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Weezer/Matt Sharp Jazz build


umcoo
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Hi folks,

Thought I'd let you know about a build I've started - a replica of Matt Sharp's black jazz bass he used in his time with early Weezer and the Rentals. The bass is made up of a knackered old 70's body, some Schecter Monstertone pickups and a Birdseye Maple/Ebony Warmoth Tele Bass neck. Karl Koch (Weezer's webmaster and general fifth member) got in touch with Matt for me and passed on the specifics for the build, so I'm really grateful for that. Here's the bass as it is now.




I'm not one for relicing basses, so I needed a black Jazz body with 70's spacing. A used Geddy Lee bass with a few scratches and dings showed up on Ebay so I got that a few weeks back.






The pickups were the hardest thing to source. They're discontinued now and only available on Schecter custom shop basses (which retail about $3000). Anyways, I found a guy who bought a bass in 1996, didn't like the pickups and swapped them. Turns out he had kept the Schecter pickups for the next 14 years and happily sold them to me when I asked.



I put the order in with Warmoth last week for the neck so that should be here in about 12 weeks maximum. I love waiting, don't you?! Got a couple of other bits on the way from Warmoth; a tortoiseshell pickguard, Schaller BML tuners so they should be here hopefully very soon. I'll update this when they get here.

Got a Schaller roller bridge in the mail today from Thomann in Germany to complete it all. I've assembled a bass before, but I think I'll take this to a pro to do a great job and get it setup just right.

Finally, here's a couple of pics of what I have now.

Cheers for looking.



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I think the story goes that Matamp made all the Oranges back in the day. There was some kind of fallout and they went their separate ways. Good luck finding an OR200. They're pretty rare now - I always remember that Jimmy Pages OR200 sold on ebay for $30,000. So...yeah!!

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Wayne - I'm off to B&Q this afternoon for my chisel and saw. Haha, not really. You may be able to see the body is very slightly dinged and bashed, so I'm just going to leave it at that and beat the crap out of it on stage when it's done.

Just had email from Warmoth - the squared fretboard end and a jet black ebony board is adding on another $110. My poor, poor credit card.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

[quote name='Gust0o' post='1204809' date='Apr 19 2011, 02:27 PM']Where did this get to in the end, Umcoo?[/quote]

Good timing my friend. Had my shipping notification email from Warmoth this morning, so the neck should be with me tomorrow, all being well.

Of course, pics when she arrives! After that I'm looking to get it sent to a luthier in Manchester to bolt her together and set her up just right.

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[quote name='umcoo' post='1204846' date='Apr 19 2011, 03:06 PM']Good timing my friend. Had my shipping notification email from Warmoth this morning, so the neck should be with me tomorrow, all being well.

Of course, pics when she arrives! After that I'm looking to get it sent to a luthier in Manchester to bolt her together and set her up just right.[/quote]

Who might that be if you don't mind me asking? I'm thinking of finding someone in Manc for a setup when mine arrives but not sure where to go yet, apart from one in Stockport a mate uses

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I contacted Jacks Instrument Repair, Manchester Guitar Tech and Ged Green. Nothing from Ged, a quick reply from MGT and pretty much everything I wanted from Jack. So him, most likely.

Disclaimer: - Nothing bad about the other two. Jack just seemed on board with the build and I'd like to give him a try. Had other positive experiences with Ged and MGT.

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UPS called when he was 10 mins from my house and said they need to get cash on delivery for the VAT and customs. Of course, I'm stuck at work. Pleaded with him to leave it with a neighbour and they can send me to payment details through the post (like has previously happened), but said he couldn't! Another day of waiting for the neck....

Oh well...I've waited 9 weeks, what's one more day!

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  • 4 weeks later...

All done! Picked it up from Jack Ellis at Jack's Instrument Services in Salford this morning. Great guy to work with, did all I asked and was helpful in guiding me with what needed doing. And cheap too!

Anyways, here are the pics for everyone. It's been a long time coming, but I finially did it!!







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I did. Bastardos! :)

Paid about £90-100 extra with customs charges.

You can choose who Warmoth ship with...USPS (which is delivered here by Royal Mail) is more likely to slip through the net. Otherwise, they use UPS, and I've paid customs every time with them. The advantage though with UPS is a great tracking system and it was at my door 2 days after it was shipped from Washington state. Great service, but pricey.

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Very nice, well done.

If I were in your position I would consider doing something to protect those coils from accidental damage, they seem a bit too exposed for my liking and could be very easily damaged. Even getting them taped would go a long way to protecting them and wouldn't spoil the aesthetic of the bass.

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Thanks Doctor.

The pickups already have like a copper tape round them. You can see it in the picture near the start of the thread. Is that what you meant? On the completed pics, it does look like exposed pickup windings, but that's not the case.

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  • 2 weeks later...

[quote name='umcoo' post='1148708' date='Mar 3 2011, 07:29 PM']Hi folks,

Thought I'd let you know about a build I've started - a replica of Matt Sharp's black jazz bass he used in his time with early Weezer and the Rentals. The bass is made up of a knackered old 70's body, some Schecter Monstertone pickups and a Birdseye Maple/Ebony Warmoth Tele Bass neck. Karl Koch (Weezer's webmaster and general fifth member) got in touch with Matt for me and passed on the specifics for the build, so I'm really grateful for that. Here's the bass as it is now.




I'm not one for relicing basses, so I needed a black Jazz body with 70's spacing. A used Geddy Lee bass with a few scratches and dings showed up on Ebay so I got that a few weeks back.






The pickups were the hardest thing to source. They're discontinued now and only available on Schecter custom shop basses (which retail about $3000). Anyways, I found a guy who bought a bass in 1996, didn't like the pickups and swapped them. Turns out he had kept the Schecter pickups for the next 14 years and happily sold them to me when I asked.



I put the order in with Warmoth last week for the neck so that should be here in about 12 weeks maximum. I love waiting, don't you?! Got a couple of other bits on the way from Warmoth; a tortoiseshell pickguard, Schaller BML tuners so they should be here hopefully very soon. I'll update this when they get here.

Got a Schaller roller bridge in the mail today from Thomann in Germany to complete it all. I've assembled a bass before, but I think I'll take this to a pro to do a great job and get it setup just right.

Finally, here's a couple of pics of what I have now.

Cheers for looking.



[/quote]

that gt200 is so sexy, i want to touch it :)

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