sykilz

Thanks, sure that humbucker will have some punch. Are they light weight basses, have read they are, I really want something as light as my jazz or lower (8 lb 5oz)? Cheers if you can remember!

Cheers, Bassbunny, I did check out your write up, was it a rock friendly sound, found some funky clips on youtube, but I'm more of a basic finger thumper!!??

That Cort looks nicer every time I look, and they're light too,not too much info about them around though.

Thomann is doing the Cort Arona, which has a MM type pup and a jazz, and the new bottom of the range but quite well reviewed Sterling Subs both for reet cheap.( Cort £195 and sub £245). The Cort especially looks very nice, with some Sandberg hardware on it, and about half the original price, I guess the model bombed and they're selling off old stock, but even so, looks like a good deal.

Sold my 2006 active corvette for £400, mind you it onlycost me £360 three years ago, worth hunting around a bit.

Thanks, I assume if I use a credit card I'm kind of protected anyway, just being Mr. paranoid.....!

As the title says,sounds like a little company based in the Cotswolds, turns out Woodbrass is a massive warehouse in Paris, however they can do a set of pups I'm after for £83 delivered, and they're £99 from GAK, is it worth the risk, anyone used them? Cheers!

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1404806009' post='2495770'] Cheers mate! You guys sounded wicked. Loved the Beastie Boys! We're down Romford/Dagenham way fairly often. Have you played The Crown in Hornchurch? We love it there! [/quote] I've been there a few times, we must try to get some gigs there, we seem to concentrate on Brentwood/ Chelmsford areas, I'm the new guy as been in the band about 10 months! We were meant to finish with Ace of Spades but we had to cut short as the previous band took an encore against guidelines, oh well! Saxon rule!

[quote name='allighatt0r' timestamp='1404741542' post='2495259'] Sykilz, we were at the same festival, I was in the band after you! I wondered if there were any basschatters about. What an awesome stage that was! I was crapping myself for the first couple of songs. Can honestly say I don't think I've ever looked so cool in my life, nor will I approach this level of cool ever again. [/quote] Fantastic, I loved your set mate, the Maiden cover was awesome, and I don't say that lightly! You sounded great, both the bass and the band, hope we sounded o.k. The stage was great wasn't it, we've done a couple of outdoor gigs this year, my first ones ever, and had a real blast! Will def come see you again, my type of music!

[quote name='GrammeFriday' timestamp='1404664319' post='2494524'] Good to hear! I am partial to a bit of dad rock myself, so this makes me want to try once again to persuade my covers band to include a cover of Back in Black! (Not holding my breath, though ...) [/quote] One of, if not THE finest rock riff ever, and still widely played on the radio so why not cover it, most people know it, even non rock fans!!

Model Js do top my list to try now, thanks for the help so far!

Me doing a local festival, complete with hat because it rained most of the day, but dried up an hour before our set which was cool. Until this year ( I'm 45 now!) I'd never done an outdoor show, so spend most of the gig gazing mystically into the far distance trying to spot people I know!!

I have the cheaper TC BH500 head and play "dad rock" through a 4x10 mostly , in a very loud band, and I rarely run the master volume past 9 o'clock, in stark contrast to the Ampeg PF500 which I had to run to breaking point just to be barely audible, in fact it used to cut out, a lot. So if my TC only puts out 236 watts then it does so very cleverly, and effectively, I personally have always liked the tone, but then , IMO, when playing rock stuff tone doesn't have to be subtle, just loud and punchy will do!!

Well, mucked around with amp on Fridays gig, and was very happy with the tone I got from the jazz, still could use a tad more mids, but I would hope a change in pups might help there. Sat we played a festival through a friends rig and big p.a and got very good reports about the sound of both bass and, more importantly, the band as a whole, so chuffed really, and watched some youtube clips taken there and it sounds immense! Interestingly the band on after us used a jazz, he sounded great, really deep yet plenty of snarly top too, they did classic metal,and then the headliners bassist used a single cut 6 string thing with fanned frets...don't know the make, sorry, but it sounded......dull, not muddy dull, just a bit sterile, they did pop numbers so was expecting a bright snappy sound. So there we are, think I will go down the pup swap route for now, so glad not to have to do much more as I'm loving the weight, balance and feel of my jazz, if theres ever another thread about how good mex basses can be, if you spend a bit of time trying them out, you should find what you're looking for...! ( the mex p bass I tried was way heavier and the neck was like a telegraph pole thickness!)

