mcnach

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1345309823' post='1776183'] I wonder if it would be possible to introduce a system where users could sign up to receive email notifications when a thread with certain keywords in the title is posted in the For Sale section? If the forum software could allow for this, it would acheive more or less what the OP is talking about without anyone having to follow arbitrary rules. [/quote] That would be a great idea. When I was after my white MM SUB, I was regularly checking the ads... then I go away for two weeks and... surely enough, I missed out on one!

no worries

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1345295221' post='1775982'] never had to retro fit a JE and always been very happy with the passive tone. I use the pre and just embellish the natural sound and I am not into massive tone shaping the bass 99% of the time... I also soundcheck passive first as sometimes this works really well,,and the pre is just that extra little help onboard. If you want a pre to change the inherrent sound then you are approaching it the wrong way, IMO. [/quote] No, I don't want to change it much, I just want extra tonal options. But from my past experience with the JRetro, I remember it alters the original sound quite a lot. Since I like my original sound... that's why I'm dragging my feet a bit. I'd like a preamp that does what the J-Retro does... but with a more "transparent" "flat" sound, if you know what I mean. Still, the colour it adds is not a bad one, as I recall... Too many words, let's just try it already!

[quote name='Darkstrike' timestamp='1345289918' post='1775899'] Funnily enough I prefer my J's not to have classic J knobs. I can't imagine the J Retro not taking even the Japanese Fender over the top. I could see missing the passive tone, but the treble cuts at a low enough freq. to do as a pseudo tone control, IMO. [/quote] To be honest, talking about missing the passive tone, and classic Jazz tone... this is the ideal bass to try it on since the Nordstrand NJ4SE pickups are not exactly "traditional" sounding either, but they do sound very good, so yes, I'm leaning towards this option now. Despite the looks. I loved what the J-Retro did to my Westfield Jazz, many moons ago... hmm.

I'll do that when I install mine in the OLP

aren't they shorter scale?

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1345288684' post='1775879'] Jeez, i didn't expect a lynching. It was only a suggestion - forget it. [/quote] you haven't seen a lynching yet!!!! hey, I did not mean to offend you, you asked about an idea, and I gave you my answer -politely but firmly. In no way I was attacking you personally, so I don't appreciate the "lynching" comment, not one bit. Just because I don't agree with you it does not mean I am against *you*. When asking for opinions, one should be ready to hear negative as well as positive ones... sorry I hurt your feelings.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1345283050' post='1775807'] Well, yes, you can lead a horse to water etc. But at the moment if someone posts a for sale without a price, people will say 'oi, you need a price, fella'. be nice to have that kind of weight behind checking the wanted. Obviously not enforceable but if it is written up there maybe a few more people would take notice. [size=1]And, as it is all about me I would have my Wizard Trads by now![/size] [/quote] what are you wanting to achieve? you want that if I post a for sale ad, someone can come and tell me "oi, there someone who wants one in the wanted forum, so talk to him first"? do you really need rules that badly? at the moment, if you notice someone wants to sell something, and you know someone else wants one, you can already post "there's a chap down at the wanted forum looking for one". This sounds like a polite message, and I think it's cool. If you use a "rule" to give you more "weight" (in what way???) it ceases to be polite, and to me that is a general no-no in the forum: some people like to police and they get a kick out of telling people what to do. Those people don't generally improve the forum. Instating a rule like the one you are suggesting (if used in the way I am imagining, maybe I misunderstood you) just gives that type of people more fuel. Not a good idea.

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1345281195' post='1775782'] Good morning Basschat Management. Would it be possible/worthwhile/pointless exercise to add to the Market Place rules for sellers to check the 'wanted' section before starting a 'for sale' thread? I do try to check the site frequently when I am on the lookout for something but some of it disappears at the speed of light. It can be a little frustrating to see something you posted as wanted some while earlier get snapped up. In the short term it will save people time if they see someone wants what they are looking to sell as it will probably mean not having to do a full post with pics etc. Or is it just tough luck? Either way, keep up the good work. Cheers Paul [/quote] I would vote against it. A post in the wanted section is not and should not mean you are in some kind of virtual queue towards the next time a particular item appears for sale, and surely if you are that interested, then you should check the "for sale" posts too. And what if I am selling something but I don't (for whatever reason) want to sell to someone in particular who has a "wanted" post at the time? It seems like a superficial whimsical rule, and on that basis I would not like to see it written. We should have the fewer number of rules possible to keep the forum running, all in my opinion etc etc.

