LawrenceH

Woo! Down with sunburst! [quote name='CHRISDABASS' post='925561' date='Aug 15 2010, 01:35 PM']Just a quick update! Ive been chatting with Roger Sadowsky about the matching headstock thing as i'll need a Decal for Dave to use, Roger is more than happy for me to go ahead and has even offered me the choice of decal colour, black, silver or gold.......think im gonna go for silver If i can pay on my credit card im gonna crack on and get the respray done if not i'll probably sell something im not using to fund it i cant wait!! [/quote]

[quote name='Spoombung' post='923879' date='Aug 13 2010, 01:52 PM']Yes, I did. I stayed 'brand loyal' and used a whole can of Halford's ordinary lacquer on the paint.[/quote] Ah thanks, Dumb question, but did you have a good way of avoiding/dealing with dust in the clearcoats? Without a proper workshop to do this in I'm having trouble despite trying to keep the spray area tidy and clear.

[quote name='JTUK' post='923699' date='Aug 13 2010, 12:14 PM']I have done this many a time for basse with really slim necks but now I hanker after stable necks straight out of a gig bag. They are still slim tho', but I am not sure I would post what I do for someone else to follow, personally. I would set the action to buzz when playing slumped in a chair so when standing upright the buzz does not occur. Necks tweaks are qtr turns at the moist and then you need to let the neck settle..pref over night. ... I also like to use tapered string over the saddles so I have got lots of adjustment both ways but my gigging basses necks are pretty stable as it happens. I am still wary of sunlight, temp changes etc etc and NEVER leave my bass resting on its neck. This is more a historical fear so all my basses hang when not used... or are cushioned underneath the neck when put away for a time. I never have the head-piece and the body taking the strain without the neck being supported.. but maybe that is just me and uber slim necks in the past.[/quote] Wow I've been FAR more cavalier! On my bullet truss jazzes, I turned several full turns to get them roughly in the right area, giving the neck a bit of a flex in between to help it settle in, and fine-tuned the following day - but then the 75RI was very out to start with (not really engaged at all in fact). I guess it also depends on the thread size on the truss rod in question, but I found a quarter turn did next to b****r all. On a (5-piece) Ibanez neck I never once adjusted the truss over several years and varying temperatures/humidities, but I think they're a lot more stable than typical Fenders. Certainly didn't see the flex I do on the jazzes when strung versus slack. I'd have thought those graphite-rod necks were a bit better in this respect though. Oh and yes, turn clockwise to tighten.

[quote name='Musicman20' post='923409' date='Aug 13 2010, 12:46 AM']Using the Lakland technique on setup, it seems the Jazz strings do sit off the board a fair bit whilst pressing the 1st fret and between 12-13th, (on the J). On the P, the strings are virtually touching the frets whilst doing this. Ideas? Thanks[/quote] The 'tension' in the jazz strings may well be due to the neck being excessively bowed, personally I like it close to straight under tension and then set the action for acceptable buzz - did this to my Jap 75RI and afterwards it plays so much easier, with similar saddle heights to before.I was lucky actually, initially I just couldn't get it doing what I wanted and the truss rod was really stiff, until I took the neck off for a few weeks while working on the body, when I put it back everything behaved perfectly and after adjustment it felt like a new, and better, instrument. It's been stable since too.

If you're not worried about resale, sonic blue with matching headstock is a country mile more awesome than boring old sunburst. And you can alway see how lovely the headstock wood is from the back if you're all that bothered

[quote name='willyf87' post='922911' date='Aug 12 2010, 04:33 PM']Using roto swing 66 rounds, i just replaced roto flats wanted the hear the contrast, but I had the same problems with the flats, i re adjusted the bass for the rounds as well, when i hold first and last fret line there is a small (as in little bit more than piece of paper) gap of daylight all the way along until about 14th fret ish where it starts to decrease.[/quote] Hmm. Another factor to eliminate is the nut, the slots on my fretless are very low but sometimes you get a nut on a fretless that's meant for a fretted bass, these are a b***h to play no matter how low you set the action at the other end and it always feels too high. Alternatively it could well be the fret lines. Can you feel their ridge if you run your fingers up and down the board? If so they're proud of the neck and need sanding down. A bit of fine wet and dry (400 or higher maybe? I'd probably start with 800) used wet with a firm block should be able to sort that.

