thegummy

Appreciate all the replies - thanks. Seems like a significant number of people would at least see it as a significant downside, if not be put off by it completely. Incidentally, I actually have it without a pickguard at the moment as a Jaco thing - obviously anyone looking to do the same would avoid it if I did the mod. Think the decision now is whether I do it and pretty much decide on keeping it forever (quite possible) or leaving it as is in case I ever want to sell so this has been very helpful. Cheers! P.S. just for interest's sake - I doubt I'll consider a professional job - tends to cost a fortune.

I have a J style bass and am considering expanding the middle pickup's cavity with a chisel in order to install a P pickup. It is a Schecter, made in Korea (so a good quality instrument but maybe not with the same "prestige" value as a Fender). I'm not a wood worker so I'm not caring too much about how professional it looks under the pickguard, but with the pickguard on (and original pickup back in) it would be completely hidden anyway. My question is - if you were theoretically going to buy it, would that put you off buying it or affect how much you would spend on it? Personally I couldn't care less what it looked like under the pickguard but I want to know if other people would just so I know whether to consider potential resale value when deciding to go ahead with this. Cheers!

That looks like a fantastic bass, would definitely love to have one. Can't find any online but going by the price of the fretted version I think it's sadly out of my price range. I actually just did something that should have been obvious earlier - looked on YouTube for covers of Wherever I Lay My Hat and there are a few on basses with bridge soap bars and even one on a jazz bass and I'm pleasantly surprised with how right they sound. So maybe I don't need to be so specific and just get a fretless that suits me.

Ibanez do have a few nice looking fretless models at good price points. I'm quite interested in that Pino sound though. As @Dazed mentioned, effects are a big part of it and even putting chorus on any fretted bass goes a way to evoking that feel. But it's unlikely I'll ever want to have more than one fretless so will try to find one with at least a close pickup. The MM seems to be in the middle of where the pickups are on HH models. Also being parallel makes me wonder if a normal bridge humbucker would actually be that close.

There can be some crazy price differences for the same product in different countries. Not just with instruments - I've heard of clothing brands that get sold as budget gear you'd wear around the house in one country but premium designer in another with the massive markup to match. A good reminder to never make assumptions about a bass based on the price, the exact same bass can be selling for a lot more/less in another country.

I did think about that but with the price they charge for something as easy as a setup, I wonder if it wouldn't cost a fortune to have a bass defretted.

Oh nice one, can't find any on Google but I'll defo need to keep an eye out. If I ever got a G&L I'd have to sand that wee pointy bit off the headstock though lol.

Big Pino fan and love his iconic 80s fretless tone. Unfortunately it doesn't seem possible to get a fretless stingray for less than a couple grand. Anyone suggest a fretless bass under a grand that could sound close enough to that tone? Or if anyone knows a stingray copy in that price range, even better.

I know, that was what I was saying - it's not like a mixer. I had written an explanation about passive circuits and hearing perception then realised it's like trying to tell Corgan why his white finish doesn't matter. I fear the thread's already been too derailed.

Funny how you assume I've only got one and have only ever played or heard one Jazz bass... Just like Corgan is convinced his white finish sounds different, you're convinced that when you turn a knob you're hearing a difference. The reality is that a passive pickup circuit is nothing like a mixing console. Changing the resistance to one of the pickups isn't like mixing its output in at a different level.

Fancy putting money on if you can tell the difference in a blind test?

lol the idea of someone from The Sex Pistols being concerned with the subtle minutiae of tone. Was worried this might be one of those things where some people swear blind it makes a difference to the sound while others say (admit?) that they can't hear any difference. My situation is that I'm going to convert a Jazz bass to a PJ and if it did make any difference at all I'd get a selector switch with a master volume while if it didn't I would save the money and just use the existing 2x volume knobs. To be honest I doubt I would hear any difference personally; some people talk about blending one of the pickups in at 80% with the other on full and things like that but when I turn one of the pickups down any amount it sounds the same to me as when it's all the way off. But selector switches aren't massively expensive and I'll be using the bass for decades so if there was technically a difference I'd go for it. Was hoping someone might know from a factual electrical point if the output signal would be any different or not.

Does a PJ pickup config with the J's volume turned all the way down sound exactly the same as the same bass with just a P pickup in it? I.e. does the J pickup being in the circuit affect the output of the bass even when its volume knob is all the way down? Thanks

Ah somehow managed to miss this until it was just quoted. Actually had this website bookmarked for years but I didn't know they did what I'm looking for.

Just received the pickguard today - sadly the pickup is nowhere near in the right place, it's way closer to the neck

It better be sized for a Fender! Mine is actually a Schecter but it's the same dimensions as Fender so it's Fender-sized pickguards that fit it. I would be very surprised if they were sized/shaped for anything other than the standard Fender design and didn't specifically mention it.

Thanks a lot guys, sorry for such a late reply - was in the hospital. Cheers

Anyone know where I can get a reasonably cheap Jazz pickguard but with a P pickup cutout instead of the neck J? I realise that the standard J pickguard doesn't quite line up with a P pickup in its proper place so I'm not bothered whether the pickup cutout comes out the bottom of the pickguard or if it's shaped slightly differently, as long as it fits on a J bass with the normal screwholes and the control cavity cover. Thought this would be easier to find but can't even find it on the pricier sites. Cheers!

That's not Fiesta Red.

Looks amazing. I've always loved black paisley; in fact one of my favourite guitar pics I've ever seen is of a black paisley Strat that I thought was vintage but might not be. I never thought they'd bring it out as a production line finish!

When I bought my first bass I fell for the "if you do such and such it will make it sound like a different bass" that I read people saying on forums. It was only after getting several types and a lot of experience playing and hearing them that I found out the truth that one bass isn't going to sound like another type no matter what you do to it.

I thought it was Diddies Monthly which I subscribe to

I only had a quick Google but I did find that, while buying privately comes with fewer protections than buying brand new from a retailer, it's not just left down to "buyer beware" and that's the end of it. If it's advertised as a "Fender Jazz Bass" then it would have to actually be a Fender Jazz Bass. I only had a brief look so didn't find any specifics about how much can have been replaced but it clearly can't be something completely different - even if the buyer doesn't spot it at the point of sale. So either it has to be a complete Jazz model bass made by Fender or there's an allowed amount of leeway for parts being changed. I'll take the time to find that answer if it's going to affect me.

Aye I do agree with that on this occasion - it's not like it came stock with Custom Shop pickups that they might have swapped out to sell separately or keep - the likely scenario is that the pickup was replaced as a perceived upgrade or if the original one broke, it's unlikely it was replaced with something inferior to the basic ones that came with the Mexican Standards. I was more interested in the idea in general. If I'm about to buy anything second hand in the future I'll definitely be looking in to the legal aspects of this. If the bass I'm buying is meant to have high end pickups then I'd want to make sure I got them but it's pretty difficult, if not impossible, to tell without taking the bass apart (or even then, depending on the brand).