Dr_Tom Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Hi Guys, I have been drooling over vintage jazz basses (either original or reissue) for a long long time now, but unfortunately I do not have the £1500 (or anywhere near that figure) for the one I am after (The 62' reissue Jazz) Anyway, so I am gonna just tired myself over by giving my current mexican jazz a vintage look, and also give it a probably much need upgrade for the electrics and hardware. I was just after a bit of advice really, As far as upgrades go I was thinking on the following, does anybody have any comments on whether they are a good idea or if there are better versions out there?: [list] [*]Seymour Duncan Bassline Quarter Pound jazz pickups [*]Gotoh 201 Bass bridge [*]Hipshot HB1 or HB 7 tuners (not sure which would fit) [*]and possibly a J-retro pre-amp (not sure if it would be needed with the new pups and also its another £200 which I dont have) [/list] Along with that I want to get the bass looking like this: [url="http://www.kaproductions.com/gear/fender_jazz_cat_1972.jpg"]http://www.kaproductions.com/gear/fender_jazz_cat_1972.jpg[/url] Its currently the same colour as that picture (Lake Placid Blue with Rosewood fretboard) but I would want to add the bridge and pickup covers and the thumbrest. A couple of questions, does anyone know if a fender bridge cover would fit over the Gotoh bridge? and what do I need to take into consideration before drilling in to my bass and possibly ruining the paintwork? Also instead of buying a whole new neck with the block inlays, has anyone had any experience with the inlay stickers (extremely cheap solution I know, but I am a student....) Sorry for the long post Cheers Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Alsatian Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 About time I made my first post, I think! Are you after a vintage sound, to go with the vintage look? If so, you might want to consider a different set of pickups than the Quarter Pounders. They're great pickups and have a nice hot output, but not a particularly vintage tone. If it is an older tone you want, their Vintage SJB-1 pickups would probably be more up your street than the SJB-3 set. Another recommendation (and cheaper than the Seymour Duncans) would be for a set of Wizard Sixty-Fours. I used them on a Jazz Bass build a couple of years ago - I actually replaced the Quarter Pounders with them, opting for a more traditional Jazz Bass sound and they sounded really nice. They're £70 a set and the service from Wizard is top-notch, too. They also do higher-output pickups. [url="http://www.wizardpickups.co.uk/shop.asp?category=Bass&sub=Jazz%20Bass"]http://www.wizardpickups.co.uk/shop.asp?ca...sub=Jazz%20Bass[/url] I've used a Gotoh 201 on a P-bass, when it wasn't possible to get hold of Badass II bridges and found it to be an excellent, sturdy bridge - a P-bass bridge cover fit neatly over it, so I imagine that the Jazz cover plate would too as it's longer. You might find with the Jazz cover, that you need to move it slightly back to clear the back of the Gotoh as the back end of the cover tapers more than the P-bass cover, but you can position it before screwing it in. I've no experience with block inlay stickers sadly, but I think there are a few threads on Talkbass about them. They certainly do look nice and are quite cheap to buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Tom Posted May 7, 2011 Author Share Posted May 7, 2011 [quote name='Green Alsatian' post='1223301' date='May 7 2011, 03:26 PM']About time I made my first post, I think! Are you after a vintage sound, to go with the vintage look? If so, you might want to consider a different set of pickups than the Quarter Pounders. They're great pickups and have a nice hot output, but not a particularly vintage tone. If it is an older tone you want, their Vintage SJB-1 pickups would probably be more up your street than the SJB-3 set. Another recommendation (and cheaper than the Seymour Duncans) would be for a set of Wizard Sixty-Fours. I used them on a Jazz Bass build a couple of years ago - I actually replaced the Quarter Pounders with them, opting for a more traditional Jazz Bass sound and they sounded really nice. They're £70 a set and the service from Wizard is top-notch, too. They also do higher-output pickups. [url="http://www.wizardpickups.co.uk/shop.asp?category=Bass&sub=Jazz%20Bass"]http://www.wizardpickups.co.uk/shop.asp?ca...sub=Jazz%20Bass[/url] I've used a Gotoh 201 on a P-bass, when it wasn't possible to get hold of Badass II bridges and found it to be an excellent, sturdy bridge - a P-bass bridge cover fit neatly over it, so I imagine that the Jazz cover plate would too as it's longer. You might find with the Jazz cover, that you need to move it slightly back to clear the back of the Gotoh as the back end of the cover tapers more than the P-bass cover, but you can position it before screwing it in. I've no experience with block inlay stickers sadly, but I think there are a few threads on Talkbass about them. They certainly do look nice and are quite cheap to buy.