You two knuckleheads are such a gift and joy to the bass community. Young bass players don’t realize how accessible learning is compared to when we learned by picking up and down the record player needle every stinking measure. Praying for your continued success for all our sakes.
Lol, when I started, i didn’t knew how to tune the bass properly. Started on classical guitar, so I tuned the bass as the guitar’s top 4 strings, E B G D 😂 played the instrument like that for 3 years!! 😂😂 It was almost 25 years ago, time flies, huh..
Bobby Vega is a friend of a bass player friend of mine, so I’ve met him a few times and even played his bass! Super nice guy and just amazing bass player.
Thanks for including Meshell she deserves way more recognition as the sublime bassplayer she is (and composer, lyricist, singer, innovator etc.). Joe Osborn is yet another great example of Jazz Bass versatility played with a pick and eternally old flats. Great and very educational vid thanks for the raggae tip.
I started as a jazz bass player. I love the neck and look of a jazz bass. But I've come to realize over the years that I just prefer the sound of a P bass. It just sounds like a bass "should" sound in my head. And it works perfectly in any recording. So now I just end up with P basses with thinner necks.
Me too p bass is so much easy to get a good bass tone even the distortions overdrive and fuzz pedals has a better response on my jazz basses the low output of pickups doesnt sound agressive like pbass does
Tough choices though the years may always be Coke vs. Pepsi and Duracell vs. Energizer. Jazz bass vs. precision is another but I will always choose the jazz bass.
I feel the complete opposite. The sound of a real bass to me is a jazz bass. That's the sound of the late 70's and 80s pop stuff I grew up with, played finger style. It's also easier to get a (properly played) jazz bass to sit in a mix. You'll hear many people say they prefer a p bass in a mix compared to a jazz bass in both pickups full / scooped config. But in my experience this is pure laziness. It takes just a litte eq to compensate for that with a jazz with both pickups on full to get to where you suddenly have the best of all worlds: the harmonics the lows and the transients. The p bass tends to get lost easier in a mix because the initial transient is either flat or more of a thuddy sound, whereas you get snappy punch and quick transient from the bridge pickup on a jazz. The ear catches that punch/burp thing, giving it more perceived loudness even if the bulk of the note is lower in volume than the P. The jazz bass also has additional harmonics where the p bass is basically just the fundamental. That is one of the reasons the jazz bass translates much better on smaller speakers, it's actually audible on phones and ear pods within a mix, and it's one of the reasons a lot of guys playing in tv shows play either jazz or PJ basses, because you come to realize that due to the bridge pickup it translates better on tv's, phones and laptops than a p bass.
Just the opposite for me. Started out with a p bass for a few years and really liked it, but after trying many other basses, I discovered the amazing versatility of the jazz, and found punchy rock tones that p basses can only dream of.
Played a gig just last night using my Jazz the whole night. I'm super fond of the neck pickup with the tone all the way up. If I could only have one bass, it would be a jazz.
Macca - Band on the Run & parts of The White Album Rick Danko - Music from Big Pink Herbie Flowers - Everything he's ever recorded probably John Paul Jones - Most of Zeppelin (specifically Heartbreaker) My favorite JB tones
The volume rollback works on Scott's bass because it's just an ordinary passive bass with an active EQ that follows the passive pickups with passive volume controls. Scott's "Active bass" isn't really any different than if Scott plugged a passive bass into a two band EQ pedal. The volume rolloff wouldn't work the same with EMG active pickups where the "active" is before the volume control.
I thought I had a bass with active pickups until I brought it into a guitar tech and he kindly explained that the EQ was active, not the pickups. Live and learn, lol.
Great stuff! One bass player who absolutely deserves recognition as a Jazz bass icon for his tone, technique, ingenuity, and absolutely radical ability, is Darryl Jenifer of Bad Brains. Much Love!
@@clintwilson6380 check out a hardcore band called BILA, from Malta. He has a squier jazz and an overdrive pedal and just consistently has the best heavy tone ever. I'll also mention from a live perspective two of the best bass tones I've heard on a jazz are Leprous and Pulled Apart by Horses, who are both bands I enjoyed watching live but I'm not especially keen on in the studio.
Great video, gents! The ultimate Jazz bass tones for me are Joe Osborn and Herbie Flowers. Flats, foam and pick for Joe, while Herbie uses nylon tapewounds and alternates between pick and fingers.
That is a very good tip about rolling the neck volume back a bit for reggae tones. What’s happening is the resistance at the pot is causing a low pass filter effect, similar to the tone knob but at a different frequency. To avoid this happening, some guitars have a treble bleed circuit which uses a cap across the pot terminals so the highs can take an easier route via the cap rather than through the pot, keeping your highs as you turn down. This effect will happen with any bass with passive pickups and passive volume controls, even if there’s an active circuit later in the signal chain.
Doing the same thing with the bridge pickup wide open can hive the bass a more focused sound than the typical wide open sound too. It’s really useful. Bring back the tone a bit and it jumps out from under the guitars in the mix 👍
Exactly, great they mentioned it. Your last bit is important for this trick (voltage divider at volume pot interacting with passive filter), it won't work with any bass with active electronics. It worked at Scott's bass, because it's essentially a standard passive j-bass electronics with passive tone control and active preamp after that at its output. However plenty of other preamps are designed exactly to avoid such impedance interactions - to decouple volume and tone controls and to keep the same tone regardless of volume at each pickup and its blend. And of course, in case of active pickups with built-in buffer in its shell like classic EMGs, that trick also won't work.
Even though my active J bass (Fender CS Classic) doesn’t support that significant tonal change (when lowering down the volume) - still it’s pretty great improvement to pure neck pickup sound. I have never been using pure neck pickup sound until now. If the volume is lowered by 20-30% down (and additional volume added on amp accordingly), it sounds great! Really appreciate such hint 👍
The Reggae thing has to do with how the electronics interact. When you turn down the volume you raise the pickup's resistance, which leads to less treble. That's why a lot of guitarists install a "treble-bleed (high pass)" circuit, which keeps the treble no matter what volume you have. Fender has a good explanation on their website.
You can't raise the resistance of the pickup! That would require adding windings, but because it's the generator (With the string movement) it would result in more output! You are raising the resistance of the volume pot, but also changing it's capacitance (A phantom property) it's sending some of the signal to ground. It's called a voltage split circuit. Volume all the way up = resistance is all the way down (none) turn the volume down, and you are turning up the resistance to the signal coming from the pickup, and in the split, more of it goes to ground because it follows the least path of resistance. A tone control is a high pass filter, which bleeds treble to ground via a capacitor, controlled by the potentiometer, the more resistance in line with the cap, the less treble passes, there too, turning the resistance up, turns the treble down, and it splits to the signal lead of the volume, so no voltage split there, or else using the volume would activate the tone too. A high pass filter capacitor on a volume pot helps with hot wound pickups, mostly humbuckers because turning the volume down on one results in treble loss and they can sound muddy, the capacitor lets the trebles bypass the volume pot so it can't remove them. That wasn't a problem before Metal, and adding ever more windings to pickups to get them to distort. Watch closely when you see old videos of Hendrix, Clapton, Terry reed, Jeff beck and on and on, they just rolled down the volume a tad, and mellowed out the sound for rhythm playing; no mud, then turn it back up for leads, hardly ever using the tone knob. Can't do that with hot pickups! In a passive circuit you cannot turn anything up from a physics/energy perspective, only down. If you want more, that's what active circuits are for, as you are adding energy to the system.
...some guitarists love that treble bleed - because it smoothens the singel coil and humbucker sound in clean sounds. Especially semi-accoustics and archtops ; )
@@dmoore0079 Thanks! I freak out when I see people explaining electronics, Lutherie, physics, psychology or philosophy related things and get it wrong. I'm old and addicted to science and have a higher degree related to some of it. If I don't know a thing, I ask questions and look for answers, and I don't explain it to others until I am sure I can sufficiently!
