Why does my Jazz Bass eat strings?

[GeneralElectric]

Could be an issue with the break angle on the bridge. I’d swap a set from your Jazz onto the L1000 though and see what’s up.

On my passive basses I find I don’t mind one bit when the strings start to mellow out. With active basses it starts sounding like a cardboard box when the strings are dead.

My stingrays last maybe 1-2 months with Elixirs while my Pbasses can last 6+ months. I think partially it’s because you’re expecting such a full range sound out of the preamp and with a passive bass it just gets more mellow.

YMMV

 

[80jazz]

Everybody knows that jazz is just an excuse to play the wrong notes.

But what a good one it is!

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

But what a good one it is!

Haha.

 

[2F/2F]

It sounds to me like your issue is that you consider the fresh-out-of-the package tone to be "the" tone of that particular bass. You appreciate the brand new tone more than you do on the G&L, and/or the G&L compensates for the broken in strings better, being a hotter and more compressed bass that smooths out the high of brand new rounds.

Fresh out of the package strings sound like total garbage to me, so I would consider this to be a positive thing.

What you should do is to practice at home with a new set of strings, until they stabilize. Then gig the bass, with the appropriate gain and e.q settings to get what you want. Adjust your "normal" on that bass to be with broken in strings, or start boosting your signal before the amp, and/or using more compression.

If they feel too loose after break in, then switch to a heavier set. I find anything below .110" roundwounds (in general) to feel like rubber bands, but that's what most people use.

But, bottom line: Don't judge a set of strings, or build your rig settings around them, until they have fully stabilized. I myself don't gig any bass until about a month after a string change. I will do practices to help the strings along, but not a gig, until they are dead stable in tone from one day to the next.

 

[Grizelda100]

You should probably buy another 10 or 12 basses so you can test if there is really a difference.

Just to be sure.

 

[Indiana Mike]

It’s a jazz bass.
Try some brighter strings.

 

[juancaminos]

When you say "they're like old rubber bands" what springs to my mind is a string installation problem.
I do apologise if I come across a bit brash but could it be possible you may need to revisit your string installation technique?
Ensure you have 3 or more winds around the tuning peg post.
Make sure you bend the string 90° at the tuning peg end, before snipping it. This prevents the inner coils from slipping away from the exterior coil.
Really bed the string in at the bridge/saddle. Ensure the slack is taken out of the strings by pulling each string away from the fretboard, starting at the bridge and working up towards the nut, then retuning... this may need several goes to remove all the slack...

And make sure there is no twist.

 

[juancaminos]

Have you looked at the spent strings inch by inch, under magnification if needed? You are looking for a place where the bass is cutting into them or marring them enough to kill them. Something like a bad fret, sharp nut or bridge?

 

[AlexanderB]

Interesting (and expensive) problem...

- Do the strings sound bad unamplified, as in playing the bass unplugged?
- When amplified, does it sound bad in all pickup settings? I find my regular Jazz setting (everything fully on/open) to expose dead strings early on. If I solo the neck pickup, the bass will still sound OK, allowing more milage. The inherent tone in the Jazz is less forgiving, so to say.
- What gauge strings do you use? I find lighter strings to be more forgiving.

That said, to me, it is a sign of a good, lively, resonant bass, that it will play well, and sound "musical"/"pleasant" even with old strings. Many Fender Jazz basses (including MIA!) I have tried, sound dull and dead unless strings are fresh.

 

[fretlessman71]

I wonder if swapping out the bridge would change anything.

 

[coy garcia]

I have also been playing about as long and I am a string destroyer. In recent years I've discovered chome flats. They can be pretty bright and tight (low action) and will hold up for decades. 20yr old chromes and the strings are still bright and tight on one of my basses. I know going to flats is weird but it worked for me.
Also using a string lubricant on rounds to keep them feeling good.

 

[Dragan]

It's probably pickups they put recently in fender jazz basses. I had am.pro 2017.which sounded dull and dead, sold it in a week. On the other hand my Music Man Sting Ray tolerate even much more older strings and still sounds more lively than the particular j bass.

 

[Corigan]

I cant really help you with your problem, but I have atleast 30 hrs on the DR hi beams I have strung on my jazz bass, and they are still slapable. Not sure why yours are dying so quickly. Even a set of super slinkys would last me a long time on a jazz before they went completely dead.

 

[devnulljp]

Only one solution.

Fire the drummer?

 

[AlexanderB]

By the way, have you tried lowering the pickups? If too close, the magnetic pull might interfere with tone and sustain.

 

[JW56789]

Jazz Bass eating your strings . . . . OK . . . . try this: Next time you install new strings (pretty soon from what this sounds like), first rub them down in jalapeno juice or Tabasco, THEN put 'em on.

Believe me, that'll stop that right NOW.

 

[lunarpollen]

My suggestion:

Take a set of the dead strings from the Jazz and try them on the L1000. How do they sound?
Take a set of broken-in strings from the L1000 and try them on the Jazz. How do they sound?

It could be that there is something about the Jazz that doesn't jive well with broken-in strings and makes them seem totally lifeless.

 

[tpaul]

Your jazz bass is cursed. You can live with it or you can get rid of it and move on with your life.

 

[goran]

I had a Stingray that was just like that - it sounded great with fresh strings, but once they lost the initial zing, it sounded dead. Once I paid attention on the unplugged sound I realized that it's no pickups or electronics - it's just a bad instrument and there's nothing I can do to help it.

After that I started paying a lot more attention to how the bass sounds unplugged, and that is now first criteria to determine whether it is a keeper or not.

 

[AlexanderB]

I had a Stingray that was just like that - it sounded great with fresh strings, but once they lost the initial zing, it sounded dead. Once I paid attention on the unplugged sound I realized that it's no pickups or electronics - it's just a bad instrument and there's nothing I can do to help it.

After that I started paying a lot more attention to how the bass sounds unplugged, and that is now first criteria to determine whether it is a keeper or not.

Exactly. That is the same thing I mentioned about so many Fenders I have tried.