Dr_Tom

[quote name='Green Alsatian' post='1223572' date='May 7 2011, 07:35 PM']Ah, with you - no need to be embarassed over music/sounds you like! In that case, the Quarter Pounders will definitely be the way to go for you. When I put the Jazz build together, I initially wanted it to sound a bit more muscular than a standard Jazz and the QPs fitted the bill perfectly. After a bit, I started getting GAS for another Vintage Reissue Jazz (I stupidly sold my MIA '62 reissue six years ago to fix my car) and swapped the Quarter Pounders for the Wizards. Here's a snippet of the bass track for a cover I did showing the Quarter Pounders in action (wish I hadn't sold that also now, as I'm currently Jazz-less!). This was both pickups on full with the tone wide open. I think the amp was my old Fender Rumble 60.[/quote] Cheers for the clip mate, thats pretty much what I am going for. Plus with my relatively new TC electronics RH450 head, I think it will sound amazing. Trust me though, as soon as I have the money I will be spending it on a wholly vintage 62' jazz and keeping it truly vintage, I absolutely love the sound, but it just isn't quite there for the bands that I play in, but for me personally I would happily die playing one! Cheers

[quote name='WHUFC BASS' post='1223519' date='May 7 2011, 06:27 PM']Why not go for a Varitone with series switching ? If you're using a set of Quarter Pounders, the series switching will make them sound huge and perfect for punk. Easy to install to - no soldering, just screw the wires in and bob's your live in lover.[/quote] Yeah I will have a look, especially when there isn't any soldering involved! The trouble is that my taste in music is so varied that my bass needs to somehow keep up. One minute I will be playing some walking jazz line in a band, then on to some cheesy pop-punk, then some really heavy nu-metal. I think the jazz can handle anything, its just a case of tweaking that set up to be more in line with your personal preferences. Cheers

[quote name='Green Alsatian' post='1223301' date='May 7 2011, 03:26 PM']About time I made my first post, I think! Are you after a vintage sound, to go with the vintage look? If so, you might want to consider a different set of pickups than the Quarter Pounders. They're great pickups and have a nice hot output, but not a particularly vintage tone. If it is an older tone you want, their Vintage SJB-1 pickups would probably be more up your street than the SJB-3 set. Another recommendation (and cheaper than the Seymour Duncans) would be for a set of Wizard Sixty-Fours. I used them on a Jazz Bass build a couple of years ago - I actually replaced the Quarter Pounders with them, opting for a more traditional Jazz Bass sound and they sounded really nice. They're £70 a set and the service from Wizard is top-notch, too. They also do higher-output pickups. [url="http://www.wizardpickups.co.uk/shop.asp?category=Bass&sub=Jazz%20Bass"]http://www.wizardpickups.co.uk/shop.asp?ca...sub=Jazz%20Bass[/url] I've used a Gotoh 201 on a P-bass, when it wasn't possible to get hold of Badass II bridges and found it to be an excellent, sturdy bridge - a P-bass bridge cover fit neatly over it, so I imagine that the Jazz cover plate would too as it's longer. You might find with the Jazz cover, that you need to move it slightly back to clear the back of the Gotoh as the back end of the cover tapers more than the P-bass cover, but you can position it before screwing it in. I've no experience with block inlay stickers sadly, but I think there are a few threads on Talkbass about them. They certainly do look nice and are quite cheap to buy.[/quote] Cheers for the advice. To be honest I'm not entirely sure whether I want the vintage sound or not (sounds odd I know) but the bass sound that I have always loved and grown up listening to is Mark Hoppus' the bassist from Blink 182. I apologise for it being pop punk and I have moved on with my musical tastes, but still I really like his bass sound and he has always used SD quarter pounds (albeit P bass ones). Having said that I do love the sound of my jazz at the moment with the original mexican pickups I just feel it needs a little more 'umph'. I think I might need to find some to have a go on...... I will definitely look at the wizards though and cheers for the advice on the bridge. I'm pretty sure I will be going for that one and then I will just buy the cover and see if it fits over, if not I can just sell it on here. Cheers again

