Your Jazz Bass settings: static or fluid?

[Swerve]

Every passive J I’ve owned, not many, didn’t seem to actually blend between the two pickups. If I kept the neck pup on full and started turning down the bridge pup it would just turn it off. I think some folks think they’re blending the two pickups when they’re actually not, it’s an illusion. Or maybe my jazzes just sucked. Lol

 

[Killing Floor]

I use blend. I like being able to push one way or other if a song needs more depth or punch or sproing.

 

[Nephilymbass]

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 use two different settings with my jazz. The tone and bridge pickup always stay on 100%. The neck pickup volume control though I switch between off and about 90%. Neck pickup on 90% is kind of my standard rock tone with the jazz bass. There’s an odd thing with a lot of jazz basses where all knobs all the way up actually sounds smaller than rolling back the neck pickup a hair. Maybe it’s a phase thing. The neck pickup rolled off is when I’m going for more of a throaty Jaco kind of vibe.

 

[Grinderman]

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.

Do I remember correctly that you had a beloved and now long-lost '65 Jazz? With all else being equal, I figure your '82 Jazz bass must have a noticeably different tone/sound than the '65.

I had a '65 Jazz about 30 years ago.

 

[pisces_bass]

I mess with the pup blend and passive tone control quite a bit. There’s a lot of variety in clean tone but it really makes a difference with drive sounds.

 

[Grinderman]

Every passive J I’ve owned, not many, didn’t seem to actually blend between the two pickups. If I kept the neck pup on full and started turning down the bridge pup it would just turn it off. I think some folks think they’re blending the two pickups when they’re actually not, it’s an illusion. Or maybe my jazzes just sucked. Lol

This wouldn't be the first I've heard people report this from VVT Jazz basses but I've never encountered this myself with mine. I have to wonder how those were wired to do that.

 

[MCS4]

I've been playing mostly jazz/super-jazz style basses for well over 20 years now, and I've almost never deviated from "both pickups full on" other than occasionally when messing around with sounds at home. I'm not sure if I've ever favored one pickup over another for even a single second during any live gig or recording session. To my ear every other setting sounds as though it is "missing" something compared to the full-on sound.

 

[CallMeAl]

Generally it stays around neck 10, bridge 8, tone 8. But I’ll cut bridge or tone back more if it’s needed for the situation. that’s how I run Pj Basses too

 

[blr2]

I roll off my bridge PU about 1/4 of a turn. It doesn't turn off the bridge PU, not on the basses I had/have. If I roll off the neck PU completely, the tone changes, and the buzz gets louder.

 

[buldog5151bass]

On any bass, I try to be a "set and forget", other than rolling off the tone knob if I want something darker.

 

[DuluthDank]

I've never liked multi pickup basses, and always have just used one pickup solo all the time to get the best pure tone. I recently got a jazz bass to see if I could get over that with the original, most iconic multi-pickup bass...and I found that I always just solo either the bridge or neck pickup.

I will admit that in theory the neck pickup up all the way with the bride slightly rolled back could be a nice "neck pickup with extra bite sound", but to me it's a relatively subtle difference in the mix.

 

[pbassnut]

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 personally favor "everything on 11" when I play my Jazz basses ... although I periodically do some stuff with just the neck pickup wide open.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

Do I remember correctly that you had a beloved and now long-lost '65 Jazz? With all else being equal, I figure your '82 Jazz bass must have a noticeably different tone/sound than the '65.

I had a '65 Jazz about 30 years ago.

Right on Grinder man. I bought in in 1966 and played it in groups through high school, a couple of years of college, and then toured with a nightclub group 1971 through 1973. Then I used it for weekend gigs in the LA area from 1973 until we moved to Oregon in February of 1976. Then while staying at the in-laws house while we waited for our apartment to be cleaned and painted, their house was burglarized and they took all my touring gear including my '65 Jazz and my piggy-back Standel amp that weighed a ton.

I ended up with my '82 Jazz through a happy set of circumstances. Was working part time at Apple Music in Oregon because I'd gone back to school part-time. Fellow brought in this mint condition Jazz and traded it towards an Aria Pro II with active controls. After my Jazz was stolen I couldn't find another one that had that early 60's Slim C-shape neck on a 7.25" radius. This one has that neck on an all-maple neck. I didn't realize at the time that it had the 70's era pickup spacing.

Yes it does indeed sound different than my '65 Jazz. My '65 had the classic maple neck with rosewood fret board and the 60's pickup spacing, which is 3.6" center to center. The 70's spacing is 4" center to center. My '82 has both much more sustain than my '65 did (perhaps because of the all maple neck?) and a slightly brighter sound because that bridge pickup up is almost 1/2" closer tot he bridge.

I didn't find out my '65 had foam mutes glued onto the underside of that big ashtray pickup cover until 1971 when I was doing a thorough clean and polish and had removed the pickup covers. I left the middle one off but kept the big one over the bridge. You know even after removing that open-cell foam and removing the glue from the inside, the sustain was just OK. My '82 has far better sustain.

I'd love to have my '65 back, but even if I got it back, my '82 would still be my #1 because it just sounds so good to me through my DNA and Eden gear. Still...I miss it!

This is my '65 Jazz back in late 1971 or early 1972. My Standel amp is behind the guitarist:

 

[Gervais Cote]

Both volumes and tone 100% most of the time.

Neck 100%, bridge 0% and tone 50% when I don’t have one of my precision bass handy.

And when I play the second portion of Twilight zone from Golden Hearing, neck 0%, bridge 100% and tone 100%…………….and people better dance in front of me !

(Goodness, that’s a versatile tool……….!)

 

[RGerhart]

I generally run both pickups 100%, but depending on the song, I'll switch between 75% neck/100% bridge; and vice versa, 100% neck/75% bridge. I don't think I've ever really completely solo'd either pup.

 

[ravlin]

C. basic tone changes for the song. I rarely use both at 100% because I don't want the scoop. I typically max one pickup and back the other one off to taste in coordination with the tone knob.

 

[seescottrock]

I run with Volume and Tone all the way up, Blend slightly favoring the bridge, and go for it. I love this sound and i'm thinking about higher output pups so I can have more of it.

 

[Kael]

My only jazz currently is a fretless. I put it in series mode, throw the tone knob full open and go to town. I used to play with knobs until I recorded gigs and listened back. One bass tone per show is all that is needed. Anything beyond that winds up making the FOH engineer work too hard.

 

[Parzival]

B. Usually it ends up with both pickups dimed or sometimes I will favor the neck pickup a little or bridge a little based on the room. When I played a passive Jazz, I kept both pickups dimed all the time. I like playing an active Jazz much better.

 

[Five or Six]

sproing

Now there is bass terminology! Sproing! LMAO!