[quote name='willyf87' post='922736' date='Aug 12 2010, 01:56 PM']yeah I'm gonna give that a go![/quote] What strings are you using? I tried DR Hi-Beams recently and they were buzz-crazy (on a fretted bass) thanks to their high flexibility. Same bass with some worn-in, and subjectively stiffer, Black beauties (still Hi Beams underneath I think) is much better. Fret the string just in front of the nut and again at the end of the board to take the nut out of the equation and see how straight it looks then.

[quote name='Musicman20' post='922556' date='Aug 12 2010, 11:53 AM']Jees! This is NOT good. Did they not check it?![/quote] I wonder whether it's a batch issue - all or a lot of the basses a dealership gets being from a particular batch and sharing similar faults. The pic of the last one that Dave posted looked like the pup routing was out. Work experience boy setting up the cnc router?!

+1 on using a Jap 75RI as a basis. Get one in natural so it's definitely ash, unless I'm mistaken the others can be basswood? I don't think it sounds as good as alder/ash.

I'd have thought the road worn jazz, whether or not you like relics (I don't). Jazz basses get a lot of love on here, and the consensus seems to be that that one's a tone monster. The youtube clips back this up for me. If I had one I'd probably refinish it Though I'm loving my JaP 75ri now I swapped the pups for Classic 70s (the same as HWY1?). It's a growly beast! Agreed on the Wizard pups and J East pre, they seem to be the number 1 recommended items in their respective categories. I've not tried either, though I do own a J retro awaiting fitting.

[quote name='Spoombung' post='920455' date='Aug 10 2010, 11:04 AM']Thanks![/quote] Really impressive job there - can I ask did you clearcoat the bass after spraying the colours?

I'd say, if you really can't stick with it go for a neck transplant, necks seem to come up on here from time to time. Tone is far harder to get right than playability IMO

Just received a tort jazz pickguard from Nick - well packed, arrived promptly, all is good. Thanks a lot!

A word of caution...I tried two each of both a 12-piezo melded and 6-piezo flat array using piezos shipped by Leland, on 4 Jack 10s. The sound is ok for giving a bit of fizz for bass guitar, but I was seriously unimpressed with the sound for PA. I only tried using a bi-amped configuration, and the suggested passive crossover design will alter the frequency response. But even with a graphic EQ I couldn't get a sound that I liked out of them. I A/B'ed with an Eminence CD from a Yamaha Club series speaker (PSD2002, these are about £50 new I think? It's the more expensive one recommended in the plans IIRC) and the Eminence just sounded so much sweeter, despite the fact it's not the world's best comp driver. In my opinion the sound was noticeably worse than your average semi-respectable entry-level PA speaker. Your mileage may vary, as they say on that thar internet.

[quote name='Musicman20' post='913876' date='Aug 3 2010, 02:07 PM']Ah, and youll get a small refund as well! Id swap it out Dave. Itll play on your mind even if they fix it.[/quote] Plus black with maple looks waaaay cooler than sunburst. Especially with a black pickguard.

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='912768' date='Aug 2 2010, 01:31 PM']Ive now got a MIA jazz that i really like the tone off, but at some point i will put the Wizards in and see who they sound on a decent bass ;-)[/quote] Be REALLY interested in this comparison. Hope you get round to it soon!

I'd be surprised if the pickguard is at fault, it sounds/looks like the body router was just badly aligned on that particular instrument, which will give problems down the road if you want to swap certain components around, or with re-sale value. At the price you've paid I'd be looking for a replacement unless the tone is unusually monstrous. EDIT: I've just realised that it's more likely the pickguard/neck is slightly mis-aligned, either of which would require redrilling. Again I'd just want one that was right first time.

WTF is going on with that routing?? I thought the MIAs had proper pickup-sized cavities -and then that random hole as well? My Mexi Classic 70s has that (but at the least the pup cavities are the right size) but I'd assumed the MIAs were better in this respect, not worse. That's annoying.

