Bridgehouse

Strictly speaking you should leave it in its box until tomorrow to acclimatise after it’s been stuck in the back of Shaun’s freezing van all day. I’m sure you’ll be able to hold out until tomorrow… won’t you?

Hah! No more mods now. It’s had an outing at a raucous jam and it was perfect. Neck and fretboard is the most surprisingly good bit though, I have to say - one of the nicest bass necks I’ve played.

If that’s enormous then your sense of relative size is.. Oh. I see….

Was thinking of an amber stain or another colour stain just for something different - possibly with black hardware

Ah now I do like a Danish Oil finish - however, the last one I did was DO… not sure I could do two in a row..

Sneaky peak shot of the body and neck sent over to me for perusal.

After recently suffering a heart attack, I'm finding myself at home a bit more whilst I recuperate. Mrs B is insisting I don't do too much, and making sure I have plenty of non-work rest time. Well, I thought another parts caster build might be a nice way to relax and spend some time occupying myself. The guy I usually buy necks and bodies from is retiring, so I thought I'd drop him a quick email to see if he had anything "nearly complete" in the workshop. He did have a few gems that could make an interesting project.. one of which is a 32" scale Jazz body and neck. Interesting I thought. It's also rear-routed for controls and it's a maple board too.. even more unusual. Well, I'm going to give it a go. I'm arranging the usual payment etc. and he needs to drill some headstock tuner holes for me, and then it'll be hopefully on it's way. Will be interesting to see what people think might be a good colour/finish choice, and what sort of kit to fit in it. I do have two spare Custom Shop 62 Jazz pickups going spare at the moment...

ok, tried the Jazz under stress test tonight. Some mahoosive Markbass amp with a 4x10 and 1x15 cabs - I reckon the full 800w type job. Gave it the beans - proper gut churning uncomfortable volume level and no clipping or anything. Behaved perfectly. If anything the Fralins got clearer with volume. The bass and treble controls on the J-Tone were excellent at volume too - more low than you’d ever need and the treble wasn’t tinny.

Dunno - just about to try them out in a studio so I’ll let you know!

Well, lack of master volume was a big thing, and a propensity to move tone and volume at the same time another. I’ve also been spoilt by John East’s preamps. They really do a great job and the passive modes are useful as well.

If it’s weird to you then I know I’m normal

Hah! Yes possibly. This is the first real Jazz I’ve had - been a P-bass guy for so long. It’s the No master volume that did for me I think. I really like the sound and flexibility and the playability is superb, but I really missed a single volume control - hence getting the East J-Tone.

I can't help mess about with stuff, which is often the way I guess.. The Lindy Fralins are excellent. As a bass, I'm loving it. Superb neck, probably one of the best I've played (surprisingly). Love the look and the vibe. The only bit I'm not really getting on with entirely is the stack knobs. They are just too, eh, finicky. I really don't like not having a master volume. I'd prefer a pickup blend and master volume. Anyway, long story short, decided to get an East J-Tone. It arrived. I even did a relic job on the control plate so it fitted the aesthetic. Opted for the Master Volume/Blend version (obviously!). You get a Passive mode, and an Active mode. In passive you get Master Volume and Blend on the first stack knob, and Passive Tone on the third knob. In Active, the Second Stack Knob has Treble and Bass +/- 18db boost, and the tone is still a tone control. (Tone knob is push pull for active/passive). The passive mode with blend and master volume is much more usable, and I'm much more comfortable with it. The active mode brings those Fralins to life - touch of bass and treble boost on the Neck pickup solo'd and it's superb. As close to P-Bass tone as you'll get. Roll in the Bridge on the blend and cut the Bass/Treble a bit and it brings in a bit of mid that you often lose with both pickups on a Jazz. Play around with the tone control as well and it gives some really excellent and usable tones. John does some really nice stack-knob Fender style knobs now and I like them a lot - really high quality. You also get 3 extra tone caps so you can change the tone cap on the tone control, and two balance wheels to set the type and range of the bass and treble boost. It's a cracking upgrade for any Jazz - no soldering to fit it, all self contained in the standard control cavity, and great value for money as well. Highly recommended.

Yours is more of an active pre-amp with DI rather than effects….

So the consensus of opinion is Fender did it for a bit in the early 60's when the rear ash tray was so huge that it hid the thing in its entirety. Fair enough. I don't mind it actually, sort of adds to the look I think.

I said I'd come back and give an opinion on the Lindy Fralin's after giving them a work out. Well, last night I spent a good few hours playing. Firstly, it's worth saying that the split coils are definitely hum free. Absolutely no difference in noise levels between the neck and bridge up full together and either pickup solo'd. I'd also say that generally they are quieter than the CS pickups. They fit perfectly into the original CS covers - so the look is retained, other than the pole pieces being shinier. They do sound a bit different to the CS pickups. They are a shade darker in tone, and a bit deeper generally, and particularly on the neck pickup. They don't have quite the same growl as the CSs and it's not as "authentic" a classic vintage tone (whatever that means). Now, that might sound a bit negative, but it isn't. If anything for me it's a positive. The neck sounds closer to a P bass than with the CS single coil - and there's sort of no surprise there either. The contrast between neck and bridge is good - and with both pickups on there's plenty of the characteristic mid scoop. All in all I really like them. I wanted hum cancelling, which they do absolutely perfectly. I also didn't want too much of a compromise in traditional Jazz tone to achieve this, and I don't think the Fralin's are too much of a compromise. There's some, but not enough to make me go back to the CS pickups.

Well, this genuine bent bit of brass is just for show as well, as the bridge is wired up separately. Tho interestingly it's soldered up and attached to the plate under the bridge pickup and also to the bridge itself.

Wrong question - CS pickups not quiet enough? would be better. Swapped them for a set of Lindy Fralin split coils to eliminate hum.

A quick question for the assembled... When (if ever!) and for how long did Fender use a copper strip for earthing in between the bridge and the bridge pickup on Jazzes? I've got one on my new Custom Shop (62 spec) and I can't seem to recall seeing one on any other. Swapping the pickups out today, there's a copper plate under each of the Bridge and Neck pickups and the strip going back to the bridge. Anyone know anything about the history of doing this? Pic to show you what I'm blabbing on about:

Yeah - I'll give the fralins a good workout tonight and report back. It was always my intention to go for some sort of hum cancelling, and it looked like the fralins were the most likely to do that job and retain as much of the vintage Jazz characteristic as possible.

If they aren't too deep you could try the old damp cloth and iron trick and steam them out. It's worked beautifully for me in the past on a body I refinished with a few dings in it.

Lindy Fralin Split Jazz set delivered this morning. Decided to fit them in an appropriate slot in between meetings. I'll give them a proper test tonight but they are super quiet and definitely no hum when using either bridge or neck solo'd. On first listen I'd say they are slightly hotter than the CS pickups and probably a bit "fatter" or "rounder" sounding, but definitely retain a lot of that vintage Jazz sound. I'll report back when I've had a good play tonight, but they have ticked the box already by removing any hint of single coil hum.

There’s a big difference between the price that’s asked for and the actual selling price (if it sells at all).. There is decent stuff out there at decent prices, you do have to look about a bit though. Some people seem to be still stuck in lockdown mode when pricing did go rather bizarre..