Which bass for the "Jaco" sound...

[Sparkl]

Hi folks I'm right in a buying phase of my next bass guitar.

I already have the 2007 ceramic Stingray5 H/H model which works great for me (sometimes I would prefer a 4 string since the string spacing is bigger and everything is more simple on a 4 string bass lol).

It works for almost anything just for one thing - that buttery single alnico coil bridge tone. For that I need a passive bass, with J pups, so basically I need a jazz bass.

That's a really simple choice, so I would just buy the fender am standard jazz bass and I'm ready to roll. But.

There are a lot of similar basses out there, from Carvins, to Sandbergs, Laklands, G&L's, Sadowsky's, Mayones, etc etc. All of them have the JBass series with alnico passive pups and stuff.

Now what do you recommend? I would really like to have that buttery bridge "jaco" style tone, but also have that grunt and attack when switching both pups up. From what I hear, Sandbergs really do their job in this section, they always sound so mean. And their bridge tone also seems to be amazing (I'm from slovenia and noone sells sands here so I have to rely on YT vids), but what bothers me, that their JBass, the California TT4 version does not include a dotted neck. Which I find disturbing since I am very used to have those dots on.

So what is there to do? The next "dotted" Sandberg with alnico jazz pups is the MarloweDK edition, but it is already priced at almost 1700eur on thomann. Which is too much for a passive instrument IMO.

So here I write, asking you guys, what Jbass would you buy to get what I need?

To cut story short, my demands are:

Jaco bridge sound

and

that grunty, attackish sound from both pups

I'm looking forward to your answers and have a nice day

[Chris2112]

There are plenty of basses that will do a decent, honky back pickup sound, but for an authentic Jaco sound you need a passive bass, I think, or some very transparent electronics. It may seem obvious, but the most apt bass for that sound is a Fender Jaco bass. I've got one currently (soon to be traded to another forum member) and it has [i]that[/i] sound. As in, the sound you hear on the records. Not an approximation of that sound, not a passable impression of that sound. Just that sound.

But then, it probably won't deliver on the other side of what you want. The neck pickup blend adds depth and bass, I suppose.

[cocco]

A Passive, ash bodied, rosewood boarded Jazz with 60s spacing and vintage voiced pickups

[cocco]

Get a CIJ fender and mod it.

[drTStingray]

There are a lot of different sounds on Jaco's recorded work.

Desirable as the Jaco signature Fender Jazz is (I'd love one!!) I would not expect to be able to get the sound, say on River People, just using a passive Fender Jazz bass.

Jaco's playing also has a lot to do with it.

I find my fretless Stingray to be more in the ballpark than a couple of passive fretless Jazzes I've played. I guess it depends what part of the sound you're hearing - I know people get very esoteric about pick up spacing, replacing pick ups, bridges etc etc etc but I really do wonder whether this has as significant an effect as the skill and technique of the player?

[leftyhook]

Jaco.... I am sure any bass he picked up sounded the way he wanted it to. the feel/soul/fingers created most of the sound

[Doddy]

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1346026029' post='1784327']
There are a lot of different sounds on Jaco's recorded work.

Desirable as the Jaco signature Fender Jazz is (I'd love one!!) I would not expect to be able to get the sound, say on River People, just using a passive Fender Jazz bass.

Jaco's playing also has a lot to do with it.

I find my fretless Stingray to be more in the ballpark than a couple of passive fretless Jazzes I've played. I guess it depends what part of the sound you're hearing - I know people get very esoteric about pick up spacing, replacing pick ups, bridges etc etc etc but I really do wonder whether this has as significant an effect as the skill and technique of the player?
[/quote]

The thing with 'River People' is that for the most part,Jaco's bass is being doubled by Zawinul.

I think you've hit the nail on the head though...Jaco's playing had everything to do with it. He just used a Jazz Bass
going direct in the studio-nothing special,yet he had a sound that was recognisable as being 'Jaco'. Anyone else playing
his basses would have sounded different-check out the video of Will Lee,Victor Bailey and Victor Wooten playing on the
'Bass of Doom'.Sure it was rebuilt,but none of them sound like Jaco did,whereas on Jaco's video,he still sounds like him
on both the Fender Jazz and the Rivera (both belonged to Jerry Jemmott).

[AndyTravis]

Any decent passive Jazz type pass with the right level of attack; I think the answer is in your right hand.
Took me years of buying/selling basses to figure that out. Traded a USA standard Jazz for a Warwick and thought I'd done it.
The reality was, my technique/skill caught up in the end.

Not a comment towards my playing being anything special, or anything approaching Mr.P but once I'd figured 'how' he was playing rather than which bass or pickup spacing etc, that was my breakthrough.

Nice to just have a passive jbass knocking about.

[Chris Horton]

[quote name='leftyhook' timestamp='1346029834' post='1784342']
Jaco.... I am sure any bass he picked up sounded the way he wanted it to. the feel/soul/fingers created most of the sound
[/quote]



+1
I bet if he was alive today i bet he could play any bass and make it have "his" tone.
It's all in his hands........... And an old passive fender jazz

[iiipopes]

Remember he coated his fingerboard with epoxy to make it harder; "the" Jaco bass had been damaged, so it had to be rebuilt and was resurfaced with maple veneers, etc.; and tone is first in the fingers, second in the gear.

[JTUK]

Not all Jazzes with the rear pickup fired up get the sound.
You'll need to roll off the attack a bit.... which is why active basses don't work so well.
But he opened up that technique so a lot of it is just Jaco.

