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Why did Jaco remove the pickguard?
- Thread starter tdizzle
- Start date
hi,
yeah, i went back and checked the naming as well - - and it did say "with/without PG." that didn't show up in the download, but did in iTunes.
that being said, i didn't sleep well, got up early and was half-asleep when i did the test so i was too freaking sleep to see the file names, so i feel like i did hear the difference. the thing that sold me was the decay on the last note, it seemed fuller and more detailed. i listened to the last 8 second of each a few times.
anyway, you're right, in terms of "better," that is the ear of of the "behearer" . . . for *me* i preferred the sound without, but some of that is because it sounds *louder* ;-)
thanks for the doing the test. it was interesting for me. (i have a couple of old foderas that have never had pick guards, so i can't really compare any more.)
yeah, i went back and checked the naming as well - - and it did say "with/without PG." that didn't show up in the download, but did in iTunes.
that being said, i didn't sleep well, got up early and was half-asleep when i did the test so i was too freaking sleep to see the file names, so i feel like i did hear the difference. the thing that sold me was the decay on the last note, it seemed fuller and more detailed. i listened to the last 8 second of each a few times.
anyway, you're right, in terms of "better," that is the ear of of the "behearer" . . . for *me* i preferred the sound without, but some of that is because it sounds *louder* ;-)
thanks for the doing the test. it was interesting for me. (i have a couple of old foderas that have never had pick guards, so i can't really compare any more.)
Surely there is a much deeper philosophy at work here. (our shallowness runs deep) In the fashion of the '60's, Jaco was exploring a new freedom in shedding his pickguard. Walls must come down, traditions challenged, bras burned, pickguards removed... If he were to have been more influential earlier when the wave was high, perhaps no pickguards would exist today. As it is, this relic of the past continues to obscure bass tops even now. We all allow it by not speaking out. 
(we're really still allowed to post on this thread??)
(we're really still allowed to post on this thread??)
I'm sure he sold his pickguard to one of his fan boys for a motza, thus financing some pharmaceuticals.
I got this old parts bass PJ style which was made by Boogie Bodies. It sat in a closet for 24 years with one string on it. During the rebuild process there were a couple of things that had kind of compromised the overall appearance of the guitar, like a bad paint job, poor neck alignment and a crooked bridge. No biggie, but fiddley stuff to deal with. Something was never quite right about the alignment of the neck and pickups but I figured it didn't matter.
The original owner had a white pickguard on it with badly butchered cut outs for the P pickups. Me being me, I figured I could do a better job. I went out and got a nice black tortoise pickguard and immediately proceeded to botch it myself, mostly due to the continued misalignment of the neck and pickup location.
I finally just hacked it up, using just enough pickguard material to mount the one pot (volume), jack, and cover the rest of the cavity where the battery resides.
This is one of the top 5 ugliest basses that ever lived, but it plays like a dream and sounds great through pretty much any setup. Bottom line - it works and works well. But man is it ugly.
So... Maybe the removal of the pickguard has a similar story.
Cheers!
The original owner had a white pickguard on it with badly butchered cut outs for the P pickups. Me being me, I figured I could do a better job. I went out and got a nice black tortoise pickguard and immediately proceeded to botch it myself, mostly due to the continued misalignment of the neck and pickup location.
I finally just hacked it up, using just enough pickguard material to mount the one pot (volume), jack, and cover the rest of the cavity where the battery resides.
This is one of the top 5 ugliest basses that ever lived, but it plays like a dream and sounds great through pretty much any setup. Bottom line - it works and works well. But man is it ugly.
So... Maybe the removal of the pickguard has a similar story.
Cheers!
You can always create a Stingray/J bass style control plate. Problem solved
My bass teacher made a few stainless steel control plates for p bass (curved). He has one mounted on a p bass that had a broken pg near the jack. Not sure what he plans to do with the other ones. I can ask if anyone is interested.
His bass had a good burst, the strings were lower due to being fretless, some say that the plastic can add to a more bright sound, I don't know, and to adjust the neck, he had to remove the pickguard anyway.
I just love all of these threads about Jaco. A legitimate question is raised, and within a few posts, people are making all kinds of dumb remarks.
Just remember, Jaco had more talent in his nosehairs than 99.9999% of the people hanging out here all day, not doing what Jaco did for the 35 years that he was above ground and without him, the role of bassist might have been way different.
