Your Jazz Bass settings: static or fluid?

[dougjwray]

I'm just curious. How many of you Jazz Bass users...
a) Always use one particular pickup selection-- your "signature sound"
b) Set the pickups for the room and leave them there
c) Tweak the pickup choice/blend throughout the gig, maybe even multiple times in each tune
No "I don't like Jazz Basses" responses, please!

 

[ItsmeSantiago]

As a recent "I don't like Jazz Basses" convert, I run both of them with both pickups 100%, 100% of the time. The passive I'll make tone adjustments sometimes and the active I'll tweak some parameters depending on what genre I'm playing, but I generally set and forget which is something I don't normally do with other instruments I've owned.

 

[dabbler]

My fav setting is neck full with bridge rolled back just enough to get scoop. But I also use both full up and series mode, which is a mod I out in still my fav J basses.

 

[Jefenator]

I'm the universe's balance to Jaco because I mostly use the neck pickup. (No other reason...)
I find the presence is in the same general ballpark as a P, but tangibly darker & deeper without being too murky. And there's some raw edge to be had when I dig in with a pick. On some gigs I'll rock that setting all night.
Both pickups is also a very relevant setting for me. It's the essence of the modern, scooped sound. (Actually nails that vibe w/ round strings better than some of my active basses.) And you get a bit more percussion and cancel out the hum. (With single coils, which I remain very partial to.)
I'm not much of a solo'd bridge pickup kind of guy, normally. But who doesn't occasionally want to be the hot knife cutting through butter? Especially when they call The Chicken.

 

[IPA]

My main issue with multi pickup basses is I can't stop myself from fiddling with the controls. P-bass, I set it and forget it, but on Jazz I'm constantly adjusting the volume and tone.

 

[Bass4ThePublic]

Honestly when using a jazz I find that I either use both pickups 100% or one of the two pickups 100%, with the other off. In most gigs/band situations, I really try to fiddle with my amp so my bass will sound good with either both pickups on or the neck pickup solo’d.

 

[pepj]

My default is both pickups on but i currently favour VVT plus pre amp over a blend pot.
I'll go from back pickup bias if I fancy that style for the song, to front pickup p bass type vibe.
I set my sound up on the gig with both pickups open and then alter depends on what I'm trying to do in the track.

 

[MonetBass]

My settings depend on the... er, setting. For acoustic gigs, I'll favor the bridge pickup (20% neck, 100% bridge). For most other gigs, I'll run both pickups full. Sometimes, though, I'll favor the neck pickup.

 

[Mike Vee]

I like either 1) both on, tone up (or around 80%) OR 2) bridge only, tone down. However, I am going to install Nordstrand NJ4SE noiseless pickups so that I can blend as I wish, and turn tone on full when different combinations are used.

 

[Spidey2112]

Usually, 100% for the neck, 85-90% for the bridge, and tone usually hovers around a third up from treble setting, depending on what I'm hearing from everyone else.

 

[jnewmark]

Pups up all the way, Tone up about half. On my '60, CS, I tend to fool around with the two tone knobs, but on my other Jazz basses, pretty much set and forget.

 

[nonohmic]

100% bridge, 25% neck, 25% tone. That's at home though.

 

[jimmydean]

I always run the bass at full and changes are made at the amp .

 

[WG Plum]

I change my settings depending on what I'm going for/which effects I'm using. I don't play standard music, however. Back in the day, when I was, I'd back both volume knobs off about 25% and roll the tone off about 25%.

 

[Grinderman]

My fav setting is neck full with bridge rolled back just enough to get scoop. But I also use both full up and series mode, which is a mod I out in still my fav J basses.

Unless you have an inline resistor (e.g. 220K) on the output side of your neck volume pot (that wouldn't conform with any classic or typical Jazz wiring scheme), that's the opposite of scooped with a pair of single-coil Jazz pickups.

When the volume/output of both pickups are set to parity, the mids become scooped and hum is canceled. Even rolling back/lowering the bridge pickup a small amount, relative to the neck pickup, reduces the scoop quite dramatically. This is because frequencies from both pickups are out of phase thus canceling each other, leaving a "scoop" on the midrange.

e.g. Jazz with both pickups wide open; scooped.





e.g. Not scooped. Bridge pickup volume is lower than the neck pickup's, while neck pickup volume is set at around 90%-95%.





