Marc S Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 I totally agree. You can put together a really decent gigging bass for not too much money, especially these days with easy availability with online and second-hand parts That Yellow Jazz body looks great too btw. As you say, you don't see many Yellow basses around, and looking at that Jazz I've no idea why? Re those China made necks - will you take a bit of the gloss finish off the back? I put together a Bitsa sometime back, using a Block & Bound neck (it was quite a bit more than you paid too) Looked lovely, but the gloss finish was a bit "sticky" I didn't alter it, as someone really liked the bass and I ended up selling it to them Also re the necks, the one I had was a tad chunky, front to back - what are yours like? I'd be interested to know, in case I fancy putting something else together in future Every now & then, I get an urge for a Block & Bound neck 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 14, 2018 Author Share Posted August 14, 2018 And there you have it.... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 14, 2018 Author Share Posted August 14, 2018 3 minutes ago, Marc S said: I totally agree. You can put together a really decent gigging bass for not too much money, especially these days with easy availability with online and second-hand parts That Yellow Jazz body looks great too btw. As you say, you don't see many Yellow basses around, and looking at that Jazz I've no idea why? Re those China made necks - will you take a bit of the gloss finish off the back? I put together a Bitsa sometime back, using a Block & Bound neck (it was quite a bit more than you paid too) Looked lovely, but the gloss finish was a bit "sticky" I didn't alter it, as someone really liked the bass and I ended up selling it to them Also re the necks, the one I had was a tad chunky, front to back - what are yours like? I'd be interested to know, in case I fancy putting something else together in future Every now & then, I get an urge for a Block & Bound neck No gloss thankfully but yes, I would have knocked it back to almost bare wood if there had been. I’ve no idea why anyone still glosses the back of necks anymore! Hard to comment on the feel/dimensions of the necks until the basses are actually playable, but obviously will report in due course. To be honest, the more I look at the necks the more I dislike them - the orange tint is very unnatural looking and a bit “dayglo”, really. Shame as other than that they feel smooth and look great. I guess that’s what happens when you take a punt. I’m half inclined to get a pair of the ones that are on my P bitsa, which are about the same price but a much lighter natural wood colour. They do have dots rather than blocks though, and part of the reason for me doing these builds was to get exactly what I want in terms of “optional extras” and I’m afraid it’s just got to be blocks on a Jazz for me. I’ve seen those self-adhesive block “inlay” stickers and have heard good reports so might be tempted to go down that route. The amber necks I currently have might work in the blue Jazz as a temporary measure at least, but it clashes something rotten with the yellow one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 14, 2018 Author Share Posted August 14, 2018 The good news is that the pots and tuners turned up this morning, so I can really get cracking now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc S Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 The neck I bought from eBay looked great. It's hard to tell from pics on a screen, but I think it was less orangey than the ones you have there Although, they do look pretty good - those blocks look great, and contrast well with the necks I've tried those stick-on markers in the past, and they were pretty good. Nice & durable too (though that may vary between manufacturers) They don't seem to stock much choice in the UK though I bought mine via eBay - a US shop, and they were quite expensive. I'll be really interested to hear your report on how the necks feel when on a bass And I'm now dreaming of a Yellow Jazz, with Block & Bound neck - so you've given me cheap-bass-GAS! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 14, 2018 Author Share Posted August 14, 2018 Just now, Marc S said: I bought mine via eBay - a US shop, and they were quite expensive. I'll be really interested to hear your report on how the necks feel when on a bass And I'm now dreaming of a Yellow Jazz, with Block & Bound neck - so you've given me cheap-bass-GAS! Yes, the ones I’ve seen with the best reviews are about £8 plus postage from the US. I don’t think that’s too bad and when the neck has only cost you £30 you can’t really grumble! The pearloid ones are at least twice that. As for the GAS, I can only apologise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 3 hours ago, Johnny Wishbone said: And there you have it.... Nice job. 👍 You could get a small blue paint sample pot from b&q for about £1.50 just to cover the bare wood 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 14, 2018 Author Share Posted August 14, 2018 (edited) 19 minutes ago, Reggaebass said: Nice job. 