Hi Guys,
And thanks for all your comments, I take on board what you all say. I understand the differences between the 2 basses, woods, pups, etc. And I know I'll never get a Jazz to sound exactly like a Ric, without installing Ric electrics etc, etc. What I am wanting to do, is get it somewhere in the same ball park. A deep powerful ballsy tone.
That's what's drawing me towards the Dark Stars. They are a powerful single coil, with a low, wide winding (pole pieces under the strings), rather than the Jazz pups which are a tall narrow winding(pole pieces either side of the strings).
So it would be great to get some feedback on Dark Stars and whether or not they'll get the tone of my Jazz to where I want it. As I said I've never heard Dark Stars in the flesh, only on recordings, and was hoping some one out there might be able to give me an idea of what they sound like in real life. I understand they're not going to sound like a 4003/4001, but how do they compare to them sonically. Do they have that big ballsy sound like a Ric or do they sound more like a P or a Jazz or whatever......
I did toy with the idea of swapping the 64's for 84's and restringing with flats, that might get me somewhat closer to the tone I'm after. But I came across the Dark Stars and they really got me intrigued.
I absolutely love playing my Ric and really love the Jazz to play, but would never gig with it as to my ears it just sounds nowhere near as good as the Ric. If I can get the Jazz to sound good, then I've got a choice of 2 great basses to gig with. If it's not pos, then I might have to bite the bullet, sell the Jazz and buy another Ric. I'd rather not go down the pre-amp path, right or wrongly just not a fan of active basses.
Cheers Guys,
Mario.