Jazz basses, what's the point?

[basshead56]

On 29/05/2025 at 08:11, jezzaboy said:

A few months back I bought a 60th aniv Mexican road worn Jazz form Bass Bros. Usually I buy a Jazz, keep it for a few weeks, sell on losing a few bob and repeat this at regular intervals. But this bass has got under my skin and I don`t know why. The "wear" on the top edge of the body looks like it was done with a sander and I`m not very keen on the concentric vol and tone set up but there is just something about it I love.

 

Must be getting mellow in my old age.

 

 

It was exactly one of these that re-stoked my love of the Jazz!

Picked one up in March last year - lovely Firemist Silver, which is more of a light blue if I'm honest... But WOW! The feel of the neck, the sound of the pickups, the matching headstock and the lovely stacked knobs! Truly beautiful and almost impossible to put down! It does feel like a genuine vintage bass, for the most part.

 

Since then I have added a few more Jazz basses: a 2003 Am Deluxe QMT, a 2010 Victor Bailey, a 98 American Standard and 2 x American Pro II's (the most recent being the Dark Night, which will serve as the last bass i ever buy - still no one believes me hahaha)

 

I started off on a Jazz many many ago (Mexican Standard J - still at my parents house in Ireland to this day) but decided the P was way more punk back then hahaha.  Always preferred the look and the feel of the Jazz but preferred the sound of the Precision - maybe that's why I love my pink Mark Hoppus Mk 1 so much!

 

I agree with some of the above posts around them sounding a little less full when compared with a P. They definitely need a bit more tweaking when trying to get them to sound more bottom-heavy but I do find them to be incredibly versatile when it comes to dialing in some different tonal options. It has taken me a long time to learn that the trick is NOT having both pickups and tone all the way up.

 

I like swapping back and forth between J's and Stingrays live.

I do find myself having to play a little bit lighter when playing with fingers and swapping from P or Stingray to a Jazz, as I find the Jazz pickups are a little less forgiving when it comes to 'digging in' - never a problem with any of my Precisions!

[Stub Mandrel]

Tonight, despite being in a good room and my eq virtually flat, my jazz sounded lifeless.

 

It was only 2/3 of the way through the rehearsal I realised that I had tried the tones off, neck pickup backed off a bit reggae sound before we started. I'd reset my volumes but not the tones...

 

Anyway... it's originals and for one song I needed inspiration and a more aggressive sound. I found both with a pick. The changed sound inspired me to a much better bassline.

[Terry M.]

No idea if this has been said before but I'm in the Jazz camp because it can do a P "impersonation" whereas a P can't impersonate a J. I like both 60s and 70s pickup spacing but lean towards the 60s for more authority in a band mix. I'll take either however.

Edited 17 hours ago by Terry M.

[Lozz196]

Agree Terry, I can get pretty near my Precisions with my Jazz, front pickup on full, bridge pickup 30%, tone 70%. 

[Stub Mandrel]

2 minutes ago, Lozz196 said:

Agree Terry, I can get pretty near my Precisions with my Jazz, front pickup on full, bridge pickup 30%, tone 70%. 

 

My default setting is about that with tone full.

 

I like both pups up as well for the 'hollow' sound.