Never ever knew nothing about the Bob Marley's tone! And is this even possibile to an active bass too? What the heck guys, you're the prophets of bass culture sharing that the bass world always needed! THANK YOU! 🍻
Even more happy with my decision to learn bass on my new Squier Classic Vibe 60's Jazz Bass. I was worried I should have gone with a PJ bass since my music taste is all over the place.
The first J-bass tones that come to my mind are: Family Man on the neck pickup; JPJ mostly on the neck; the classic Jazz tone that’s on a million things with bridge max and neck backed off a little; Jaco on the bridge pickup and Marcus with both on full and added activeness. And of course, Larry Graham, with GCS! (Did he have a J-bass back in Sly & The Family Stone?)
He used VOX Sidewinder between 1967-1968, then from 1969 it was a candy apple red Fender Jazz Bass with a matching headstock, rosewood fingerboard and block inlays.
God this was wonderful! Yes, I own three Jazz basses and love them but it was also the delight you both showed in exploring all these sounds and the techniques in took to create them. Keep it going. You guys are tops in terms of online bass instruction. And by the way… Bobby Vega says that Larry was using Black Tape strings with a maple neck jazz for that tune! That will certainly have an effect on the tone! Thanks again!
Yes dude! We're thrilled you enjoyed the video and the bass exploration! Thanks for the kind words and support. 🎸 Keep rockin' those Jazz basses and experimenting with different tones and techniques 🙌🏻🧡🔥
You guys forgot to mention the sound of the pre CBS jazz bass, a much darker sound - like on the Lenny Kravitz song "are you gonna go my way." A perfect example of this sound would be U2's Larry Muller or Rick Danko from the Band.
Super interesting the Reggae trick. Now for those who want a bit more technical stuff: The slight volume roll off affects highs because that frequency range, since it's so fast and short, anything affects it. That's why there are different values for volume/tone pots too. 250k is darker than 500k, and so on. That's also why Humbuckers are darker sounding when wired in series. The more the electric current travels, the more highs you loose. For those of you who don't want that, there's the trebble bleed mod.
The thing about the volume knob is standard in the 6-string guitar world. In fact, some guitars have a bypass capacitor + resistor added to the volume knob so they can turn the volume down without losing any high freqs (for those who don't want the effect).
I think my biggest jazz bass hero might be Rutger Gunnarsson, bassist for ABBA. I think his performances helped to define that timeless music. Early Joe Dart is worth a mention too - reppin' the flats on a jazz bass sound! Probably the reason mine still has flats on. Great list over all!
Thanks for making this video! It cuts a huge amount of my 'figuring it out' time off by having both the dial settings and technique thoroughly explained! I have a 2019 Fender American professional J-bass. Wonderful instrument! The neck feels amazing. I also play a 1981 Gibson Victory (fretless with flats) which is Gibson's attempt at making a P-bass. Both are great instruments, but the J-bass is the real Ferrari and has so many different tones that I still am exploring everything it can do.
One of the basses I own is an all original John Suhr era Fender Jazz bass (1997) and having owned quite a few basses in my 30 years of playing, it is by far my favorite out of all of them. It plays like a dream, sounds absolutely incredible (and I do mean incredible!!!), and like y'all said, Jazz basses are known for being very versatile.
I have a Bobby Vega pick from when I met him in California that one time … that’s pretty cool. I also met him in Boulder with Steve Kimock and Zero. What an amazing show. Shout out for Bobby Vega!
I was not familiar with Meshell Ndgeoncello before this video... paused and looked up a bunch on TH-cam... Wow! Such feeling and EXCELLENT execution, always varying her techniques to suit it all! Another bassist to nerd out on for inspiration!😄 Thank you SBL, and please continue these podcast style videos that keep it a community, not just a rando tutorial channel!
Absolutely, Meshell Ndegeocello is a true inspiration with her unique style and versatility! 🎸 Keep diving into her music and techniques - inspiration is everywhere. We're thrilled to create a community of fellow bass enthusiasts, and we've got more exciting content coming your way!
This is a great video guys! You should do more like this one; your joy in playing together was infectious to watch and your skills are inspiring. Thanks for sharing!!
I'm primarily a reggae bassist, and I had never heard to do that trick! I'm always at full neck, no bridge, tone mostly off, and I just instinctually keep my volume around 80% because I thought it sounded better (and I want the headroom on deck) good to know its a legit thing
Same, dub reggae bass , I use front pickup , let the amp do the work, soft touch , very near or above the neck joint. I tune BEAD so I move the finger around on the low B to get a variety of super cream or round punch tones…full disclosure love your channel despite having attempted slapping exactly twice in 30 years. Watched the Marcus Miller bio and so impressed by his musical approach to the percussive technique I busted out Fame by Bowie, baby steps!
My first real bass was a '69 Jazz bass which I still have about 45 years after buying it. Still play it occasionally to this day, and still prefer that late 60's-mid 70's neck profile over all other 4 bangers. My gigging 4 strings are all JB's although I'll occasionally play one of my P's Nothing else compares for feel, tone, and aesthetics.
@@richardm8243 I had a white '73 Rick during the early 80's. Nice bass, but I like the Jazz bass ergonomics much better. Perhaps I'll get another some day.
Without ever knowing it was a reggae tone thing, I use the volume lowering trick a lot. It’s a curse on electric six strings with modern wiring because when you turn down the volume, you lose treble from your signal, but on a bass that’s actually a useable feature.
This video exceeded my expectations. In my earlier days, no joke my top 5 bassists were Jaco, Marcus, Geddy. Family Man, and Me'shell. So that's quite a coincidence that warmed my heart. I've met Larry and Bobby Vega in person and seeing them live changed my life and added them into that pantheon of favorites. Nerd comment #1: I'm 98% sure that "Hair" was using tapewounds, and I think Bobby shared that with me. Nerd comment #2: The reggae trick works on that active bass it's fundamentally a passive pickup run through an active preamp. Active pickups like EMGs will not have that same effect due to the impedance loading within the pickup. Nerd comment #3: When I saw Larry, he was doing a bass duo with Marcus, similar to what both of you were doing. What surprised me was how modern Larry's sound was. And being that Marcus is that jazz fusion legend, I had expected him to have surpassed Larry's technical ability but Larry had just as much chops, and in fact played more impressively, though it could be it was because Marcus's level was a little lower and my ear tricked. But Marcus was still like a fanboy and was going on about amazing Larry was for being able to play like that AND sing and talk like that at the same time. Showmanship award went to Larry, and frankly, as much as slap/thumpin' and pluckin' started with Larry, it also ended with him as far as I'm concerned. Nerd comment #4: Bobby is an EXCELLENT slapper, and he can do a really mean Larry impersonation as well. Though he's not trained in jazz, he has a lot of bebop-like ideas and phrasing, especially when he's doing like chord melody solo bass stuff. Nerd comment #5: Agree with Ian about that neck pickup. It doesn't get enough love. Joe Osborne had that sound using the neck pickup, and it sounds like Geddy did for most of Moving Pictures; Tom Sawyer sounds more neck-like than his later both pickups sound from like "Driven." Nerd comment #6: Marcus's legendary 77 J-Bass actually had an early Stars Guitars preamp that fried during a session and was replaced with a Bartolini TCT. Contrary to popular belief, it's not that Sadowsky preamp as we know today, though Roger did the work on it.
For you electronics / audio guys out there that are interested, the reason the reggae tone trick works is because it decreases the cut off frequency of the R-C filter circuit. Lowering the volume of the neck pick pickup increases the series resistance in the R-C filter circuit, where fc(cutoff frequency) = 1/(2piRC).
Thank you both, so much. I picked up bass again and I've just never been good at tone shaping. Watching you go through all the knob settings and being able to really hear the differences combined with both the musical AND historical explanations...just fantastic. Thank you, thank you.