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To the OP: It depends but I virtually never set both pickups to 100% or volume parity; my neck pickup is always set higher than bridge.

Also, I often roll down my neck pickup a tiny bit from 100%--more like 95%. The circuit load from doing that darkens the overall tone in a way that the tone control alone can not.

 

[nickpc]

On my active Jazz (Sadowsky) I'll have the blend knob set to have the neck pickup full and the bridge at about 75%. On my passive Jazz (USA Fender) I usually have the bridge up full and the neck at about 75%. Not sure why, but that's just where both basses end up even if I play around to find a new setting.

 

[JRA]

i vote "b)" and "c)" --- mostly b. my parts jazz is VBT, so i'll tweak the blend (or the volume) sometimes, on some tunes, at some gigs.

my jazz (music) gigs are set-it-and-forget-it, "b".

 

[Bread Knife]

I've never had occasion to change pickups mid-song (too fiddly), but I alternate between using the neck pickup alone and using both with the neck rolled back a touch. I'm still learning to love the bridge pickup solo sound and could be tempted to try it out in a band mix in the near future...

 

[Rip Van Dan]

I'm just curious. How many of you Jazz Bass users...
a) Always use one particular pickup selection-- your "signature sound"
b) Set the pickups for the room and leave them there
c) Tweak the pickup choice/blend throughout the gig, maybe even multiple times in each tune
No "I don't like Jazz Basses" responses, please!

I typically run my volume controls on my '82 (all-maple neck and 70's era pickup spacing [4" center to center]) dimed as well as my tone control. Every other EQ change I make at the amp. If I have one of my Eden amps with the semi-parametric controls, I'll dial in the room if there's a problem with the sound and cut or boost the offending frequency or frequencies.

Other than that I run my Eden amps EQ flat with the exception of a boost in the low mids up to about 1:30 at 250Hz. My DNA-800 amp doesn't have a semi-parametric control but its low-mids dial is centered at 500Hz, which works fine. Because my Eden amps use a shelving control at 30Hz for the bass and my DNA-800 amp has it set at 35Hz, I do boost the Bass EQ to 1 o'clock to come up with the same sound I get our of my Eden amps with the Bass set flat.

With my passive Jazz, just a little boost in the low-mids gives me presence and definition playing in a group without the need to blast everybody away with the volume. So I'm pretty much a one onboard setting guy with my passive Jazz bass. Then if I need a warmer/darker sound, I just pluck the strings closer to or over the neck. If I want a brighter sound I'll move my plucking position towards or over the Bridge pickup. I rarely need do anything different.

One place that I do fiddle with the tone knob though is if I'm playing the Beatles version of "Come Together". However, if I'm playing the Gary Clark, Jr. version of that song, I leave everything dimed. I don't really twist dials a lot once I have a good sound for the room and usually that's just with a little boost in the low-mids. Instead I'll change the position of my plucking hand as needed, to get the sound I want, when I want it.

 

[Grinderman]

Unless you have an inline resistor (e.g. 220K) on the output side of your neck volume pot (that wouldn't conform with any classic or typical Jazz wiring scheme), that's the opposite of scooped with a pair of single-coil Jazz pickups.

When the volume/output of both pickups are set to parity, the mids become scooped and hum is canceled. Even rolling back/lowering the bridge pickup a small amount, relative to the neck pickup, reduces the scoop quite dramatically. This is because frequencies from both pickups are out of phase thus canceling each other, leaving a "scoop" on the midrange.

e.g. Jazz with both pickups wide open; scooped.





e.g. Not scooped. Bridge pickup volume is lower than the neck pickup's, while neck pickup volume is set at around 90%-95%.





----

To the OP: It depends but I virtually never set both pickups to 100% or volume parity; my neck pickup is always set higher than bridge.

Also, I often roll down my neck pickup a tiny bit from 100%--more like 95%. The circuit load from doing that darkens the overall tone in a way that the tone control alone can not.

Thinking about this, because I don't like scooped mids, it occurs to me it might be worth trying an added 50K or 100K resistor inline from the output side of the bridge volume pot on my VVT Jazz bass. (yes, I know that implicates hum cancelation)