pobrien_ie

[quote name='davebass66' timestamp='1345117938' post='1773723'] Thanks for the support guys! Already hit my 1st stumbling block......d'oh! I went ahead and ordered a parchment scratchplate for it (was only a tenner), however, being the fool that i am I didn't realise that the standard jazz scratchplates don't quite 'snug up' to the stack knob control plate!.....balls.....trying to decide whether this is something I can live with or not.....I have just found what calls itself a 62 reissue mint green scratchplate, but it's $47 from the states (plus import/VAT etc)....Also I'm not sure whether mint green works..... [/quote] In my experience mint green tends to be very light in colour and for me usually looks more like an off-white. It'd be actually the first colour I'd go for with sonic blue. The 62 reissue pickguard should also have the holes for the pickup cover and thumbrest as well, which finishes off the look nicely. Does the parchment guard have those?

Would also be interested to know where you sourced the parts. I used Stratosphere myself a bit, but found their shipping costs to be crazy... e.g. €50 to ship a body, €40 to ship a pickguard or any other small / lightweight item . I was also close to buying a neck off them for about €300, but when they didn't answer me the 3 times I queried a nut width I went elsewhere

[quote name='MrFingers' timestamp='1345112831' post='1773606'] Very early 1960 Jazzes came with an ash body, so it's "correct enough" . I think this is going to be totally rad! If you need info about the most silly vintage correctness, feel free to contact me [/quote] +1 on contacting MrFingers for "silly vintage correctness"

Very Nice! Love sonic blue! Will watch this with interest...best of luck with it.

[quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1345110712' post='1773566'] That looks great Paddy a job very well done I often lust after a Fiesta red P myself @ MrFingers - Cheerz, John [/quote] Thanks John.... and again thanks for your help on this! Will definitley be getting you to do things for me again. Thinking of doing a '57AVRI and also might upgrade the pickups and pots on my fretless MIM jazz.

[quote name='MrFingers' timestamp='1345109460' post='1773541'] Looks rad! Now add thick flatwounds and a piece of foam underneath the bridge cover, and since your so picky on details: get rid of the '62 pickup and get an Seymour Duncan Antiquity I. That one is vintage correct, the Fender '62 isn't (the polepieces are the wrong shape and material) and lose the earthwires between the pots & jack, and use a proper ceramic capacitor. Since it's a '62, the earthwire going to the bridge shouldn't be soldered to the casing of the tonepot, but it should be soldered to the sleeve of the jack. (but with the earthwire to the jack instead of the tonepot) [/quote] That's a bit of an information over-load for me there!! ..... I am picky, but not that picky! Maybe in time I'll make some changes to make it much more period-correct, but for now I'm happy for it to be based on the 62AVRI. Thanks for your advice throughout the process...although I didn't really heed it it was expert and something I'm sure I'll take on board again for the future, the Musikraft neck being something I think I'll definitely invest in. Thanks a lot for taking the time to post the above pic too. Wiring is defintely something I wouldn't be brave enough to touch..so will probably get Kiogan to do this sometime in the future. Again, I should say how happy I am with Kiogon's job on this...he did this to the spec of the 62AVRI as requested by me. I'm definitely going to stick in a foam mute and have gotten some good tips from fellow BC'ers on this. The strings are medium gauge flatwound Chromes. I had a new packet of them lying around so put them on, but yes I'll probably go for the Jamerson-style LaBellas. For now I'm really loving the chromes though, so I might throw them on my fretless jazz.

I had a similar experience late last year. After playing my trusty US Jazz Bass for almost 10 years I bought an old P-bass style Ibanez Roadstar as I felt it might better suit the type of music I was playing at the time. I instantly fell in love with the P Bass style - sound, feel, simplicity etc. I sold the Jazz a few months later and have since only played and bought P basses. The reason I sold the Jazz at the time was because it wasn't rare or out of the ordinary. Maybe you're more attached to your Jazz, but to me, mine was just a bog standard Jazz, that I could replace at any time if I ever feel the need. Happily, despite resisting them for years, I'm now hooked on the P Bass and don't think I'll ever buy a new Jazz!

[quote name='AndyBob09' timestamp='1344948205' post='1771473'] If you don't mind me asking, how much did this cost in total? [/quote] I've worked out that it cost me in the region of £550.... which I think is a bargain. I've seen the basic model MIJ 62 RI's in Fiesta Red go for a lot more than this. Not to sound too much like Trigger's brush here, but excluding the body (which is still alder) and the neck, everything thing else is as per the 62 AVRI. Bear in mind though that I did this quite slowly.....A lot of time was spent locating the right parts, watching items on ebay, waiting for favourable exchange rates etc.