Great choices! Carlos Dengler, Tim Commerford, and John Paul Jones are all incredible bassists who've left their mark in the world of music. The bass world is full of inspiring talent! 🎶👏
finally we talk about Me'shell Ndegeocello ! Good job guys love this video. It's you talk about all the bass player and even tracks that made me fall in love with the Jazz Bass and i got a nice one from 1978 !
Hey guys,,,in the 70s I played all p-bass,,,then my beautiful wife got me a 60s reissue very sweet jazz bass & now is my all time favorite,,, PLEASE KEEP PUTTING OUT VIDEOS TOGETHER,,SOO GOOD🎸
The beginning of your video was an unexpected delight for me, as I recorded Jaco for six of the most exciting years of our lives. That sound you describe was a little bit of my magic laid on top of a lot of his magic. We were a true team. I haven’t felt that warm and fuzzy for a long, LONG time. You’d be surprised at the lifespan of grief, misunderstanding, and disrespect for my dear friend and colleague for so many years. When people forget his humanity to regale his worst moments, it is crushingly sad for me. We created that music with pure love in our hearts and the same kind of spontaneous joy most musicians know. That it doesn’t sound spontaneous is, I guess, a victory of sorts. All of Word Of Mouth was ecstatically happy and free music-making. We constantly challenged ourselves, and later everyone else on the record to be their favorite selves. For us, it was a rebuke of the worst excesses of jazz improv. That thinking is what brought us together in the first place. We did not utter the four-letter word. Ever. Melody, harmony, and groove - the elements - can be assembled in myriad ways, and I came to produce with Jaco because I’d finally found the composer/player of my dreams, delightfully devoid of a riffing snooze-fest. Thank you both for sending me down a truly happy lane of memories. I deeply appreciate it.
Wow, what an incredible journey you shared with Jaco! Your partnership's magic lives on, reminding us all of the beauty and joy in music collaboration. Thank you for taking us down memory lane with your heartfelt story. 🎶🎸
You both are great together. Please do more vids. I started playing bass at 9 years old. I stopped playing when I moved to Florida 30 years ago and watching you both, who I believe are totally right on with your analysis, is giving me the itch again at 68.I have a 69 Fender Jazz bass and a reissue 62.
No mention of john paul jones from 1968-76? Criminal! He made full tonal use of the jazz bass throughout the first zep album to presence. The lemon song demonstrates how much p bass tone you can get from the jazz. Great video though! Love my jazz bass!
Love your stuff, gents. There's so much I could join in the pontification on here... northern (heavy) vs swamp (light) ash for that 70's Jazz tone, Marcus, Jaco, etc. But, I gotta give props for including MeShell here. Love JoJo, but the rhythm section of MeShell | Frederico Peña | Gene Lake was absolutely one of the greatest of all time. Scott, you've talked about Hadrien before, not only for his chops, understanding of melody/harmony, and musicality, but for his FEEL and groove. THAT's what sets MeShell apart. She makes the bass speak, lyrically speak, in a way very, very few bassists can. Check out the video below of her, Frederico, Gene, and David Dyson in an AOL studio session tracking live. David's a MONSTER bassist, but he misses the intro, and MeShell jumps in. LISTEN TO HER PHRASING, NOTE PLACEMENT... AH!!! It's awesome! Okay, sorry for yelling. The video quality is wretched, but I can't find the original. th-cam.com/video/_itGhunM9mE/w-d-xo.html Thanks, guys - really dig the channel!
Something you guys didn't really touch on is how good even a passive Jazz bass can sound in a heavier context. They can hang with a P bass when it comes to punchiness, but that scooped full-open sound can really come a live and sound massive with a good amount of drive.
Scott I just picked up my second bass, Started with the M2 and yesterday my brand new V8 arrived from Andertons, You were the reason I pulled the trigger on Sire, Thank you
You guys are amazing! I always prefer the sound of flats with a neck pickup - such a lovely warm and mellow tone - I prefer that sound with slap bass too haha! It's so great to hear you letting rip on the bass and having fun! 😀
Played flats forever I do dub reggae, recently bought an Eventide H9 for a direct type set up and tuned BEAD, found the flats a little indistinct so switched over to DR Blues 125 105 85 65 and it’s best both worlds, creamy lows but much faster fingering on the neck
One of my favorite videos of yours so far. This is in a very different direction, but I'm wondering if you've ever covered bassists that are gifted at melodic riffs that drive the song. I'm thinking of people outside the virtuoso jazz/progressive world like Peter Hook, Joe Lally, Eric Avery etc. Deceptively simple but highly memorable lines that are as important or nearly as important as lyrics and vocal melody.
@@christopherweise438 exactly, check out when marcus slaps an open E, you can only get that note to waveform like that with pickups in the 70’s position
Yes I'm surprised they didn't mention the very different tones between the two jazz basses. The 70s is great for Miller/Barrett/Lee stuff, but utterly fails at Jaco. Bridge solo'd is just too thin, Leo got it right the first time for that tone.
That was a terrific video guys. I just tried the jazz bass reggae trick and OMG it works. Turning down that neck pickup volume ever so slightly gets rid of that boxy sound and just leaves you with juicy low end. Perfect! Looks like you can still teach an old dog new tricks......thanks heaps!
I’ve been into PJ basses since I started on bass. Both pickups on it definitely has its own sound but then it can do the p bass thing and the j bass bridge thing.
I just sent this video to my son, he was kind of crapped out about the jazz bass and I just made his day… I wanted to thank you for your great playing and sharing and the audio quality sounds great and thank you for having your Shiot together…
I have both a Jazz and a P bass, and I love them both, but the jazz bass has always been my favorite. It has been copied in so many other brands. Love it, love it, love it, love it.
The “tone secret” with the Jazz bass is to have one of the two pickups rolled off a bit. Both on full is too scooped. Lots of tone variations available with different string types and tone levels.
I’ve been playing guitar for 25 yrs, and lower my volume all the time to darken my tone, and never once thought of using it on bass. 🤦🏻♂️ It’ll work on any instrument without a tone bleed circuit, active or passive. Great vid!!!
Some players love them, like Tony Franklin and he's great. I found it can get the Jaco sound but can't get the Marcus sound because the pups don't match. It does get a unique sound that you might like with both pups on. I put a J pu in a 70's P and didn't like it, I could be crazy, but I thought it made the strings slightly tighter because of the added magnetic pull.
I’ve always loved the Geddy smash tone, and the Jaco bridge tone thing. I have a 75J with Joe Barden pickups and rounds that sounds great, and a Noel Redding reissue (with new-old stock wired Seymour Duncans) strung with TI flats. Both are great sounding and feeling basses and yeah, the tone is so versatile. A Jazz bass with flats is a very underrated combination! That all said, I’m a P-bass guy, again with TI flats. The P-bass’s more compact body feels better, and I love the placement of the pickups, which also feel right under my hands. And technically the P-bass isn’t as versatile tone-wise, but as you point out in this video, so much of your tone comes from your hands and how you attack the bass. I use my passive P basses for rock, funk, reggae, blues, R&B, old school country, you name it. I play them finger style mostly, but they work great with a pick and slapped, even with flats. I have a short scale Sandberg Lionel passive P style bass that is an absolute dream to play (especially on long gigs) and sounds amazing, so that’s my main gigging bass these days. The other thing about a P - you can never go wrong (at least in a producer/engineer’s ears) showing up at a recording session with a P bass. Okay, I usually come armed with both a P and a J and you can lay down grooves for anything.
I remember David Brown playin' a Jazz Bass and still see this beautyful slim neck and headstock and still can hear the ' Soul Sacrifice ' pattern. 🌬🙏🎸 thank you Wish y'all well out there.....🤘 greetings from Germany
Thanks guys! May I add 2 more effective JB sounds: 1. everything on 10 and then - take the neck PU a notch down. Gives you like "super Marcus" sound w/out active electronics. 2. Neck PU on 10, bridge PU and tone on 5-7. gives you a powerful dub sound - stronger than the one you demonstrated.
