wingnutkj

I have always loved the look of these basses (and their guitar equivalents, for that matter), but given their rarity, figured I'd never actually get my hands on one. Then, last week, I was idly looking on eBay to see if I could find any nice semi-hollow basses (Gretsch-style). This came up in the search, and it was one of those "oh baws, I'm going to HAVE to bid on it" moments of GAS. I won the auction and a box promptly turned up...

Charvel/Jackson launched the Surfcaster guitar in the early '90s - they also did a bass and a 12-string guitar. It's a departure from their usual widdlywiddly super-strats, and I guess it was an attempt to buy into the emergent alternative/grunge/indie scenes with styling cues from the decidedly NOT widdly-widdly super-strat guitars favoured by those bands.

It's not really semi-hollow - there's a bit of a chamber beneath the shark-fin f-hole but not much. It's got a lovely flame top, binding all round, balances well, shallow neck somewhere between J and P width.

So far I've not had a chance to play it much other than to confirm the electrics work - lipstick pickups, volume, tone, pickup-selector switch, and a toggle on the tone pot which apparently gives phase switching options.

Made in Japan, and fits nicely with my other alt-rock oddity from that era - my Squier Vista Venus guitar (Courtney Love signature edition).

Bump: I'm on a one-in-one-out policy...

Bump - definitely open to offers!

Sold Matt a Yamaha BEX bass - great guy to deal with.

PMed

I had a hell of a time reversing my USA Hipshots. It involves removing the end screw and re-configuring the tuner for the other side of the headstock. Easy, right? Except that the end screw has a small hex head on it, and is very tightly seated. I don't know if it was down to my cheapo allen keys, but I barely managed to unscrew one of the tuners, and stripped the hex hole on another. I ended up taking a dremel to it to cut a slot I could use a screwdriver on.

If I do it again, I'll just buy them in 2-a-side configuration!

I have a set on my Gibson SG bass - it was already a pretty light bass, and this made it even lighter (and helped with the neck-dive) - big fan of them!

Is the one in Glasgow in Guitar Guitar, perchance? I'd offer to test drive it for you, but I'm terrified that it'd turn out to be an expensive trip for me, since it looks fantastic and I'm already struggling with Gretsch Electromatic GAS.

I've been gassing for something a bit more traditional than my trusty BEX. I've tried out the Hagstrom Viking and Gretsch Electromatic, and been very tempted by both. Also tried the current Starfire reissue, but couldn't get on with the very narrow string spacing it had.

Very nice! All these Limelight threads featuring sexy Jazzes really aren't helping my GAS...

Ordered a jazz bass wiring kit (with series/parallel switch) from John - he's a pleasure to deal with, and the kit is great - the solderless connections have made fitting new pickups really easy. Thanks John!

What problems have people had with Moses necks? I had one a while back and found it to be a bit heavy and needed a good bit of work on the frets, but it was rock solid.

Town Called Malice by The Jam. I'd been taken by surprise that The Fear of being on stage had got me, but was mostly able to keep my fingers working. I was going fine until the bit where everything but the bass drops out for a couple of bars, and although I hit all of the right notes, in the right order, they were not necessarily hit at the right moments. The classic driving Motown-esque bassline was rendered in a hesitant and staccatto style.

Since them, I've beaten The Fear, and feel quite comfortable on stage, but I still don't like playing that song if I can possibly avoid it.

It's not really my area of expertise, but if I remember correctly, the Warwick Streamer started life as a copy of the Spector NS (NS = Ned Steinberger).

If you've got more than one of 'em, you might as well do something with them.

I've got a standard Fender pickup in the back of a cupboard, which I'll put in for now, and then see what I can find. Although Bill Lawrence died last November, his wife Becky and the team are still making pickups, so I may just get another of the same.

The seafoam green looks great. My personal preference with that would be a (slightly aged) white pearloid guard, but that's because I've got a thing for Squier Venus guitars.

You could get one in each colour...

That's the one! Thanks.

I'm now trying to remember the name of the UK builder who recently made a bass with a massive multi-coil pickup which could be switched to simulate various permutations of coils.This was a fairly recent thing - I'm thinking it was something to do with Sims Customs, but a different name. Anyone remember?

Thanks for the information Hamfist.

In an update to the situation, my neighbour's son popped over yesterday and took an interest in the pickup. He managed to get the cover off it and I can see that there is wax in there. Possibly the wax has deteriorated over time leading to the pickup becoming microphonic.

Either way, it couldn't have tasted very nice, because he left it alone after that. He is four. He thought it looked like an interesting block of Lego. There looks to be some damage to the windings, and my multimeter is telling me that it has infinite impedance, so I think it's now gubbed. Serves me right for leaving it out where little hands could reach it.

Guess I'm in the market for a new pickup after all...

Thanks Thunderbird - I have now ordered myself a harness from John (was toying with the idea for a while), and he'll fix the pickup while he's at it.

Yeah, Guitar Guitar in Newcastle's got a good selection of stuff. Also in the centre of Newcastle, there's Windows (Central Arcade) and Sounds Live (Dean Street).

Glasgow, the big ones are Guitar Guitar, Merchant City Music, Kenny's Music and CC Music.

Yeah, I'm keen to keep the pickup - it's a nice-sounding noiseless one from Bill Lawrence (RIP).

Today I was attempting to raise the bridge pick-up in my Jazz bass a bit, which involved replacing the foam under it (it had perished away a bit). In the process of doing this, two of the (three) wires have come away. How difficult is this to fix? Anyone got any recommendations for people who would do this?

Also, I've noticed that the pickup is quite microphonic (especially in comparison to the neck pickup) - wax potting doesn't look too tricky - any good advice on how to do this?

Edit: the pickup is a Bill Lawrence J45.