Is there a way to improve B string on Fender Jazz?

#41
80jazz said:
I am curious; are there any 34" 5 string basses you would recommend besides G&L?
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Warwick. I played a Corvette 5 for nearly 20 years, with a killer B string. Any of theirs would be great.

But other than G&L and Warwick, I haven't had a lot of 34" 5 strings in general. My current 5s (Hilton, Better Mousetrap) are both 32" scale, with killer B strings.
 
#45
azureblue said:
it ain't the bass - it's the strings. It's been my experience that Fender 5's work better with 128 B strings.
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I partly agree, but think you should be aiming higher - like 140's. If every bass you take off the wall has strings that are too small to work well, your basses will get a reputation as having bad B strings. Because....out of the factory, they do.
 
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#47
I like thicker, higher tension, stiff strings. My bass is a 5 string and has a 35 inch scale. I usd a .150 B string on it from Kalium. If I had a 34 inch scale, I might be tempted to go one size up to make sure it would work for me. I may be a little different, but there's no way for a typical .125-.135 B string to work well for me, especially for shorter scale basses. I used to have a Dingwall (37 inch scale B) and that worked well with a .135, but honestly, a little thicker would have been better. In the end, there's some basic physics (scale length, material stiffness and string thickness) that you have to account for to have a B string that feels, plays and sounds like the other strings. Most B production B strings are not up to the job.
 
#48
Gwardar said:
Hi Everyone,

I bought a second-hand MIA 5-sting Jazz. I think it's the "standard" model (came with passive electronics). Love the look and playability, but:

The GDAE strings sound great, bright and punchy, just they way I thought they would be. The B string - poop. So bad that the tuner had troubles picking up any notes. If the tuner can't hear it then neither can I.

I read somewhere (probably on TB) that for the standard series Fender just added an extra string and didn't update the electronics. So I went on a quest and fitted it with Lindy Fralin pickups and John East preamp, which as you expect wasn't a cheapo fix.

It helped a lot I must say. The B string now exists and has some bottom, but still bleak and wimpy sounding compared to the other 4. No sustain either. I have other 5 string basses and, as you'd expect, the B string varies between them, but none of them is as bad as the Fender.

Is my bass faulty or is this how 5 string Jazz basses are? If it's faulty - what should I look into? Changed pickups, put a preamp in, changed strings a few times, did the setup a few times. Tightened all the bolts. Didn't seem to fix it. Could the body and/or neck be defective?

TIA
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Change out the strings and make sure the bridge saddle heights are all set the same when measuring the string action at the 12th fret. While holding down the last fret check the distance between the bottom of the B string and the top of the pickup. 3mm is a good starting point.
 
#49
I had a Fender Roscoe Beck 5 and I never liked the sound of the B string. So I went and tried a bunch of 5s at the late, lamented Bass NW (this was years ago) and I found all the 35” 5s I tried had better sounding B strings to my ear, including Roscoe (which I bought), Lull, and Lakland. I hear from people whose opinion I trust, like @Jon Moody, that there are shorter scale instruments with good sounding B strings, but I am very happy with the B string on my current Roscoe SKB!
 
#51
Gwardar said:
Hi Everyone,

I bought a second-hand MIA 5-sting Jazz. I think it's the "standard" model (came with passive electronics). Love the look and playability, but:

The GDAE strings sound great, bright and punchy, just they way I thought they would be. The B string - poop. So bad that the tuner had troubles picking up any notes. If the tuner can't hear it then neither can I.

I read somewhere (probably on TB) that for the standard series Fender just added an extra string and didn't update the electronics. So I went on a quest and fitted it with Lindy Fralin pickups and John East preamp, which as you expect wasn't a cheapo fix.

It helped a lot I must say. The B string now exists and has some bottom, but still bleak and wimpy sounding compared to the other 4. No sustain either. I have other 5 string basses and, as you'd expect, the B string varies between them, but none of them is as bad as the Fender.

Is my bass faulty or is this how 5 string Jazz basses are? If it's faulty - what should I look into? Changed pickups, put a preamp in, changed strings a few times, did the setup a few times. Tightened all the bolts. Didn't seem to fix it. Could the body and/or neck be defective?

TIA
Click to expand...

Recently had a fender 5 myself with these changes. It was a Mexican deluxe model, but I swapped the bridge for an Omega 5. One of the best fender 5s I've ever played. I kind of regret selling it to be honest.
 
