gjones

[quote name='davebass66' timestamp='1345117938' post='1773723'] Thanks for the support guys! Already hit my 1st stumbling block......d'oh! I went ahead and ordered a parchment scratchplate for it (was only a tenner), however, being the fool that i am I didn't realise that the standard jazz scratchplates don't quite 'snug up' to the stack knob control plate!.....balls.....trying to decide whether this is something I can live with or not.....I have just found what calls itself a 62 reissue mint green scratchplate, but it's $47 from the states (plus import/VAT etc)....Also I'm not sure whether mint green works..... [/quote] Having changed a lot of scratchplates in my time I realised that they are not all identical and sometimes there can be a gap between control plate and the edge of the scratchplate. The easiest way to sort this out is just to fit the scratchplate and then loosen the control plate and move it until it sits snug where you want it. In extreme cases you may have to drill new holes for the control plate but usually that's not necessary. A stack knob control plate, I assume, is the same size and shape as a normal plate - It just has 2 holes instead of 3. This company, in Amsterdam, sell some great quality scratchplates at great prices. I've bought 2 and both were perfect fits. [url="http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Custom-world-guitar-parts/Pickguards-/_i.html?_nkw=jazz+bass+pickguard&submit=Search&_fsub=1787262016&_sid=711305886"]http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Custom-world-guitar-parts/Pickguards-/_i.html?_nkw=jazz+bass+pickguard&submit=Search&_fsub=1787262016&_sid=711305886[/url]

Mmmmm pretty, pretty. I've always liked sonic blue Jazzers since I saw JPJ playing one with Lenny Kravitz. May I ask where are you planning on getting the neck? I know stratosphere sell RI necks etc on ebay (I bought a Mex Classic sixties Jazz neck a while ago from them plus other various bits and pieces). In fact you could get everything you need to build your own reissue from Stratosphere, as they just take gear apart and sell them on bit by bit. Good luck. and here's the vid of JPJ playing his (probably original) sonic blue Jazz......bum notes and all. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xW84u4DOzE[/media]

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1345028705' post='1772463'] Funnily enough, there are any number of people on BC who will say that an Ibanez RS-900 can deliver the Precision sound better than many actual Precisions. So that's half your question answered! [/quote] +1 One of the best bass sounds I ever heard. It does Precision better than a very good Precision.

I like pizza..... And bass guitars.

Ha, Ha SHAPES! And all this time I thought I was a just a musical illiterate, making all this stuff up on the fly through trial and error. Thanks for that. I'll have to check out your lesson on major chord triangles.

I love my J -Retro and the sweepable mid is the best thing about it. I like to turn it all the way to the right (as you look down on it - turn to the right for low mid and the left for hi mid) and use the top knob to dial in as much mid as I need. It really does give a punch and presence while playing with a band. I sometimes wonder how I ever managed without it.

[quote name='Telebass' timestamp='1344540639' post='1766285'] Both the Geddy Lee and Marcus Miller IV are now Mexican (014xxxx numbers). [/quote] Nobody's told Fender Japan then, because they're still making the Marcus Millers [url="http://www.fenderjapan.co.jp/jb77-mm.html"]http://www.fenderjapan.co.jp/jb77-mm.html[/url]

I chopped and changed strings, of different gauges, for years before I knew what a truss rod was. You'll probably find the lighter strings sit a little closer to the frets because they sit lower in the nut but it's unlikely you'll need to adjust the truss rod if they still feel comfortable to play and they're not rattling off the frets. But if you do this will help http://basschat.co.uk/topic/138152-how-to-give-your-bass-the-best-set-up/

I saw one of these go for £320 on ebay this week and I thought THAT was a bargain!

Do any doubters want those sh*tty pots of mine? They can put them in their custom shop £3,000 Jazz bass and see if they can hear any audible difference. That should end the debate.

[quote name='krispn' timestamp='1344551694' post='1766467'] I live here - been to see stuff every day since it started this year, mind you much of it has been free stuff with variable quality. I have a buch of buddies over next week and we're doing 4/5 shows per day for a long weekend which has became a bit of a trdition for us. If you're stuck for company between shows gimme a shout and you can grab a pint with us. The more the merrier so that goes for anyone else who is knocking about. I'm happy to provide an email/mob number upon request......following all the necessary police checks gjones Might try and get to your gig one night, maybe next Wed as we've nothing booked that night. Some locals hate the festival but I've found it to be a great experience I guess its not for everyone! G [/quote] I'm not playing on the weds? I'm playing on Fri 10th and Sat 18th. All welcome.