Doing things a little bit backwards, but here are some pics of the assembly process....

Ok, not a build project, but……. ……so here’s my take on a 1962 Fender Precision, or more accurately the ’62 AVRI. I know it’s technically a bitsa, but for me it’s my own custom bass! Recently I was very close to ordering a new ’62 AV P-Bass in 3tsb, but a used ’57 P-Bass came up locally that I just couldn’t say no to. That didn’t stop the urge for the ’62 though, but my favourite finish for a ’62 has to be Fiesta Red. So then I had the bright idea of assembling my own bass. My reasons for this are two fold; 1) I wanted to create something that was mine and hopefully a keeper, and 2) my wife seems to have no problem with lots of small packages arriving in the post, but a large bass-sized package would not have gone down well at all! Anyway on to the “project” itself…. After much research and soul searching, bit by bit I found the components I needed. I’ve been careful about sourcing only genuine Fender parts for this…right down to the pickguard screws, and the only used part was actually the neck (I'm not sure what condition you'd call the body). The parts used are as follows: [u]Body:[/u] The body is from an MIM Classic 50’s P-Bass – made from Alder and finished in Fiesta Red. This one was made in 2010 and was never used. A ’62 AVRI body was not feasible for me as they are incredibly rare in Fiesta Red (I read somewhere that the US ones were only produced in 1990) and a nitro refinish would have proven completely cost prohibitive given the cost of a 62 AVRI body on ebay. I also looked at the roadworn series Fiesta Red P basses (with nitro finish), but the relicing is a little too generic for my liking and also would have required all the other components to be aged too. The final alternative, the Squier CV in Fiesta Red, was definitely the most cost-effective option, but these are made from Basswood, and again this project was all about being anally period-correct….so it had to be Alder! Also, it might be my imagination but the Squier CV’s seem to be a glossier finish lacking the orange hue that my eyes see in fiesta red. [u]Neck:[/u] The neck is MIJ 62RI style. It’s not the normal 62PB, but I believe it’s one of the variations they made like the 62-55 P Bass which have the strap button on the rear of the headstock. For me, the only disadvantage of the MIJ neck is that the nut width is 1 6/8 inches and not the period-correct 1¾ inches. While that’s only 2 millimetres in the difference, that’ll always play on my mind!! …apart from this anomaly, the neck is somewhat period-correct with a rosewood fingerboard, truss rod adjustment at the heel and strap button on the back of the headstock. [u]Bridge:[/u] Fender American Vintage bridge with threaded saddles. [u]Pickups:[/u] Fender “Original 62” P-Bass pickups. [u]Pots:[/u] Fender USA CTS 250k audio taper pots with vintage cloth wiring and .1uf tone capacitor. [u]Pickguard:[/u] ’62 Mint/’62 P-Bass Tortoise Shell over period-correct pickguard shield (haven’t decided which will stay on long-term and may just swap them from time to time). Other hardware and components (all Fender USA): vintage reverse tuners, chrome pickup and bridge covers, barrel knobs, and tug bar/thumb rest. The technical side of things is not my forte, so I need to give a special thanks to John aka “Kiogan” for his great work on wiring the pickups and pots as per ’62 specifications. They sound great John, cheers! Overall, I’m just really happy with this bass. I’ve gigged it three times now and it cuts through the mix like nobody’s business! In time I might change the neck to a more period-correct Musikraft one, as per MrFingers’ expert advice, but for now I won’t fix what’s not broken! I like this bass so much I’ve since sold the ’57 AVRI with the intention of doing a ’57 project next! [attachment=115560:P1110822.JPG] [attachment=115561:P1110823.JPG] [attachment=115563:P1110824.JPG] [attachment=115564:P1110827.JPG] [attachment=115565:P1110828.JPG] [attachment=115566:P1110831.JPG] [attachment=115567:P1110836.JPG] [attachment=115568:P1110838.JPG] [attachment=115559:P1110840.JPG]

Flavour of the month for me right now are D'addario Chromes. They're probably not to everyone's liking though.

[quote name='Mr Fretbuzz' timestamp='1343982115' post='1758046'] Ace, I've got a P so I'll put my boot through my practice amp tonight :-D [/quote] Thanks for the Friday laugh!

I'm interested in this thread too. I recently bought back my fretless MIM jazz that I sold 8 years ago. I was feeling a bit nostalgic more than anything, but now I have it back I remember how well it played, although the pickups seem to lacking a small bit in output now. I was looking at the Fender reissue '62 pickups or custom shop 60's pickups, mainly due to how much I like the '62 P bass pickups I bought recently. Will follow this with interest...

