Dom in Dorset

My views on the monarchy are fairly well known here (I think we could do without them) but if you've been asked to play at a Jubilee party it's a bit much to play a song like that. t might give a few people a laugh and you might never get a gig there again. If you have strong views against the monarchy , either don't do the gig , or just play it and think of the money.

I'm quite amused by the posts that say "I got a brand X cheapy bass I put a hand wound plutonium core gold plated water cooled mega pick up in it and it sounds great" - surely at this point it's no longer a low cost instrument? What about the cheap stuff that sounds great out of the box? +1 on Westfield P BTW, also my current fretless is a bitza with jazz pickups from a Lindo bass that I got for £10 (just the pickups I think the whole bass is about £120 new , Red Tiger model) EDIT : Having read the thread more carefuly it would seem that the bass I was thinking of still only cost £110, I take it all back. Still it's less surprising that this bass sounds as good as it does.

(ply) Wooden scratch plate - I was planning on stripping the body out of curiosity but when I discovered that it was also ply I went for the wood effect plate in stead. Yes , so far I love the pickups, I was getting exactly the sound I was after, the bass does have a brighter sound acoustically with this body and I won't know how it will sound until I plug her in on wednesday. I'm working on the "Trigger's broom" principal, the neck and body will both be replaced eventually when suitable replacements turn up, but I'm not in a hurry now, it could be some time.

"fretted and fretless version available only" - er...?

Warwick = school woodwork project. (played one once, thought it was great)

Version two is nearly ready, she's known as Miss Pbody. I'm pretty certain that everything you see here will go eventually except the Lindo pickups! They were quite a find, nice powerful output and exactly the tone I was after. We did some live recordings the other night , if they clean up ok I'll post them here. I've taken a step nearer getting my driftwood body by booking a family holiday (bass body finding trip) in Cornwall this year...

This chunk of exotic tonewood (thicker plywood) arrived yesterday: It's got an appointment with my router coming soon. I may try and refresh the finish too.

I spent some time today messing about with cardboard body shapes. I tried reversing the back end but leaving the front as a regular Jazz but it looked a bit lumpy and lopsided. The most important part of the design was to move the arch on the underside of the body forward so that it say more comfortably when playing in a sitting position- soooo, I went back to the traditional jazz shape, moved the lower arch forwards , re-drew the back end making the upper-rear horn smaller, then smaller still until the whole thing looked like a well balanced shape, stood back and... I'd reinvented the precision body. So, I've just bought a wreck off ebay, now I'm off to play the waiting game.

+1 to the others who said "as you already have a Jazz , get a precision" - have both.

For me it depends on what sort of thing you're playing. I love precision tone but moved to a jazz because I found that the P tended to fall back in the mix as I went up the neck. with the jazz you lose a bit of low end balls but get more focus and power higher up. I'd still like to get a 5 string P for sight reading gigs.

Copied from an ebay listing: [font="Helvetica"][size="3"][font="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"][size="2"][color="#000000"][b]Fender Japanese Fretless Jazz Specs[/b] -[/color][/size][/font][/size][/font] [font="Helvetica"][size="3"][font="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"][size="2"][color="#000000"]Body: Alder Neck: Maple Fingerboard: Rosewood Fret Size: Medium Jumbo Position Inlays: Side Dots Fretboard Radius: 9.5 Inch (24.1 cm) Nut Width: 1.5 Inch (38.1 mm) Scale Length: 34 Inch (86.36 cm) Neck Plate: Standard 4 Bolt Pickup Configuration: S/S Bridge Pickup: Standard Jazz Bass Single-Coil Pickup Neck Pickup:Standard Jazz Bass Single-Coil Pickup Controls: Volume 1. (Neck Pickup), Volume 2. (Bridge Pickup), Master Tone Hardware: Chrome Bridge: Standard Vintage 4 Saddle Bass Tuning Machines: Standard Open-Gear Tuners[/color][/size][/font][/size][/font]

There's no reason why it shouldn't [u]sound[/u] good after a re-fit, I'd want to be sure that a good set up can be achieved before spending big bucks. You should be able to get a rough idea even with the strings that are on it now.

It is.....from plywood. See "fretless Zzaj prototype" thread in build diaries.

