HowieBass

Yeaaayyyy!

I stll think some of the 'problem' here might be strings/playing style related - your quest for deep clear bass and sounding like an 'old school' rock bassist to me cries out for changing your flatwound strings to roundwounds and playing with a pick - that's the cheapest change you can make and it'll make a world of difference to your sound IMHO.

I'd expect to see damage to the case or controls if anything happened to it in transit. Did you say you'd already opened it up and checked inside? Nothing's come adrift has it, like a push fit plug-in connector?

I think ordinary polish might leave it sticky though I suppose you can buff it out, depends what your fingerboard material is. I use a little raw linseed oil on my rosewood boards.

Loose screw somewhere or maybe a wire inside that's rattling against the horn (you mean tweeter don't you)?

Does it come with a kettle lead or have I got to root through my bits box and supply my own?

Is it good for cocoa?

You ought to be able to get a couple of noiseless pickups of the same length as a direct replacement, something like a DiMarzio DP123S (short)? Likely cost is about £100 though. Doesn't make your Jazz the colour and fingerboard combo you desire but at least the bass becomes eminently playable. http://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/bass/standard-bass/dimarzio-model-j Just measured my Squier active Jazz and the stock pickups are the same length - roughly 92mm, hidden pole pieces and perfectly silent when soloed.

I'd be inclined to look at what your petrol costs would be to visit a suitable tech, factor in the potential need to leave it with them whilst they source parts and effect a repair and a second round trip to collect it and compare that with the costs of a decent courier for shipping it both ways.

I think that aluminium's probably going to be a little weak if made into the traditional BBOT design which is probably why bridges are made chunkier when cast in that material. What you really need is titanium...

My very first bass, bought back in the late 70s, was a Jazz bass copy (Columbus) and I didn't know much about instruments when I bought it; it probably wasn't a great bass... and back then Squiers didn't exist. My next bass was a Westone Spectrum LX, quite an exotic beast acquired in the late 80s, a P/J with humbuckers built by Matsumoku in Japan and beautifully put together - happily I still have it. It wasn't until relatively recently that I got my hands on another Jazz bass, I went for the Squier Deluxe Jazz Active IV (first appeared in active form as a 5-string) and it's a great instrument, nicely finished, pickups are silent when soloed, the 3-band EQ and 'slap switch' offers good tone shaping possibilities but it still has that characteristic single coil Jazz sound if you want it. I don't think you can beat the higher specced Squiers for value for money and a decent sound.

Just read up on Gerry McAvoy and I think he said he used RS66 steel roundwound strings and looking at a video of him with Rory's band I think he was playing with a pick plus it sounded to me like he'd backed off his tone control quite a bit so first off I suggest you change strings and playing technique and see where that gets you.

I think we need to know how you're using your current bass/amp first before we can advise on where to go in your pursuit of a more 'vintage' sound. Is your current sound too harsh, or too muddy? What strings are you using? Nickel roundwounds sound warmer than steel rounds and flatwound strings sound very different to roundwound. Do you play with a pick or fingerstyle? Do you have the P bass tone knob wide open or dialled back a little? Are you using the tube tone effect on the BH500 head? Are you engaging the contour control (which scoops the mids)? How are you setting your tone controls? All of these factor into your sound and it's probably worth experimenting with what you have right now before concluding that you need to change your rig...

Nathan Watts, Stevie Wonder's bassist http://www.discogs.com/Gwen-McCrae-On-My-Way/release/1119707

Could be a poor solder connection with the latching footswitch, if that's all or even if the switch itself needs replacing, then a repair would be pretty inexpensive. NB: A squirt of switch cleaner into it wouldn't do any harm either.

Talking Heads - 77 Television - Marquee Moon Pixies - Doolittle Nirvana - Nevermind Fugazi - The Argument Fever Ray - Fever Ray Interpol - Antics and loads more I've yet to think about...

The tuners are at the bridge end with headless basses.

Apparently this is the response for the Bartolini Mk1 so the bass looks to be centred around 25Hz - the difference you're hearing is going to be a combination of pickup response, preamp design and possibly also the body and neck construction.

[quote name='Fisheth' timestamp='1406287679' post='2510160'] Funny I've not tried either of those, giving those a try now... The issue is playing long sets (about an hour, well it's long when you've not done it for years! Haha) Yeah, I was gonna go with the widow cause I liked the specs and the cutaway at the bottom so if it gets to much I can swing it on my legs and away I go, the issue is... I've never played a 34 scale length anything before. Always been 25.5/24.75 (Correct me if I'm wrong as I have a Squier Affinity P-Bass right now) [/quote] Your Squier P bass ought to be 34" scale length.

Love the differences in body woods, should look great when you get the contours sorted!

If you're really GASsing for another bass and like Squier's value-for-money angle then I can recommend the Deluxe Jazz Active - I've got the four string version. There are a few threads on Talkbass where owners sing its praises and have compared it very favourably with Fenders and other far more expensive models.

Hope it goes well for you; have you timed yourselves taking the drum kit down, moving stuff to your van/car and reassembling it? An hour to do that and drive the 5 miles (presume you know the route and you can park up right outside the venues) and then be ready to play might be a bit tight on time...

The photo's such poor quality it could be a miniature 'toy' version of a Spector bass up for sale... there's no way I'd make a buying decision based on that shot!

Yeah despite all the suggestions that this is a band that's ready to go out playing regular paying gigs there's no mention whatsoever of what you get in return and how expenses shall be met which to me sounds like they don't know...

Entwistle pickups are inexpensive and seem to get good reviews - the PBX might be worth looking at.