Awesome introspective on the jazz bass. One of the better bass videos I have seen, actually. Not so much a step-by-step "how-to", but more a big picture "what-to-think-about" video. Fun, informative, useful and great playing. Thanks for this!! That reggae trick tho! I had a JB handy when I watched it and gave it a try. How much to roll off probably depends on the tone cap value - the lower the value the more you will have to roll the volume back to get this effect I think. and because of pot values and variability every bass will be different.
Thanks a ton for the awesome feedback! 🙌🎵 We're stoked you found the big picture insights helpful, and glad you gave the reggae trick a shot - it's all about finding that sweet spot for your bass's unique sound. Keep rocking, and keep those bass adventures coming! 🎸🔊
Absolutely glorious! Love that reggae trick! Such a cool tone and vibe for that genre! It's so chill and comforting! Insane players! The jazz bass is my favorite! I fell in love with it a long time ago and then also after seeing Mio Akiyama play it in the anime K-on! Nothing will ever beat that beautiful classic sunburst with that lovely tortoise shell pick guard! Good stuff, man! 😎🥹👌🏻
You guys jamming was too cool! Need to do a bass jam video! That Reggae trick is cool! I have messed with rolling back the volume on either of the volume knobs and it makes a big difference.
I've played both, but I'm a P-Bass guy. Whichever bass works for you, even if it's not a P or J-Bass, and lets you make the music you want to, is really all that matters.
This is great. It's interesting, because I got my first bass at age 16 - an 80s Peavey Patriot that I still own and love more than life. It was the bass that I "cut my teeth" on, though I always wanted to do all sorts of wild "Jaco" things like remove the frets and add a bridge pickup (I am so glad that I did not do anything). A couple years ago, that bass did get an upgraded Seymour Duncan SCPB3 "tele" pickup, new pickguard and a wide mass bridge and the thing is literally perfect. That's all to say that over 20 years later and that P sound is 'home' to me - so much so that when I get my hands on J basses I rarely go for that bridge sound - it's just not me, even though John Paul Jones, Jaco, and Marcus really spread out some serious possibities. Great videos as always, Friends.
Oh my, that Alleva Coppolo LG4 you picked up is as perfect and hard to come by as the Moollon P IV you put down. I think if you gave me free reign in your studio for a week, I would forget to eat and sleep. What a dream collection of basses you have accrued, Scott.
I've been wanting to learn to bass for years, absolutely years. so I watched a lot of bassing vids and bought a base from a local guy who fixes up old instruments and sells them. older passive spector hh with a few war wounds and some kind of ssd emg pickups which sound pretty good to me. turns out he is friends with billy cox and learned to bass from him when he was a kid. he has arthritis and does not teach guitar or even much bass anymore but he has been showing me a few things on the 4 strings. I feel so lucky to have a even a tiny bit of one of Hendrix's Gypsy's magic in my training. Like a mystical link in the aether to the past through space and time. I consider all of the bass instructors on yt as my teachers and you are one of my favourite of the Albionites. just want to say thanks for taking the time to make the videos and helping out us baby bassers
Hey, your bass journey is filled with some magical connections! 🎸🎵 Having that link to Hendrix's legacy through your instructor is truly inspiring. Keep soaking up all the knowledge, and we're honored to be part of your learning adventure. You're part of our bass family - keep that groove alive and rock on! 🤘🔥
I love my Jazz. I used it for years, but lately, I can't bc of the weight. An injury from years ago has made it impossible to play it for long periods without pain. It's the most versatile bass out there. I switched to a Lakland. It gives me a tone close to a Jazz, but lighter and a little better balance. I was looking at a 5 string jazz, but they are really heavy. The Lake has been a great solution.
Don't have one but have played one with some regularity at one time and to be honest, I've missed it (regular bass is a Music Man Sting Ray). Anyone who comes up to me saying they want to learn bass and asks what they should get, I have to suggest the J. Its versatility is gobsmacking. Here are some bassists known primarily (at least at one time or another) for playing them, and none sound remotely alike: Greg Lake, Jaco Pastorius, Geddy Lee, Larry Graham.
You two knuckleheads are such a gift and joy to the bass community. Young bass players don’t realize how accessible learning is compared to when we learned by picking up and down the record player needle every stinking measure. Praying for your continued success for all our sakes.
Lol, when I started, i didn’t knew how to tune the bass properly. Started on classical guitar, so I tuned the bass as the guitar’s top 4 strings, E B G D 😂 played the instrument like that for 3 years!! 😂😂
It was almost 25 years ago, time flies, huh..
My arms are still sore from all that needle hovering and cassette tape rewinding.
You forgot slowing the record down to its slowest
I agree, but, “knuckleheads” ?
It’s a term of endearment plus they’d same the same thing about themselves.
Bobby Vega is a friend of a bass player friend of mine, so I’ve met him a few times and even played his bass! Super nice guy and just amazing bass player.
The chemistry/interaction between the two you you really makes these videos. Thank you
🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
Thanks for including Meshell she deserves way more recognition as the sublime bassplayer she is (and composer, lyricist, singer, innovator etc.). Joe Osborn is yet another great example of Jazz Bass versatility played with a pick and eternally old flats. Great and very educational vid thanks for the raggae tip.
Indeed. I believe she is one of Janek Gwizdalas absolute favourite bassists.
I started as a jazz bass player. I love the neck and look of a jazz bass. But I've come to realize over the years that I just prefer the sound of a P bass. It just sounds like a bass "should" sound in my head. And it works perfectly in any recording. So now I just end up with P basses with thinner necks.
Me too p bass is so much easy to get a good bass tone even the distortions overdrive and fuzz pedals has a better response on my jazz basses the low output of pickups doesnt sound agressive like pbass does
Tough choices though the years may always be Coke vs. Pepsi and Duracell vs. Energizer. Jazz bass vs. precision is another but I will always choose the jazz bass.
I feel the complete opposite. The sound of a real bass to me is a jazz bass. That's the sound of the late 70's and 80s pop stuff I grew up with, played finger style. It's also easier to get a (properly played) jazz bass to sit in a mix.
You'll hear many people say they prefer a p bass in a mix compared to a jazz bass in both pickups full / scooped config. But in my experience this is pure laziness. It takes just a litte eq to compensate for that with a jazz with both pickups on full to get to where you suddenly have the best of all worlds: the harmonics the lows and the transients.
The p bass tends to get lost easier in a mix because the initial transient is either flat or more of a thuddy sound, whereas you get snappy punch and quick transient from the bridge pickup on a jazz. The ear catches that punch/burp thing, giving it more perceived loudness even if the bulk of the note is lower in volume than the P. The jazz bass also has additional harmonics where the p bass is basically just the fundamental.
That is one of the reasons the jazz bass translates much better on smaller speakers, it's actually audible on phones and ear pods within a mix, and it's one of the reasons a lot of guys playing in tv shows play either jazz or PJ basses, because you come to realize that due to the bridge pickup it translates better on tv's, phones and laptops than a p bass.
Just the opposite for me. Started out with a p bass for a few years and really liked it, but after trying many other basses, I discovered the amazing versatility of the jazz, and found punchy rock tones that p basses can only dream of.
You’re right P bass is the BASS!
Played a gig just last night using my Jazz the whole night. I'm super fond of the neck pickup with the tone all the way up. If I could only have one bass, it would be a jazz.
I own a 73 jazz sunburst. All original including the case it came in. My dad got it in the 70s and was passed down to me. Love that bass!