Gig tonight, going to spend more time with my amp ( TC BH 500 into 4x10 ) and see if I can't tweak out a better,rockier tone by using the compression settings and the tube emulation thing, as other ( proper! ) bands always sound immense when you hear a jazz going through an old Ampeg or such like. That is not an affordable or practical solution for me, and like I say the Yamaha gives that ballsier tone, but the jazz is much more playable and comfortable too, as the post above says, I'm now feeling a bit reluctant to chop and change immediately, and will consider over the weekend if I should do the pup swap, there are a set of SD q.pounder jazz pups on here for sale, but I'd rather some hum cancelling ones if I'm going to do it.

The bass will, for the foreseeable future, be playing rock covers , in a live environment, I don't do originals and record anymore, so the sound doesn't have to be pure P bass, just be " thick" enough to provide the lovely lowness beneath the guitar onslaught!! I have been playing in my home the last few hours, and the feel of the jazz is just incredible, I really want to keep at least the neck, but the body is so well balanced and comfortable that I think I want to keep that too. I reckon, with much google to back me up, that the pup swap and series/ parallel switch may be the sensible route to go first, hopefully some used pups come up soon!

[quote name='wingnutkj' timestamp='1404380780' post='2492028'] Just one other suggestion to throw in there - have you thought about adding a series-parallel switch to the Jazz? It's a reasonably straightforward modification, and gives you vaguely p-like tone as an alternative to the usual Jazz tones (and costs significantly less than the GASier alternatives!) [/quote] I did indeed and have got a quote from Kiogon on here for one, this along with the Dimarzio pups I like will cost about £150, and is an option that looks very do-able.

[quote name='hubrad' timestamp='1404307894' post='2491407'] My friends used to run book on how long a new instrument would last before I started messing.. [/quote] Superb! Sad thing is from 1991 to 2008 I had one bass, a Washburn 5 string, then got back in a band after two year off, and the internet had happened. Too much information not always good for the wallet!

Thanks to all so far, there seems to be a slight edge toward trying different pups, and that maybe what I try first, at least if done carefully then I can recoup some of the cost if not to my taste. I've not done a full gig with the Yamaha yet, will try friday and hope it doesn't weigh me down too much,if not then I'll happily gig it as my main bass and take my time with the jazz, I just don't want it to be a money pit!! Great opinions, truly surprised by the number of people who have taken time to reply, thanks. Or perhaps lots of people have been in the same situation....!

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1404241455' post='2490765'] Too cheap! They kick the arse off of SD quarter pounders, the hottest passive pickups I've ever come across! And they are very present in the mids. Worth a go definitely [/quote] Sounds promising, mids are goooood!

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1404239497' post='2490739'] Try the Entwistle neodymium j pickups, theyre huge!!! [/quote] Very cheap compared to the big name brands too, how do they compare for output to bog standard Mex pups and hotter Dimarzios I wonder?

[quote name='Horizontalste' timestamp='1404238158' post='2490717'] Yamaha BB's have notoriously hot pickups so you probably shouldn't make the comparison between the two. If you like the tone of the jazz save your money & use the controls on your amp. [/quote] I think maybe there lies my problem, I almost like the tone of the jazz....just not quite. You're quite right, the level of output isn't the end of the world as my amp has an input gain level, I want a bit more "fullness" from the front pup especially, I think I'm leaning towards keeping the bass as I tried lots in the shop, and this one, although a Mex, was the best made and feeling bass in the shop for me.

Thanks for the variety of replies, all things I've considered to be honest, was hoping everyone would have one idea only!! The jazz is such a great feeling bass, ideal weight and balance, and I got to choose my colour scheme I always wanted too, so would love to keep it, just want more .....umph!!

[quote name='Telebass' timestamp='1404235690' post='2490675'] Get a Squier VM Fretless Precision and do the neck swap. Change the pckup also if you want. Lightest Precision you'll ever own, guaranteed. [/quote] Funnily enough I did look at one of these yesterday! Another option, maybe replacing the Matt Freeman option. Also there is an Ibanez SR 600 I've been offered for a reasonable price, played one before and loved the feel, but can it do the middy front humbucker type sound??