[Rick's Fine '52]

[quote name='Chris Horton' timestamp='1346055494' post='1784428']
+1
I bet if he was alive today i bet he could play any bass and make it have "his" tone.
It's all in his hands........... And an old passive fender jazz
[/quote]

This.

[drTStingray]

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1346145514' post='1785682']
You'll need to roll off the attack a bit.... which is why active basses don't work so well.
[/quote]

I politely disagree with this statement - it is possible to roll off the attack on a active bass by cutting the EQ (presuming you have a bass with cut and boost EQ) - and remember it's all in the fingers as well - changing playing attack achieves this also.

[zero9]

As it's predominantly 'in the fingers', any bass with a bridge pup in the same position (preferably single coil). Active or passive doesn't really matter.

If you can play like 'Jaco', you'll sound like him .

[Conan]

[quote name='leftyhook' timestamp='1346029834' post='1784342']
Jaco.... I am sure any bass he picked up sounded the way he wanted it to. the feel/soul/fingers created most of the sound
[/quote]

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWuJUTX3TIc"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWuJUTX3TIc[/url]

[drTStingray]

Just fabulous and also illustrates the point - notice the Jazz has a maple necked 70s Precision neck fitted - Jaco says in the video it's to exercise/stretch his fingers - they already look twice as long as mine anyway!

I do worry when he bends harmonics, by bending the neck on Jerry Jemmott's neck through bass! I wonder how many people have cracked the finish in their bolt on neck basses around the neck plate copying this (I know of two basses not a few yards from where I'm sitting which have suffered from this )

Edited August 28, 2012 by drTStingray

[Dingus]

I have to go along with all of those who have commented that the sound was much more to do with Jaco and far less to do with the gear. You only need to watch the man in action for a couple of minutes and witness the intensity and variation he puts into the way he attacks the strings to see that he approaches the electric bass as if it was an acoustic instrument . He instinctively varies the way he plucks and produces the notes he plays, and would have sounded like Jaco on most any bass I can think of. Of course he explored and exploited the natural tones of the Fender Jazz Bass-he enjoyed the comfort and familiarity of that model- but there are recorded examples of him picking up other peoples basses and playing them ( like Jerry Jemmotts') and he sounds...just like Jaco. I think the significance of his reliance on the Fender Jazz Bass is more that it was a blank canvas for him to inflict his personality upon and an instrument that ,largely due to circumstance, he felt at home with.

[JTUK]

[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1346150333' post='1785763']
I politely disagree with this statement - it is possible to roll off the attack on a active bass by cutting the EQ (presuming you have a bass with cut and boost EQ) - and remember it's all in the fingers as well - changing playing attack achieves this also.
[/quote]

My basses go passive anyway, but, no, not possible to roll off the bass as it is boost only.

[xgsjx]

Wait a minute!

You're telling me there's a Sandberg MarloweDK signature bass?

What is the world coming to????

[Doddy]

[quote name='zero9' timestamp='1346155556' post='1785854']
If you can play like 'Jaco', you'll sound like him .
[/quote]
No you won't.



[quote name='drTStingray' timestamp='1346168693' post='1786033']
Just fabulous and also illustrates the point - notice the Jazz has a maple necked 70s Precision neck fitted - Jaco says in the video it's to exercise/stretch his fingers - they already look twice as long as mine anyway!
[/quote]
It's worth pointing out though,as I said earlier,that the Jazz Bass that Jaco used in the video wasn't his. It belonged to
Jerry Jemmott and was lent to Jaco for the filming of the video.

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='Sparkl' timestamp='1345959317' post='1783511']From what I hear, Sandbergs really do their job in this section, they always sound so mean. And their bridge tone also seems to be amazing (I'm from slovenia and noone sells sands here so I have to rely on YT vids), but what bothers me, that their JBass, the California TT4 version does not include a dotted neck. Which I find disturbing since I am very used to have those dots on.[/quote]

They still have dot markers on the top edge of the fingerboard, so you can still see them.

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1346177680' post='1786189']
Wait a minute!

You're telling me there's a Sandberg MarloweDK signature bass?

What is the world coming to????
[/quote]

Makes sense - he's a very influential guy.

[zero9]

[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1346179342' post='1786218']
No you won't.
[/quote]

Absolutely right. I stand corrected as I should've stated: "If you are Jaco, you sound like him" . I'll go and flagellate myself.

[Pete Academy]

Jazz bass, back pickup, fingers.

[xgsjx]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1346179659' post='1786222']
Makes sense - he's a very influential guy.
[/quote]

Very true, and I've learned a few things from him via youchoob. He's very good, but I thought you had to be in a band & famous (not "youtube" famous, but "general public come to see your band" famous)?

What/who's next? Epiphone "buzzy fret" Ryan Larson signature bass? Good for those comedy gigs!

[Dingus]

[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1346179342' post='1786218']
No you won't.




It's worth pointing out though,as I said earlier,that the Jazz Bass that Jaco used in the video wasn't his. It belonged to
Jerry Jemmott and was lent to Jaco for the filming of the video.
[/quote]

If I recall correctly, according to Bass Player Magazine , the sunburst Jazz Bass in the the video did indeed belong to Jaco. The maple 70s P bass neck was a temporary substitute whilst Kevin Kaufman mended the original neck after Jaco had damaged it somehow . Its worth mentionig that Jaco had more than one Jazz Bass, and that this bass is not neccesarilly the "bass of doom".