Longwheelbass

I got a 4 string 35" Jazz Bass tuned BEAD and the GHS BEAD set with a 130 B sound great. Obviously you have a 5er but the tone out of this particular low string would be worth considering. None of that flutter/wobble you can sometimes hear on various low B strings. And the GHS 5 string sets are reasonably priced.

When I built this out of reclaimed pitch pine it came in at 9.5 lbs. After the router attack it's a lovely 8.25. A late 70's Musicmaster that is so heavy you hate playing it is begging for the router. No-one's gonna want it as is if it's that heavy. Go the rout route and then you'll play it all the time.

Well, it's a very attractive 78, guards are guards, if you want tort, speak to the Laveguard guy, he does real nice ones that are VERY well priced, compared to many others, and his are really good looking. As far as the noise issues go, might have a lead going into a pot lug somewhere that's loose, but I would first try squirting some contact cleaner into the pots. If that don't work, check under the bridge for contact with the bridge earth wire. I usually sand a patch in the nickel plate where the bridge earth wire contacts the bridge to ensure a good "connection". If you were mad enough to want to throw money at aftermarket pickups (those factory pickups should sound lovely) you can lift out the whole lot, pickups, pots, jack and bridge earth wire by taking off the guard and lifting the bridge so the when you pull the bridge earth wire out of the tunnel it stays soldered to the volume pot. And because the rout from pickups to control bay is a trench rather than a drilled tunnel, just pop off the knobs, unbolt the pots and jack and it'll all come out without having to unsolder anything. If you did go down the aftermarket pickup route, you can just send a bit more on new pots, cap and jack. There are a few comparisons of Fender PV 63's and Fender CS 62's on Youtube, check them out, personally I think the 63's sound a little nicer than the 62's - but in all honesty, your 78's are gonna be so similar it isn't worth the money splashing on aftermarket pickups. And bolting another heavyweight bridge to an old Fender always leaves marks in the paint usually because those things have a much larger footprint than the stock bridge and end up making your bass sound like it's made of solid metal - the OG Fender bridges are light and don't reflect string vibration away from the wood of the body like those massive Badasses and Babicz things do. There's cheaper less invasive and less unsightly ways to get more "sustain" out of a P Bass, like stainless roundwound vs nickel strings, or simply EQing or turning up the treble knob on your amp! I'm 59, I've owned multiple P and Jazz Basses, and NEVER had a "stability problem" with stock bridges. And I've played 1000 shows between 1984 and now. By all means, change what you want to but in case you haven't noticed, mid to late 70's P Bass prices have been going through the roof, because pre-1970 P basses are now heading to the damn moon, and if you make irreversible mods to this really good looking bass, you'll live to regret it if you ever need to sell it. PS attached pic of my 69ish P with a Lavaguard...

Apologies, I'm late to the party. You did what I had to do to a 69 body that had rusted out bridge mount screws - the old 5mm diamond edged holesaw! Nice job. What you had on there was an aftermarket bridge. Those saddle height screws give the game away, they're Allen wrench, which didn't show up on US Fenders until the 90's. The saddles and intonation screws will be metric. I see you've made a lot of progress (on page 5) bass looks incredible. Have you had anyone look at those frets yet? Because I wouldn't replace them, by the looks of the closeup on page 5 there's still enough height on them for a pro to level, crown and polish them. Good luck!

According to his last transmission on YT in July he had an injury that damaged his right arm and hand so that's probably why he's been off air for a while.

Thank you Steve, shall follow up on your link!

Well since I don't have the space or a compressor and guns since I moved over here a few years ago from spray-painting friendly weathered Melbourne, I began hatching a build plot recently, and began casting about for dudes with guns. Finding the Golden Era Guitars website by chance blew my mind - dude or dudes who are responsible for the product on that site clearly know/knew what they are/were doing. So I emailed them - once about six weeks ago then politely again about four weeks ago asking for a quote on a body and paint job. No response. Nothing in my junk mail, zip, zero, nada... Anyone on here know if they're still trading? PFA...

Yo Steve, Just came across your post. Did you ever get a solution? I ask because I am just ordering a 35" four string neck for P Bass (well it's going on an old Jazz Bass body) through Musikraft in the US because I hate five strings but love the low B. You are on the right path with your original musings, the extra inch in scale will give you a better B fundamental. Two options - order a 35" "conversion neck" from someone like Musikraft, which would mean in effect you'd have a P Bass with a slightly brighter treble tone as you don't move the bridge - and the pickups are effectively what move in the scale length, or order a full 35" scale and move the bridge back half an inch on your P body to get the full 35" scale. Which will still be the beefy P Bass tone but without the silly 5th string and ridiculoussly wide neck to accommodate said silly 5th string. I'm not sure how the doom guys get the low B sounding good on Rics, probably by using a lighter gauge string, but if you've ever played a 34" Musicman fiver they're pretty loose and muffled when you hit the low B. The extra inch in scale gives a much better fundamental note. Weird bridge bizzo to get a good sounding low B on 34" doesn't seem to make any sense. There's a reason why so many of the expensive five string basses are 35's. Anyways

Years ago I had a 64 P Bass - one year older than me, and recently the closest I could manage without mortgaging anything was a 66 Jazz that has had the paint played off of it...the neck came from a different bass as did the pickguard. But it's great. I cannot imagine ever ending up with a 1965 Fender, even scraping up the parts one by one is price-prohibitive these days. And a BYB shouldn't loom so large in my tiny brain - scientists have confirmed it will not make me play any better 😆

Jazzmasters got the larger headstock in 67, along with a new logo and different tuners with F stamps on the back gear cover.

Huge gaps

I've had two Mocha or Walnut finish 74 P Basses since I moved over here in 2018. Both were killer, and instant regrets when the bills came a knocking. But the second one came back a few weeks ago after doing a bit of a tour of the countryside from South to North and back again after I covid-sold it... At almost 8 lb 8 oz with a B neck and that lovely tone that drips out of the factory windings, it's cool to get a second chance at keeping it.

Water damage.