Macca - Band on the Run & parts of The White Album
Rick Danko - Music from Big Pink
Herbie Flowers - Everything he's ever recorded probably
John Paul Jones - Most of Zeppelin (specifically Heartbreaker)
My favorite JB tones
The volume rollback works on Scott's bass because it's just an ordinary passive bass with an active EQ that follows the passive pickups with passive volume controls. Scott's "Active bass" isn't really any different than if Scott plugged a passive bass into a two band EQ pedal. The volume rolloff wouldn't work the same with EMG active pickups where the "active" is before the volume control.
just wanted to write the exact same stuff, checked before if so else mentioned it before.. :D
I thought I had a bass with active pickups until I brought it into a guitar tech and he kindly explained that the EQ was active, not the pickups. Live and learn, lol.
❤ Excellent Review Guys!
Richard Bona can play Teen Town 🎉
Who knew an Englishman and an American could be bass twins!? Ian has been a massive shot in the arm of Scott’s bass lessons.
🧡🧡🧡
Yeah Ian is a great addition.
Great stuff! One bass player who absolutely deserves recognition as a Jazz bass icon for his tone, technique, ingenuity, and absolutely radical ability, is Darryl Jenifer of Bad Brains. Much Love!
The best heavy/distorted bass tones I've ever heard at live shows have been with jazz basses. Extremely underrated use case for a jazz
jazz have been several times in metal
Ben, what bassists do you recommend for heavy/distorted tones?
@@clintwilson6380 check out a hardcore band called BILA, from Malta. He has a squier jazz and an overdrive pedal and just consistently has the best heavy tone ever. I'll also mention from a live perspective two of the best bass tones I've heard on a jazz are Leprous and Pulled Apart by Horses, who are both bands I enjoyed watching live but I'm not especially keen on in the studio.
Any recommendations? I'm buying my second bass soon, and I really want to try out a jazz bass.
Trujillo :)
Great video, gents!
The ultimate Jazz bass tones for me are Joe Osborn and Herbie Flowers. Flats, foam and pick for Joe, while Herbie uses nylon tapewounds and alternates between pick and fingers.
That is a very good tip about rolling the neck volume back a bit for reggae tones. What’s happening is the resistance at the pot is causing a low pass filter effect, similar to the tone knob but at a different frequency. To avoid this happening, some guitars have a treble bleed circuit which uses a cap across the pot terminals so the highs can take an easier route via the cap rather than through the pot, keeping your highs as you turn down. This effect will happen with any bass with passive pickups and passive volume controls, even if there’s an active circuit later in the signal chain.
Doing the same thing with the bridge pickup wide open can hive the bass a more focused sound than the typical wide open sound too. It’s really useful. Bring back the tone a bit and it jumps out from under the guitars in the mix 👍
Actually single pickup guitars generally do not show this effect due to a different wiring. E.g. P basses
Exactly, great they mentioned it. Your last bit is important for this trick (voltage divider at volume pot interacting with passive filter), it won't work with any bass with active electronics. It worked at Scott's bass, because it's essentially a standard passive j-bass electronics with passive tone control and active preamp after that at its output. However plenty of other preamps are designed exactly to avoid such impedance interactions - to decouple volume and tone controls and to keep the same tone regardless of volume at each pickup and its blend. And of course, in case of active pickups with built-in buffer in its shell like classic EMGs, that trick also won't work.
Even though my active J bass (Fender CS Classic) doesn’t support that significant tonal change (when lowering down the volume) - still it’s pretty great improvement to pure neck pickup sound. I have never been using pure neck pickup sound until now. If the volume is lowered by 20-30% down (and additional volume added on amp accordingly), it sounds great! Really appreciate such hint 👍
If you want more "wood" in your tone, just play further up, off your neck pickup towards the fretboard.
The Reggae thing has to do with how the electronics interact. When you turn down the volume you raise the pickup's resistance, which leads to less treble. That's why a lot of guitarists install a "treble-bleed (high pass)" circuit, which keeps the treble no matter what volume you have. Fender has a good explanation on their website.
Yep, treble loss at anything less that wide open volume on passive basses is a thing.
You can't raise the resistance of the pickup! That would require adding windings, but because it's the generator (With the string movement) it would result in more output! You are raising the resistance of the volume pot, but also changing it's capacitance (A phantom property) it's sending some of the signal to ground. It's called a voltage split circuit. Volume all the way up = resistance is all the way down (none) turn the volume down, and you are turning up the resistance to the signal coming from the pickup, and in the split, more of it goes to ground because it follows the least path of resistance.
A tone control is a high pass filter, which bleeds treble to ground via a capacitor, controlled by the potentiometer, the more resistance in line with the cap, the less treble passes, there too, turning the resistance up, turns the treble down, and it splits to the signal lead of the volume, so no voltage split there, or else using the volume would activate the tone too. A high pass filter capacitor on a volume pot helps with hot wound pickups, mostly humbuckers because turning the volume down on one results in treble loss and they can sound muddy, the capacitor lets the trebles bypass the volume pot so it can't remove them.
That wasn't a problem before Metal, and adding ever more windings to pickups to get them to distort. Watch closely when you see old videos of Hendrix, Clapton, Terry reed, Jeff beck and on and on, they just rolled down the volume a tad, and mellowed out the sound for rhythm playing; no mud, then turn it back up for leads, hardly ever using the tone knob. Can't do that with hot pickups!
In a passive circuit you cannot turn anything up from a physics/energy perspective, only down. If you want more, that's what active circuits are for, as you are adding energy to the system.
...some guitarists love that treble bleed - because it smoothens the singel coil and humbucker sound in clean sounds. Especially semi-accoustics and archtops ; )
@@Bob-of-Zoid Perfect explanation!
@@dmoore0079 Thanks! I freak out when I see people explaining electronics, Lutherie, physics, psychology or philosophy related things and get it wrong. I'm old and addicted to science and have a higher degree related to some of it. If I don't know a thing, I ask questions and look for answers, and I don't explain it to others until I am sure I can sufficiently!
Never ever knew nothing about the Bob Marley's tone!
And is this even possibile to an active bass too? What the heck guys, you're the prophets of bass culture sharing that the bass world always needed! THANK YOU! 🍻
Even more happy with my decision to learn bass on my new Squier Classic Vibe 60's Jazz Bass. I was worried I should have gone with a PJ bass since my music taste is all over the place.
The first J-bass tones that come to my mind are: Family Man on the neck pickup; JPJ mostly on the neck; the classic Jazz tone that’s on a million things with bridge max and neck backed off a little; Jaco on the bridge pickup and Marcus with both on full and added activeness. And of course, Larry Graham, with GCS! (Did he have a J-bass back in Sly & The Family Stone?)
He used VOX Sidewinder between 1967-1968, then from 1969 it was a candy apple red Fender Jazz Bass with a matching headstock, rosewood fingerboard and block inlays.
God this was wonderful! Yes, I own three Jazz basses and love them but it was also the delight you both showed in exploring all these sounds and the techniques in took to create them. Keep it going. You guys are tops in terms of online bass instruction.
And by the way… Bobby Vega says that Larry was using Black Tape strings with a maple neck jazz for that tune! That will certainly have an effect on the tone! Thanks again!
Yes dude! We're thrilled you enjoyed the video and the bass exploration! Thanks for the kind words and support. 🎸 Keep rockin' those Jazz basses and experimenting with different tones and techniques 🙌🏻🧡🔥
well i have 4 jazz basses, so im better than you
You guys forgot to mention the sound of the pre CBS jazz bass, a much darker sound - like on the Lenny Kravitz song "are you gonna go my way." A perfect example of this sound would be U2's Larry Muller or Rick Danko from the Band.
Super interesting the Reggae trick. Now for those who want a bit more technical stuff:
The slight volume roll off affects highs because that frequency range, since it's so fast and short, anything affects it. That's why there are different values for volume/tone pots too. 250k is darker than 500k, and so on. That's also why Humbuckers are darker sounding when wired in series. The more the electric current travels, the more highs you loose.
For those of you who don't want that, there's the trebble bleed mod.
and let's not forget the RH placement.
@@arnlmndza oh, isn't it about tunning pegs?
