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Why is Jazz Bass still the best?

#81
rmayer said:
My apologies in that case. If you're referring to one of those "other" Brooklyn made basses, I have one of those too, but I think Vinny would rather your take them out to play, rather than keep them in the house.
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Nope, you're right to call me out on it. Probably the boutiques that are Jazz-like you could more or less exclude from the OT. At least those that tend to preserve LF's original ideas (easy to fix, not exotic and expensive to manufacture, etc).

Basically, if you can't put it on a jig and put the radius beam to it because it's too expensive or too other-universe-technology to dare doing it, I'd call that one of those "boutiques". To me, that's not really a player's instrument. A not-rich-enough-to-have-personal-luthier player's instrument that is.....

LS
 
#84
I don't know about the best, but they sure do work for getting FUNKY.
 

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#85
Munjibunga said:
Well, the whole concept of one bass being the overall best is silly. However, if you take time out of the equation, maybe the P bass thread is mocking this one. I believe this to be true because this thread has much more credibility than the other one.
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Ooohoohoo, interesting, I hadn't thought of it that way. I'm going to keep an eye on both of them just to see which one ends up being the more "productive" thread.
 
#86
blues_bassist said:
I've owned Jazz Basses in the past and they are solid, but for me it's impossible to beat the versatility of a Precision Bass. I will say though that I do like the unique tones that you can get out of a Jazz Bass.
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not sure I see how they are any more versatile than a Jazz bass, I get much more tonal range with a Jazz than a P. With a Jazz I can get a reasonably close P-Bass like tone*, but I have never heard a P-Bass get a bridge pickup burp like a Jazz...just not happening.

I think they have pickup envy since a P only has one, while the Jazz has two...it's just plain math, the Jazz is twice as good.

disclaimer: I love the sound of both

*YMMV
 
#88
Lichtaffen said:
I just came back from the "P Bass is the best bass ever" thread. They make a better argument. You better step up the debate.

Personally, I have one fine example of each and I only marginally prefer the P bass. Both are amazing.
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Sure, But the real question is which thread is going to have the best Labor Day BBQ? Now we'll have a new thread on what make a better wood for BBQ Alder or Ash. DOH!!!
 
#92
Although the Jazz isn't necessarily the best fit for everything I play, it always sounds like it belongs. I can't think of an instance where the tone was wrong. At least not to the point where I couldn't dial in something nice by simply adjusting the pots or varying my technique. If I could have only one bass, a Jazz would probably be it. Not that it's my favorite, but I think it does more things well than any other.
 
#93
To be mildly serious, if I may, I would say that I love my P bass, it's fun to play and sounds good pretty much anywhere. Tons of booty.
That said, my current gig has me with 2 guitarists, both w/ humbuckers, one with an 8 string guitar.
All that added up to a booty full of sludge. And that ain't right.

Tried out my J, and suddenly I can hear both guitarists better, and they can hear me better. Still trying to dial in a tone that works that doesn't sound like Geddy (not that that's a bad thing), but really digging it so far. The neck is like a playground...

Still love my P bass, though. That things Owns.
Usually.

As usual, YMMV, CK YR MPH, WSH YR HNDS, TTFN, etc.

wraub
 
#95
The Jazz bass has a better control over the midrange. It doesnt have that loose "flop flop" sound that the P bass has. Even with roundwounds, theres this flat sound that the P still has. And for me...Thats the worst sound....well...the worst recorded bass tone to me is Nathans Watts' tone on Sir Duke....that damn farting!!! But thats the engineers fault.
 
#98
tbplayer59 said:
I always ask, if jazz basses are so good, why do the best ones always have a preamp?
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Depends how you define "best". Other than in modern funk/fusion stuff, most all the jazzes I see being played nowadays are passive.

It simply expands your tonal options, which the two pickup design inherently lends itself to. Since the single, split-coil P design is so highly revered for its straight-forward simplicity, most people who use it probably wouldn't want any bells and whistles to begin with.
 
#99
tbplayer59 said:
I always ask, if jazz basses are so good, why do the best ones always have a preamp?
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Because people who know something about electronics realize that it's not a particularly great idea to send signal with the typical pickup impedance through a cable into the amp. I am not too fond of Swiss army knife preamps, I just want a buffer in my bass in order to minimize tone sucking and (in many cases) the noise. The best ones have a preamp because when you invest such an amount of money into a bass you expect your signal not to be lost in any way. If you do prefer the classical loss of high frequencies due to long cable runs, there's nothing wrong with that either.

All this being said, my favorite J is passive.
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