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kind of NBD: refinished Jazz bass.


mcnach
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I bought a Fender Jazz 75RI a while ago, natural ash/maple with pearl blocks and white binding, that was just really nice to play and sounded great with a pair of Nordstrand NJ4SE pickups.

The only think I didn't quite like, visually, was the grain. It was... well, it was ugly. Very poor attempt to match the pieces of wood: it looked better from the back than fron the front! :lol:
I love natural bodies, but this one was bugging me.

Here's a few pictures (minus controls and neck pickup, as I was in the middle of some surgery)










So there it was.

Now, I've been on a "red phase" for a while now... :P Red car, red shoes, red hat, red bass... red cabs! :mellow: :ph34r:

So the idea of refinishing this in some kind of red started forming in my head.

Enter... David Wilson.

[url="http://www.dwilsonguitars.com/en-gb/home.aspx"]http://www.dwilsonguitars.com/en-gb/home.aspx[/url]

and

[url="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002025970885&fref=ts"]https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002025970885&fref=ts[/url]

I saw him being recommended in a couple of threads on this forum, and decided to contact him. And I couldn't be happier, really!
The whole process didn't take too long at all, and it was so simple. Choosing what kind of red I wanted was the hardest part! :lol: Once I managed to print out an example of the kind of shade I wanted, I sent it to him together with the body (I could have sent the whole thing and get him to send me back the finished instrument, which would have been tremendous I am sure, but I wanted to experiment a bit with pickups and preamp/no preamp, so no point this time).
The body arrived yesterday and it's... gorgeous. He did such a great job! The shade of red is perfect!

It's hard to photograph properly... I just took a bunch of pictures with natural light and I think it gets close enough to what it's like in "person".

I'll upload them later today, but you can already see a couple of pictures on his facebook page above. Ignore the feminine side comments, pah! :D

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Can't see the pics!* Funny really, before I got to the bit where you were having a refin, I thought 'trans red would be good'. I too was looking at the David Wilson site after seeing a quality refin by him of someone's Spector... can't remember where I saw it now.

*Because you haven't uploaded them yet. Dur! Hurry up! :P

Edited by discreet
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[quote name='mr zed' timestamp='1418744495' post='2632890']
I can't believe the mis-matching of the original woodgrain from one of Fenders AVRI range. They should be ashamed of themselves. Looking forward to seeing the pics.
[/quote]
[quote name='Drax' timestamp='1418745077' post='2632897']
Agreed. Is this the £1800 reissue?!
[/quote]

Come on, they were only being faithful to the original 70's standards!!

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[quote name='mr zed' timestamp='1418744495' post='2632890']
I can't believe the mis-matching of the original woodgrain from one of Fenders AVRI range. They should be ashamed of themselves. Looking forward to seeing the pics.
[/quote]


No, it is a CIJ Reissue, from around 2002. With 60s spacing. Cheaper than the AVRI, but still...

It really does look like they made a mistake and the front should have been the back, doesn't it? :lol:

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[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1418740278' post='2632839']
Can't see the pics!* Funny really, before I got to the bit where you were having a refin, I thought 'trans red would be good'.
[/quote]

great minds... ;)

but it's not trans, with that grain, I went for solid solid solid red.

Ok, let's fetch those pictures...

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ok, pictures...




it's hard to picture the colour... with/without flash:
WITHOUT


WITH



Not sure what bridge I will use. This is one of the newer US Fender ones with adjustable string spacing (I like a slightly wider spacing than standard).


The only problem is it requires plugging and redrilling some of the original holes. That's why I bought it and never used it yet. I could use the older style threaded saddle bridges, which work very well. I have a couple of basses with those and I like them, and no redrilling needed.

The bass originally came with a Badass bridge. Originally, I mean, when I bought it. The previous owner installed it. It looks good but I'm not particularly in love with it and I do prefer a slightly wider string spacing. This is the Badass bridge:

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Now, I will probably use it without pickguard at least 90% of the time... but sometimes it's nice to have one.

NO PICKGUARD:


TORTOISESHELL:
Not a big fan but... it does look nice in this case!


WHITE:
Of course, white or mint/white always works...


BLACK:
but black is so sexy too...



Decisions, decisions :)

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[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1418753983' post='2633004']
Very cool. Love the red/maple/white pickguard. That's classic.
Matches the blocks, too.
[/quote]

I'm leaning towards that, to be honest. It matches my Classic 50 Precision too :) (I removed the gold anodised pickguard, I didn't like the touch):

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[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1418740056' post='2632836']
I bought a Fender Jazz 75RI a while ago, natural ash/maple with pearl blocks and white binding, that was just really nice to play and sounded great with a pair of Nordstrand NJ4SE pickups.

The only think I didn't quite like, visually, was the grain. It was... well, it was ugly. Very poor attempt to match the pieces of wood: it looked better from the back than fron the front! :lol:
I love natural bodies, but this one was bugging me.

Here's a few pictures (minus controls and neck pickup, as I was in the middle of some surgery)










So there it was.

Now, I've been on a "red phase" for a while now... :P Red car, red shoes, red hat, red bass... red cabs! :mellow: :ph34r:

So the idea of refinishing this in some kind of red started forming in my head.

Enter... David Wilson.

[url="http://www.dwilsonguitars.com/en-gb/home.aspx"]http://www.dwilsonguitars.com/en-gb/home.aspx[/url]

and

[url="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002025970885&fref=ts"]https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002025970885&fref=ts[/url]

I saw him being recommended in a couple of threads on this forum, and decided to contact him. And I couldn't be happier, really!
The whole process didn't take too long at all, and it was so simple. Choosing what kind of red I wanted was the hardest part! :lol: Once I managed to print out an example of the kind of shade I wanted, I sent it to him together with the body (I could have sent the whole thing and get him to send me back the finished instrument, which would have been tremendous I am sure, but I wanted to experiment a bit with pickups and preamp/no preamp, so no point this time).
The body arrived yesterday and it's... gorgeous. He did such a great job! The shade of red is perfect!

It's hard to photograph properly... I just took a bunch of pictures with natural light and I think it gets close enough to what it's like in "person".

I'll upload them later today, but you can already see a couple of pictures on his facebook page above. Ignore the feminine side comments, pah! :D
[/quote]

Wow. I can't believe fender let it leave looking like that. It reminds me of that optical illusion camouflage they put on battleships during WW2.

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[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1418740056' post='2632836']
I've been on a "red phase" for a while now... Red car, red shoes, red hat, red bass...
[/quote]

My old gran used to say, 'red hat, no knickers'...
I've got a refin lined up with D. Wilson in the new year - trans red! :)

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[quote name='sblueplanet' timestamp='1418761546' post='2633132']
I would experiment and have someone make a gold-coloured pickguard. Would really set off the maple neck.
[/quote]


ugh! :)

Not my thing I'm afraid. My Classic 50 Precision came with a golden pickguard... I really don't think it's a good look. With black, perhaps. Hmmm, no, not with red.

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[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1418837810' post='2633940']
My old gran used to say, 'red hat, no knickers'...
I've got a refin lined up with D. Wilson in the new year - trans red! :)
[/quote]

ha ha :lol: no comments.

As for the trans red... tell us more! :)

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