My vote for tone would definitely go to the VMJ. It just sounds a lot warmer and livelier acoustically, I'm guessing it's down to the different body woods. My vote for quality control would go the CV though, so if you go VMJ maybe try and buy in person!

[quote name='Philly' post='910142' date='Jul 30 2010, 12:01 PM']Hi All I have an American 75 reissue Jazz and I love it, my only one gripe is it is very slightly head heavy. I am thinking about adding a badass II bridge, I know the benefits are already massive due to the crap bent tin bridge already on it, just wondered if anyone thinks this will help balance the instrument better? Anyone encountered any negatives swapping the bridge over? Thanks Phil[/quote] I put a Fender deluxe bridge on my jap 75 reissue. It improved the 'tightness' of the tone but lost a certain amount of woodiness. So depends if you like the difference. By the way I took the tuners off and they weighed a ton! Maybe worth checking the weight on yours and see if replacing them with ultralites or similar would make a worthwhile weight saving, as an alternative if you don't get on with the new bridge/still have issues.

Some of the basses on this list are ridiculous! And I'm pretty confident that none could beat an old 4-string P copy I had, I think it was a Rockwood? Flippin' dreadful, weighed a ton, played like a cow and had the tone of a pillow. Looked a pig's ear as well (though in the ugly stakes the Big Al will always be my number 1)

[quote name='escholl' post='909476' date='Jul 29 2010, 05:26 PM']Your ears can be surprisingly good liars. You hear what you expect to hear. If you have any friends who are music producers or mixing engineers, ask them if they've ever accidentally used an EQ which, in fact, wasn't connected or engaged -- but they didn't realise till after they'd "gotten" the sound the wanted. It's happened to me, it's happened to a few people I know -- you feel silly, but it demonstrates to what extent you can hear what you expect to hear. This is why you need to measure, and not trust your ears. Notice how speakers never sound worse when they're broken in? If speaker break in was a "thing" there is no way that would be true in every instance.[/quote] Yes, yes, BUT. This was not one of those times! Like I said the difference was night and day, like comparing a full PA speaker with an overloaded ipod docking station. We did measure at the time, using a crude Behringer RTA, and it supported what we heard (but as I say I don't completely trust the kit/set-up we had). We had to boost the bass massively to get a decent balance. Then the next day we ran it flat to start with and the bass was hitting the chest nicely (still didn't sound good overall, but that's another story. Anyone want to buy a BFM Jack 10? ). Sometimes though you do have to trust your ears, like when you buy kit, you never go purely on spec. After all, I don't listen to music by looking at oscilloscopes and RTAs. For sure there is variation in our hearing from day to day, even moment to moment, and it can be surprising how they're fooled, but after a while you get a good feel for what's accounted for by that and what isn't and I've done enough mixing to know where my normal limits are. This was definitely outside them, the same way I can tell the difference between a 1k and 5k test tone completely robustly! Doesn't even mean what I'm hearing as the low octave is real bass, or something elsewhere, just that I'm confident I heard a genuine (marked) difference that I could have picked out in a blind test. Interesting that Stevie's graphs show reasonably substantial spec variation between the driver before and after, but because of the way the parameters alter in that particular box/driver combo it models out the same. Doesn't mean they always will, of course (I wonder if the fact that we were using a horn-loaded design would have any bearing there?). I expect Stevie's going to say the driver was run in in about 30 seconds!

[quote name='stevie' post='909455' date='Jul 29 2010, 05:05 PM']Although you will admit that accusing others of having ears of cloth when they don't agree with you is exactly how such people behave.[/quote] Hmm, good point. I was more trying to say I don't think my ears are especially golden! As opposed to where people boast about how great they are, or try to justify some ridiculous expense as a protection mechanism. I guess I mean that there is a real-world cut-off between what's one of those things where you can convince yourself you can hear something or other, and when something plainly sounds rotten and awful, otherwise we'd all be playing through banks of Chinese ipod speaker docks. Burden of proof often works both way before accusations are made.