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Post by Johnkenn on Jun 18, 2017 10:11:03 GMT -6
I've had this cheap P Bass (Squier Classic Vibe) for years. It has served its purpose, but I've never fully been satisfied with my bass tone. I always chalked it up to my shitty bass playing (which will remain shitty), but I've been wondering if I shouldn't try a jazz bass for a more punchy, midrange tone. Any thoughts?
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Post by Bob Olhsson on Jun 18, 2017 10:18:26 GMT -6
Go try some new p-basses!
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Post by Martin John Butler on Jun 18, 2017 12:42:14 GMT -6
Jazz basses sound better, Precision's neck's feel better.
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Post by Bob Olhsson on Jun 18, 2017 12:48:43 GMT -6
That's not my experience recording Jazz basses.
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Post by popmann on Jun 18, 2017 15:45:31 GMT -6
Jazz bass sound better for recording? Not IME. Not unless you're recording the amp they're plugged into.
But, DI, the instrument (and DI if instrument is passive) QUALITY is more important than the "type".
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Post by Martin John Butler on Jun 18, 2017 16:10:13 GMT -6
Every single time I've heard an outstanding bass sound that I noticed for quality, I did some research, and it was more often than not, a Jazz. I have a lovely 1994 Mexican P-Bass. My student bought a new Mexican Fender Jazz bass. We tracked some songs, and his bass simply sounded better through the same gear, so that's my experience. Not saying it's the last word.
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Post by popmann on Jun 18, 2017 17:50:39 GMT -6
A NEW anything Fender will beat a 90s anything (save custom shop) Fender. They've made huge improvements post 2008 across all their lines. FWIW. In some cases HUGE. I had a little trouble selling my 90s JazzV in fact because the 2008s had just come out and they were SO much nicer....a year earlier, it would've moved WAY quicker.
But, you know--a Jazz does have that ONE unique trick. Both pickups on, tone open--nothing sounds like a Jazz, so if that's the sound you want....anything else is a poor substitute.
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Post by jimwilliams on Jun 19, 2017 14:20:26 GMT -6
Best is the P-J bass. Mine is a Koa P body with a jazz neck. It has a custom made Duncan low impedance P-bass pickup wound to 1k ohms per coil. That does 32k hz flat. The J pickup is a custom made Bartolini hum-canceller with a 15k hz resonant peak, a special version he made for me back in 1981. That has plenty of mids like most Bartolini pickups. The entire innards are screened and there is zero noise from this rig.
Those pickups feed a dual on-board preamp with a 5 meg input impedance to capture all the highs/bandwidth. There is an active panpot and a phase switch for blending. That feeds a two band sweep EQ. 40~2k hz for the low band, 1k to 22k hz for the hi band, + - 15 db, 1.1 octave bandwidth. It runs on + - 15 volts via a 5 pin XLR cable with the standard Alembic wiring. It's line level so I don't need DI's or preamps. Recording I patch it into a Aphex 651 and feed the converter direct.
It's a dial a sound bass, thousands of great tones. Pretty much any sound you wish.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Jun 19, 2017 15:18:40 GMT -6
I wonder how this ^ thing sounds. Always gonna be a mystery.
John, it really depends on the sound that you like. If you prefer jazz tones, you won't get that from a P and vice versa.
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Post by ragan on Jun 19, 2017 15:35:02 GMT -6
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Post by EmRR on Jun 19, 2017 16:22:49 GMT -6
Humbucker Tele!
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Post by ragan on Jun 19, 2017 16:24:45 GMT -6
My friend and former bass player plays a 60s Tele bass. It's beautiful in all regards. |
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Post by EmRR on Jun 19, 2017 16:29:19 GMT -6
Only Tele downside is it's a heavy pig. Mine is heavier than any P I've ever played.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Jun 19, 2017 16:56:15 GMT -6
Great quickie video, thanks Ragan.
To me in that video, the vintage Jazz sounds like a BASS, not a bass guitar, if you know what I mean.
My friend has a 60's Jazz bass. I used it once for a session. I played at least 30% less notes than I usually do, because that thing sustained forever, and it sounded so full, less was truly more that day. Those other basses sounded great in their own way, but as soon as the 58' Jazz was played, I went ahhh.. there it is.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Jun 19, 2017 17:11:04 GMT -6
Great quickie video, thanks Ragan. To me in that video, the vintage Jazz sounds like a BASS, not a bass guitar, if you know what I mean. My friend has a 60's Jazz bass. I used it once for a session. I played at least 30% less notes than I usually do, because that thing sustained forever, and it sounded so full, less was truly more that day. Those other basses sounded great in their own way, but as soon as the 58' Jazz was played, I went ahhh.. there it is. 58 jazz is a unicorn. |
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Post by Martin John Butler on Jun 19, 2017 17:42:24 GMT -6
That rare eh? My friend's mid 60's bass sounded just like that though..
Why can't a new Fender bass sound like that?
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Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2017 19:57:02 GMT -6
Had a '65 P-Bass many years ago (still kicking myself for trading it). It was a lovely instrument with a low-profile neck that was great for jazz and GB. That axe helped me get through grad school. The combination of that instrument and Roto-sound round-wounds gave me a lot of tonal flexibility. For jazz or funk, I'd have put that bass up against any instrument you could find. I think in the pre-CBS and early CBS days there was a lot more experimenting than there is now. Later P-basses always felt like blocks of lumber by comparison.
I've currently got a Squier fretless Jazz clone that feels pretty good. But I think the moral of the story is that it's the individual instrument. While the design of Fender basses is time-tested, they're all mass-produced instruments that spend more time on the router than they do with the luthier. In general I always felt that a P had a nice little thump that lined up well with the kick, while a jazz had a nicer tone. But the opposite is equally true.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Jun 19, 2017 20:51:05 GMT -6
That rare eh? My friend's mid 60's bass sounded just like that though.. Why can't a new Fender bass sound like that? The first production Jazz Bass was built in March 1960. In Fender’s summer price list that year, it was listed at $279.50 for a sunburst-finish model and $293.47 for a blonde or custom-color finish. |
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Post by Martin John Butler on Jun 20, 2017 7:54:47 GMT -6
Doing the inflation equation, $279.50 would cost over $2265 today. That gives us some perspective, and clearly, it was never cheap to get top of the line Fender basses.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Jun 20, 2017 8:20:11 GMT -6
Doing the inflation equation, $279.50 would cost over $2265 today. That gives us some perspective, and clearly, it was never cheap to get top of the line Fender basses. The point was that a 58 Jazz bass didn't exist... |
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Post by Martin John Butler on Jun 20, 2017 8:57:20 GMT -6
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Post by drew571 on Jun 24, 2017 17:42:13 GMT -6
Just picked one of the new American professional series p-bass for 1100. Looks like it was never played. Has a 63 neck and it sounds killer. Very happy with it.check em out.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Jun 25, 2017 8:05:51 GMT -6
Dang, that does sound good, no hanging note resonances.
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Post by popmann on Jun 26, 2017 21:22:37 GMT -6
That's nice that they used the 63 profile (thick front to back) without the 1.75" width at nut. I find that makes string spacing annoying and harder to play. You wouldn't think an 1/8 of an inch matters....but, it does.
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Post by nnajar on Jun 27, 2017 1:49:46 GMT -6
I can only think of one or two specific instances where I would prefer a jazz to a p.... the p just sounds like a bass should sound, and without any fuss.
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