[/quote] Cheers for the advice. To be honest I'm not entirely sure whether I want the vintage sound or not (sounds odd I know) but the bass sound that I have always loved and grown up listening to is Mark Hoppus' the bassist from Blink 182. I apologise for it being pop punk and I have moved on with my musical tastes, but still I really like his bass sound and he has always used SD quarter pounds (albeit P bass ones). Having said that I do love the sound of my jazz at the moment with the original mexican pickups I just feel it needs a little more 'umph'. I think I might need to find some to have a go on...... I will definitely look at the wizards though and cheers for the advice on the bridge. I'm pretty sure I will be going for that one and then I will just buy the cover and see if it fits over, if not I can just sell it on here. Cheers again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHUFC BASS Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Why not go for a Varitone with series switching ? If you're using a set of Quarter Pounders, the series switching will make them sound huge and perfect for punk. Easy to install to - no soldering, just screw the wires in and bob's your live in lover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Alsatian Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 (edited) [quote name='Dr_Tom' post='1223454' date='May 7 2011, 05:38 PM']Cheers for the advice. To be honest I'm not entirely sure whether I want the vintage sound or not (sounds odd I know) but the bass sound that I have always loved and grown up listening to is Mark Hoppus' the bassist from Blink 182. I apologise for it being pop punk and I have moved on with my musical tastes, but still I really like his bass sound and he has always used SD quarter pounds (albeit P bass ones). Having said that I do love the sound of my jazz at the moment with the original mexican pickups I just feel it needs a little more 'umph'. I think I might need to find some to have a go on.....[/quote] Ah, with you - no need to be embarassed over music/sounds you like! In that case, the Quarter Pounders will definitely be the way to go for you. When I put the Jazz build together, I initially wanted it to sound a bit more muscular than a standard Jazz and the QPs fitted the bill perfectly. After a bit, I started getting GAS for another Vintage Reissue Jazz (I stupidly sold my MIA '62 reissue six years ago to fix my car) and swapped the Quarter Pounders for the Wizards. Here's a snippet of the bass track for a cover I did showing the Quarter Pounders in action (wish I hadn't sold that also now, as I'm currently Jazz-less!). This was both pickups on full with the tone wide open. I think the amp was my old Fender Rumble 60. Edited May 7, 2011 by Green Alsatian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Tom Posted May 7, 2011 Author Share Posted May 7, 2011 [quote name='WHUFC BASS' post='1223519' date='May 7 2011, 06:27 PM']Why not go for a Varitone with series switching ? If you're using a set of Quarter Pounders, the series switching will make them sound huge and perfect for punk. Easy to install to - no soldering, just screw the wires in and bob's your live in lover.[/quote] Yeah I will have a look, especially when there isn't any soldering involved! The trouble is that my taste in music is so varied that my bass needs to somehow keep up. One minute I will be playing some walking jazz line in a band, then on to some cheesy pop-punk, then some really heavy nu-metal. I think the jazz can handle anything, its just a case of tweaking that set up to be more in line with your personal preferences. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Tom Posted May 7, 2011 Author Share Posted May 7, 2011 [quote name='Green Alsatian' post='1223572' date='May 7 2011, 07:35 PM']Ah, with you - no need to be embarassed over music/sounds you like! In that case, the Quarter Pounders will definitely be the way to go for you. When I put the Jazz build together, I initially wanted it to sound a bit more muscular than a standard Jazz and the QPs fitted the bill perfectly. After a bit, I started getting GAS for another Vintage Reissue Jazz (I stupidly sold my MIA '62 reissue six years ago to fix my car) and swapped the Quarter Pounders for the Wizards. Here's a snippet of the bass track for a cover I did showing the Quarter Pounders in action (wish I hadn't sold that also now, as I'm currently Jazz-less!). This was both pickups on full with the tone wide open. I think the amp was my old Fender Rumble 60.[/quote] Cheers for the clip mate, thats pretty much what I am going for. Plus with my relatively new TC electronics RH450 head, I think it will sound amazing. Trust me though, as soon as I have the money I will be spending it on a wholly vintage 62' jazz and keeping it truly vintage, I absolutely love the sound, but it just isn't quite there for the bands that I play in, but for me personally I would happily die playing one! Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynxus69 Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 You're right about that TC head. I play Stingray and IMHO it doesn't match with TC, but when I had try Jazz through it I was amazed! They really sound great together Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikegatward Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 [quote name='WHUFC BASS' post='1223519' date='May 7 2011, 06:27 PM']Why not go for a Varitone with series switching ? If you're using a set of Quarter Pounders, the series switching will make them sound huge and perfect for punk. Easy to install to - no soldering, just screw the wires in and bob's your live in lover.[/quote] Let me know if you go down the varitone route, I've just taken mine off to replace with a retro, ben meaning to put it on the classifieds section Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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