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NBD - Fender Custom Shop 62 Stack Knob Jazz

Bridgehouse

By Bridgehouse,
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Bridgehouse Grand Master

Bridgehouse

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Following my recent "Which Custom Shop?" thread, I received quite a few contacts from people selling CS basses for me to consider. 

 

One such bass really caught my eye, and I decided to go and give it a try. There's a little bit of history to this one. It's one of a batch of Custom Shop Basses that Andertons got in, I presume to try out the CS Bass offerings and see how they fared. It's still on the Andertons website (as out of stock) and funnily enough I have the original receipt left by the original purchaser as well, confirming that it sold for just a touch under £4k. It actually featured in one of Andertons YouTube videos - I'll link that in another post. 

 

Now, I was offered this for significantly less than that, and just about spot on the upper end of my budget. I've had a few CS guitars in the past, but never a bass. I always considered the guitars to be really well put together, really resonant and lively, and full of character. 5 minutes with this Jazz confirmed that this bass is similar - really super to play, and a very comfortable neck shape. I've always been a P-bass guy and love the wide fat 50's necks, and have found Jazz necks to be a bit awkward, but this one is slim front to back and widens nicely up the neck and really is comfy. It really is lively, and very resonant - lots of sustain, lots of depth to the tone, quite similar to my experience with the CS guitars. 

 

Anyway, it's Charcoal Frost - and I'd say a mid-relic (not heavy, but not light either) with a Tort guard. In some ways it's a bit of an oddity - it's certainly individual and plays really very well indeed, so I'm happy. I can see this being a keeper - spent most of last night playing it and didn't for a minute question why at all. 

 

I've put flats on it - Super Light Gauge Chromes - and they really seem to suit it. It also came with slotted saddles (as you can see in the pic) which I've swapped out for some threaded which I prefer. I also have some Lindy Fralin Split Coil J pickups on order to get rid of the hum when solo'ing each pickup. I really like Lindy's split coil - got one in my 51P build and it's superb. 

 

 

IMG_3659.jpeg

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Bridgehouse Grand Master

Bridgehouse

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4 minutes ago, gareth said:

9 to 9.5lbs is the right range

 

It certainly feels about right. Although I've got a semi-hollow 51P which probably only weights 7-7.5lbs I actually like a bit of weight in a bass - I don't like them really heavy, but I'm not obsessed about super light either these days. 

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Bridgehouse Grand Master

Bridgehouse

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Lindy Fralin Split Jazz set delivered this morning. 

 

Decided to fit them in an appropriate slot in between meetings. I'll give them a proper test tonight but they are super quiet and definitely no hum when using either bridge or neck solo'd. On first listen I'd say they are slightly hotter than the CS pickups and probably a bit "fatter" or "rounder" sounding, but definitely retain a lot of that vintage Jazz sound. 

 

I'll report back when I've had a good play tonight, but they have ticked the box already by removing any hint of single coil hum. 

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Skin Lewis Experienced

Skin Lewis

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Very nice. I have one too, although a '60 rather than '62. Mine is a heavy relic in Sherwood green, which also looks different depending on the light.  Yours seems to be identical to mine apart from the fretboard radius, mine is 9.5", yours seems to be 7.5".  I really like the U profile neck, I too find some Jazz necks a bit awkward and sort of busy. I'm interested to know how the Fralins work out. 

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Bridgehouse Grand Master

Bridgehouse

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1 minute ago, Skin Lewis said:

Very nice. I have one too, although a '60 rather than '62. Mine is a heavy relic in Sherwood green, which also looks different depending on the light.  Yours seems to be identical to mine apart from the fretboard radius, mine is 9.5", yours seems to be 7.5".  I really like the U profile neck, I too find some Jazz necks a bit awkward and sort of busy. I'm interested to know how the Fralins work out. 

 

Yeah - I'll give the fralins a good workout tonight and report back. It was always my intention to go for some sort of hum cancelling, and it looked like the fralins were the most likely to do that job and retain as much of the vintage Jazz characteristic as possible. 

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Bridgehouse Grand Master

Bridgehouse

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I said I'd come back and give an opinion on the Lindy Fralin's after giving them a work out. 

 

Well, last night I spent a good few hours playing. Firstly, it's worth saying that the split coils are definitely hum free. Absolutely no difference in noise levels between the neck and bridge up full together and either pickup solo'd. I'd also say that generally they are quieter than the CS pickups. 

 

They fit perfectly into the original CS covers - so the look is retained, other than the pole pieces being shinier. 

 

They do sound a bit different to the CS pickups. They are a shade darker in tone, and a bit deeper generally, and particularly on the neck pickup. They don't have quite the same growl as the CSs and it's not as "authentic" a classic vintage tone (whatever that means). 

 

Now, that might sound a bit negative, but it isn't. If anything for me it's a positive. The neck sounds closer to a P bass than with the CS single coil - and there's sort of no surprise there either. The contrast between neck and bridge is good - and with both pickups on there's plenty of the characteristic mid scoop. 

 

All in all I really like them. I wanted hum cancelling, which they do absolutely perfectly. I also didn't want too much of a compromise in traditional Jazz tone to achieve this, and I don't think the Fralin's are too much of a compromise. There's some, but not enough to make me go back to the CS pickups. 