My reggae trick is whenever i hear reggae i turn it off.
The thing about the volume knob is standard in the 6-string guitar world. In fact, some guitars have a bypass capacitor + resistor added to the volume knob so they can turn the volume down without losing any high freqs (for those who don't want the effect).
I think my biggest jazz bass hero might be Rutger Gunnarsson, bassist for ABBA. I think his performances helped to define that timeless music.
Early Joe Dart is worth a mention too - reppin' the flats on a jazz bass sound! Probably the reason mine still has flats on. Great list over all!
Bassline for Dancing Queen is spankin hot
He had that Jamerson style, great player.
Rutger is such a legend! People that say it's easy to play the bass in ABBA songs usually f up in seconds.
That was great. It's good to hear the range of tones from the jazz; the reggae tone was a complete revelation. I nearly want one - nearly!
Thanks for making this video! It cuts a huge amount of my 'figuring it out' time off by having both the dial settings and technique thoroughly explained!
I have a 2019 Fender American professional J-bass. Wonderful instrument! The neck feels amazing. I also play a 1981 Gibson Victory (fretless with flats) which is Gibson's attempt at making a P-bass.
Both are great instruments, but the J-bass is the real Ferrari and has so many different tones that I still am exploring everything it can do.
You guys are CRUSHING IT with these videos! Love the jazz bass tips.
One of the basses I own is an all original John Suhr era Fender Jazz bass (1997) and having owned quite a few basses in my 30 years of playing, it is by far my favorite out of all of them. It plays like a dream, sounds absolutely incredible (and I do mean incredible!!!), and like y'all said, Jazz basses are known for being very versatile.
I have a Bobby Vega pick from when I met him in California that one time … that’s pretty cool. I also met him in Boulder with Steve Kimock and Zero. What an amazing show. Shout out for Bobby Vega!
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I was not familiar with Meshell Ndgeoncello before this video... paused and looked up a bunch on TH-cam... Wow! Such feeling and EXCELLENT execution, always varying her techniques to suit it all! Another bassist to nerd out on for inspiration!😄 Thank you SBL, and please continue these podcast style videos that keep it a community, not just a rando tutorial channel!
Absolutely, Meshell Ndegeocello is a true inspiration with her unique style and versatility! 🎸 Keep diving into her music and techniques - inspiration is everywhere. We're thrilled to create a community of fellow bass enthusiasts, and we've got more exciting content coming your way!
Great video thanks! Love a Jazz Bass 🎉
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Brilliant. You two work so well together and are an absolute joy to watch. Love the volume knob trick too. Thanks Ian.🔥🔥🔥
Who is that guy on his side?
I love watching and learning from Scott and Ian. Truly, twin brothers of different Mothers!
This is a great video guys! You should do more like this one; your joy in playing together was infectious to watch and your skills are inspiring. Thanks for sharing!!
I'm primarily a reggae bassist, and I had never heard to do that trick! I'm always at full neck, no bridge, tone mostly off, and I just instinctually keep my volume around 80% because I thought it sounded better (and I want the headroom on deck) good to know its a legit thing
Same, dub reggae bass , I use front pickup , let the amp do the work, soft touch , very near or above the neck joint. I tune BEAD so I move the finger around on the low B to get a variety of super cream or round punch tones…full disclosure love your channel despite having attempted slapping exactly twice in 30 years. Watched the Marcus Miller bio and so impressed by his musical approach to the percussive technique I busted out Fame by Bowie, baby steps!
@@theduppykillah Good on ya with the BEAD tuning! I got a 5 string for the same purpose (well that and the bandleader loves to play in C# lol)
@@eccentricgreen7249 never had much use for the G string so 4 strings work. You tune down another 1/2 step? That a good idea
My first real bass was a '69 Jazz bass which I still have about 45 years after buying it. Still play it occasionally to this day, and still prefer that late 60's-mid 70's neck profile over all other 4 bangers.
My gigging 4 strings are all JB's although I'll occasionally play one of my P's Nothing else compares for feel, tone, and aesthetics.
Ooh, a '69 JB. So jealous. Mine was and still is a '73 Rick 4001. Cheers, Geddy.
@@richardm8243 I had a white '73 Rick during the early 80's. Nice bass, but I like the Jazz bass ergonomics much better. Perhaps I'll get another some day.
You guys are so good, and just so much damn fun to watch.
Without ever knowing it was a reggae tone thing, I use the volume lowering trick a lot. It’s a curse on electric six strings with modern wiring because when you turn down the volume, you lose treble from your signal, but on a bass that’s actually a useable feature.
This video exceeded my expectations. In my earlier days, no joke my top 5 bassists were Jaco, Marcus, Geddy. Family Man, and Me'shell. So that's quite a coincidence that warmed my heart. I've met Larry and Bobby Vega in person and seeing them live changed my life and added them into that pantheon of favorites.
Nerd comment #1: I'm 98% sure that "Hair" was using tapewounds, and I think Bobby shared that with me.
Nerd comment #2: The reggae trick works on that active bass it's fundamentally a passive pickup run through an active preamp. Active pickups like EMGs will not have that same effect due to the impedance loading within the pickup.
Nerd comment #3: When I saw Larry, he was doing a bass duo with Marcus, similar to what both of you were doing. What surprised me was how modern Larry's sound was. And being that Marcus is that jazz fusion legend, I had expected him to have surpassed Larry's technical ability but Larry had just as much chops, and in fact played more impressively, though it could be it was because Marcus's level was a little lower and my ear tricked. But Marcus was still like a fanboy and was going on about amazing Larry was for being able to play like that AND sing and talk like that at the same time.
Showmanship award went to Larry, and frankly, as much as slap/thumpin' and pluckin' started with Larry, it also ended with him as far as I'm concerned.
Nerd comment #4: Bobby is an EXCELLENT slapper, and he can do a really mean Larry impersonation as well. Though he's not trained in jazz, he has a lot of bebop-like ideas and phrasing, especially when he's doing like chord melody solo bass stuff.
Nerd comment #5: Agree with Ian about that neck pickup. It doesn't get enough love. Joe Osborne had that sound using the neck pickup, and it sounds like Geddy did for most of Moving Pictures; Tom Sawyer sounds more neck-like than his later both pickups sound from like "Driven."
Nerd comment #6: Marcus's legendary 77 J-Bass actually had an early Stars Guitars preamp that fried during a session and was replaced with a Bartolini TCT. Contrary to popular belief, it's not that Sadowsky preamp as we know today, though Roger did the work on it.
Haha awesome, so many nerd comments, love it
Very cool! I can't live without; passive Jazz, active Jazz, P-bass, Stingray, Stingray 5, and fretless 5 string period. Great post guys!
For you electronics / audio guys out there that are interested, the reason the reggae tone trick works is because it decreases the cut off frequency of the R-C filter circuit. Lowering the volume of the neck pick pickup increases the series resistance in the R-C filter circuit, where fc(cutoff frequency) = 1/(2piRC).
Thank you both, so much. I picked up bass again and I've just never been good at tone shaping. Watching you go through all the knob settings and being able to really hear the differences combined with both the musical AND historical explanations...just fantastic. Thank you, thank you.
So great to hear the video helped you dude! Keep sculpting those tones 🔨🔨
Meshell Endegeocello is one of my favourite bass players, the pocket she has is so so nice.
Great video 👍🏼
Great video and breakdown as usual. Yes my mind is blown also with that darkened "reggae" tone trick. Wow. Thanks guys!
Awesome dude, thanks for checking out the video! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
I would also mention Carlos Dengler of Interpol, Tim Commerford of RATM and, of course, His Majesty John Paul Jones
Great choices! Carlos Dengler, Tim Commerford, and John Paul Jones are all incredible bassists who've left their mark in the world of music. The bass world is full of inspiring talent! 🎶👏
One of your best episodes
Thank you so much for being there and doing such a good job
God bless you both and your team
finally we talk about Me'shell Ndegeocello ! Good job guys love this video. It's you talk about all the bass player and even tracks that made me fall in love with the Jazz Bass and i got a nice one from 1978 !
