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Why?!?

Wallygator

Wallygator

Mar 16, 2007
196
23
Toronto, Canada
www.decibelgeek.com
#1
Ok, when I first started playing bass I bounced around a number if different ones trying to find my tone and my style. When I played my first real Fender P, I was hooked and I worked my way up to my dream bass an American Standard P which is beautiful and oh so comfortable to play.

Then I traded one of my Mexican P's for a Blacktop Jazz bass. I have never played or owned a jazz but the double P pickups looked very interesting and this bass SMOKES!. I have had so many compliments on the sound of this guitar and it has become my go to.

Last week I took my American P to band practice and as much as I enjoyed playing it, my bandmates commented on how the blacktop's tone was amazing the week before.

It annoys me that my entry level Blacktop seems to be out performing my Beautiful MIA. Could it be that I would be better suited with a Jazz?
 
#2
Maybe you could record them both and listen for the differences. You may still like the P-Bass. I am more a Jazz bass guy but Love the sound of a P-bass too. To me one is no better than the other just different......
 
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#3
Meh I played just about every Fender bass in a bunch of music stores in my city, best bass was a MiM Cabronita, beating out basses 3-4 times the price.

It's more consistent than my Rick... Yeah it pisses me off abit, but they are very different animals, I will still definitely use my Rick for more busy upper range bass stuff.
 
#5
There's no guarantee that price will translate to quality of the bass or that its particular tone will suit the setting you're using it in. Price just means they were a little more careful selecting materials and going over the details in constructing and inspecting it. A cheaper bass may not have had the benefit of that, but still have components that came together just right. It's really more that there are greater risks of getting a lemon, or just a mediocre take on the model. I've got a couple of instruments in the $1K ballpark, and a Yamaha that originally retailed $450 new (my mom got it for less when they discontinued the model). The cheaper Yamaha is every bit a match for the more expensive basses.
 
#6
The Blacktop Jazz is a a Jazz in shape only. What you hear is defined by the electronics, which is a different flavour of P. Don't get caught up on price, a good instrument is a good instrument and, very frequently, more money does not equal more bass.
 
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#11
Wallygator said:
It annoys me that my entry level Blacktop seems to be out performing my Beautiful MIA. Could it be that I would be better suited with a Jazz?
Click to expand...

Entry level just means "affordable". Has nothing to do with quality or professionalism. If the blacktop is the one that comes to life the best in your hands then that is your bass. Thank god it's not a fodera or alembic.

More and more pros are rocking Squiers and epiphones these days.
 
#17
I just traded my 2010 Fender American P last week because I just like the sound of my Yamaha BB414 way better when gigging so it never got used. The BB is a PJ style and I have both pups on full and I think that is what makes the difference at least to me. I traded the P for an active five string because I didn't have a 5 and my other basses are passive.
 
#18
Wallygator said:
More like a P bass on steroids. But with the thinner, faster Jazz neck.
Click to expand...

Wally's absolutely right-on here. Sonically, it's a beastly bass. For an example, here's a clip cut by fellow TB'er "audiomitch" playing with a pick. (check out that mad sustain!) I'm assuming it's with both pickups on full and the tone opened up to 50% or more.

Construction-wise, it's an MIM Jazz bass, but with two split-coil Precision pickups and a high-mass bridge. Everything else is identical to the MIM Standard Jazz.

Don't feel bad, Wally. You never know when something "magical" drops into your lap that defies all levels of expectation. I felt the same way the first time I tried out a Blacktop Jazz. I literally did a double-take when I hit that first open-E-string. ( :wideyed: = My Expression!) And as proof that lightning can strike twice; when I un-boxed mine at a completely different store, plugged it in and hit that same open-E…someone twenty feet away did the exact same double-take. :smug:
 
#19
I'm planning on buying a White Chrome Pearl Blacktop Jazz body, a Geddy Lee type neck…maybe satin finish, Duncan pickups, and some black hardware and making my own Jazz bass…just can't decide what type of pickguard. Black pearl, blue pearl, black abalone from pickguards.com or something really different from pickguard paradise.
 
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#20
Some basses sound better through certain amps, some basses record well and some basses just kick @. A typical Fender isn't complicated so it doesn't need to be expensive exactly. Sometimes I think the greatest difference between some of my basses is how I play them.
 
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