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Bridgehouse Grand Master

Bridgehouse

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I can't help mess about with stuff, which is often the way I guess..

 

The Lindy Fralins are excellent. As a bass, I'm loving it. Superb neck, probably one of the best I've played (surprisingly). Love the look and the vibe. 

 

The only bit I'm not really getting on with entirely is the stack knobs. They are just too, eh, finicky. I really don't like not having a master volume. I'd prefer a pickup blend and master volume. 

 

Anyway, long story short, decided to get an East J-Tone. It arrived. I even did a relic job on the control plate so it fitted the aesthetic. Opted for the Master Volume/Blend version (obviously!). You get a Passive mode, and an Active mode. In passive you get Master Volume and Blend on the first stack knob, and Passive Tone on the third knob. In Active, the Second Stack Knob has Treble and Bass +/- 18db boost, and the tone is still a tone control. (Tone knob is push pull for active/passive).

 

The passive mode with blend and master volume is much more usable, and I'm much more comfortable with it. The active mode brings those Fralins to life - touch of bass and treble boost on the Neck pickup solo'd and it's superb. As close to P-Bass tone as you'll get. Roll in the Bridge on the blend and cut the Bass/Treble a bit and it brings in a bit of mid that you often lose with both pickups on a Jazz. Play around with the tone control as well and it gives some really excellent and usable tones. 

 

John does some really nice stack-knob Fender style knobs now and I like them a lot - really high quality. You also get 3 extra tone caps so you can change the tone cap on the tone control, and two balance wheels to set the type and range of the bass and treble boost. 

 

It's a cracking upgrade for any Jazz - no soldering to fit it, all self contained in the standard control cavity, and great value for money as well. Highly recommended.

 

 

IMG_3682.jpeg

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LukeFRC Grand Master

LukeFRC

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So if you were going to go active the answer to your previous thread was probably “Sadowsky” 😁

 

here’s the Japanese made non-roadworn equivalent to yours (though their charcoal frost metallic is darker)C8785EFA-AAFB-412E-8E97-B38CC9C234B8.thumb.jpeg.f598bf236ef45bd37163d24bd35f1fa1.jpeg

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Bridgehouse Grand Master

Bridgehouse

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41 minutes ago, LukeFRC said:

So if you were going to go active the answer to your previous thread was probably “Sadowsky” 😁

 

here’s the Japanese made non-roadworn equivalent to yours (though their charcoal frost metallic is darker)C8785EFA-AAFB-412E-8E97-B38CC9C234B8.thumb.jpeg.f598bf236ef45bd37163d24bd35f1fa1.jpeg


Hah! Yes possibly. 
 

This is the first real Jazz I’ve had - been a P-bass guy for so long. It’s the No master volume that did for me I think. I really like the sound and flexibility and the playability is superb, but I really missed a single volume control - hence getting the East J-Tone. 

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Stub Mandrel Grand Master

Stub Mandrel

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On 14/11/2021 at 12:23, Bridgehouse said:

Following my recent "Which Custom Shop?" thread, I received quite a few contacts from people selling CS basses for me to consider. 

 

One such bass really caught my eye, and I decided to go and give it a try. There's a little bit of history to this one. It's one of a batch of Custom Shop Basses that Andertons got in, I presume to try out the CS Bass offerings and see how they fared. It's still on the Andertons website (as out of stock) and funnily enough I have the original receipt left by the original purchaser as well, confirming that it sold for just a touch under £4k. It actually featured in one of Andertons YouTube videos - I'll link that in another post. 

 

Now, I was offered this for significantly less than that, and just about spot on the upper end of my budget. I've had a few CS guitars in the past, but never a bass. I always considered the guitars to be really well put together, really resonant and lively, and full of character. 5 minutes with this Jazz confirmed that this bass is similar - really super to play, and a very comfortable neck shape. I've always been a P-bass guy and love the wide fat 50's necks, and have found Jazz necks to be a bit awkward, but this one is slim front to back and widens nicely up the neck and really is comfy. It really is lively, and very resonant - lots of sustain, lots of depth to the tone, quite similar to my experience with the CS guitars. 

 

Anyway, it's Charcoal Frost - and I'd say a mid-relic (not heavy, but not light either) with a Tort guard. In some ways it's a bit of an oddity - it's certainly individual and plays really very well indeed, so I'm happy. I can see this being a keeper - spent most of last night playing it and didn't for a minute question why at all. 

 

I've put flats on it - Super Light Gauge Chromes - and they really seem to suit it. It also came with slotted saddles (as you can see in the pic) which I've swapped out for some threaded which I prefer. I also have some Lindy Fralin Split Coil J pickups on order to get rid of the hum when solo'ing each pickup. I really like Lindy's split coil - got one in my 51P build and it's superb. 

 

 

IMG_3659.jpeg

 

A proper Bass 🙂

 

But getting rid of the original stack knobs? Weird?!

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Reggaebass Grand Master

Reggaebass

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15 hours ago, Bridgehouse said:

not really getting on with entirely is the stack knobs

What didn’t you like about them mr B, I like my jazzes with the stack knobs, they do take a while to get used to and to find the sweet spots ,for me I found that backing them off just a touch gave a better sound, and they look so cool 

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