BillyBass Posted March 1, 2023 Share Posted March 1, 2023 (edited) I'm 60 on Tuesday, so wifey gave permission: I've already got a metallic blue Charvel PJ4 and its my favourite bass. The neck is just perfect and it looks and sounds great too. I wanted a back up bass that had the same string spacing and nut width, and as I hadn't got any metallic lime green basses in my collection, I thought, why not buy another Charvel. I had to spend two afternoons working on it to get it playable: fret sprout filing, removal of supplied pre amp, shielding, installation of John East pre amp, replacement of strings and then set up. Worth the time spent, it feels great. And I love the colour; this will probably be my first choice over the metallic blue. Edited March 2, 2023 by BillyBass 22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dub_junkie Posted March 2, 2023 Share Posted March 2, 2023 What happened to your J/J five string? Lovely bass btw. I'm hoping to buy the pearl platinum P/J five string as a back up/alternative to my J/J five at some point 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBass Posted March 2, 2023 Author Share Posted March 2, 2023 (edited) 5 hours ago, dub_junkie said: What happened to your J/J five string? Lovely bass btw. I'm hoping to buy the pearl platinum P/J five string as a back up/alternative to my J/J five at some point I've still got it; I just use it at home at the moment. The band I used it for folded a few months ago and the current band I'm in doesn't go below E, so I'm just using 4 strings at the moment. I'm sure I'll need a fiver again in the future so I'll keep it. I just love the look of these Charvels. I haven't seen/played the platinum pearl Charvels but the photos on the internet look good. Edited March 2, 2023 by BillyBass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle psychosis Posted March 2, 2023 Share Posted March 2, 2023 I like that a lot. Good work - shame about the fret sprout. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBass Posted March 2, 2023 Author Share Posted March 2, 2023 54 minutes ago, uncle psychosis said: I like that a lot. Good work - shame about the fret sprout. I ummed and arred about the fretspout in the shop (DV247 in Romford) but I knew I was buying this with the intention of modding it so I thought it would just be another task to add to the list. Learning to do all this stuff myself was part of the attraction. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mowf Posted March 2, 2023 Share Posted March 2, 2023 Love it, but it's just crying out for a pointy headstock! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBass Posted March 2, 2023 Author Share Posted March 2, 2023 (edited) 🤣 Nowadays, if you are after the old school Charvel look, Jackson or Ibanez might have what you need. These new Charvels are fender shaped objects. If you want an active PJ bass, with a very comfy Jazz sized neck these are for you. Edited March 2, 2023 by BillyBass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grahambythesea Posted March 2, 2023 Share Posted March 2, 2023 Happy birthday for Tuesday.🥳 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msb Posted March 2, 2023 Share Posted March 2, 2023 With an oval red pickguard it would have that olive thing happening. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassApprentice Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 I know you went in with mods in mind - but it just seems off that a £1000 bass (currently on offer online it seems) needs that amount of fettering to get it sorted. They do look really cool though 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lidl e Posted March 3, 2023 Share Posted March 3, 2023 On 01/03/2023 at 22:11, BillyBass said: I'm 60 on Tuesday, so wifey gave permission: I've already got a metallic blue Charvel PJ4 and its my favourite bass. The neck is just perfect and it looks and sounds great too. I wanted a back up bass that had the same string spacing and nut width, and as I hadn't got any metallic lime green basses in my collection, I thought, why not buy another Charvel. I had to spend two afternoons working on it to get it playable: fret sprout filing, removal of supplied pre amp, shielding, installation of John East pre amp, replacement of strings and then set up. Worth the time spent, it feels great. And I love the colour; this will probably be my first choice over the metallic blue. This one popped up locally here today. Looks cool. No affiliation. https://touch.adverts.ie/electric-basses/charvel-pro-mod-sd-bass-pj/29437235 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBass Posted March 4, 2023 Author Share Posted March 4, 2023 On 02/03/2023 at 16:47, msb said: With an oval red pickguard it would have that olive thing happening. I don't know about Nova Scotia but olives in shops around here aren't lime green metallic! Unless, of course, you've been eating olives grown around Chernobyl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBass Posted March 4, 2023 Author Share Posted March 4, 2023 21 hours ago, BassApprentice said: I know you went in with mods in mind - but it just seems off that a £1000 bass (currently on offer online it seems) needs that amount of fettering to get it sorted. They do look really cool though 😁 I would have to agree with you that a £1000 bass shouldn't need all that work. These are roughly equivalent to the MIM Fender player plus series basses; made in Mexico but with better hardware: posh bridge, luminlay side dots, rolled edge fretboard, DiMarzio pick ups with a noiseless J pup. They also have the beautiful roasted maple neck and fretboard and the flash colours, though I'm not sure if these would add to the price. The biggest issue is the cheap pre amp they come with; if you buy one of these just assume it will be improved by a better pre amp. I saw two shops not too far from me selling them at £699; DV247 in Romford and 'Stompbox' in Northwood. DV247 also had a guitar rack in stock that I wanted so I went there. The bass was possibly a return; it was immaculate but had Rotosound flats on. Fender stuff always comes with Fender strings, so I'm guessing someone bought it, put the flats on it, then changed their mind and sent it back. The slight fret spout did make me think in the shop but I thought it would take me longer to drive over to the other shop and buy theirs than sort the frets out myself. The John East pre amp is really expensive: £285, but its an easyish fit, has sweepable mids and active passive with a passive tone knob too-it does everything I could want on a bass. So I have spent nearly £1000 on this (or more if you consider the travelling and new strings). I feel its worth it; the other bass I was considering was the Spector Pulse 2 but these are £1000 and there was a possibility I would replace the tone pump pre amp on that so it could have ended up even dearer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassfinger Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 The green kinda works with the cream pup covers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBass Posted March 7, 2023 Author Share Posted March 7, 2023 On 03/03/2023 at 11:42, lidl e said: This one popped up locally here today. Looks cool. No affiliation. https://touch.adverts.ie/electric-basses/charvel-pro-mod-sd-bass-pj/29437235 That isn't cheap for a second hand bass, you can often find them for £700 new over here. You may have less options in Ireland though, I suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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