Starless

[quote name='dan670844' post='864782' date='Jun 11 2010, 11:02 PM']You didn't mention if it was a US or Japanese Jazz. I have made many swaps between old US and Japanese without probs they fit like a glove,[/quote] All of my Fenders have been MIJ/CIJ (no way will I ever pay the premium on a 'Made in USA' decal as long as the Japanese versions are available). I have swapped around the fretted P and J bodies/necks and they are fine, so I have no doubt that replacing the fretless neck would not pose a problem. However, the fretless P is a piece of 70's retro matching woodiness glory that begs to be kept intact (I'm convinced it is a maple body because it is an EXACT match with the neck and fingerboard - and it's a 10+ pounder). So ideally, a complete un-lined fretless Jazz is the answer, but they don't exactly grow on trees (OK, yes, the wooden parts of them do originally, but you know what I mean).

[quote name='SignsOfDelirium_bassist' post='864746' date='Jun 11 2010, 10:11 PM']Is this your first time trying to adjust to another neck profile?[/quote] No, I've been all over the shop with Ricks, Jazzes, Warwick (fretless) and finally P fretted and fretless. I can do them all, but it is just the fattest of them (the P) in a fretless form that has now been over a year in frustrating me. I think it will have to go, sexy beast or not, she's history...

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='864707' date='Jun 11 2010, 09:15 PM']+1 get one of the same age however[/quote] Interesting, why would you suggest that?

[quote name='Bloodaxe' post='864653' date='Jun 11 2010, 07:55 PM']A.N. Other possibility is it's setup. I find swapping back to frets to be a bit of a chore TBH. I put this down to the wonderfully slick setup that the Gallery did on my SB-1000 - everything else feels a bit "clunky" now, despite nigh on identical neck profiles. Pete.[/quote] My fretted P is fine, and I'm not sure how a setup could improve the fretless. The action is about as low as you can go without having the strings just laying on the board. It's kind of ironic that I'm moaning about the width of a P neck when I've recently started on the double bass. Maybe if I held the Precision vertically...

[quote name='Johnston' post='864615' date='Jun 11 2010, 07:22 PM']buy a fretless jazz neck and stick it on[/quote] I tried to trade it for a fretless (unlined) Jazz on here last year but there didn't seem to be a lot of them about.

I need someone to make my mind up for me. I have played fretted Jazzes for a long time now, but I own a fretless P. A beautiful fretless P. The P, obviously is not as narrow as the Jazz neck. I am a real Jazz neck fan, but the fretless P is such a stunner that I have been trying for months now to 'make it happen'. I don't want to get rid of it, but I have always refused to be influenced by 'good looks' when it comes to playing, and I do not want to hang on to something just because it looks 'pretty'. I even went to the trouble (and expense) of acquiring a fretted P - and lo and behold, I can live with that. It is not quite the same as the fretted Jazz, but I enjoy playing it. Is it the case that the extra effort required for fretless playing (hitting the exact spot, rather than somewhere roughly behind a fret), coupled with the fatter-than-a-jazz neck means that I will never be comfortable with a fretless P? I managed to do an entire gig with the fretless P - ONCE - but it was a struggle as the night wore on (and picked up the Jazz for the encores - oooh the relief). I'm no spring chicken, so it's not as if my wrist/hand/fingers have any more growing to do. I tried to trade the fretless P on here last year, but the response to the listing kind of scared me into hanging on to her (very desirable apparently) - even though I don't get on with the neck. So what do I do? How much longer should I persevere with an instrument because of it's coolness factor, when I just don't enjoy playing it? Is six months of hammering away enough?

Never really understood the whole 'bass-as-lead-instrument' thing. I mean, come on, Bass solos? Eech.. probably very clever but less than entertaining. More cringe-inducing than drum solos. Just don't get it.

Probably easier to mod a tone to your liking (strings, pickups, eq etc) than a mod a neck.

[quote name='Jean-Luc Pickguard' post='849321' date='May 27 2010, 12:19 PM']I bought a MIJ sunburst P body from brandoni - it is identical to the one on my MIJ Fender '62 reissue. It was a while ago, but they might still have some.[/quote] Trying to access their website (Google turns them up - brandoniguitars.co.uk) but get re-directed to one of those all-purpose guitar shop pages. Do they still exist?

This seems to be an incredibly handsome bass for not a lot of money..... [url="http://www.soundslive.co.uk/product~name~Squier-P-Bass-Special---Walnut-Satin~ID~3573.asp"]Satin Bass[/url]

[quote name='dlloyd' post='849224' date='May 27 2010, 10:22 AM']How are you getting on with the bull fiddle?[/quote] Considering I don't get on with a fretless Precision neck, the 'beast' is a bit over the top... my left forearm hurts like hell today.. but I think that is just muscles which have never really been used saying "What the hell are you doing to us!!". Even plonking out basic root/fifths makes you close your eyes, nod in time to the music and say to yourself "Mmm, yeah, jazz baby...". Love it. Great fun and well worth persevering with. I think some formal tuition is in order so that bad habits don't form too early...

