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Damn that J Retro Jazz bass sound...


bubinga5
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A good demo of how a East pre..and probably others as well..can liven up a tad..as that is all it has to do..a great passive sound.

the last thing you should have to do is get heavy with the controls..they have great tonal shaping possibilities..but they can also shag the sound out of sight.
Quick and easy..... passive can get there as well, but you'll put your time in a lot more often, IMO.. so the Pre wins there for me.

I do sometmes run the basses passive if the general conditions allow it...but the East pre is the get out of jail card as well.

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[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1338914618' post='1681017']
Why do none of the Fenders I try sound like this?
[/quote][quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1338915564' post='1681046']
...I have to say the passive Jazz sounds really nice in that guy's hands![/quote]

And there you have it. :)

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[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1338915564' post='1681046']
But I have to say the passive Jazz sounds really nice in that guy's hands!
[/quote]
'That guy' is Michael Curtis Ruiz some of us know him as Basschatter mcruiz67.
I sold him an amp once and yep, he could play a bit for sure.
Hope the amps still working Michael :)
/* */

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[quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1338914618' post='1681017']
Why do none of the Fenders I try sound like this?? Lovely and warm..

In active mode it's not too far off the tone of my Overwater..Hmmm, it may be coming out of it's case..
[/quote]
you know I have wondered why you've been trying to move that one on. hard to replace.

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Nope, its a simple add on. Just leave pickups as they are, unsolder pickup wires from control plate, remove control plate, screw pickup wires in via connectors to J-retro plate, screw on J-Retro plate and Bob's your Uncle!

Edited by Clarky
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[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1338915564' post='1681046']
Sounds nice and has huge amounts of extra beef for the reggae line. But I have to say the passive Jazz sounds really nice in that guy's hands!
[/quote]

Totally, first time I saw this I thought he was playing with the pre to begin with. I can't make any bass sound that good!

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I have a J-retro fitted and bought it so that I could fine tune my sound when I was out front while the band were playing rather than have to go back and forth to my amp. The mid sweep function - where you can pick the mid frequencies you want to boost is very useful. It's nice to have but I don't feel it's indispensable. Strangely enough I've been favoring my passive Jazz more recently because I prefer it's old school sound. Watch this space I may have one for sale soon.

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[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1338939106' post='1681557']
It's all in the fingers! That and the skill, dedication, practice, talent, and so on and so forth. :D
[/quote]

Not the pearl blocks?

So hours of practice and dedication could save a couple hundred quid then!

Edited by 4 Strings
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[quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1338933867' post='1681463']
Okay, this is a dumb question, but can you just add one of these to your passive Jazz? Do you just replace the existing stuff with one of those ...... or do you have to change the pickups too?
[/quote]

I've got an equally silly question... so, I now use my Musicmans/Musicmen for live work; but my Jazz is still a delight to play... but is now very much lacking the punch.

I was considering putting something like a Sansamp Bass Driver into my effects chain to "beef up" the Jazz - so I can still enjoy playing it, but get a little more oomph from it.

I hadn't considered fitting a pre-amp. Something I should look at, perhaps? This sounds a little refined, considering I'm a dirty rock player - would people have suggestions for where to look for more information?

It's a Lakland DJ4, for information.

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I had exactly the same problem compared to my Musicman basses and GB the passive jazz just had such low output and sounded so thin. I used a Sadowsky outboard pre-amp to overcome the problem which worked to some degree but was very hard to tweak in mid-song etc!

The J-Retro solves this problem perfectly - really beefs up the jazz sound and now I can use the Sadowsky for a slight bottom end boost when slapping etc.

Job done.

[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1338993247' post='1682099']
I've got an equally silly question... so, I now use my Musicmans/Musicmen for live work; but my Jazz is still a delight to play... but is now very much lacking the punch.

I was considering putting something like a Sansamp Bass Driver into my effects chain to "beef up" the Jazz - so I can still enjoy playing it, but get a little more oomph from it.

I hadn't considered fitting a pre-amp. Something I should look at, perhaps? This sounds a little refined, considering I'm a dirty rock player - would people have suggestions for where to look for more information?

It's a Lakland DJ4, for information.
[/quote]

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Slapping and funk is the furthest thing from my mind, sadly. I need something which growls and loves a pick.

I need some sort of Mad Max-esque version - or go back to the idea of using the pedal to dress the signal, prior to hitting the rest of the effects chain.

If that makes sense.

Edited by Gust0o
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[quote name='Gust0o' timestamp='1338993247' post='1682099'] I've got an equally silly question... so, I now use my Musicmans/Musicmen for live work; but my Jazz is still a delight to play... but is now very much lacking the punch.is I was considering putting something like a Sansamp Bass Driver into my effects chain to "beef up" the Jazz - so I can still enjoy playing it, but get a little more oomph from it. I hadn't considered fitting a pre-amp. Something I should look at, perhaps? This sounds a little refined, considering I'm a dirty rock player - would people have suggestions for where to look for more information? It's a Lakland DJ4, for information. [/quote]

Musicman basses have a tendency for making all around them seem wet! I used mine for a month or so for no particular reason and struggled to become comfy with any of my other basses as a result (oh, that neck too!). I have a Retro in a 2006 Jazz which has Dimarzio pups and its pretty nearly as powerful sounding. I can get more grit more easily from my Jazz Deluxe which is my only other real experience on an active Jazz.

Some people feel they have lost the original 'Jazz' sound by fitting a preamp, I'm not sure I'm familiar enough with that sound to really know, but I know that with the preamp switched 'off' the sound is a Jazz to me, with it 'on' I can enhance that sound or, if you go mad, its powerful enough to stamp on its own sound.

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