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#52
micguy said:
My 5 string basses wear sets that are typically 35-50-70-95-130. That's pretty well balanced - a bit on the "progressive" side in that the tension goes up a bit (but not much, really) in the bigger strings. I like low tension strings, and I use a 130 B - that's a low tension B string. If you like a set with a 100 E, you need a 135 B to keep up, and if you normally use sets with a 105 E, you should be running at least a 140 B string.
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I may be saying something stupid, but is even tension really to be sought ? Different tensions means several timbers depending on which string you fret the note on.
micguy said:
A longer scale is a band aid - sure it helps a bit, as it increases the tension of the string, but a longer neck is actually floppier itself.
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Well it depends on the neck shape and truss rod. Plus sometimes a bandaid is real helpful.
 
#53
Here's the thing--if you play it acoustically with new strings, you can hear when a bass has a good B string. A bass with a good low B just rings like a piano. Basses with less-good B strings sound blurry and indistinct. You can help things a little with preamps and pickups but ultimately it's the piano factor that does it. Dingwalls are amazing because of the scale length of that B, but I've played 34-inch scale basses with really good B's too. One thing that does seem to help is B strings that are tapered at the bridge--it seems to help when the piece of string going over the bridge is narrower.
 
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#54
I didn’t read the whole thread, but I’ll give you the definitive answer anyway. The bass is what it is. Physics. The string at a given pitch, at a given scale length does what it wants to do. If we assume that you know the basics of a setup (hint: near flat relief, minimum string height 1/16 G, 3/32 B measured at the 17th fret) you’ll soon see that the tension for the B in most commercially available sets is far too low. You need a set with more balanced tension. Check out Circle K, D Addario or GHS ( if you make your own custom order based on their most excellent tension data per string model and gauge.)
 
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#55
My Warwick B string sounds very good for a 5Stringer. My Fender Ultra Jazz V B string sounded dull and muddy. I changed the strings to EB Cobalts after my setup and it sounds much better. Punchier and more definition. I recommend trying single B strings, Stainless, Tapered, Cobalt, etc...
 
#56
80jazz said:
I am curious; are there any 34" 5 string basses you would recommend besides G&L?
Click to expand...
I owned Olinto P5, 5 string precision bass with 34" scale and the B string was stellar, tight and defined which is very rare with 5 string P-basses. And its B sounded great with both LaBella lo-tension flats and high tension DR Lo Rider. My verdict is that B string tone mostly depends on the build quality of the bass, the stiffness of the neck-to-body joint and overall design. Again, that Olinto passive 34"scale P had B string tone on a par with my active 35" USA Spector. And it had absolutely nothing to do with the strings gauge or material. As for G&L basses, a week ago I tried their passive JB5 34" scale and it had killer B string. At the same shop they had Fender Deluxe Jazz V active which B string was horrible and lifeless and American Standard Precision V which had...very good B string. The guys at the shop said that they were surprised with that it was good because it was not common for Fender 5 string basses they dealt with before which points out that it was more of an exclusion.
 
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#58
Gwardar said:
Hi Everyone,

I bought a second-hand MIA 5-sting Jazz. I think it's the "standard" model (came with passive electronics). Love the look and playability, but:

The GDAE strings sound great, bright and punchy, just they way I thought they would be. The B string - poop. So bad that the tuner had troubles picking up any notes. If the tuner can't hear it then neither can I.

I read somewhere (probably on TB) that for the standard series Fender just added an extra string and didn't update the electronics. So I went on a quest and fitted it with Lindy Fralin pickups and John East preamp, which as you expect wasn't a cheapo fix.

It helped a lot I must say. The B string now exists and has some bottom, but still bleak and wimpy sounding compared to the other 4. No sustain either. I have other 5 string basses and, as you'd expect, the B string varies between them, but none of them is as bad as the Fender.

Is my bass faulty or is this how 5 string Jazz basses are? If it's faulty - what should I look into? Changed pickups, put a preamp in, changed strings a few times, did the setup a few times. Tightened all the bolts. Didn't seem to fix it. Could the body and/or neck be defective?

TIA
Click to expand...
There sure is a way to improve the B string on a jazz bass...take it off
 
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#60
anton72 said:
No
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Indeed. 34" Warwicks have great and clear sounding low B's.
I think the harder and heavier exotic woods play a big part in this.
On my Ash and Maple body basses the low B usually sounds somewhat darker then the E and A.

Strings have been mentioned. I use DR Low Riders on all my fivers for their .125 gauge low B.
Those were GREAT on my Fender USA Marcus Miller V, too.
 
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