Just using the body on a 'cheaper' bass is a good idea. I am in a phase of trying to mix'n'match my basses to get the correct combination of instruments so that I finally have my perfect set-up. I have a 62 Jazz (CIJ) and the neck is just perfect, but I prefer the shape and simplicity of the P body (and single pick-up). So my ultimate quest is to find a P body to go with the Jazz neck. The Jazz neck is a vintage tinted job so finding a P body that goes with that look is tricky. I recently acquired a 'natural' fretted P and have tried that body with the tinted Jazz neck, but they are not a close enough colour match (headstock/body either has to match totally or be completely different to work IMO - something that doesn't [i]quite[/i] match just looks like it's been stuck on). The ideal body would be a sunburst P, but finding that difficult to source without a neck on it, but have also been looking at white bodies and that could work. So far I have been looking at Fender Japan, but a Squier body in white might just be the answer (buy the whole thing then [s]throw the neck aw[/s]... sell the neck on). Does the quality of the body of a bass really matter that much? It's just the lump that all the important stuff (neck, pickups) is attached to surely. There is also the issue of getting screw holes to line up, pocket tightness etc.... nightmare.

It's interesting that the Satin Jazz is mentioned in a fretless thread. As the previous owner of the little beauty, it had sat in a bag for months while I had mulled over converting it to fretless. I already have a workhorse CIJ 62 Jazz so the satin was in effect a duplicate. I came very close to making the journey to Glasgow to discuss removing the fretboard (completely) and replacing with an un-lined rosewood slab. It would then have been the coolest fretless Jazz in existence. The cost of that on top of its original value (not to mention the shipping/charges etc from Japan) would have taken it over my self-imposed limit for carting around to gigs (i.e. I would have been 'fretting' about anything happening to it). I'm determined to find a half-decent looking un-lined fretless Jazz somewhere, as my current fretless is a P, and I just don't get on with the neck as well as a Jazz. I tried to find a trade for it on here last year sometime - anyone remember this? - Once again, it's another one sitting in a bag doing nothing..... (I really must stop acquiring stunning looking Japanese Fenders). For the amount of money involved, those Walnut Squiers actually look like a no-lose situation no matter what is eventually done to them - the only restricting factor is the word 'Squier' on the headstock. I know they are perfectly good guitars, I know they are well built, I know that 'name-on-the-headstock' snobbery is evil and self-defeating... but... but...

Let's not start getting all chippy-on-the-shoulder because no-one else knows the ins-and-outs of our kit, or makes us feel under-appreciated. I haven't a clue what half the drummer's kit is called or why he bothers tweaking his tum-tums (or something) before a gig with the thing I normally use to bleed my central heating radiators. Guitarists have a suitcase of little boxes on the floor in front of them (with cool blinking lights and stuff) and they stand on them every so often, I'm just not interested in whatever they may be for. Sound checks? It's a bass, half of any 'nuances' get completely lost anyway (IMHE) - Can I hear it? Can they hear it out there? Good, where's the bar?.... It all comes together though and we sound pretty smart. That's all that matters. Team game.

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='843847' date='May 21 2010, 09:23 AM']Before the mid nineties they are marked "Made in Japan". After then (and a change in manufacturing contract) they are marked "Crafted in Japan". No doubt the cognoscenti have an opinion as to which is "the one to have" [/quote] I can't tell any difference, but if it helps bump up the value of my MIJ, then long may the cognoscenti spread these desirability myths....

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='841803' date='May 19 2010, 10:29 AM'].....the OP is talking about an MIJ not a MIM. The snob-o-meter seems to put them somewhere in the middle I think.[/quote] The Fender Japan stuff is still almost the guitar/bass world's best kept secret. They will not lose value - especially as they are now getting much harder to acquire (and the prices are rising). Have played many Mex/Jap/US and there is no contest. There may be 'iffy' Mex's and US's, but never an iffy Jap. Rock-solid reliable and beautifully made (as you would expect). Anyone happy to pay hundreds more for a 'Made in USA' decal on the headstock (that's the only difference) needs their head examined (IMO).

If you can, do yourself a favour and consider removing any 'available' ad you have kicking around, or at least editing them to remove any reference to your ex-band. It just doesn't set the right tone for attracting a band. It's like those internet dating sites (so I'm told) where women will include in their 'Looking For...' blurb a whole ream of things that was wrong with their ex. I think people just tend to skim right over those ones.... (I certainly would).