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Why did Jaco remove the pickguard?

#122
So if no pickgaurd sounds different than with, what about the difference between an aluminum gaurd ala 50's P vs later plastic gaurd (both with and without sheet metal shield)?

I think he was trying to cop and was a few $$ short; pickgaurd didn't keep him from playing music so off it went.
 
#135
The pickguard gives the bass a more compressed tone. By removing it the mids opened up and created the "Jaco" tone. He further tweeked the bass by strategically removing "specific" areas of the finish to "dial in" the perfect tone. Brilliant!
 
#136
rcarraher said:
Anything that goes on the wood, including the finish can conceivably affect the sound.
Click to expand...

No argument there. Operative word is "conceivably". (fwiw, I took a guitar repair course taught by John Amaral years ago, and the only thing I remember from that entire semester was John's quote on Day One: "Everything affects an electric guitar's tone. The real question is, By How Much?")


rcarraher said:
But to what degree? The PG difference could probably be detected by a really good ear, or lab instruments, but not appreciably.
Click to expand...

Now you're just guessing. :)

I have no dog in this race per se; I don't doubt that a plastic pickguard screwed onto the top of a solid body bass could affect the tone, nor do I believe that it goes without saying.

What really interests me however is how most opinions on the matter are either A) pure conjecture; or B) the results of empirical tests subject to Expectation Bias. So I would love to do some true ABX Double Blind tests to see whether anyone could in fact audibly discern the difference between (otherwise identical) pickguarded and pickguardless basses.

Who's down? I'll bring the beer.
 
#137
Jaco didn't remove the pickguard, he installed one made of Dark Matter, thus greatly increasing the mass and improving sustain. He could also pluck 16ths by shooting lasers from his eyes, and bench press a baby elephant while playin Moments Notice with his left pinky toe.

Fot the record, i just removed mine, and boy oh boy, the bass really breathes and resonates freely now. what was it that Charlie Brown says again...
 
#138
Hoover said:
What really interests me however is how most opinions on the matter are either A) pure conjecture; or B) the results of empirical tests subject to Expectation Bias.
Click to expand...

since i'm the idiot (i say this cause i'm a lurker who didn't expect the amount of put-downs based on my first post) who brought up the idea of pick guards changing the sound (and did NOT offer the opinion that pastorius did so for that reason, cause i don't really care, "remove the pick guard" was the thing that caught my attention) . . .

let me just say that i fall into the empirical "test" category, with the caveat that i did it back in 1976 or so, and had no expectations of a any result whatsoever. it was just a fluke (don't remember why i did it, i was doing all sorts of weird bass stuff back then) and i thought it sounded better to me.

simple (though i know some people find it hard to believe). ymmv.
 

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