I really respect Jamerson's work and just love learning his lines, but alcohol problems aside, you have to wonder why he found it so hard to find work after the Motown days. Although the likes of Bob Babbitt (RIP) found it tough going, they adapted their styles and found work. Jamerson appeared largely unable or unwilling to change his style. Having said that, IMO we (electric bass players) are all forever in his debt...so many of the greats name Jamerson as a big, if not their biggest, influence! My favourite of his lines at the moment has to be I was Made to Lover Her, but I love Ain't too Proud to Beg and You Can't Hurry Love for their simplicity and effectiveness. I think it was the later Motown days when he was really let off the leash!

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1343817903' post='1755586'] Well the thing with the ODB-3 (I assume that's what you're using?) is that it has a 'fizz' to it that some people like and some people dont. I imagine with the Compressor set the way you have it, it's picking up those higher frequency characteristics. Just experiment with the settings on the ODB-3 I guess? Or maybe experiment with different overdrives to try to get a sound that you're happy with. Dont forget, effects need to work for you. You shouldnt have to compromise your sound or your playing to accomodate characteristics of various pedals. If its not working for you, move it on! Truckstop [/quote] Yeah that's a fair point. I'd prefer to have my sound adequately compressed firstly and work from there. It is the ODB-3..just couldn't remeber the code off the top of my head As I've started a few posts recently you can probably see I'm relatively new to the world of effects...well maybe that should be new to the world of being anal about my effects . I've finally got a bass I'm happy with sound-wise (P Bass) after years of using different basses, so now I want to get my effects working for me or else ditch them! Thanks to all for the advice, suggestions and opinions....all much appreciated!

[quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1343778816' post='1755267'] i have to admit i tried very hard to like mine, but sold it in the end for similar reasons. ymmv to the OP of course [/quote] I definitely did feel like moving it on recently, but the suggsted settings mentioned by sixdegrees just seemed to work for me. Admittedly, I didn't mess around with it too much before that. I can see how they wouldn't be to everyone's liking though. It's also helping clear the muddiness I felt there was in my BDI-21 signal. Still a bit of tweaking to do but it's sounding better to me. The only issue it now raises is that my boss overdrive pedal is sounding very overdriven. I had it set to give me a classic rock style overdrive, think Smoke on the Water, but now it's much more modern and bright sounding...which isn't really the sound I'm going for. I can't seem to get it to revert to the sound I had. Perhaps this is just a signal chain issue....it's currently sitting after the compressor.

Got a chance to try out those suggested settings and really liked them.... With my amp's eq set flat it gave a more aggressive but really nice tone. I see what you mean about adding clarity. Thanks again!

Great, will try that. I'm pretty happy with the amp's sound, so will be interesting to see what the bdi can add to it. Thanks!

Thanks for the really great advice. I'd already downloaded the manual, but didn't find it great for suggested settings, so yours will be very useful!

Anybody out there using one of these old things? I've had mine for a while and I'm not sure how impressed I am with it. Can anybody suggest some useful settings that I can work from?

I'm pretty sure with G n' R that the guitars were detuned also. Up until recently I played in a covers band that played a lot of Thin Lizzy and G n' R and it was a pain when learning the songs! I generally just detune when learning so I don't have to transpose by a half step when playing live. A covers band I played with over 12 years ago have just reformed for a one-off gig. Back in the day we always played in standard tuning even though a lot of the songs we played were originally played with Eb tuning (Live, Thin Lizzy, Placebo, early Green Day etc.) When we jammed again a few weeks ago we thought we'd try the Eb tuning to compliment some of the original reordings and to help the singer. Sounded ok for some stuff, but for the songs that were recorded in standard tuning it just sounded wrong (Pearl Jam, Chili Peppers etc). The singer also found it harder to sing, as he felt it was stretching his vocals in the more "shouty" parts.

I'm still struggling to get any decent settings. Everything seems to be a bit muddy. Using it in conjunction with a boss overdrive pedal is clearing things up a small bit though. Using a p bass through an ampeg b100r if that helps.

In need of some good cables myself too. How do I contact OBBM? Tried to do a members search but didn'y have any luck.

Having seen your video and having now only read your profile I've just realised you are a woman!! My earlier comment about wearing a tshirt probably seems really offensive . I was referring to the many disturbing youtube videos of topless guys! I'm sure you've seen them, medicocre bass players shirtless for no apparent reason!! The good ones are always fully clothed!

It definitely did the job anyway! I must get the finger out and try to do some videos too...thanks for the inspiration!