MoJoKe

yup. Its 'effin gorgeous but is a 4 string and I just wasn't using it, so couldn't justify keeping it. Customised slightly for me, the neck was made with more of a precision feel. I sold it on BC about 18 months ago with the express intention to commission a Mk3 five string fretless with the same facings, but then ran out of money I really do hope someone in the UK buys it rather than it getting shipped overseas... you'd do! haha!

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1426000249' post='2713259'] Yep, no Andy Baxter this year - was rather surprised by that. [/quote] hmm yes, would have been nice to see my old Wal he is currently selling.....

oh, and the Ethan Farmer masterclass - wow... I have always had a slight issue with people who I think often "overplay" when reworking live versions of classic basslines (see my sig), but this guy nails it. The bass line for "Brick House" is absolutely [i]made[/i] by the "space" after the 1, but he seemed to be able to add so much without clutter or changing this essential groove.

[quote name='iamtheelvy' timestamp='1425925001' post='2712356'] I didn't really get a chance to stop over the weekend - tried to get to as many performances as poss! Had a bit of time to try out some nice stuff though. No moneys at the mo, but I think my Markbass rig will expand in the not too distant future! [/quote] multiamp, multiamp, multiamp, multiamp...... (I came home with one... and a 121H... eek) So, it was great to see you all! it was really well attended, met some great people and on the MarkBass stand we mostly managed to control the volume, but apologies to those who might have felt differently! Often when asked "I really need to know how loud it goes", answering with "come back at loud time" doesn't always go down well, and the volume creeps up. I'm sure after last year there was discussion about having a quiet room and a (slightly) noisier one, but in general this year the show was definitely quieter overall. Hard to believe, I know, but several do agree with this! Favourite thing? Lots. But meeting and spending time with Lawrence Insula (currently working with Rita Ora) and his pals was a delight. What a genuinely nice, professional guy and amazing player. He and his pals did get a little bit rowdy on the stand for 6-7 minutes on Sunday, but some great playing! and Skelf, we [i]w​ill[/i] be talking again later in the year....

I'm helping out on the MarkBass stand again all weekend, do come and say hi.... I'll have my JO5/J-retro with me, and while still work in progress, I might be persuaded to bring my project Jazz 5 fretless if anyone wants to see it.... [b]Saturday[/b] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]The Greek[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Timmo[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]BassAgent (w/ Fender '66 Jazz)[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]BruceBass3901[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Sibob[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]CamdenRob [?][/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Bluejay[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Alun[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Lozz196[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]iamtheelvy[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Milesbguitar[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Verb[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]such[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Drax [/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Russ[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]MoJoKe[/font][/color] [b]Sunday[/b] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Bobthedog[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]obbm[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Bluejay[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Alun[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]iamtheelvy[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Milesbguitar[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Verb[/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]such[/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] [/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Russ[/font][/color] MoJoKe

For my Jazz fretless project I have acquired a pair of "Duncan Designed" pickups from a Squier VM Jazz, can someone tell me how to wire them please? They have a shield, white and red. The only diagram I can find on the Seymour Duncan website which is similar is for active jazz pickups, as all the rest have only two wires (like my Lakland JO), but I don't think this is correct as I thought VM's were passive.? So, can anyone help me, or post a pic of the wiring inside the bell plate of your jazz bass please?

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1424515388' post='2697118'] Morning gents, Noticed a random abnormality that could only possibly be of any interest to those in this thread... There is a lovey fretless mk1 for sale on Andy baxters website and the DI / jack are the opposite way round to my mk3, ie. mine has the DI nearest the strap pin. Which way round is yours? [/quote] This was build for me as one of a pair in olive ash fretted/fretless. This was the first of the two I had made, the fretted one was made the following year. I bl**dy loved this bass, but because I migrated to playing exclusively 5 strings it was a luxury I couldn't afford to keep just for sentimental reasons, so I part traded it here for a Lakland fretless. It had a beautiful tone, I don't think the Soundcloud clip on his site anywhere near does it justice... It's a bit pricy I think.... it'll probably get bought and shipped to America sadly... I sold the fretted one a long time ago, as it never played quite as well to my mind. I've got some pics of them together somewhere when I first took delivery of the fretted one, I'll dig them out and scan them if anyone is interested? I had intended to order an olive ash Mk3 5 string fretless a couple of years back, but I still haven't managed to raise the cash .

Gilles very kindly responded to a "wanted" post asking if anyone had some Jazz 5 pickups suitable for my fretless project bass. He offered me a selection, only one of which was suitable, a single Hanson/Lakland Bridge Pickup. He absolutely didn't want any payment for the Pickup, simply asked for the postage to be covered, and it arrived even before we had discussed cost. Such a great, genuine guy. I know most of us here are great guys, but Gilles is especially so! Have no doubts about dealing with him!

Thanks guys! No, the neck was pretty much fine, I lightly crosshatched it with a pencil and used 400 grit wrapped around a box sectioned spirit level to slowly and carefully take it and the glue residues back off and level the maple inserts. As said, the neck was in pretty good (and virtually unplayed) nick before I started and it was already good and level, with no significant high spots. I thought I might have to have a second go at it once I had shimmed and restrung it, but not at all. It did need a second go at lowering the action after it had had a couple of days to settle in, including a tightening tweak on the truss rod to straighten it a bit more, but it has now settled and is great, with just the right Mwah and surprisingly good sustain across all strings. Having measured the pups they are different, so will now go and have a look at the options. KiOgan has recommended D'Marzio - the Entwistles look interesting, except there doesn't appear to be a 5 string Jazz option...

