel like you get buried in the mix?

I love the soloed sound of a jazz but am wondering if it gets lost a little in a mix. I’m playing blues, classic rock, funk and disco.

My current #1 is a Sandberg VM5 and it’s super punchy, which I like. I really like the sound of a 5string jazz but don’t want to get one to figure out it won’t punch through a mix.
Thoughts?
Thanks!
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Play your Jazz Bass through a Sadowsky SBP-1 preamp. Problem solved.

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#28
Personally in my humble experience playing charity gigs at cheaper venues as an amateur player... I've preferred playing P's and my L1000 for music that has a lot of sonic space or is less electric, and stuff like Stingray's for dense music (playing covers that have a lot of synth parts, multiple guitars etc). For both kinds of gigs I've had difficulty hearing myself with a Jazz bass (I've tried eq on my side, asked for help from the sound person, tried different pickups, changing the blending of the pickups, different flat wound and round wound strings, etc etc)
 
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#30
PhinDog said:
Who’s playing a jazz as your #1? Do you feel like you get buried in the mix?

I love the soloed sound of a jazz but am wondering if it gets lost a little in a mix. I’m playing blues, classic rock, funk and disco.

My current #1 is a Sandberg VM5 and it’s super punchy, which I like. I really like the sound of a 5string jazz but don’t want to get one to figure out it won’t punch through a mix.
Thoughts?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
I do. I never get lost in a mix. Playing all genres from jazz to hard rock.
 
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#31
PhinDog said:
Who’s playing a jazz as your #1? Do you feel like you get buried in the mix?

I love the soloed sound of a jazz but am wondering if it gets lost a little in a mix. I’m playing blues, classic rock, funk and disco.

My current #1 is a Sandberg VM5 and it’s super punchy, which I like. I really like the sound of a 5string jazz but don’t want to get one to figure out it won’t punch through a mix.
Thoughts?
Thanks!
Click to expand...

It’s your EQ, not the bass. 90% of the time this can be resolved but increasing your low mids, and or reducing the amount of super low frequencies.
 
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#32
Jonny Reese said:
I have to disagree with this, because I am the same bass player on the same stage with the same band, and the J just doesn't sound as good in that context as my other basses. It's about as controlled of an experiment as you can have in music.
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I don't play a bunch of different basses during a show but if I did I'd expect to change settings for each one. They'll not all sound right if you just plug them in and go. My most anemic sounding bass is a G&L and it needs a ton of boost in the low and low-mids to get out of the quagmire. Every instrument has a voice and you have to work to the strengths of each one.
 
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#38
I remember ‘60s high school dances with local bands that sported an Ampeg B-15 bass amp. Talk about getting lost in the mix. That’s when the big push for more treble came from top players like John Entwistle. Marshall, Sunn, Hiwatt and others were pushing the envelope till Ampeg released the SVT.
 

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