Hi Guys, I have been drooling over vintage jazz basses (either original or reissue) for a long long time now, but unfortunately I do not have the £1500 (or anywhere near that figure) for the one I am after (The 62' reissue Jazz) Anyway, so I am gonna just tired myself over by giving my current mexican jazz a vintage look, and also give it a probably much need upgrade for the electrics and hardware. I was just after a bit of advice really, As far as upgrades go I was thinking on the following, does anybody have any comments on whether they are a good idea or if there are better versions out there?: [list] [*]Seymour Duncan Bassline Quarter Pound jazz pickups [*]Gotoh 201 Bass bridge [*]Hipshot HB1 or HB 7 tuners (not sure which would fit) [*]and possibly a J-retro pre-amp (not sure if it would be needed with the new pups and also its another £200 which I dont have) [/list] Along with that I want to get the bass looking like this: [url="http://www.kaproductions.com/gear/fender_jazz_cat_1972.jpg"]http://www.kaproductions.com/gear/fender_jazz_cat_1972.jpg[/url] Its currently the same colour as that picture (Lake Placid Blue with Rosewood fretboard) but I would want to add the bridge and pickup covers and the thumbrest. A couple of questions, does anyone know if a fender bridge cover would fit over the Gotoh bridge? and what do I need to take into consideration before drilling in to my bass and possibly ruining the paintwork? Also instead of buying a whole new neck with the block inlays, has anyone had any experience with the inlay stickers (extremely cheap solution I know, but I am a student....) Sorry for the long post Cheers Tom

Hey, Cheers for all the replies so far, I appreciate everyones suggestions and comments. I'm not all together too confident with soldering so wouldn't attempt to re-wire it myself, but it might be something to talk through with a mate of mine who can do all that stuff. Although I think the first thing too do is really have a play with it with my TC stuff and see what I can get out of it. Don't get me wrong I absolutely love the sound of the thing, especially for slapping, but that has always been me arsing around, I am definitely not good enough to do it in any of the bands I play in. I probably explained the tone issues a little badly as, I am not the most knowledgeable bass player you will meet, in fact I have always been someone that just likes to pick one up and play and think very little about anything else. It must seem a little wierd wanting to mess around with the SUB when I love the sound of my Jazz, but I get bored easily.... I like to play around with stuff, and as I said it just seems a waste to have it sat around in a case and never get played. For those asking about me selling the pup if I replace it, i will let you know as soon as I decided what to do, I just need to get the bloody thing back from my mate! Cheers guys Tom

Hey, Just wondering if anyone knows of some good replacement pickups for the MM active SUB? I really want to start playing this bass again as I love the look of it and it seems a waste to have it sitting around, but I could never find the sound I was after. Then I got a mexican jazz and that was exactly what I wanted. I love the mids of jazz basses, whereas I find the SUB to either be all bass or all treble, no compromise. Does anybody know of any good replacement pups that would give me that mid I'm looking for? Cheers Tom P.s. I havent actually tried it out on my new TC electronic stuff yet as its stored away at a mates house, that might make a difference....

cheers for the replies, I am seriously tempted, although I think i've just found out that the Pewter one has been discontinued, which makes me slightly less tempted. If one appears second somewhere I think I'd definitely go for it. Maybe I should just scratch the bass project itch I've been getting for quite a while now.... Anyway I would still love to hear what others think of this bass

Hi, Basically I am after a bit of advice, but firstly I think I should give you a bit of a background about myself. Essentially i've been playing for ten years now in plenty of bands and have got through multiple basses, finally ending up with a mexican fender jazz bass, which I absolutely love. I love the feel and the sound and it has done me well every single gig and recording. One of my problems is I like to collect basses..... I have never got rid of one, but I like to get myself something new every so often, but still continue using my old ones, it gets cluttered on stage.... Currently I do not want to stray away from Fenders, the sound is what I have been searching for. The only issue I have with my mexican is the bridge is constantly dropping and it never seems to stay in tune for very long (even when the bridge stays put). Plus some parts like the knobs feel a little cheap. In the end I would love to get an American jazz (ideally a 1962 reissue....) but as a student I do not have that kind of money. I currently have an old stripped Squier P bass body around which I was considering spending a bit of money on spraying, buying a new neck and electics e.t.c. Then I saw this..... [url="http://www.bonnersmusic.co.uk/buy/Squier/Standard_P.Bass_Special"]http://www.bonnersmusic.co.uk/buy/Squier/S..._P.Bass_Special[/url] I love the look of it, and I was thinking about just spending my money on that instead. But the question I pose to yourselves is, how good are squiers now? and since I am currently playing a proper fender, would it just be a disappointing? I know I could always save up and replace the pups, but it would probably be quite a while down the line, has anybody experience the squier pups? Plus whats the build quality like? Can someone please let me know if I am mad? Cheers Tom