LukeFRC

and if you don't have an example of it... it's worth trying it. I think there is a list of basses that everyone should have/try for a while. A P, A J a ray and a T40* would be on my 'vital' to have at some point. even if you realise you prefer something else... well you found that out. *yes possibly the odd one out on my short list... but what basses.

ask yourself the following questions... 1) can I afford it 2) If I buy it and end up selling it, is the loss in buying price/selling price worth it. 3) will it give me something I can't already do. i.e. you have a blue jazz, is a red jazz going to give you anything extra, a P, or a 6 string fretless will. 4) If I buy it will this mean other gear will not be used and can be sold 5) do i really want it, do I know this- or do I think I do? e.g. It took me a lot of jazz basses to find out they were not for me. 6) am I being daft. e.g. I keep looking at jazz basses... but know that finding one better than the basses I have now is not going to happen 7) If I do have the money. What would I do with it else wise if it doesn't go on the bass? Sometimes eating or holidays are more important than basses. Or even a decent amp. 8) if there is no justification for having this, but can afford it (1) and the resale price wouldn't loose me much (2) is it worth just going for it? Example... you buy the bass secondhand, you are happy. If you sell it on 2 years later 'cos, well you don't need the thing, and loose £120 on relative values/postage/extra strings etc is borrowing the bass for £5 a month worth it. 9) new things don't make you a better player.

I went and sat in a very big guitar shop and tried every jazz bass they had. It I was buying on feel and how much I got on with them alone I would have bought a squier. (though the geddy lee was also nice)

arrgh match your blacks! 100% K is not the right black!

looks like a good deal, thats a hours work to sort out when you get it, ill image he will pull it though as he won't get much over his start price

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1340457463' post='1704699'] Ok - I am going to set myself up for ridicule here I paid about £50 for an original '63 thumb rest to sit on my '63 Jazz. As thumb rests age they tend to warp around the screw holes and original nitro-cellulose pickguards also go out of shape directly in line with the warped shape of the thumb rest. I saw the one I bought on US EBay from a very reputable old parts dealer in Nashville and could see the warped shape looked near identical to the indentation in my original nitro pickguard. Took a flyer on it & it fits absolutely perfectly. You can actually hold the bass nearly vertical without any screws in the thumb rest and the indentations hold it in place without falling off. It was the only thing missing from my '63 & I didn't fell like £50 was much of an investment to finish off the original look. Of course I could have bought a $5 one, screwed it too tight & left it to warp naturally & then roughened it up a bit to make it look like it was nearly 50 years old but I kinda like the fact that it's an old bit of Fender history performing a vaguely useful function - purely aesthetically because I don't even use it to play with [/quote] well that actually makes sense. [quote name='Rick's Fine '52' timestamp='1340489810' post='1705310'] As Molan says, if this is what you need to complete your original vintage bass, then you'll pay what its worth to you? If you have an all original '62 jazz missing the thumbrest, I can assure you that it would more than recover its $150+price, if you added one of these, and then had an all original '63. I think the main issue with some of these sellers, is that they strip out perfectly good guitars, because they can make more by parting them out. It should be a crime. If a guitar is broken, then fair enough, recycle the parts, but just to break one up for more bucks is a real shame. Hey ho, thats life. He probably makes bucket loads out of it? [/quote] Thats what I think is wrong about this. Jimmy's specialist guitars co. (or Rick's Fine Guitars even!) is a brill shop and specialise in vintage basses and parts. no problem, you want something you go to them, and you know that at the heart of it they are passionate about old gear. It gets odd when it's guys on ebay splitting the things for profit.

I think it would be far easier if you just said something along the lines of "i get the best parts from x, y, and z made for me and put them together into a cracking bass", I mean thats what the overwater/tanglewoods are- mass produced but final set up here giving it that seal of approval. I am never quite sure what the problem is with just saying that, I mean at some levels a bass mass produced in china is the same as one mass produced in mexico or america... what matters is the quality of the parts and that's what is unclear about these basses. I could go the far east and buy parts and sell them in the uk for thousands (Lakland for example) or I could go and do the same and sell wholesale for £20 each. It's knowing the difference in quality.

[quote name='Warwick_Official' timestamp='1341248928' post='1715757'] warwickhunt - Yes, since revamping the entire Rockbass line - they come with MEC pickups, and the same 3D 2-piece bridge, tuners, and Warwick security locks as found on the German made basses. Thanks! [/quote] that makes no sense! Why are the parts so expensive then? I'm looking for a passive blend pot for my warwick. An MEC replacement will cost me £40 posted- a new rockbass, with a blend pot in it, can be found new for £200 !! surely it can't be the same parts??

