Jono Bolton

I currently have a Mexican Fender Jazz, and the action seems pretty high to me, and there's a bit of a choking issue as well. I used to have a Badass II on it, and had the neck shimmed to lower the action but without having a lot of fret buzz. I've since removed the Badass and put a more vintage styled Wilkinson bridge on it. I left the neck shim in and I have have to have the action quite high to eliminate any fret buzz. It's not too bad, but I'd like it as low as I could get it. I tried taking the neck shim out to be able to lower the saddles, but there was still a fair bit of buzz. It occurred to me the other night that the only thing I haven't tried is the truss rod. I bought the Wilkinson after speaking to BassBunny, who recommended it and said he didn't have to shim his neck. I've done that thing whereby I fret the neck at the 1st fret, use my arm to press the strings down at the body end of the neck and measure the string height at the 8th fret, and it doesn't seem to be too high at all, but I also have a Fender set-up manual that my flatmate got with her Tele and has instructions for guitars and basses, and according to that, my action is about 0.5mm higher than Fender recommends as a comfortable string height at the 17th fret (Fender says about 2-2.5mm, mine is about 3mm). First of all, does all that make sense? Secondly, would it be an idea to remove the shim and put a bit of relief in the neck? Roughly a quarter-turn clockwise? Thirdly, what size Allen Key would I need to undertake such a task? I didn't receive one when I bought the bass a few years back. Any help would be greatly appreciated fellas.

I had a black pickguard on a black Precision, but only because a brown tort one was too expensive

Don't know really. Obviously I'd like to get away with spending as little as possible but at the end of the day you get what you pay for. About £40, either new or second hand depending on what's available, would be sweet.

I've recently noticed that the original machine heads on my Jazz are starting to go out of tune a bit easier than they used to and so I'd like to replace them. It's a Mexican Jazz Bass, and I'd ideally like a set of direct replacements, or ones with as little fannying about to fit as possible. Does anyone have any recommendations? Cheers Jono

I checked the online prices, soundslive.co.uk has them for £489, or I could have a dinged one for £450. There's not a huge choice colour wise, but i'd go for black or sunburst anyway, so it's no big deal. I'm not a huge fan of that 'baby sick' colour, think it's called transparent Honey Blonde, and I can't find a picture of the Daphne Blue one anywhere

Ive just started a new job with a monthly bonus and so, as an extra, extra incentive, I've decided that my bonus each month is going to the new bass fund, along with whatever falls through my letterbox at Christmas. I was looking at getting a new Jazz, and I've been tempted by the new American Standards and the Lakland Skyline Joe Osborn, but while I've heard of the Highway 1 series, I've never really been completely sure what the score with them is. Taking a look at the Fender website, they're pitched between the Mexican Std and the Deluxe series, which I believe is made in Mexico. Am I right in thinking that they're American made parts, assembled in Mexico? I've had a look at one in Sound Control, and I've noticed the thinner matt finish than the American Standards, and I've heard the Grease Bucket tone circuit is really good too.

My Jazz had a Gotoh 201 on it for a while but I really didn't like it. Don't know if it was a duffer or not but there was no improvement in tone or sustain over the original 'bent tin' bridge that it came with. Went to what was formerly Sound Control today, the new Squier bridges look a lot studier than those on the new Fender American Standards. Oh and in guitar guitar they have the Classic Vibe 60s Precision with a bridge cover on it, which I reckon really tops it off, it looks effing lovely!

I've been eyeballing one of these Jazzes in Guitar Guitar in Glasgow, but I never have enough time to try it out. How's the bridge on it? I've been thinking about picking one up as a replacement for my Badass, but there don't seem to be any on ebay just yet.

Does anyone know if the Squier High Mass Bridges are available to buy? Particularly the one with brass saddles on the Classic Vibe Jazz, that looks alright.

The Ghost of a Thousand album has been on repeat for the last 5 days, it's excellent! Some really good bass on it too, although whoever played bass on the recordings isn't in the band anymore. Been listening to Cancer Bats a lot too, and also Agony & Irony, the new Alkaline Trio album. Generally very good, although there's a couple of duff tracks, and the odd rubbish lyric or two. The Red Album by Weezer starts well, tails off in the middle for a couple of tracks but pulls its game up at to end. Oh, and Talking Heads has just come on my media player!

[quote name='The Burpster' post='260315' date='Aug 11 2008, 08:20 PM']Hippies are ace, as are Schaller. Maybe not what your after but they will make an improvement to the instrument as a whole...[/quote] I had a look at the Hipshot site, and while they look like they'd do the job well, they aren't really what I was after looks-wise. I think it''l be hard to find something that will improve the sustain and sound of a stock bridge but also keep the trad aesthetics.

I've got a Squier 20th Anniversary Stratocaster and it's one of the nicest guitars I've ever played, despite the abuse it's taken over the year! I reckon Squier pulled out the stops that year, no point in celebrating a birthday with crappy guitars! I've also got a Graphtech Tusq nut and a thumb rest going spare, drop me a PM if you're interested Marcus.

I spied those Bassbunny, I was tempted but as they're aren't as chunky as the likes of the Gotoh and the Badass I wasn't sure if the sustain would be any good, even with the brass saddles. They are indeed from Axes R Us, a great little site, I do most of my parts buying from there. Great service too.

I had a look at the Fender bridges but they're for through-body stringing, which the Mex is not. I don't fancy drilling through the bass either, and I'm far too broke to pay a luthier to do it at the minute.