Joe Osborne was one of if not the first Jazz bass users when Fender gave him one of the first ever made. These guys are too good!!!
This may be my favorite SBL video. Great!
Nwt! (Now we're talkin'). Best bass chat I've seen. Agree that jazz bass is the way to go. 2 pickups = versatility
Awesome dude, thanks for checking out the video! 🙌🏻
You two really work hard together
Its lovely to see both on the same page
Love it
Hung out with Vega in SF playing a gig with Roger Steen of the Tubes and at NAMM with Miles Schon. Funky dude.
For sure a FUNKY DUDE! 🕺
That is one of your best videos. Congrats. Brilliant watch. Keep up the good work!:)
I learned to play on a jazz and one of the first songs I learned was 'message to you, rudy' and that was the tone I dialled in for it!
This channel rocks, so informative, such good playing, great vibe, thank you!
Hey guys,,,in the 70s I played all p-bass,,,then my beautiful wife got me a 60s reissue very sweet jazz bass & now is my all time favorite,,, PLEASE KEEP PUTTING OUT VIDEOS TOGETHER,,SOO GOOD🎸
The beginning of your video was an unexpected delight for me, as I recorded Jaco for six of the most exciting years of our lives. That sound you describe was a little bit of my magic laid on top of a lot of his magic. We were a true team. I haven’t felt that warm and fuzzy for a long, LONG time.
You’d be surprised at the lifespan of grief, misunderstanding, and disrespect for my dear friend and colleague for so many years. When people forget his humanity to regale his worst moments, it is crushingly sad for me. We created that music with pure love in our hearts and the same kind of spontaneous joy most musicians know. That it doesn’t sound spontaneous is, I guess, a victory of sorts.
All of Word Of Mouth was ecstatically happy and free music-making. We constantly challenged ourselves, and later everyone else on the record to be their favorite selves. For us, it was a rebuke of the worst excesses of jazz improv. That thinking is what brought us together in the first place. We did not utter the four-letter word. Ever. Melody, harmony, and groove - the elements - can be assembled in myriad ways, and I came to produce with Jaco because I’d finally found the composer/player of my dreams, delightfully devoid of a riffing snooze-fest.
Thank you both for sending me down a truly happy lane of memories. I deeply appreciate it.
Wow, what an incredible journey you shared with Jaco! Your partnership's magic lives on, reminding us all of the beauty and joy in music collaboration. Thank you for taking us down memory lane with your heartfelt story. 🎶🎸
You both are great together. Please do more vids. I started playing bass at 9 years old. I stopped playing when I moved to Florida 30 years ago and watching you both, who I believe are totally right on with your analysis, is giving me the itch again at 68.I have a 69 Fender Jazz bass and a reissue 62.
No mention of john paul jones from 1968-76? Criminal! He made full tonal use of the jazz bass throughout the first zep album to presence.
The lemon song demonstrates how much p bass tone you can get from the jazz.
Great video though! Love my jazz bass!
Love your stuff, gents. There's so much I could join in the pontification on here... northern (heavy) vs swamp (light) ash for that 70's Jazz tone, Marcus, Jaco, etc.
But, I gotta give props for including MeShell here. Love JoJo, but the rhythm section of MeShell | Frederico Peña | Gene Lake was absolutely one of the greatest of all time. Scott, you've talked about Hadrien before, not only for his chops, understanding of melody/harmony, and musicality, but for his FEEL and groove. THAT's what sets MeShell apart. She makes the bass speak, lyrically speak, in a way very, very few bassists can.
Check out the video below of her, Frederico, Gene, and David Dyson in an AOL studio session tracking live. David's a MONSTER bassist, but he misses the intro, and MeShell jumps in. LISTEN TO HER PHRASING, NOTE PLACEMENT... AH!!! It's awesome! Okay, sorry for yelling.
The video quality is wretched, but I can't find the original.
th-cam.com/video/_itGhunM9mE/w-d-xo.html
Thanks, guys - really dig the channel!
Hey there, thanks a million for the kind words and the MeShell shoutout! 🙌🎵 Big up yourself for supporting the SBL channel!
Something you guys didn't really touch on is how good even a passive Jazz bass can sound in a heavier context. They can hang with a P bass when it comes to punchiness, but that scooped full-open sound can really come a live and sound massive with a good amount of drive.
They kind of covered that with Geddy Lee's Jazz Bass tone.
Martin Mendez!
Scott I just picked up my second bass, Started with the M2 and yesterday my brand new V8 arrived from Andertons, You were the reason I pulled the trigger on Sire, Thank you
You guys are amazing! I always prefer the sound of flats with a neck pickup - such a lovely warm and mellow tone - I prefer that sound with slap bass too haha!
It's so great to hear you letting rip on the bass and having fun! 😀
Awesome Tim, great to hear you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
Played flats forever I do dub reggae, recently bought an Eventide H9 for a direct type set up and tuned BEAD, found the flats a little indistinct so switched over to DR Blues 125 105 85 65 and it’s best both worlds, creamy lows but much faster fingering on the neck
One of my favorite videos of yours so far. This is in a very different direction, but I'm wondering if you've ever covered bassists that are gifted at melodic riffs that drive the song. I'm thinking of people outside the virtuoso jazz/progressive world like Peter Hook, Joe Lally, Eric Avery etc. Deceptively simple but highly memorable lines that are as important or nearly as important as lyrics and vocal melody.
i know hooky used a yamaha for a lot of the immediate post joy division stuff
Also, to get the marcus sound, you need a 70’s jazz, because the pickups are in the 70’s position, which makes a massive difference
Great point. They did move the bridge pick up closer to the bridge in the 70's which makes it a little brighter.
@@christopherweise438 exactly, check out when marcus slaps an open E, you can only get that note to waveform like that with pickups in the 70’s position
Yes I'm surprised they didn't mention the very different tones between the two jazz basses. The 70s is great for Miller/Barrett/Lee stuff, but utterly fails at Jaco. Bridge solo'd is just too thin, Leo got it right the first time for that tone.
That was a terrific video guys. I just tried the jazz bass reggae trick and OMG it works. Turning down that neck pickup volume ever so slightly gets rid of that boxy sound and just leaves you with juicy low end. Perfect! Looks like you can still teach an old dog new tricks......thanks heaps!
I’ve been into PJ basses since I started on bass. Both pickups on it definitely has its own sound but then it can do the p bass thing and the j bass bridge thing.
I just sent this video to my son, he was kind of crapped out about the jazz bass and I just made his day…
I wanted to thank you for your great playing and sharing and the audio quality sounds great and thank you for having your Shiot together…
I know for some it's a sacrilege, but I like the passive PJ bass I have. Being able to blend the thump with the waka is just infinity options.
I'd love to try one of those basses one day but they're not common at my local music stores.
I have both a Jazz and a P bass, and I love them both, but the jazz bass has always been my favorite. It has been copied in so many other brands. Love it, love it, love it, love it.
The “tone secret” with the Jazz bass is to have one of the two pickups rolled off a bit. Both on full is too scooped. Lots of tone variations available with different string types and tone levels.
I’ve been playing guitar for 25 yrs, and lower my volume all the time to darken my tone, and never once thought of using it on bass. 🤦🏻♂️
It’ll work on any instrument without a tone bleed circuit, active or passive. Great vid!!!
Early Led Zeppelin. John Paul Jones had a very wonderful round sound with an early 60s jazz bass. 2cents
Greg Lake as well.
Tim Commerford…
Thank you so much! Another wonderful, inspiring video! I can't watch any of your vids without immediately wanting to pick up my bass and play! !!!
So great to hear!
Would love to hear your thoughts on a fender PJ bass and if you think it can compete with a jazz bass for versatility?
