My tone is a bit dull - Markbass Cabs??

[M@23]

I'd try different strings. For me EB strings just don't last. Their guitar strings rust on me really quickly and bass strings sound great for a week, then sound lifeless at the drop of a hat. 

Always interesting the comments on Markbass cabs. I've had some really high end cabs, but having recently come back to Markbass, am happier with my rig than I have been for a while. My whole Markbass rig costs less than my last amp did. 

Don't get fooled into more expensive = better.

[burno70]

I was set to sell my entire MB rig as I thought it too dull. It was great for thud but little else. Bought a different cab and the tone was awesome. I still have the amp - it's ace.

[Osiris]

I used to use a little Mark II about 10 years ago and although I thought it sounded great, the trouble I had with it was that the treble eq is voiced at 10 KHz, which for me is too high to add any useful treble frequencies when playing with fingers. It might work great when slapped for that glassy top end, but that's not a sound that I personally use. It's the main reason I moved it on (as well as finding the bass eq voiced at 40 Hz to be too low and only really useful for cutting low end on boomy stages). 

My guess is that if you feel it's a bit dull it's possibly because the eq is not suitably voiced to give you some useful treble. My preference is for a lower voiced treble, something around 4-6 Khz, which I find works better for brightening things up without getting too shrill. As others have said, maybe try an external pre-amp which can give you more control over the frequencies between the upper mids at 800 Hz and the treble at 10 Khz. 

I'm also not personally enamoured with the Mark bass cabs, they'e not inherently bad but I too don't find them that exciting tonally, let alone the sunflower aesthetics 

Someone mentioned earlier about using some compression, which may also help. 

[Linus27]

Will be trying different string for sure. I used to love Elite Stadiums and used to use them for years so might try them again.

[4000]

3 hours ago, Jazzjames said:

How does the bass sound acoustically? If it sounds good when played unplugged, that will usually translate into good amplified tone, in my experience.

Having a 75RI doesn’t mean a whole lot; there will be good ones and bad ones. The variation is pretty significant.

 

This, absolutely. I’ve never played 2 of any make/model of bass that are identical. I go back to my original question; what was it that you liked about it that made you buy it? If you didn’t play it first and just thought it’d fit the bill based on what it is, I’d say that’s a risky way of buying a musical instrument. It can work, but it’s a crapshoot. If you generally get on with Jazzes, then I suspect you may just not get on with that particular one. But try a few different rigs first, you never know.

FWIW the Jazz with EMGs that I played was  a ‘70s; I  think I prefer the maple necks.

 

 

[LukeFRC]

5 hours ago, Linus27 said:

I've pretty much played Jazz basses for 30 years and never had a problem with them. I have found it is very dependent on what rig you are using with one rig making them sound amazing and then another making them sound just ok. So I kind of know how amazing a Jazz can sound and especially through my MarkBass rig as my ESP 66 Jazz is amazing. In fact my ESP has sounded amazing through everything. I just want to get my Fender 75 Jazz to sound the same. I kind of expected a bass this good to be a bit more special but maybe I am asking too much of it or its giving the exact sound it should and its just not the tone I want. Come to think of it, I once had the Fender Mexican 60's Reissue Jazz and that sounded amazing through my MarkBass rig so maybe I just prefer the sound of a 60's Jazz more than a 70's Jazz. I could change the pickups to the same Barts that are in my ESP but that kind of defeats the object to me of getting a 75 RI bass if you are then going to change the sound away from what its supposed to sound like. I wonder if Fender do vintage 60's Jazz pickups.

Anyway, I will try fiddling with the EQ more and look at the Tech 21 pedal as well as this might be fun to play with anyway.

So you've played Jazz basses and you've got an amazing sounding jazz bass... and same amp, same strings same player the second jazz bass sounds not as good... 

