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Examples of the jazz bass "Growl"

Dandelion

By Dandelion,
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Dandelion Proficient

Dandelion

Posted
Posted

I have a MiM Fender Jazz bass. I have heard about the legendary "Growl"

How does one achieve this? Is it a bridge pickup thing?

Will my stock Pups be able to recreate the "Growl"?

Do the amp setting matter?


Ta!

Linus27 Grand Master

Linus27

Posted
Posted

I've never understood or heard this Jazz growl. To me a Jazz is smooth and warm. Not growly. A Precision is aggresive and clanky and my Warwick growls but no Jazz I have owned growls. Maybe I am missing something.

Josh Experienced

Josh

Posted
Posted

It's simply down to playing on a soloed bridge pick up with the correct approach and adequate E.Q.

The most agreeable example of the Jazz growl is almost everything Jaco played on:





Who's got the better growl is purely down to personal preference, but as for a guide to what the Jazz bass growl is I think most of us would agree Jaco is the best place to start.

jamesbass116 Collaborator

jamesbass116

Posted
Posted

Victor Wooten's fingerstyle often has quite a growl, his foderas have a Jazz style bridge pup, which is probably the reason

A jazz bass growl is a beautiful thing....for me..

Settings wise I usually have the neck pickup rolled off.
On my 3 band eq practice amp, i've got bass on 6/10, mid on 6/10 and treble on 7 or 8/10, i also use a compressor aswell. strange settings i'm sure, but that's my interpretation of a growl :)

However, it's a shame the wiring on my bass has basically said to me "yeah you can have that bridge pickup growl, you can also have some free feedback too!"

...damn my jazz bass

jamesbass116 Collaborator

jamesbass116

Posted
Posted

[quote name='jamesbass116' post='731965' date='Feb 1 2010, 05:43 PM']Victor Wooten's fingerstyle often has quite a growl, his foderas have a Jazz style bridge pup, which is probably the reason

A jazz bass growl is a beautiful thing....for me..

Settings wise I usually have the neck pickup rolled off.
On my 3 band eq practice amp, i've got bass on 6/10, mid on 6/10 and treble on 7 or 8/10, i also use a compressor aswell. strange settings i'm sure, but that's my interpretation of a growl :)

However, it's a shame the wiring on my bass has basically said to me "yeah you can have that bridge pickup growl, you can also have some free feedback too!"

...damn my jazz bass[/quote]

BY THE WAY,

My bass is a MIM jazz as well, changed the pickups to seymour duncans, but i can remember those stock pickups giving off a good growl, you just need to find it is all haha.

RhysP Mentor

RhysP

Posted
Posted

Jaco didn't play on "In France they kiss on Main Street" (or on anything else from "The Hissing of Summer Lawns" for that matter) - it was Max Bennett.

Linus27 Grand Master

Linus27

Posted
Posted

[quote name='Linus27' post='731910' date='Feb 1 2010, 04:53 PM']I've never understood or heard this Jazz growl. To me a Jazz is smooth and warm. Not growly. A Precision is aggresive and clanky and my Warwick growls but no Jazz I have owned growls. Maybe I am missing something.[/quote]

Ah ok, so thats what you say is the Jazz growl. To me I always thought of that as nasely and quite middy tone. You learn something new everyday.

Steve A Experienced

Steve A

Posted
Posted (edited)

[quote name='RhysP' post='732055' date='Feb 1 2010, 06:50 PM']Jaco didn't play on "In France they kiss on Main Street" (or on anything else from "The Hissing of Summer Lawns" for that matter) - it was Max Bennett.[/quote]


Jaco played on the live version as heard on the 'Shadows and Light' album.

My girlfriend's dog has growl.

Edited by Steve Amadeo
xilddx Veteran

xilddx

Posted
Posted

[quote name='Josh' post='731927' date='Feb 1 2010, 05:10 PM']It's simply down to playing on a soloed bridge pick up with the correct approach and adequate E.Q.

The most agreeable example of the Jazz growl is almost everything Jaco played on:

[/quote]

Check out that hyper-funky crowd (0.34)! They say everything about Weather Report for me.

I disagree that Jaco's tone on this is growly.

I would have thought using both pups would produce more growl, that's just distorted. I'll try to find an example of what I think is growl on yt.

Pete Academy Experienced

Pete Academy

Posted
Posted

For me it's that back pickup 'burp'. Obviously Jaco comes to mind first. I love the fact that you can have both pickups up full for a smooth sound for slap, and back off the front pickup for a burp. Marcus does this all the time.

Jerry_B Community Regular

Jerry_B

Posted
Posted

The 'growl' will come across differently depending on whether you play with your fingers or a pick. I think this is one factor people should mention about themselves when describing such sounds from basses. I play with a pick, for example, and the growl seems to be more pronounced with the neck pup slightly rolled back in volume but the bridge pup up at 11 :)

Linus27 Grand Master

Linus27

Posted
Posted

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='732134' date='Feb 1 2010, 08:03 PM']For me it's that back pickup 'burp'. Obviously Jaco comes to mind first. I love the fact that you can have both pickups up full for a smooth sound for slap, and back off the front pickup for a burp. Marcus does this all the time.[/quote]

Ah so thats why I get the smooth sound as I have everything turned up to 11, both pickups, the tone, the lot. I just keep turning until it stops :)

Marvin Veteran

Marvin

Posted
Posted (edited)

So, if we are to get this right -

A Jazz burps.
A Warwick growls

A Gibson EB3, I suggest then, farts. (Like the ones used by Bruce and Fraser, or were they EB0's?)

If, that is we are describing bass sounds using bodily noises!

Edited by Marvin
bigjohn Proficient

bigjohn

Posted
Posted (edited)

[quote name='Dandelion' post='732253' date='Feb 1 2010, 09:25 PM']So it could be classed as a" Honk?"[/quote]


Ah yes, I do like a bit of honk. But I also like a bit of growl.

To be honest, I think Jazz's are quite growly unplugged if you pluck em hard enough and fret them right. I think the growl is in the fingers. They're much more naturally aggressive like that (if you play them like that) than Ps are. I have to amplify Ps to get them all snarly.

Edited by bigjohn

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