Thanks A1
the problem is the bridge needs to be a humbucker to compete with the P...then it's no longer a "real" J .
Some players love them, like Tony Franklin and he's great. I found it can get the Jaco sound but can't get the Marcus sound because the pups don't match. It does get a unique sound that you might like with both pups on. I put a J pu in a 70's P and didn't like it, I could be crazy, but I thought it made the strings slightly tighter because of the added magnetic pull.
I’ve always loved the Geddy smash tone, and the Jaco bridge tone thing. I have a 75J with Joe Barden pickups and rounds that sounds great, and a Noel Redding reissue (with new-old stock wired Seymour Duncans) strung with TI flats. Both are great sounding and feeling basses and yeah, the tone is so versatile. A Jazz bass with flats is a very underrated combination! That all said, I’m a P-bass guy, again with TI flats. The P-bass’s more compact body feels better, and I love the placement of the pickups, which also feel right under my hands. And technically the P-bass isn’t as versatile tone-wise, but as you point out in this video, so much of your tone comes from your hands and how you attack the bass. I use my passive P basses for rock, funk, reggae, blues, R&B, old school country, you name it. I play them finger style mostly, but they work great with a pick and slapped, even with flats. I have a short scale Sandberg Lionel passive P style bass that is an absolute dream to play (especially on long gigs) and sounds amazing, so that’s my main gigging bass these days. The other thing about a P - you can never go wrong (at least in a producer/engineer’s ears) showing up at a recording session with a P bass. Okay, I usually come armed with both a P and a J and you can lay down grooves for anything.
Jazz bass for me is Meshell Ndegeocello …. 60’s Jazz with flats .
That’s the ultimate Jazz sound to me. ❤
God same. Absolutely incredible
She’s so underrated man
I remember David Brown playin' a Jazz Bass and still see this beautyful slim neck and headstock and still can hear the ' Soul Sacrifice ' pattern. 🌬🙏🎸 thank you
Wish y'all well out there.....🤘
greetings from Germany
That Bobby Vega part was spectacular
🧡🧡🧡
Thanks guys! May I add 2 more effective JB sounds: 1. everything on 10 and then - take the neck PU a notch down. Gives you like "super Marcus" sound w/out active electronics. 2. Neck PU on 10, bridge PU and tone on 5-7. gives you a powerful dub sound - stronger than the one you demonstrated.
I love the sound of flat wound strings, particularly on a Jazz bass
I agree, flatwounds on a five string jazz bass!
Awesome introspective on the jazz bass. One of the better bass videos I have seen, actually. Not so much a step-by-step "how-to", but more a big picture "what-to-think-about" video. Fun, informative, useful and great playing. Thanks for this!! That reggae trick tho! I had a JB handy when I watched it and gave it a try. How much to roll off probably depends on the tone cap value - the lower the value the more you will have to roll the volume back to get this effect I think. and because of pot values and variability every bass will be different.
Thanks a ton for the awesome feedback! 🙌🎵 We're stoked you found the big picture insights helpful, and glad you gave the reggae trick a shot - it's all about finding that sweet spot for your bass's unique sound. Keep rocking, and keep those bass adventures coming! 🎸🔊
I think being Meshell’s bassist would be even worse than being Sting’s bassist! The pressure!
Absolutely glorious! Love that reggae trick! Such a cool tone and vibe for that genre! It's so chill and comforting! Insane players! The jazz bass is my favorite! I fell in love with it a long time ago and then also after seeing Mio Akiyama play it in the anime K-on! Nothing will ever beat that beautiful classic sunburst with that lovely tortoise shell pick guard! Good stuff, man! 😎🥹👌🏻
Two men, zero hair, 500% skill, 10000% approachable teaching perspectives.
So awesome to hear dude! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
You guys jamming was too cool! Need to do a bass jam video! That Reggae trick is cool! I have messed with rolling back the volume on either of the volume knobs and it makes a big difference.
Heh really liked this video. Sometimes the algorithm serve you some gold nuggets!
Best pals ever (best players too) thanks guys. Always a pleasure
Did anybody mention its gorgeous aesthetics? ❤❤❤❤
One of the best P bass vs. J bass comparisons on TH-cam. Thank you.
I LOVE the bass tone, on the Evil Empire album, by Rage Against The Machine. Jazz basses kick ass!!!!!
Hell yeah, Tim Commerford's tones on Bulls On Parade and Down Rodeo are just explosive and I fucking love it
I just started playing bass a couple off months ago, this made me happy about my choice to buy a jazz bass.
Yes dude, enjoy the journey!
@@devinebass thanks, I really enjoy your videos :)
I've played both, but I'm a P-Bass guy. Whichever bass works for you, even if it's not a P or J-Bass, and lets you make the music you want to, is really all that matters.
I prefer a stingray, it's like a sporty P bass, and in my mind still a fender.
This is great. It's interesting, because I got my first bass at age 16 - an 80s Peavey Patriot that I still own and love more than life. It was the bass that I "cut my teeth" on, though I always wanted to do all sorts of wild "Jaco" things like remove the frets and add a bridge pickup (I am so glad that I did not do anything). A couple years ago, that bass did get an upgraded Seymour Duncan SCPB3 "tele" pickup, new pickguard and a wide mass bridge and the thing is literally perfect. That's all to say that over 20 years later and that P sound is 'home' to me - so much so that when I get my hands on J basses I rarely go for that bridge sound - it's just not me, even though John Paul Jones, Jaco, and Marcus really spread out some serious possibities. Great videos as always, Friends.
You mean, "Why the Jazz bass would crush everything, if we were in a world where Rickenbackers don't exist". Fixed it for ya 😉😁
Oh my, that Alleva Coppolo LG4 you picked up is as perfect and hard to come by as the Moollon P IV you put down. I think if you gave me free reign in your studio for a week, I would forget to eat and sleep. What a dream collection of basses you have accrued, Scott.
Bass bromance made in heaven. Enjoyed this video. Thanks guys 🙂
I've been wanting to learn to bass for years, absolutely years.
so I watched a lot of bassing vids and bought a base from a local guy who fixes up old instruments and sells them.
older passive spector hh with a few war wounds and some kind of ssd emg pickups which sound pretty good to me.
turns out he is friends with billy cox and learned to bass from him when he was a kid.
he has arthritis and does not teach guitar or even much bass anymore but he has been showing me a few things on the 4 strings.
I feel so lucky to have a even a tiny bit of one of Hendrix's Gypsy's magic in my training.
Like a mystical link in the aether to the past through space and time.
I consider all of the bass instructors on yt as my teachers and you are one of my favourite of the Albionites.
just want to say thanks for taking the time to make the videos and helping out us baby bassers
Hey, your bass journey is filled with some magical connections! 🎸🎵 Having that link to Hendrix's legacy through your instructor is truly inspiring. Keep soaking up all the knowledge, and we're honored to be part of your learning adventure. You're part of our bass family - keep that groove alive and rock on! 🤘🔥
Watching you two jam brought a smile to my face man!
I love my Jazz. I used it for years, but lately, I can't bc of the weight. An injury from years ago has made it impossible to play it for long periods without pain. It's the most versatile bass out there. I switched to a Lakland. It gives me a tone close to a Jazz, but lighter and a little better balance. I was looking at a 5 string jazz, but they are really heavy. The Lake has been a great solution.
Don't have one but have played one with some regularity at one time and to be honest, I've missed it (regular bass is a Music Man Sting Ray). Anyone who comes up to me saying they want to learn bass and asks what they should get, I have to suggest the J. Its versatility is gobsmacking. Here are some bassists known primarily (at least at one time or another) for playing them, and none sound remotely alike: Greg Lake, Jaco Pastorius, Geddy Lee, Larry Graham.
Nice hang!!! (As a guitar player, I’ve always like how a jazz bass sits in the mix … just right😁).