Not to take anything away from all of the other great bassists that were around when he was making his imprint on the music world.
Go learn "Havona" or try to even attempt to write anything like some of the stuff from Night Passage or Weather Report and let me know how you're doing.........in about 50 years from now, when you realise how inept at the instrument you all are compared to Jaco.
Time to STFU
R.I.P. JACO
I just love all of these threads about Jaco. A legitimate question is raised, and within a few posts, people are making all kinds of dumb remarks.
Just remember, Jaco had more talent in his nosehairs than 99.9999% of the people hanging out here all day, not doing what Jaco did for the 35 years that he was above ground and without him, the role of bassist might have been way different.
Not to take anything away from all of the other great bassists that were around when he was making his imprint on the music world.
Go learn "Havona" or try to even attempt to write anything like some of the stuff from Night Passage or Weather Report and let me know how you're doing.........in about 50 years from now, when you realise how inept at the instrument you all are compared to Jaco.
Time to STFU
R.I.P. JACO
I heard that the PG fell apart from his massive playing and he got tired of scraping his fingers on the screws.
Many years ago I removed the pick-guard from my J bass because back then, EVERYONE did that... (of course now, the way fender makes most of their J basses, that isn't an option)...
Anymore, I prefer less space between the strings and the body, so I use either a ramp or a think pick-guard. Doesn't look as good, but feels better (for me, at least).
Anymore, I prefer less space between the strings and the body, so I use either a ramp or a think pick-guard. Doesn't look as good, but feels better (for me, at least).
I only ever did it so I could screw metal spikes into the old pg holes but this kept splitting the pg. Eventually I got a bedazzler and this solved the problem. Not sure if Jaco had the same issue, but its a theory.
A touch, a touch, I do confess. Well played.
But seriously, methinks you are overly concerned about defending the talent and influence of a guy whose accomplishments speak for themselves. I don't recall to many people calling him bad names in this thread. Granted, if we were discussing (for the thousandth time) some legitimate aspect of his playing or his impact on the music world and every tom and harry dick came in with a wise ass remark there may be some grounds for getting upset. However, we are talking about hte hypothetical reason why he may or may not have done something more or less irrelevant to his music or sound and having fun with it. Lighten up a smidge man, life's too short.
What I wanna know is why didn't he play a Rickenbacker?
But seriously, methinks you are overly concerned about defending the talent and influence of a guy whose accomplishments speak for themselves. I don't recall to many people calling him bad names in this thread. Granted, if we were discussing (for the thousandth time) some legitimate aspect of his playing or his impact on the music world and every tom and harry dick came in with a wise ass remark there may be some grounds for getting upset. However, we are talking about hte hypothetical reason why he may or may not have done something more or less irrelevant to his music or sound and having fun with it. Lighten up a smidge man, life's too short.
What I wanna know is why didn't he play a Rickenbacker?
It's all good!!
I know, it's just a pickguard issue, but the Jaco bashing still comes through. Just like the Gene Simmons bashing.
Like them or not, they have made their impact on many people. Mostly positive.
Really, do we need to be bashing any bassists? We are bassists too. I don't like to go out of my way to let everyone know what bass players I don't like either from a musical or personal standpoint.
I'm just so sick and tired of all the Jaco bashing.
He has made an impact on my approach to thinking when it comes to bass and more importantly, music in general.
The guy gave us a lot of great musical gifts to listen to and push us to better things and yet way too many people have it out for him.
OK, enough of the Jaco bashing rant. It could go on for days.
Now, the Rickenbacker.....
I don't think Jaco could ever get the types of tones out of a Rickenbacker like he did with that Jazz Bass.
Ricks don't have that solid honkin' midrange that Jaco had with his Fender Jazz. They are more of a rock bass.
But then again...........
http://www.youtube.com/v/EySQ2ei1NTA&hl=en_US&fs=1
http://www.youtube.com/v/gDSV2Uklb7A&hl=en_US&fs=1
I'd like to know if he EVER played one though, and what his thoughts were if he did.
Because he knew that a generation later, Fender would release a tribute bass without the pickguard. Thus saving them money on the production costs, and increasing their profit margin. He was in on the take.
Actually the Pickguard is included in the case of the Jaco tribute bass.
I have some very talented nose hairs.
You don't know how talented some of the people here are.