[quote name='LukeFRC' timestamp='1345280384' post='1775771'] seeing that you're going to have to open it up to see whats up with the pups, stick it in the japanese one [/quote] right now I'm very tempted to do this. All about using the momentum, minimal effort etc I need to do a few things this morning, but in the afternoon is gut-the-bass time. Hopefully I can get the pickup working again. My plan is to cut the pickup wires and measure resistance... if the value I get is not right, then it's the pickup. If it is, then I suspect the dry-looking solder... and at that stage either I resolder it... or since I'm at it, cut the wires for the neck pickup too and try the J-Retro. Black plate or chrome plate? Nah, it's the black one. I wish I could find stacked knobs for the J-Retro that look like the original Jazz knobs, but since I can't preserve the look, I might as well go for a bigger change. I just want the bass back in action. Two gigs tomorrow, two different bands. I planned to use my SUB for this, but bring the Jazz too.

[quote name='rubis' timestamp='1345276790' post='1775728'] Could it be fitted into a pedal? Then you could use it on all of them, or anything else for that matter Harry [/quote] some people like that. For me, putting a preamp like this in a pedal is missing the point: to have the controls at my fingertips. If I am going to have a separate box, I'd find something to sit on my amp, racked or not, and not limited by a 9V battery circuit, where I don't have to bend down everytime I want to tweak a knob or something.

oh, so these pickups are wired in series... so a failure in one coil will affect the whole pickup, not just one side. Hmm.

[quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1345239319' post='1775572'] Have you ever thought of getting a USA Jazz? Squier and Jap Fenders don't cut it like a proper Jazz. [/quote] I will have to have a go again. I was not a huge Jazz bass fan, contrary to appearances I have to say that as much as I like the Squiers I have, the japanese Jazz is a very different beast and it just has "something" that the Squiers don't. Much like my Stingray when I compared it to the OLPs I loved. But I don't recall having been terribly impressed by MIA Jazzes in the past... however, perhaps I just did not have much of an interest back then (my Warwick phase).

Not sure! I will look into it in detail tomorrow. Too tired today to do anything that requires attention... I haven't slept since around 7am on Thursday morning, so after nearly 40h awake I don't trust myself with any soldering or any thinking I love coffee, but it can only do so much! I hope it's not the actual pickup... because these are not cheap and I liked it enough to want to buy another. Router on again???

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1345237432' post='1775531'] I put it on my Frankenfender with a set of 1994 Squier pickups. It sounds so good that I've been through 3 sets of pickups to try to make my other Jazz sound halfway decent in comparison. I've been through a set of dimarzios model Js, a set of wizard 64s and an old set of mex pickups. Put it on the one that plays best because It really doesn't matter which bass you put it on it will make it sound great but it will also make all your other Jazzes sound rotten. [/quote] I had the J-Retro originally installed in... a £40 Westfield Jazz, and it sounded fantastic! You are right, it can turn a so-so Jazz into a great one.

So from time to time I hear of people talking about how their pickup just suddenly stopped working... I have to admit, I always thought to myself "either you throw around your bass a lot, or you've been messing with the electronics and solder badly". It just happened to me!!! recently acquired Jazz bass, with replacement pickups installed by previous owner. Last night I gigged with it. All good. Tonight I take it and... the neck pickup just gives the faintest signal. I opened it and I can't see anything obviously wrong. The ground wires from the pickup are soldered to a pot, and the solder does look a bit dull... so I'm hoping it's just a bad solder and that I can cure it by remelting the solder. It's a Nordstrand NJ4SE: split coils. Both sides of the pickup sound equally weak, so I'm hoping this means that it's not the pickup itself, as I imagine only one coil would be affected if that were the case. I suspect a bad ground... maybe one of the extremely thin wires is partially broken inside the very stiff insulation. It makes me want to check every bass I gig regularly!

Gigged the 75RI for the first time last night. Excellent. After the gig I packed it... and this evening I take it out... and the neck pickup has very weak sound!!! I opened it up, but nothing obviously wrong.... grrr, it means I'll probably just rewire the thing, as it's faster than testing everything. So, perhaps I'll just try the J-Retro with it, as it'll be even simpler. I just hope it's a cold solder or something like that, and not the pickup itself... it sounded great before

I have a fretless Jazz that's basically a Squier VM series with a replacement body and pickups. The neck has been mounted slightly misaligned. Not a biggie, but noticeable. It has been used with roundwounds, which have left a mark under the strings on the ebanol fingerboard. It doesn't really show with the strings on. But I plan to probably put another body on it... in which case I would realign neck/body... and the string marks will show then. Is there a relatively easy way to remove those marks? If it's complicated, or risky, I'll leave it as it is. But if i can make it look neater...