I might be persuaded to do a trade for this beauty: (only joking I love this bass!)

I'd be happy to re-board a bass myself, I did that to make my current fretless. I was struck by the lack of off the peg unlined basses out there.

What's that lurking between the walnut P and the first Ray? 6th from the right, doesn't seem to be in your sig?

I probably can't afford to buy anything right now but I'm window shopping for a fretless bass. I'm looking for a Jazz bass (jazz pickups , body shape isn't of great importance but I don't find Warwicks remotely attractive) Unlined (preferably ebony) board. Passive pickups. Fender don't seem to do unlined basses and there dosen't seem to be a lot out there unless you get custom made.

It works, very nicely in fact. One doubter was left speechless! You can make a bass guitar body from 18mm plywood. I used it in rehearsal last night (I told them I paid £300+ my Fender for it) , fretless jazz (or Zzaj) is for me. We did record a few songs live, if they are alright I'll post the results here , in the next few weeks I'll record a solo demo of this and other basses for comparrison. I am impressed with the Lindo pickups, they are closed style I think they use them on their "Red Tiger" bass rather than the standard jazz. I'm not sure if the tone they give would be that pure on a fretted bass with roundwound strings but ,fretless with tapewound they are fine. I'm half tempted to get a Lindo (£67.99) to de-fret as stop gap until I can afford something better.

I like the look of the body (presuming as it looks to me that it's slightly more squashed/elongated shape than a true Rick) but the neck looks wrong on it, a more Rickesque neck and headstock would have been better

Ok , all wired she's up. The strings pass through a brass plate on the back and the earth is connected to that. The box that houses the controls was folded from aluminium sheet to proved screening. I've plugged it into my four track and the initial results are promising , there was a slight problem with the wiring (I bough a pre-wired harness off ebay, it was wrong! the tone acted as a master volume! It's now sorted.) Acoustically it sounds fine, one of my doubters thought that there would be no sustain, it's not like my Fender but then it's surprisingly good for a bit of damp plywood from the garden with a wooden bridge. I will be modifying the lower horn and pssibly moving the neck up the body to allow more room for playing at the dusty end. Tomorrow is the big day...

I hope to get her wired up tonight, I don't have my amp at home so I won't be able to do any testing until Wednesday morning.... when I will meet up with two of my doubters! I'll either be vindicated or humiliated! If all goes well I'll take it to rehearsal on Wednesday night, it's a pitty it won't fit in my Fender case, I can't wait to see their faces when i produce this masterpiece.

Going to see Ian Anderson do thw whole thing in Bristol, can't wait.

Ok, here's the reasons why: I'm looking for the perfect fretless (for me) I suspect that it's going to be a Jazz. I'd like to spend a bit of time with one , rehearse with it etc to be certain. I don't have much cash , so, if I borrow the fretless neck of my twin, put on a pair of pickups that I found for £10 on ebay , make my own bridge and... use a grotty old bit of plywood for the body I can make a test bed bass for (so far) £25 (including a wiring loom , also from ebay) The idea of reversing the body came from playing in a pit band sitting down, I didn't find the Jazz that comfortable , but if I flipped the bass over it sat in just the right place for my hand to fall into my preferred playing position. Also when standing I can flop may fore arm over the back end Entwistle style , I used to have and Epi Tbird and found that very comfortable. The idea is to refine the design and up-grade parts as required. I may make some radical changes and end up with something completely different, but this is where I'm starting. Everyone I've told about this has said , for one reason or another "It'll never work"- well lets see. I hope to get her going in time for a rehearsal on Wednesday. I've been harboring romantic notions of finding a piece of driftwood on a Cornish beach at dawn to make the body. I did find a picture of Dusty Hill with a "Reverse Jazz", so nothing new really. Fretted Jazz .....Fretless Zzaj Exotic tonewood... Built for posing.

[quote name='Johnston' timestamp='1330867000' post='1563956'] The one in the shine. By any chance is the barrel touching any of the pots in the cavity?? I think as well if the two earth wires are around the wrong was it will cause battery drain if the body of the socket touches any shielding. [/quote] I'll open her up later and look, I don't think there's any contact with the pots but I didn't know that shielding could be an issue. I'll check it later, thanks.