👍 You could get a small blue paint sample pot from b&q for about £1.50 just to cover the bare wood I’ve actually got spray paints that are pretty good matches for both bodies. I was just keen to crack on without having to wait for the paint to dry! Might mask it off and do it later so it can dry overnight. Edited August 14, 2018 by Johnny Wishbone 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 14, 2018 Author Share Posted August 14, 2018 (edited) One wiring harness done and pickups in. I’m using the pups that came with the body as they seem OK. They can always be replaced later but at this stage I’m more about getting the basic build done. Pickguard holes filled with cocktail sticks as, unsurprisingly, they’re almost all in the wrong place for the new guard. I was originally set on a tort guard for this one but now it’s arrived I’m not so keen. Kind of prefer the white pearl one I originally bought for the yellow Jazz, but we’ll see. Hopefully get the neck on tomorrow, but the fit in the pocket isn’t as snug as I’d like so I’d better take my time and get it aligned properly before drilling for the neck screws. Edited August 14, 2018 by Johnny Wishbone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimothey Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 14 minutes ago, Johnny Wishbone said: One wiring harness done and pickups in. I’m using the pups that came with the body as they seem OK. They can always be replaced later but at this stage I’m more about getting the basic build done. Pickguard holes filled with cocktail sticks as, unsurprisingly, they’re almost all in the wrong place for the new guard. I was originally set on a tort guard for this one but now it’s arrived I’m not so keen. Kind of prefer the white pearl one I originally bought for the yellow Jazz, but we’ll see. Hopefully get the neck on tomorrow, but the fit in the pocket isn’t as snug as I’d like so I’d better take my time and get it aligned properly before drilling for the neck screws. Definitely go with the white!! 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 15, 2018 Author Share Posted August 15, 2018 Good progress this morning. Got the neck on (bit fiddly but using pieces of string as the 1st and 4th strings I was able to get it there or thereabouts). It’s probably not 100% correctly aligned but it’s pretty close. Might need adjustment once the strings are on but we’ll see. Control plate, pickguard, control knobs and strap buttons all fitted. I’m a couple of screws short for the pickguard, which is more annoying just because I had three packs of the buggers last night and now I can’t find them. I’m sure they’ll turn up. Obviously had the inevitable false start with the pickguard where I’d almost got all the screws in then realised I hadn’t peeled the plastic film off. Joy of joys! Tuner ferrules are in so I’ll hopefully get the tuners on today. Need to make sure they’re correctly aligned so will be taking it cautiously from here! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimothey Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 Looking good!! I've never really been a fan of the sky blue-ish colour but that looks really nice, but I'm a bit of a sucker for a maple block neck...... 😀 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc S Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 Looking great Johnny Wishbone. I'm a fan of Tort pickguards (on most basses / colour combos) But I agree, that Pearloid plate looks great on the Blue body - looks particularly good with the maple board IMHO I think the Tort will look good on the yellow bodied bass too, although I think you may have to purchase another Pearloid one for that bass too, methinks Am looking forward to seeing the Yellow bass complete... so don't keep me waiting too long eh? lol Nice progress good sir 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimothey Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 9 minutes ago, Marc S said: Looking great Johnny Wishbone. I'm a fan of Tort pickguards (on most basses / colour combos) But I agree, that Pearloid plate looks great on the Blue body - looks particularly good with the maple board IMHO I think the Tort will look good on the yellow bodied bass too, although I think you may have to purchase another Pearloid one for that bass too, methinks Am looking forward to seeing the Yellow bass complete... so don't keep me waiting too long eh? lol Nice progress good sir Noooooo Tort is wrong on so many levels!! The only place I like to see Tort is in the bin!! 😁 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 15, 2018 Author Share Posted August 15, 2018 (edited) 11 hours ago, Jimothey said: Looking good!! I've never really been a fan of the sky blue-ish colour but that looks really nice, but I'm a bit of a sucker for a maple block neck...... 😀 In all fairness I'm not much of a fan of the colour either, but I just went with what I could pick up on eBay for a reasonable price. I was prepared to refinish anything I didn't like the colour of (the singer in my band is a bit handy with a spray gun) but I can live with the blue. It's red I really can't stand (incidentally I picked up a red Squier P body just before I started this pair of Jazzes - he's already on with the refin so stay tuned for another bitsa thread)! Edited August 15, 2018 by Johnny Wishbone 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 15, 2018 Author Share Posted August 15, 2018 (edited) 17 minutes ago, Marc S said: I think the Tort will look good on the yellow bodied bass too, although I think you may have to purchase another Pearloid one for that bass too, methinks Am looking forward to seeing the Yellow bass complete... so don't keep me waiting too long eh? lol Nice progress good sir Pearloid was the original idea on the yellow, but after a suggestion earlier in the thread I'm leaning towards black or black pearl. The blue body came with a black pickguard and, after a quick trial I may well go down that route. See pic below - what we sayin'? Edited August 15, 2018 by Johnny Wishbone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimothey Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 2 minutes ago, Johnny Wishbone said: In all fairness I'm not much of a fan of the colour either, but I just went with what I could get pick up on eBay for a reasonable price. I was prepared to refinish anything I didn't like the colour of (the singer in my band is a bit handy with a spray gun) but I can live with the blue. It's red I really can't stand (incidentally I picked up a red Squier P body just before I started this pair of Jazzes - he's already on with the refin so stay tuned for another bitsa thread)! I don't like red either my White P bass started off red and that was the first thing I changed! My favourite colours are White or Orange but I'm really feeling Yellow as well which I'm thinking of a re finish on my 5 string P and I'm considering changing the rosewood neck to maple so I'm really interested in seeing how the yellow one looks with the maple neck 😀 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimothey Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 2 minutes ago, Johnny Wishbone said: Pearloid was the original idea on the yellow, but after a suggestion earlier in the thread I'm leaning towards black or black pearl. The blue body came with a black pickguard and, after a quick trial I may well go down that route. See pic below - what we sayin'? IMO that is the only way to go and if you put black hardware on it as well I think it would look killer!