I think that maybe you've got one really good jazz bass and one you don't like as much! Different strings and pickups etc might work out for you but my guess is that you've found one jazz that is amazing, and virtually every jazz that you play that isn't that ESP won't sound as good, for many various reasons... 
I'm willing to bet with some different strings, a compressor and a parametric Eq to mess with the mids you could get the '75 Jazz to sound how you wanted in the mix. I'm also willing to bet it will always sound more dull to you that the ESP.  
You could spend quite a lot of money trying to disprove my hunch. 

 

[Linus27]

26 minutes ago, 4000 said:

This, absolutely. I’ve never played 2 of any make/model of bass that are identical. I go back to my original question; what was it that you liked about it that made you buy it? If you didn’t play it first and just thought it’d fit the bill based on what it is, I’d say that’s a risky way of buying a musical instrument. It can work, but it’s a crapshoot. If you generally get on with Jazzes, then I suspect you may just not get on with that particular one. But try a few different rigs first, you never know.

FWIW the Jazz with EMGs that I played was  a ‘70s; I  think I prefer the maple necks.

 

 

Sorry, to answer your original question. I used to have a 75AV RI a few years back and loved it. Sounded great through my Shuttle 6 and was the nicest feeling bass to play. I stopped playing and so sold it. I've now started playing again and needed a good working bass and kept my eye out for one. A mint one came up and so I tried it out through an Ashdown combo and it sounded fine so I bought it. I did try it and compared it to the Mexican 70's reissue, Fender Flea Jazz and the Fender Pro Series Jazz. They all sounded good but the 75AV RI won based on looks, previously having one and being very happy with it, being the nicest to play and sounded good.

[Linus27]

30 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

So you've played Jazz basses and you've got an amazing sounding jazz bass... and same amp, same strings same player the second jazz bass sounds not as good... 

I think that maybe you've got one really good jazz bass and one you don't like as much! Different strings and pickups etc might work out for you but my guess is that you've found one jazz that is amazing, and virtually every jazz that you play that isn't that ESP won't sound as good, for many various reasons... 
I'm willing to bet with some different strings, a compressor and a parametric Eq to mess with the mids you could get the '75 Jazz to sound how you wanted in the mix. I'm also willing to bet it will always sound more dull to you that the ESP.  
You could spend quite a lot of money trying to disprove my hunch. 

 

I would say this is partly true but I have had a 75AV RI previously and loved it but it was being played through a different rig, a Shuttle 6. I've also had the Mexican 70's Reissue and that also sounded superb. I actually came close to buying one again instead of the 75AV RI. So I have had other Jazz basses and loved them including a 75AV RI but just not through a Markbass rig. I'm sure I can get the tone I want with the 75AV RI with the Markbass rig, I just need to find the secret key, be it strings, EQ, pickups, speakers or pre amp. I did find boosting the mids improved it but maybe I've not boosted them enough.

As for always sounding more dull to my ESP, I think you are right on that one 😊

[4000]

1 hour ago, Linus27 said:

Sorry, to answer your original question. I used to have a 75AV RI a few years back and loved it. Sounded great through my Shuttle 6 and was the nicest feeling bass to play. I stopped playing and so sold it. I've now started playing again and needed a good working bass and kept my eye out for one. A mint one came up and so I tried it out through an Ashdown combo and it sounded fine so I bought it. I did try it and compared it to the Mexican 70's reissue, Fender Flea Jazz and the Fender Pro Series Jazz. They all sounded good but the 75AV RI won based on looks, previously having one and being very happy with it, being the nicest to play and sounded good.

Fair enough. It could be that this one isn’t as good (for you) as your old one, your tastes have changed, the bar has now risen with your other basses, or it could simply be the rig. Been there, done all of those. ;-) If it’s the rig the danger is that what suits this bass may not suit the others as well. Just try a few different rigs if further adjustments to the current one don’t work out.

One other thing, if at all possible (which isn’t always the case), if you find an instrument that you really like, keep it. You may never find another the same, regardless of whether it’s the same model and should be identical. I’ve had a lot of supposed ‘duplicates’ and they never have been. ;-)

Edited February 1, 2018 by 4000

[Linus27]

Thanks 4000 and everyone else for the tips and thoughts. Been really interesting and appreciated the help.