brensabre79

Its quite normal on mass produced instruments that these sort of errors slip through the net. I would take it back and have a chat with the place you bought it. If it's annoying you now it always will. The only solution to the string position is to move the bridge a mm over, not ideal. I'm not sure about your particular model but most Fenders can be adjusted without removing the neck, maybe the scratchplate has to come off for yours?

[url="http://www.notreble.com/column/health-fitness-for-the-working-bassist/"]Here's[/url] a good article (with pictures) that might help

I get shoulder pain when playing with a new band or when I don't know the set that well. The reason? I'm tense! I know you've probably been told this but concentrate on getting a good posture, getting the bass at the right height, in the right position so that you can relax while you play (position the bass so it comes to you - the opposite of what Peter Hook does!). Then concentrate on relaxing when you play. Its all in the technique, and the more relaxed you are the easier it is to play!

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/200136-classic-70s-custom-sound-hh-bass-rig/"]This [/url]would do

Also, you could easily pick up a [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw=bass+combo&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_mPrRngCbx=1&_udhi=189&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313&_nkw=peavey+bass+combo&_sacat=0"]Peavey bass combo[/url] within your budget. These are solid and reliable and don't sound bad at all. Can be heavy though! You should have a look in the for sale section on here too. There is rarely a bargain, but you should be able to pick up a good quality amp that has been looked after.

Welcome to Basschat! My suggestions would be: 1. look for a secondhand amp 2. separates are better for upgrading/transporting but budget may be a factor 3. avoid Laney or Crate if you can! 4. Look for at least around 200watts - or you'll be flogging your amp from day one! [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TRACE-ELLIOT-1110-COMBO-150w-BASS-AMP-/130855562685?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL&hash=item1e77996dbd"]Trace Elliot[/url] [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/trace-elliot-sm7-1x15-150-watt-bass-combo-/261175493461?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL&hash=item3ccf45c355"]Trace Elliot[/url] [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ashdown-Bass-combo-and-separate-cab-/130856792734?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL&hash=item1e77ac329e"]Ashdown[/url] [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hartke-bass-amp-350watt-combo-/140919284908?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL&hash=item20cf71a4ac"]Hartke[/url]

Yep, I have done one of these on my Jazz!

They may well be, but they are probably scouring eBay daily looking for the usual suspects, Kay, Arbiter, Rockinbetter etc. etc. Basschat cannot be seen to promote the sale of Rickenbacker copies either, so the posts on here are for information only. I would expect that they would be removed pretty swiftly after they are mentioned on here.

Dingus i think you're spot on about reversing for the P/J arrangement. As for the arrangement of the original, I don't think its a stupid question. It's in line with other Leo designs of the time, the strat bridge PU goes nearer to the bridge on the higher strings, so does the telecaster. Don't forget that in the early days of the bass guitar, research was very limited, but Leo did talk to players of the time and made improvements based on their feedback (contour body for example). He had possibly discovered that many people at the time would play the bottom strings with their thumb and the top with their index finger - hence the position of the rest. Maybe this has something to do with it too... He probably also made the Jazz pickups both straight because of the phase relationship between the two. Leo never made a bass with a P/J arrangement...

There's generally speaking two sizes of tuners for bass around these days. The ones you have are the same as the schallers, the others are 1/2" ones found on Fenders and Fender derived ones. The key thing is where they screw in to the headstock.

Oh I dunno discreet, the Badass on my 70s Jazz did wonders for the sustain. Even Fender put them on some models! But whatever high mass bridge you go for won't make much difference to be honest. The Gotoh 201 on my 90s jazz also improved sustain, its more available and cheaper than a Badass, plus it looks like the original Fender piece of tin.

Nobody in either of these bands should have a problem with this. If they do (looks towards stroppy singer...) then it IS their problem. And if someone has a problem to such an extent that they throw a strop and walk, then they were the problem, and you no longer have a problem - plus the drummer won't have so many commitments if that happens so........ But, like I said, everyone should be fine with it. Its not like you're all 16 any more, in your first band is it?

