Fender Jazz Bass - 2015 Mexican overhaul (pics)

[bjeans79]

Check out that striping in the rosewood! Is there a proper term for that coloring in the wood?


Ill start by saying that I would have loved an American Jazz bass, but there were several things that made me get this very specific jazz bass as opposed to a US, besides the pricing. I mean did you see that stinking fretboard? More pics of that to come...


First I changed out that wretched white pick guard with a groovy-cool tortoiseshell pick guard (no animals were harmed in the process, as far as I am aware.) Dunlop strap locks also added.



Ahh much better than the white one if you ask me!

Secondly I removed the malnourished, pathetic, puny and for all intents and purposes JUNK bridge and replaced it with a Hipshot brass chrome bridge. I will say that the transference of vibration from the string to the body can be felt at a greater level, and sustain and tone improved. And it looks sweet IMO.


Next I opted to take advantage of my guitar tech at GC and had him level and finish the frets on the guitar so it would play more consistent and with less fret buzz... yucky buzzes...


...able to see the unevenness you are not, unless the force you have... (star wars references are a must considering the time in which we live...





Pictured was the last of the steps of finishing the frets, in which using progressively finer sandpaper and smoothing things over after leveling and crowning. Also another picture of that beautiful pick guard and fretboard.

Next was polishing and lubing that beautiful wood (don't get too excited


And that folks, is as far as I've gotten with this baby. I don't see a point in changing the tuners, they seem to be just fine and dandy, and the pickups, well I'm content for now but I am wondering about getting something different. Any such thing as a jazz bass pickup that is thick and cuts through like a p bass? How about a jazz sized humbucker for the bridge? Active passive electronics? There are a lot of ways to go and many I suppose are just preference as this bass is so versatile and sounds awesome.

Last but not least a picture of 30 pounds of bacon. Just because I love you all.

[bjeans79]

Re: Fender Jazz Bass - 2015 Mexican overhaul (pics)

Pickups?

Bartolini 9JL/S #1 or #4.
Seymour Duncan AJB-1 Active EQ "switch" pickups (any version)

The AJB pickups definitely have me intrigued!

[dotsdad]

Re: Fender Jazz Bass - 2015 Mexican overhaul (pics)

[bjeans79]

Re: Fender Jazz Bass - 2015 Mexican overhaul (pics)

I'm glad someone put the effort into a worthy response for the time and energy it took for me to post stuff no one seemed to care about. I am not good with using my mobile to post all this stuff and edit it after every picture, and I am butt-hurt by the lack of response. It hurts my self-esteem. I am glad you liked the bacon picture.

[PFDarkside]

Re: Fender Jazz Bass - 2015 Mexican overhaul (pics)

This room doesn't get a lot of traffic.

How did you choose the bridge? Can you tell a tonal difference?

[bjeans79]

Re: Fender Jazz Bass - 2015 Mexican overhaul (pics)

On the SDUG forum, most of the activity is in the guitar-centric rooms. The Bassment is a comparatively quiet backwater. This is both advantageous - in the sense of there being fewer Fæcesbook idiots - and disadvantageous - in the sense of there being fewer of everyone.

For more information and opinions on the AJB-1 pickups, see this thread.

I'm only sort of kidding about the lack of traffic... I haven't seen too many necks with fretboards this pretty on a jazz bass...

Thanks!

[bjeans79]

Re: Fender Jazz Bass - 2015 Mexican overhaul (pics)

Sorry, I thought my reply had posted yesterday... I don't want to say that it made this incredible night/day amazing tonal difference, however I will say that I notice more sustain, better string vibration in the body and more body to the notes. I chose a hipshot brass chrome bridge, made by my friends in upstate NY. The difference in weight was incredible compared to the stock one, besides the fact that it is just better for the sound I prefer. I was turned on to hipshot by my one of my luthier friend and their good reputation for a high mass bridge. I absolutely recommend getting a hipshot, or at least some kind of high mass bridge. I just didn't want a badass bridge, I think the hipshot is much more classy.

[JOLLY]

Re: Fender Jazz Bass - 2015 Mexican overhaul (pics)

That looks great.

[Liko]

Re: Fender Jazz Bass - 2015 Mexican overhaul (pics)

I know we're on the SD forum, but the DiMarzio Ultra Jazz are the mutt's nuts if you want a noiseless Jazz set with a little bit of P attitude up in the neck but a faithful Jazz flavor overall. I have a pair in my own MIM and am very glad the store owner talked me out of what I had been looking for.

[BlueTalon]

Re: Fender Jazz Bass - 2015 Mexican overhaul (pics)

Wowza! I love that fretboard! And I love everything you have done to your bass. Swapping out the bridge was a great move in my opinion -- a lot of purists prefer the bent-metal bridge, but the Hipshot is vastly superior in engineering, sustain, and (in my opinion) looks.

For pickups, I'd recommend the SD Apollo pickups, since we're on the SD board. I have no experience with the Apollo, but I have experience with other dual-inline-coil J pickups, and I prefer their tone + silence to single-coil or stacked J pickups.

Gorgeous bass! Like it I do!

[Will S-T]

Re: Fender Jazz Bass - 2015 Mexican overhaul (pics)

Very classy upgrades indeed.

Try a series/parallel Push/pull tone pot and a no-load volume pot from Stewmac.
Gives a Jazz bass a whole new palate of tones and balls.

[ehdwuld]

Re: Fender Jazz Bass - 2015 Mexican overhaul (pics)

Love the bacon stripes on the fretboard

Carvin makes a stacked humbucker J bass replacement

[bjeans79]

Re: Fender Jazz Bass - 2015 Mexican overhaul (pics)

Wowza! I love that fretboard! And I love everything you have done to your bass. Swapping out the bridge was a great move in my opinion -- a lot of purists prefer the bent-metal bridge, but the Hipshot is vastly superior in engineering, sustain, and (in my opinion) looks.

For pickups, I'd recommend the SD Apollo pickups, since we're on the SD board. I have no experience with the Apollo, but I have experience with other dual-inline-coil J pickups, and I prefer their tone + silence to single-coil or stacked J pickups.

Gorgeous bass! Like it I do!

Thanks man, glad you like it! I have been looking into the AJB pickups... I wonder how correct they sound to the j bass bridge sound when split. Only 2 ways to find out, get one myself or have one of you tell me how 'chirpy,' 'muddy,' 'brittle,' 'punchy,' or 'throaty,' it is, and I am set!

haha