Tdw

I'd say hes got the action set pretty low but not extreme. I would imagine the fret noise would be pretty mild/not noticable in a full band context. Probably a good comprimise between slap and fingerstyle.

I would hope yes , however if I wanted to buy a super expensive bass I would probably go for a la fey or maybe alembic over a fodera

I've listened to the clip and it's a good sound. One thing I'd like to add is that when you are playing the bass yourself you'll hear the physical sound of the bass being hit because you're really close to it when you hear someone else playing it or a recording these sounds are much quieter or non existent making the sound smoother. I'd say the clip has compression on it and possibly other post production too. Also there is a drum pattern so you're hearing a mix (although a pretty simple one).

I suspect its not just the action but the only way to really find out is to lower the action and see what changes. It may be just that you prefer the slap sound if the yamaha to the fender. You could try backing off the volume on the front pickup to maybe 50 -80 percent. To be honest I still suspect your speaker may be holding you back a bit, maybe the yamaha has more output at a frequency around the highest point of your speakers output and is less compromised by the lack of a hf speaker. Sometimes we presume that something more expensive or famous (like a fender ) will be better for us than what we have (your yamaha) and that's not necessarily true. My advice would be 1 change the action on the fender 2 try the fender with the front pickup rolled down 3 try your basses through some kind of full range system ( a freinds tweetered cab, P.A system, hi fi or similar) to make sure it's not limited by the current speaker system. If after this you still prefer the yamaha then you probably just prefer the yamaha.

Hi Majid, the action could be affecting the sound of the pops although I would doubt that's the whole of the issue. Even so it sounds like you'd be better off lowering the action on the fender

I've not used a jazz bass for a while, but for slapping the lower the better on any bass. Some people including me set the action on a bass intended to be used primarily for slap so low that when played finger style it is sub optimal - the odd buzz or scrape noise coming through occasionally. Generally I would say set it as low as you can get away with for playing fingers style or pick or whatever your "standard" playing style is. Lower is almost always better for slap but it will usually be a compromise because you probably want it higher for fingerstyle.

One possibility which I think shoulderpet touched on earlier is that the treble control on the amp works at too high frequency for the speaker but the treble control on the yamaha bass is working at a frequency more appropriate to the speaker. In which case a pre amp or eq pedal would help. Does the treble control on the amp have an easily noticeable effect on the sound of either bass?

Is the action maybe higher on the jazz than on the yamaha, string height is pretty important for slap

If you can get the high end you want with the yamaha then yes the speaker can't be the whole story. How have you got the controls set on the jazz bass?

That sounds pretty likely to me, I've got a bf 110 cab which has a quoted hf of 6khz if I remember correctly (which is fairly high for a cab with just a woofer/bass cab speaker), the slap (or rather pop) sound is OK ish but not as clear or bright as a cab with a hf speaker, certainly nowhere near as hi fi as my acme low b cab.

Hi shoulder pet, I dont exactly disagree with you, I think it depends on what you want in a slap sound, if you want a bright slap sound especially on the pops then I think a tweeter or some other hf component is necessary if you are happier with a less bright slap sound then it may not be necessary. To be fair I don't know how the speaker in this combo performs but from what the op says about the slap sound lacking brightness I suspect the speakers freq range may be an issue.

Hi Majid, pressing the bright button will send more hf to the speaker but if the speaker isn't good at producing hf then this will not have much effect. A normal bass speaker/ woofer can produce the frequency for most bass sounds but will probably not be good for the pops especially. If you have a headphone out on your amp try plugging in some headphones and try some slapping you'll probably notice a big difference. if you don't have a headphone out you probably have a line out socket if you can connect the line out to a stereo system or something similar you can use that to hear your bass through a system with more hi fi speakers.

I don't think the fender 100 combo has a tweeter or high frequency horn. If this is the case its probably why you can't get the slap sound you want. You need a speaker with a hf component for a good bright slap sound. If I'm wrong and your combo does have a tweeter/horn then ignore what I'm saying. If you don't have a speaker that can produce high frequency then it doesn't matter what pre amp or bass you use.

You might try placing your current amp right in the corner of a room, this should get you a bit more low end at the volume level your amp can work at.

12 o clock may be normal for the eq controls, but the volume control doesn't really have a normal setting. I'd try setting the bass,mid and treble to 12 o'clock and setting the volume to its most anticlockwise position then try playing and slowly turning up the volume control.

That's interesting , surprising to hear that speakers of the same nominal size can handle such differing wattage. 40 for the orange 10s to 225 for the bf, that's a huge difference.

Double post

Bill, are you saying that the bf 110 has a mechanical limit of 500 Watts and the te 110 has a mechanical limit of 50 Watts or are these numbers just examples of extreme variation of speakers to illustrate a point?

Looks like a great amp you've got. Regarding the tube change, although it should reduce the volume at breakup it would probably be like going to the volume of a jet plane taking off at 50 feet away instead of at 49 feet away!

In that case valve's sound like a good move

I'm a fan of valve heads and have a couple of them. I sometimes gig with them but usually take a solid state class ab head instead. I prefer the valve sound but not usually by enough to compensate for the weight, fragility and hassle. If I had to gave one head it would be a good solid state one. Of course I'd want to keep both if I were you.

Ovation headstock, same rear body shape around the bridge, but not standard body shape, could be a cut down magnum(1 or 2) body or maybe a one off or prototype. I'd definitely say it's closely related to the magnum 1 or 2

I am a valve amp fan and I find the eden wt amps to be a good substitute for a valve amp. I like the warmth and soft attack of the valve heads and am not so fussed about distortion/overdrive. They won't be quite like a proper all valve job but I find the wt heads to be warm and smooth. I've heard the aguillar db 750 is a great substitute but then again they are more or less the price, weight and size of a big valve head. I've also heard good things about the thunderfunk and the genz gb series. Also mesa big block 750, although again not cheap.