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 15, 2018 Author Share Posted August 15, 2018 1 minute ago, Jimothey said: I'm really interested in seeing how the yellow one looks with the maple neck 😀 Pretty sure it won't be this maple neck as the amber tint just looks awful against the yellow. I'll almost certainly be picking up a lighter maple one come payday and using self-adhesive block markers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 15, 2018 Author Share Posted August 15, 2018 Just now, Jimothey said: IMO that is the only way to go and if you put black hardware on it as well I think it would look killer!! I was thinking of going that way. The guy I bought my original P bitsa (see start of thread) from has another one he wants rid of. The body is pretty shot but the black hardware on it is worth what he's asking for the bass anyway. Could well be a case of transplanting the black hardware from that onto this yellow Jazz and using the chrome stuff I bought for the Jazz to rebuild the P with the refin'd body I mentioned earlier. Come to think of it, that P also has a light maple neck! This might delay the yellow Jazz for a couple of weeks but I think the result will be worth it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 15, 2018 Author Share Posted August 15, 2018 PS: All builds will obviously be crowned with appropriate amusing headstock decals in a Fender style. They're on the way. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimothey Posted August 15, 2018 Share Posted August 15, 2018 1 minute ago, Johnny Wishbone said: I was thinking of going that way. The guy I bought my original P bitsa (see start of thread) from has another one he wants rid of. The body is pretty shot but the black hardware on it is worth what he's asking for the bass anyway. Could well be a case of transplanting the black hardware from that onto this yellow Jazz and using the chrome stuff I bought for the Jazz to rebuild the P with the refin'd body I mentioned earlier. Come to think of it, that P also has a light maple neck! This might delay the yellow Jazz for a couple of weeks but I think the result will be worth it! Sounds like the way to go look forward to seeing them all 😀 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 15, 2018 Author Share Posted August 15, 2018 (edited) Tuners ahoy! Did this by eye and very pleased how it turned out. Obviously took my time with it but as long as you get the first one right you’re laughing. Might even get it strung up tonight, but not sure how to approach positioning the string tree yet. Edited August 15, 2018 by Johnny Wishbone 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 15, 2018 Author Share Posted August 15, 2018 (edited) Well, it’s done (kind of). Neck pocket definitely needs a shim as I can’t get the action low enough (and I don’t like a particularly low action either!) or the pickups far enough away from the strings. Tuners are pretty dreadful - the worst (thankfully the G string) is a real pig to turn. I’ve given them a bit of lubrication so we’ll see if that helps. The A and D are OK. Truss rod works fine. Neck relief adjusted (I use really heavy strings so it went very banana-like at first tune-up) and will leave to settle overnight. Might’ve made a mistake with the wiring as the series-parallel mod doesn’t appear to work properly. No matter, I’ll retrace my wiring tomorrow, but I’ve had enough for today. Neck plays and feels pretty great actually. Shame about that tint but I’m sure I can live with it. Just the headstock decal to apply when it arrives. I’ll figure out the actual cost once I’ve worked out the gremlins detailed above, but at a rough guess I think this comes in around £180, not including strings. IIRC correctly the yellow one will come in at slightly less as the body was £15-20 cheaper. Edited August 16, 2018 by Johnny Wishbone 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Wishbone Posted August 17, 2018 Author Share Posted August 17, 2018 (edited) Round one completed! Neck shimmed, set up done and got the decals on this morning (obviously the blurred bit isn’t there in real life!) - just waiting for them to dry before I get a bit of lacquer on them for protection. Thankfully the previously stiff tuners have loosened up a lot now so they’re at least useable. Will probably end up replacing them at some point. Couldn’t resist taking it to rehearsal last night to hear it through a proper amp and, well, wow! Great range of tones, plenty of bottom end and the series/parallel mod was definitely worthwhile. Everything feels and plays great, and the rest of the band were impressed too. Got the wiring harness/pups to put in the yellow one today, but not too much more I can do on that until I pick up P bass bitsa number two and swap the hardware and neck over. Still, great fun so far and has kept me thoroughly entertained since being made redundant last week. Edited August 17, 2018 by Johnny Wishbone 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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