"B" String Question

[Gary Raymond]

I own both a Fender American Deluxe Jazz V & a SR5 HH. Both are 34" scale basses, & yet the low B string on the MusicMan is just so much "more" than the Fender Jazz. Both are strung with the same brand/gauge strings, so I am curious as why the Ray's "B" string is so much more "useable" (for lack of a better term that I can think of) than the J. I could understand it if one were 34 & the other 35 scale, but they are both the same.

Thanks for any info to help me understand this.

 

[tkarter]

I have tried to figure that out for myself since I started out with a Fender and thought they were the bass.

My SR5 B string is the best I ever heard. Until I got the Bongo 5 H.

It is most likely just a little more thought was put into it. And the pup.

To play a Fender 5 string you have to listen and adjust. To play a MM 5 string you just thump it. It stays right there with the E string.

BP elaborate on this one. Just don't give away trade secrets.

imho

tk

 

[Psycho Ward]

All I know is that after getting a MusicMan five string I sold all my other five strings. I think it's build quality and pixie dust.

 

[PocketGroove82]

when I play an "army issued" 5 string...i.e. G&L/Ibanez(tobias ripoff thing)
I find that I'm always having to bend the B string notes into tune with the piano, and man they sound especially out on slow ballads. I watch my rack tuner in awe of the huge swells of sharpness which inevitably work their way south to flat.
Almost like a cheap upright.
But my SR5 B, is consistently "what it is".

 

[DJBenzBass]

I own both a Fender American Deluxe Jazz V & a SR5 HH. Both are 34" scale basses, & yet the low B string on the MusicMan is just so much "more" than the Fender Jazz. Both are strung with the same brand/gauge strings, so I am curious as why the Ray's "B" string is so much more "useable" (for lack of a better term that I can think of) than the J. I could understand it if one were 34 & the other 35 scale, but they are both the same.

Thanks for any info to help me understand this.

Gary,
That's great that we have the same basses! My Fender Am Deluxe Jazz V is now my favorite "dust collector" since I got the SR5 HH. I also just shipped out my Marcus Miller Jazz V yesterday to an ebay buyer. My SR5 HH has taken over!!!

Anyway, I don't know what strings you are using, but for the Jazz, I found that the only way to get clarity out of the low B was to use the Fender strings 8250s, .130 Taperwound gauge on the string through body low B. Your active preamp could be very "dry" and "stale" as well. I removed mine and got more life back into the bass. 70's Jazz tone is there.

Even with that information above, the SR5 low B is superior in my opinion because it's clear, punchy, and level in volume with the other strings. It doesn't "take over" or "drown out".

Hope that helped!

 

[Big Poppa]

Im not sure what the other guys did but we started from scratch and designed a five string as opposed to just slapping a b on an existing bass

 

[Caca de Kick]

I have to start by saying I'm a huge J Bass fan...but only 4 stringers. Fender 5's have always had horrible B's. The SR5 B is simply what a B should be.

 

[brooklynfall]

Im not sure what the other guys did but we started from scratch and designed a five string as opposed to just slapping a b on an existing bass

Exactly! I remember an interview with Roscoe Beck when he was designing his F****r signature 5. He said that their Custom Shop had to redesign the Jazz pickups from scratch for him, since (and I'm paraphrasing Roscoe here) "the Jazz bass pickups sound great but only really work through a freak of nature ..."

I think what he means is that the way that Jazz pickups work, they don't really reproduce the low B accurately, and that even the low E is at the very edge of their capability. Adding more magnets to a Jazz pickup is asking for trouble. This has been my experience as well, though I'm not sure about the science of it.

Bottom line: I like my F****rs, but I'll never buy one of their 5-strings. I'm sticking to Stingrays for the low B, since they were actually designed for it!

 

[bassmonkeee]

I like the Roscoe Beck 5 strings. The ones I've played had good B strings. I don't know why it never translated into the other Fender 5 string models.

Of course, once I went Bongo, I never went back to anything non-Bongo. If I tried, it ended up being replaced by a Bongo....

 

[hankSRay]

I notice that all of my strings on my Fender are floppy compared to my 2 rays. The StingRay just feels way more solid and well designed than the fender.

 

[Big Poppa]

THE CORNY LINE OF THE DAY!!!!!!!!!!!
TO BE or not to B

 

[silverburst]

I sold my Fender Jazz V Deluxe after getting an SR4. There was no comparison, except for the cool pre-amp in the Fender.