Here ya go, some pics - I'm pretty happy with this! In the first one you can just about see how the birdseye maple catches the light. [attachment=180068:IMAG01371.jpg] Interestingly the previous two fretless basses I've owned were unlined. I do shows with MSL (and will be working on the MarkBass stand at LBGS2015 again), a couple of years ago I was chatting with Steve Lawson and commented that his gorgeous 6 string Modulus was lined, and didn't he prefer the look of an unlined fingerboard? in his usual way he replied something like "yes, but playing and pitch are the most important thing, why would you not want as much help as possible to improve your playing? Yup, a point well made Steve! [attachment=180069:IMAG0140.jpg] [attachment=180070:IMAG0138.jpg] [attachment=180071:IMAG0136.jpg] I must admit, when taking the fret wire out I had expected to find the Rosewod quite soft, but no, its actually a very hard and good quality material. I am looking forward to seeing how well it fares compared to my previous experiences. The Lakland had a custom birdseye Maple fingerboard which looked like it might have been epoxy-ed, the Wal had Macassar Ebony which must have been the hardest wood known to man, because I owned and used roundwound strings on that bass from new in 1986 until I sold it a couple of years ago and never had to have the fingerboard refinished.

Yep, agreed, the swept mid on the J-Retro has a very similar effect to the way the EQ's worked on my old Wal. I like the sound of the Modern Player pickups, but as said I'm not looking to do any routing. If I were, I would probably want to try and replicate J/MM configuration of my Lakland 55-02

Since selling my 5502 fretless here a year or so ago, and previously to that my Wal Mk1, I have really missed having a fretless, so have been dreamily looking through the sale section in the hope that someone will post the ideal for sale advert. They still haven't! A couple of years ago I bought a 5 string Squier (Yup, a very popular topic here at the moment!) Affinity Jazz. I tried it for a bit of fun in a local music shop. It had been dropped so had some small paint chips, and the bridge vol pot, tone pot and knobs had been damaged. It had a surprisingly playable neck so made them a stupid offer which they went with, as they couldn't do much else with it. I thought it would be a great project to repair and bring back to life, but apart from sorting the electrics and putting on a new set of Elixirs it has instead remained mostly unplayed, and I'd been thinking of selling it. So instead I did some major surgery on it and over Christmas have converted it to a fretless. I often do my own setups and electronics, so not afraid of getting stuck in. I chose to do this "properly" and replaced the fret slots with veneer. I watched a load of YouTube Vids and there are a number showing the copious use of wood filler but, apart from most of these efforts looking pretty ugly, as the neck is pretty low profile I felt it essential to maintain the structure with wood so I found some nice .6mm Birdseye Maple Veneer on Ebay. The next challenge was to remove the fretwire without busting up the Rosewood board, which I did with a pair of end nippers after I had taken an angle grinder to them to shape the jaw tips like a proper fret removal tool (now available to borrow if anyone wants them!). This went very well, and after following a great series of YouTube vids showing the best way to shape the veneer inserts (no you cant just bung them in, they do need profiling properly!) and quite a lot of sanding/refinishing to get the neck straight and level, dropping the string height at the nut and shimming the neck to get the action nice and low. I am actually quite staggered by the results! The birdseye maple looks like gold, and it is [b][i]very[/i][/b] playable! Happy to post some pics if anyone wants to see it... As it is an Affinity Jazz, the electronics are a bit pants, so here is where I need some advice. Do I now sell it as a fantastically converted and set up starter fretless for someone, and get something better myself, or is it worth replacing the pups and putting in a J-retro (I have one in my JO5 and it is awesome!)? If so, what pups? Any ideas? I don't want to do any routing, so only something which will retro-fit...

[quote name='Conan' timestamp='1420141813' post='2646095'] Having played and owned a number of Fenders and Squiers... [/quote] I agree with this... However, I would also add... 1. I was blessed that my first "proper" bass (in 1981) was a "Fender" logo'ed JV Squier '57 precision, which I still have, will never sell and it is still to this day the best balanced, nicest neck, lightest and loveliest precision I have ever owned. 2. As a project bass I bought a Squier Affinity Jazz 5 string. As a "stock" bass while it had reasonable liveliness it seemed a bit gutless, but it had a surprisingly lovely playable neck, so I intended to upgrade the hardware to make it more useable. In the meantime I bought a Lakland JO5 to gig with, to which I added a J-Retro, which is now magical, if a little too heavy, so the Squier project got shelved. I have badly missed having a fretless in my collection, (having owned an Olive Ash Wal Mk1 and a fretless Lakland 55-02, both of which I deeply regret having to sell) so I decided to convert the Affinity Jazz, which I have done over the Christmas Holiday. I am waiting for the neck to settle for a week or so before doing a final setup, but so far I'm absolutely delighted with the results! I will definitely be doing more work on it, a better bridge, pups and a J-retro will bring it alive. I have owned lots of basses, but in each case I have chosen them, not from the brand, but by way the neck feels in my hands long before I plug it in. The playability, sound, weight, balance, and string spacing come next in that order. The name is the usually the last consideration.