[quote name='stevie' timestamp='1341218001' post='1715139'] The JV with its original pickup sounds wonderful: it has the "thunk". I'm surprised how middly the SPB-1 sounds in comparison, as it is touted as one of the finest vintage P-Bass replacements you can buy. I expect the Duncan pickup could be made to sound like the JV pickup with a bit of bass lift in the preamp, but still - that's an eye-opener! [/quote] i'm going to try it out in practice. the SPB-1 is brilliant at where it sits in the mix and a really great pickup, I think for a lot of music styles it would be more appropriate. I like both to be honest, be good to try out the JV live

[quote name='Doomentia' timestamp='1341134406' post='1714049'] Hey guys I've recently started a progressive doom band, what we want to do with it is totally have some weird stuff going on down on the low ends, to do this I am considering to build my own bass, I've never done it before, so would any of you have any advice at all? It will be a 5 or 6 string, want some good quality wood and i'm also considering putting a whammy bar on there too So like, yeah, any advice would be grand peace Doomentia [/quote] Pay for someone elses expertise. Define a bit more what you want.... and then it it were me I would PM either lettsguitars (the nice fella above) or ou7shined for some of the builders on here, or ACG (skelf)

not many replies on here... maybe I should ask more questions.... which one of the two pickups do you think is more classic P bass sound? the JV one is way way more bassy and makes the whole bass a different instrument. Slight concern it could be *too* much live. Also given that the SPB1 is supposed to be Duncans's vintage voiced P bass pickup, and the JV is supposed to be a vintage copy too.... why are they so different? not even the coil shapes are the same! Luke

[quote name='TRBboy' timestamp='1341079045' post='1713667'] I reckon the Thumb really is the epitome of "that Warwick sound". Punch and growl in abundance! [/quote] esp if you pick up an older wenge and bubinga one - they make em out of something different now cos they are saving the rain forests. actaully, kudos on the FSA certified corvette made out of happy trees...

matches your avatar somewhat!

Today I fitted the Seymore Duncan to the Kramer and also wired in one of the switches in series/single coil / parallel for the bridge pickup, the coil nearest the neck sounds best so thats the single coil I chose to use. Having had a wee play... and the Duncan sounds better in the Kramer, it balances better with the tone of the other pickups than the JV P pickup did. The JV sounds nice in the JV but boy is there a lot of bottom end in there! so much bass!

if you take them out you will be left with wee holes. I can't for the life of me work out why in defretting that neck you would want to.

[quote name='Len_derby' timestamp='1341060405' post='1713343'] From my own experience, I would put Japanese Fenders [i]ahead [/i]of American ones. [/quote] ( I would too but you stir up a **** storm if you say that sort of thing!)

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1341057509' post='1713294'] Yes, and I have the circuit board even... but not for this bass. In fact I'm starting to think that a mid-sweep control probably makes more sense than a full 2/3-band preamp in most basses. [/quote]where you get the board from? make it?

[quote name='guybrush threepwood' timestamp='1341053352' post='1713222'] The JV in the JV is just beautiful. [/quote] yeah, it is So so different. A lot more bottom end and low mids. whereas with the SD is a nice pup, but it doesn't sound that much different from, say the warwick. Interesting experimenting anyway! Think I'm going to keep the JV in the JV as the wick can hit most the tones I will be loosing.

I would put the japanese stuff on par with the american

I've played both. I've really really liked the highway ones I've tried, preferring them to the american standards. But the JPN stuff is wonderful too. I would stick with what you have unless you have real problems with build quality etc.

[quote name='cameltoe' timestamp='1340992460' post='1712643'] No, the cab definitely has limitations for sure, which is why I ordered a Barefaced last week, but I do get the tight thump I need from my RW p'up through my rig, I find it's just a bit vanilla sounding. The Fender Original is the exact opposite! [/quote] go for the thump P bass one and put it through a big old valve amp?

the higher end warwick ones have done me for years

well at least it's not damaged the wood!

thought of building a copy of one of the pre EB stingray preamps?

[quote name='kennyrodg' timestamp='1341012967' post='1712972'] Nice One Luke, For me it's the JV/JV combo that wins out, I'm glad that PickUp found it's rightful home ! Do me a favour though bud, I'm fairly certain that the strings on the Kramer are Sunbeams, One's that took me months and months to get them to how I like 'em ...... "worn". If you find you don't like them I'll buy 'em back of you. I'm glad you like the Bass too. [/quote] yeah, I'm surprised at the difference and how you can tell it's the same bass at the same time. I prefer them I think. Ping your address over I'll keep them safe until I work out where the rest of the kramer is going to sit in my bass arsenal in terms of getting played. I think I will change the wiring (again) so that the bridge pup switch is series/singlecoil/paralell and have the front coil as the single coil. far more useful in my book!