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1344528716' post='1766065'] Right, I've booked a ticket and I am coming to see your band on Sat 18th! Anyone else going to be in Edinburgh next week? Let me know if you want to meet up. [/quote] Rock 'N' Roll!

[quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1344503628' post='1765440'] A lot of players may find this a worthwhile upgrade. [/quote] [size=4]Very true. I'm just passing on the evidence of my ears and I heard a huge improvement when I fitted KiOgon's [font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]wiring loom compared to the other two looms I tried. Maybe that was due to the CTS pots, or maybe it was due to a better grade of wire or maybe it was due to my rotten soldering on the other looms garbling the signal BUT the difference was night and day once it was fitted. The pickups went from from mushy mud to crystal clear. I'll leave others to debate why that might have been.[/font][/size]

Back using roto swing bass after I got a free set on this very forum and realised you don't get that punch from any other strings.

[quote name='KiOgon' timestamp='1344458480' post='1765012'] If you upgrade any components, not just on a bass, to ones of 'top spec' you surely expect an improvement? Otherwise why waste money buying 'better' pick ups, or top quality strings over cheap ones? [/quote] Very true. Why spend £150 on a set of Lindy Fralins when you could have a secondhand set of pickups from an Squier affinity for £15. If subtle upgrades to the quality of a pickup's component parts can make a big difference to their sound quality, why can't the same improvement be found when you upgrade your electronics? After all a pickup is just wire and some magnets.

Well the old Squier pots and the chinese set I got, already wired up on a control plate, both sounded naff. When I installed the CTS pots my pickups came to life. I'm only going by the evidence of what my ears told me and the difference was like between night and day. I know nothing about electronic components.

[quote name='Johnston' timestamp='1344438069' post='1764497'] Yip some folk will say swapping pots out doesn't do anything. [/quote] Yes, I think some bassists have cloth ears. Many can't tell the difference between maple and rosewood fretboards (oops do I hear the sound of another can of worms opening there?).

Of course the sound of my old pots could also have had something to do with my shocking soldering skills. The new wiring loom required no soldering.

I recently changed the pots on my Jazz and it's brought it back to life. I tend to chop and change pickups, necks, body, hardware etc on my Jazzes. Recently I bought a set of dimarzio model J pickups and fitted them to one of my Jazzes, which had just a bog standard Japanese control plate and electronics from a 1994 Squier. I hated the sound, which was muddy and indistinct, so I sold them and bought a set of Wizard 64s......which also sounded muddy and indistinct. Putting 2 and 2 together I assumed that it must be the electronics which were affecting the sound, so bought a cheap set of Chinese pots on a ready made control plate from ebay AND (you guessed it) The pickups STILL sounded rotten and lifeless. On the advice of another basschatter I bought a set of CTS pots on a solderless wiring loom from KiOgon, on basschat, and what an AMAZING difference they made to the sound of the pickups. They now sound punchy as hell with the neck pickup sounding round, fat and precisionlike and the bridge pickup sounding pokey and jacolike with a lovely warmth to it with the tone turned down. I never realised that a simple upgrade to a bass's electronics could make such a difference to the sound. I'm a very happy bunny and I've never had such a great sound from a passive Jazz.

[quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1344102472' post='1759879'] You could load a couple of carrots in it and they's sound good with a J-Retro. [/quote] This is very true. I have a J retro in a Jazz fitted with 18 year old Jap Squier pickups, which are not exactly the best pickups money can buy but even so they sound great with the retro. I also have a Jazz fitted with Wizard 64s which are great pickups and would sound [b]FANTABULOUS [/b]with a J retro.

About a year ago, after coming off stage at venue I was playing at, I had to break off a conversation I was having to go and check out the bassist of the band on after us after hearing just a few notes played at the line check. He had the best sound I've ever heard from a bass. I'd never seen that type of bass before and was told it was a Wal mk III. Is it worth £3000? If you've got the money in the bank maybe it is?.

I have a MiBass 550 and a barefaced compact. Very light and sound great together.

One of John's excellent Jazz bass wiring loom bought. I never knew that decent pots (and soldering) could make such a difference to the sound of a bass. It sounds great! Make sure your control plate is made for the larger CTS pots. Mine wasn't so I needed to get the old file out. Gareth

This guy looks like he has a good CV. He's up here in Edinburgh. [url="http://www.mcintyreguitars.com/about-mcintyre-guitars.html"]http://www.mcintyreguitars.com/about-mcintyre-guitars.html[/url]