The Jazz Bass Sound
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Quickstats
Playlist Length
0 days, 4 hours, 32 minutes
Playlist Followers
381
Source
Playlist Last Updated
May 16, 2020
Mood
Mixed Mood
Track Popularity Rating
Somewhat Popular
Style
Varied
Average Release Decade
1960s
Main Genre:
Mixed
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Pedals. There are hundreds of pedal types, and within each type, thousands of variations. I will give you a breakdown of the ones I have, as well as some common ones. Octave Pedal: These usually have a sub octave function, which means that when you play a note, the pedal grabs that note, and plays it back at half the frequency, which means an octave lower (this is what most tend to have, althoush some, like the Electro Harmonix POG series have an octave up mode as well, which does the opposite, so it plays the note you played one octave higher). Some give a synthy vibe to the sound, and can be used to give an upright bass type of feel to the bass. An example of one being used is in the song Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel, with Tony Levin on bass. Envelope filter: This one is F U N K Y. It gives the bass a "Wah wah wah" sound, which is why it can also be called an auto wah pedal. Check out P.Y.T. by Michael Jackson (that song title did NOT age well) as an example. Distortion: It distorts the signal. Makes it sound more aggressive and on your face. Ace of Spades by Motorhead comes to mind as an example. Overdrive: It simulates the bass amplifier being pushed to its limits, just when the signal begins to break. You can probably simulate this by cranking the gain knob on your amp and playing like you want to murder the bass strings. You can call it a "light, more natural sounding distortion". Schism by TOOL is a good example, in my opinion. Fuzz: While overdrive is a tamer version of distortion, fuzz is distortion on crack. Check the intro for Around the World by Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Great showcase of fuzz on bass there. Also, Muse's Hysteria. Compressor pedals: What they do is they take the lowest troughs and highest peaks in volume and even them out, squishing or compressing them (hence the name). Basically, it exchanges dynamics for evenness in the playing. Usually used in slap. Distortion and fuzz pedals also compress the signal, but they achieve this by cutting the peaks of the frequency waves. Compression gives you that evenness without distorting the bass signal. For slap, it makes the slaps stronger and the pops quieter, at least in my experience, giving the songs you slap a cleaner, more consistent sound with no jarring peaks in the signal. They also protect your amp (I have blown out an amplifier before, so I had an overdrive sound for years, until I got a better amp and a compressor). There are many more pedals. Chorus, Reverb, delay, loop, all the good stuff. Now, onto bass models. The big three in my opinion are the Fender Jazz bass, Fender Precision Bass, and the MusicMan Stingray (all Leo Fender designs). Jazz basses are passive. This means they do not need a battery to power them. They have two single coil pickups, which allows for great tonal variety, and in my opinion, they are the most versatile basses, a jack of all trades type of instrument. Like I mentioned in another comment, they have thinner necks than most basses. They sound [like this.](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/066dRjAj1H87Hj0TmZzAXl?si=boI7-qLkQByAF4zhC7dtHQ) Precision basses are similar to Jazz basses in the sense that they are passive, but they are a bit more enclosed. While not as versatile due to the single split coil pickup, they have the advantage that their pickup avoids humming, which is a common problem with Jazz basses when you isolate one of their pickups. These are basses with a thicker neck, and a woolier, rounder sound. Not as aggressive, but definitely nice sounding. [Here you can find how they sound.](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3SeDPm65etAiQjFTHftSV7?si=pJKbpT0ZTvqY_cUuUcPobA) (Also, just because they aren't as versatile as a Jazz, they are pretty versatile). Stingrays. Boy oh boy do I love these. Single coil and chunky on the neck, like a precision, but bright as F\*CK. These are instruments meant for the bassplayer who does not want to sit in the background while the guitarrist takes the show. They are active basses, which means that they have lots of versatility onboard, with a preamp that lets yo boost frequencies, not just cut them (which is what happens with passive basses), and they have a signature growl to them. They are on your face, powerful funk and rock machines, as [this playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7Kt7HKKPziOHotzKJiNTA6?si=CqkoABmbSWKLHGGV9cO4cg) shows. That said, even though they only have one pickup (or at least that was the case until the 2000's), they are still as versatile as they get due to their tonal shaping options. They can almost sound like P basses in the right hands. Now. I consider the following type of bass its own instrument. The fretless. You have fretless Jazz basses (Jaco Pastorius), fretless Stingrays (Pino Palladino), fretless P basses (also Pino, if I recall correctly), but when you hear a fretless jazz, it doesn't sound like a jazz, it sounds like a fretless. [Here are some examples](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/27uAvAgnSJeVjIOzT2UnDC?si=JAOe6KhKQlaJyiMc3CF6Tw). Now, there is also a bass that has had its moment in rock and, while not as used today as it used to be, the fact that the biggest rock band, the biggest prog rock band, and the biggest metal band in history shared this bass as their main axe for a solid chunk of time proves that this bass has some monstruous capacity to rock, although maybe it doesn't funk quite as well. I, of course, am talking of the Rickenbacker. 2 pickups, passive, fast neck, just like a J, but as Geddy Lee describes it "they have a similar low end, but a completely different high end". Talking of Geddy, you will hear him play a Ricky in [this playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3M82RfGjhB3jfQIh8AVVqg?si=HwkfaT_MRyOVt_RTc_Qmlw) right here. I will be honest though. That thing Geddy said about the Ricky and the Jazz bass... He said it as a reason on why he switched from a Ricky to a Jazz. You will hear Geddy on the Jazz Bass playlist too. If you have any other doubts, please let me know! And in case you were wondering, I don't think I have ever heard a fretless Ricky, and even though I mentiones four (or five) big bass types, there are many others, like the Gibson basses, Yamaha BBs, boutique basses like Victor Wooten's PJ style Fodera, and a whole lot in between. One last thing. There are 5 string basses too, and to a lesser extent, 6 strings (thanks to Anthony Jackson) and 7 strings (Eric Czar has an Adamovic signature 7 string fretless that is the most unique looking bass guitar I have seen that still looks like a bass guitar).
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Subreddit
Bass
Reddit Username
Clemen11
Reddit Timestamp
7/11/20 11:03
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