Grissle

Well if you like everything about your Ibanez but the sound, you may be able to replace the pickups and electronics and find what your looking for? Which model is it? There are many great after-market pickups out there.

I forgot to add that with the new pickups and tidying up of the shielding a bit improved the preamp a lot. It's not a Sadowsky but it is now very pleasant. The pots on the preamp should probably be changed to, the tapers aren't great, maybe down the road?

I'd been waiting for a good deal on one for about six months, when my local shop put them on clearance and that knocked off a few hundred dollars right there. I already had the extra pickups and did all the work myself. It only cost me about $150 for all the parts so I've done well really. As far as why... the Jag bass's design and function are everything I've ever wanted in a bass, but in order to keep it competitively priced (according to Fender's thinking) they saved some money on the tuners, vol/tone pots (they're really cheap) and pickups ( they're ceramic not Alnico V). They've done the same with the Geddy bass and some others. But thankfully the base instrument is very high quality. Changing the pickups and the bridge took the bass to a new level. Then using the 5 bolt neck plate and adding the heal contour was the icing. I love that Fender designed the Jag to look so vintage yet it has a most versatile modern approach electronically. And if Fender didn't cut some corners on the hardware it'd probably be like £1000 or more.

Hey Spongebob, not all jazz basses have the same neck profile (the shape of the back of the neck). My Jaguar bass and the Geddy are both described as Thin C shape, but the Ged feels more D shaped and my Jag is very C shaped. If you're interested the early 2000's ( 2001-2005?) MIM Fender Jazz's have very small necks very close to the GED's.

IMO And FWIW 2mm I would consider really low, 3mm would be medium low. Really low action seems to work well with tapping, a light touch or Slap/Pop. However to be able to pluck with more authority (I don't mean thrashing the strings lol) the strings simply need more space to vibrate freely. And this isn't bad technique, I've been to too many NAMM shows to remember and have been fortunate to see and meet some great players, and when you see them up close you'd be surprised at how hard most of these guys attack the strings, and how noisy their playing sounds unplugged. Then they plug-in and it's still kinda noisy sounding. The thing is you'd be surprised at how much TOP quality gear can do for you. Just try plugging in to say an Avalon U5 before going to a rig or mixer and listen to how musical even some of the noise sounds! So hey it's not a contest of who can get the lowest action, it's a tool to help you express yourself, music's a beautiful thang! :-)

Maybe an SX? Should be easy enough to fit a fender type neck, might be a little sanding or filing involved?

The Jags have '70s pickup spacing, the bridge pickup being about 15mm closer to the bridge giving it a little more zingy highs. The '09 Jags are shielded nicely, though like most production line Fender's it can be improved on, problems with buzzing have been taken care of or are easily remedied. IMO the Jag has GREAT potential, but to keep the price down (for Fender that is) they have kitted it out with lower quality hardware, (tuners, pickups, and pots, the bridge is fine but thats personal opinion) but still perfectly fine. Fender has a few real nice choices at the moment, the MIM '60s, Geddy Lee sig, and the Road Worn's are some (same quality hardware as on the Jag). They're all good as they are but again IMO can be really good. If possible buy used and you can't lose.

An alternative to a new bridge would be to put a little Loctite Blue on the saddle height adjustment screws or even a little wood glue. Badass II bridges are Extremely easy to install, five screws, setting height and intonation is also straight forward (if you have experience with setup's, or would like to learn this is a good resource, [url="http://www.fender.com/support/basses.php"]http://www.fender.com/support/basses.php[/url] or you can have a tech do it). It's all your choice, there many great units out there as others have stated. Pickups can make one of the biggest differences in your tone. Do you want a vintage sounding tone [(warm lows, puncy low mids, nice smooth hi's) or a more modern tone (big low end, mids scooped a bit, Hi-fi hi's) these are generalizations]? Determine the tone your looking for then start from there.

I'm interested in this thread to, I've wondered about adding piezo's to my fretless.

My Mods are: • BEAD Tuning • Fender CS '60s pickups • CTS Precision Vol/Tone Pots • Copper Shielding + Star grounding • Jazz knobs (large & small) • Schaller strap locks • Deluxe 5 bolt neck plate + contoured heel • Hipshot Ultralite tuners • Badass II bridge • Bone nut [attachment=27822:100_2710.JPG][attachment=27823:100_2711.JPG] I'm still playing with the idea of putting a neck pickup cover on it? [attachment=27824:MyJagPupCover.JPG]

Wow, this whole 8 string thing made my ears stand up. I've got an extra MIM Fender Jazz doing nothing. Using say some Steinberg tuners on the headstock for the octave strings might just work. But I reeaally prefer playing fingerstyle, and wonder if stringing it with the octave strings below type setup, would the octave strings still be adequately audible? I'm not looking for octave string on top with a pick levels, but something still nicely filling.

Bass+Amp+Pedals My tone is something like a more burpy Geddy sound with a touch of wah pedal just cracked open - Aggressive Articulate

Actually the Geddy Jazz has '70s spacing, it's based on his '73 Jazz

Thats just temporary till the BA II gets here. The windings on the B&E strings rest on the saddles otherwise and its kind of a PIA removing them.

Here's my Jag, My Mods are: • BEAD Tuning • Fender CS '60s pickups • CTS Precision Vol/Tone Pots • Copper Shielding + Star grounding • Jazz knobs (large & small) • Schaller strap locks • Deluxe 5 bolt neck plate & maybe the pup cover Been thinking about using a stacked Volume/tone then putting a blend pot where the tone is now? Tone options GALORE! [attachment=26938:MyJagPupCover.JPG] [attachment=26939:MyJagBack.JPG] I should add that adding the Deluxe 5 bolt neck plate and removing that corner made a dramatic difference in reaching the higher frets. I also have a BAII bridge, Hipshot Ultralite tuners and a bone nut on the way.

I love the Ged's also but for the price they're going for new Fender should put nice tuners on and chuck the ceramic pups for true Alnico's. Buy used an Upgrade!

Anyone have a Fender Deluxe 5 string with the neck contour? Is the contoured neck plate to wide to fit on the 4 string necks? Would appreciate the plates measurements if possible. Ta

My guitar tech toured the Mexican Fender factory about 5 or 6 years ago and I distinctly remember him telling me that he was talking to one of the employees who told him that Fender had cautioned/told the management to back off on the quality! Apparently (good jobs being scarce in the country) many workers were doing there absolute best, hoping to get their family members jobs at the factory as well. Interesting? And I have noticed that the Standard Basses use to get pretty good reviews up until a few years ago.

Sounds like adding some shielding and replacing the stock preamp with say a Sadowsky pre and this could be a great bass. Im not an off the rack kinda guy when it comes to my instruments so I wouldnt mind spending the extra dosh tailoring it to myself, but I know this can turn most people away. I think I would probably make it a stack-knob as well to round out the project.

Those Fender 60's Custom Shop Jazz pups seem to be some little known gems. Anyone have opinions compared to say Fralins or Nordstrand?

Do you have a favorite bass hero or band who's bass tone you really get on with? If so, find out what kind of bass they're using and use that as a starting point.

Another vote for clear or perhaps clear tinted

Another vote for clear or perhaps clear tinted