First world problems, eh? So, not counting the Squier VM Jazz, which stays stock and I may let go... I have 3 Jazz basses, and soon I will have a fourth one (my very first bass, which I'm reacquiring, yay! ) I have one J-Retro in my drawer. I mounted it on a black plate, after drilling the extra holes etc, and I meant to put it on the Squier VM... but I haven't. I still have the original, of course. So, where would it be best? 1) Japanese Fender, 75RI, natural/maple/black pickguard. I think it would look pretty nice, and since it's my favourite Jazz, it makes sense to fit it here. However... This is the one Jazz bass I have owned that I don't find myself wishing I had a preamp on. It has a pair of Nordstrand NJ4SE pickups and although not the most "traditional", it sounds great, and I get a wider range of tones with this one that I have ever done with any other Jazz. So I feel like keeping it as it is. I might try the J-Retro, just in case... but I also prefer the standard control plate look, so unless it's significantly advantageous, I'll keep this one stock. Yes, the midsweep... I'm a big fan of it... chances are that when I try it I'll remember why I love this preamp... but I really like its passive voice. 2) Korean Squier. Red/rosewood/tortoiseshell. It has a plywood body... but a delicious neck and I love this bass. A pair of SD Basslines SJB-2 pickups help this bass make me smile. Fender flatwounds on this one, which are quite bright. The J-Retro would be a very nice addition, But I'd ruin the "classic" look. Vain? Superficial? Moi? I've gigged this bass a few times. Love it. 3) Fretless. A Squier VM Jazz with a replacement body (shoreline gold) and pickups (SD SJB-3) and white pickguard. Looks don't really enter here. The body might be painted orange, or would be replaced by an ash one with some mild wood stain and oil finished. A fretless Jazz and the J-Retro could be a fantastic combination. The thing is that I play fretless only at home and not all that much. 4) Vintage brand Jazz bass. Black/rosewood/black metallic pickguard. My first bass, the one that started it for me. A black plate J-Retro would look great. The thing is I don't know how much I'm going to use this one. I am buying it back for sentimental reasons really, as I don't need another Jazz. I remember it being really nice... but my perception may have changed... it's been 4 years since I last played it! I'm leaning towards fretless or Vintage... but then I realise those are the two less likely to see live action and to be used seriously. Decisions decisions! First world problems, like I said.

what drives me mad is thar everytime I go to the beach and walk into the sea, I get wet! Every single time!!! I get really angry and people tell me I should not walk into the water then, but then I would not be able to feel the water on my legs!!! Why can't they comprehend that??? Dumb people...

Hmmmm... I just located a nice looking natural, unfinished, ash body... It looks like the course of action will be: sand the new body, *may* stain it, and apply oil to it for an easy satin finish. I'm lazy and I like these finishes. The shoreline gold one? Either I sell it or I try painting it anyway to see what it is like. Hmmmm. Decisions decisions.

[quote name='andyonbass' timestamp='1344627729' post='1767418'] Just pulled the trigger on a used U-Retro, its gotta be an improvement over the stock preamp, I dont want to get into changing the pickups though, as I think it might be a bit of a problem finding a MM type pickup compatible with the wider spacing, and anyway, the retro has nearly doubled the value of the bass! [/quote] That's going to be a great improvement! Yeah, wide spacing 5-string MM pickups are not very common. But I'm sure the preamp alone will be a great improvement. The pickups are not the best, but they aren't bad either. The U-Retro is a tremendous preamp. Let us know how you find it!

[quote name='Darkstrike' timestamp='1344634342' post='1767518'] If I can fit it without any carving, I have a East MMSR spare that'd I'd love to stick in mine. [/quote] I have not checked, but I'm pretty sure it will fit, there is tons of space in the control cavity. I can fit a MMSR in a G&L L2000, and that's a lot tighter!

[quote name='RichZbaraski' timestamp='1344464499' post='1765145'] So, I may have the opportunity to buy a 1963 Fender Jazz bass for £800! Crazy right?! Reason is, is that it really needs a refinish and the markings on the neck have been sanded off swell as the logo (ugly red varnish refinish) though the markings are still on the neck plate and majority of the hardware is original. My question is, refinished in OLY white with a matching headstock, how much do think this will be worth? I've seen a unoriginal refinished 63 jazz bass go for around £2,750 but I can't be sure Sorry if this is violating any rules! rich [/quote] Sorry, I can't find the other 1962 questions... where are they?