Don't sweat it. It wasn't meant to be. Think of it this way, you could have got an audition and maybe even as far as a few gigs, having learned the whole repertoire, to find out then that they are a bunch of curts. At least this way the band argument has already happened and you didn't waste any time

Wow thats a really confusing diagram! good luck

Hi, There are a number of problems listed here. But first off, if you are getting high pitched squealing from your Jazz bass, then there is an issue with the pickup. It's microphonic and needs to be repaired, probably "wax-potted", or replaced. When a pickup is microphonic it behaves more like a microphone than a pickup, so it will cause it to feed back at high volume or when you're near the speaker. For the JC It is true that semi-hollow instruments are more prone to feedback, but I regularly gig a semi-hollow bass with a 600w amp and don't experience any feedback at all. Do you use the Orange amp with the gain set very high? You can lower the gain and increase the master volume to tame a semi hollow bass sometimes. Those TB amps do have A LOT of gain in the preamp!

Nice Jazz btw

Sounds like an earthing issue to me. Probably a really simple fix. Open it up and see if there's a loose wire in there. If so, take a pic.. It won't do any harm to get a diagnosis on here before you go to get it fixed - or someone tells you how to.

It always takes time for a new line up to settle down, bands are like families in a way and when you lose a member it can be devastating, or liberating. When new people come along you can't hold it against them if they are not into the same things as the old people, you have to work to their strengths as well, but they also have to work to the bands ethos. You would not get a shred guitarist to join a folk band without expecting a major shift in style... I'm not sure of the arrangement in your band, but it sounds like you've either got the wrong replacements for the bands style, or the style has changed and you're left behind. If you don't like the new style, or the new people then maybe it is time to either find new people, or find a new band... I'm assuming its an originals band, in which case who writes the songs? At the end of the day, if they like the way its going and you don't, then it's time to move onwards. If they don't like the way its going either then you need to get new members. We have just recruited our third drummer this year (I think this one is the right choice, but it may work out differently), and our second lead guitarist, both to replace a long standing line up. I can already see that about a quarter of the set just isn't going to work the same way and will have to change - but this is a covers band, and we can change the material to suit the musicians. With originals it should be the other way around.

I had a bass with a rosewood board and very small (2mm) dot markers on the side only, they were filled with some quite dark substance which meant I could not see them even on a fairly well lit stage. The bass hung in a slightly different position to all my others so often found myself going for the wrong fret. I tried these: http://www.fretlord.us/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=FRTOPTX They were truly awful. I ordered two, the first one snapped before it got anywhere near the bass, the second one didn't line up properly and came unstuck before the bass left the house (it was basically a strip of sellotape holding a length of optical fibre connected to an LED) and then when the velcro holding the LED in place came off it pulled the whole thing down with it, and it snapped the optical fibre again. In the end I just used some reflective paint. I'm not sure if the FretFX ones in the OP are the same (they look like a similar design) but I consider the ones I bought to be a total waste of time and money.

Update. Got a message from the seller, I asked him a few questions and gave him a bit of advice too. The guy seems genuine enough, he's not at all saying its a vintage 60s bass either. He doesn't seem to know much about guitars at all, including this one as he found it. The pickups are Jackson. The neck may well be a Fender, but the decal looks wrong to me. And the rosewood fingerboard is definitely an addition. The neck plate is a mystery, but lots of people sell neck plates with serial numbers of PreCBS Fenders on. In fact the serial number is the only thing that would get anyone twitching as the rest of it looks like a complete POS. He's not expecting mega bucks for this, hence the low starting bid, but he said he would mention the discrepancies on the listing so as not to hoodwink any one

Definitely. I haven't started on the body yet but there's all kinds of things wrong with that bass!

Thanks John, it would make sense I suppose that the Humbucker/Single coil combo is the culprit (although I'm sure the old Rics had the same combination - maybe thats why the HiGain replacement was a single coil though). BigRedX You may be right, I might have to go active, or just accept that I've basically got 3 sounds on this bass!

Hmmm, something not right there! A 1962 serial with a CBS logo.... Fretless fingerboard with no lines... And the old 'found in the attic' - 'I don't know anything about guitars' routine...

Great work, a really good job and lots of photos

I don't bother clamping, just put the neck in the pocket, put it face down on the worktop (with a towel/blanket), double check its fully in the pocket, in position and just drill through the body. Call me gung-ho if you like but its worked fine for me - just make sure it doesn't move by holding the body down.