Dr.Dave Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 One fairly bog standard Midnight Blue (looks more like about half ten to me but there you go) Mexican Fender Jazz. Got it on the cheap off the bay , I think because the logo was scratched. Dude was trying to get rid of the Mex serial number I reckon. Here it is.....well, was. So - a bag of bits various arrived this morning and along with a couple of odds and sods hanging around the tool box I've.. Replaced the Logo with a 70's jobby and given it 7 coats of varnish Added a second string guide - as is my want with Fenders to stop the A rattling under my ham fisted assaults Bunged some Dunlop straplocks on it - save me looking a wilf by dropping it on my foot , as did happen once in York. Screwed a nice shiny pearloid pickguard on - 3 of the screwholes were in the right place!! Got 3 chrome knobs on it with pearl inserts in the tops - and round the back the neckplate has been changed to one from a 70's fender guitar with the nice big 'F' and the placcy cushion. Best of all - installed a pair of Wizard 84's. I wasn't sure witch (eh...eh...!!) ones to get - these or the 64's' but noodling around in the spare room here these sound like the dogs warlocks (!!!) I await one of you to come up with an unwanted Badass for it - buggered if I'm forking out 50 brick for a new one. Quick word on the Wizard installation. Thought that the neck one might need a fettlette , it being the correct size unlike the Mex original . Not a bit of it. Instead the bridge one needed persuading in by shaving bits off the underside of the pup cover with a kitchen knife. Prospecive purchasers might bare that in mind. So here it is now. Don't know if it's bass 'porn' as such. More like a bird in the Star with her kit still on but unbuttoned in the right places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tait Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 oooh, thats nice. a very cool looking bass. i always think chrome knobs make a huge difference to how a jazz looks, ive never liked the plastic ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 Dave, that's wicked pal, and probably now as good as many current US models. My MIM Precision, as I've repeated endlessly elswhere, was by far the best Precision I've ever played, admitedly modded to the hilt, like yours, but marvelous none the less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerdragon Posted March 19, 2008 Share Posted March 19, 2008 Strange about the Wizards. mine just dropped in to my MIM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Dave Posted March 20, 2008 Author Share Posted March 20, 2008 [quote name='beerdragon' post='160531' date='Mar 19 2008, 10:27 PM']Strange about the Wizards. mine just dropped in to my MIM.[/quote] The hole was a tad small I think , maybe too much paint - not blaming the pup. Anyway I figured it best to fettle an easily replaced placcy pup cover so I just pared the 4 corners down a bit with a knife (about halfway up from the bottom so it wouldn't show when it went in). The replacement pickguard is 'normal' - ie the hole is neck pup size rather than the mex 'one size fits all' deal. It's not a great fit against the control plate though.You can drive a bus through there...........well you could if busses were about 1mm wide! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnylager Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 [quote name='Dr.Dave' post='160517' date='Mar 19 2008, 09:59 PM']Don't know if it's bass 'porn' as such. More like a bird in the Star with her kit still on but unbuttoned in the right places.[/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_the_bass Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 i likes it even if it the "after" picture doesn't look wildly different to the "before" picture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinman Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 Nice one Dr. Dave. I do like that pickguard with the 10:30 blue colour. Alway been a 3TS fan but could be tempted. I put 84s and a Badass on my MIM Jazz too - well worth it. Interested about the extra string guide - my A sometimes jumps out of the nut with a bit of over enthusiasm - I assume that sorts that problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Dave Posted March 20, 2008 Author Share Posted March 20, 2008 [quote name='thinman' post='160712' date='Mar 20 2008, 11:16 AM']Nice one Dr. Dave. I do like that pickguard with the 10:30 blue colour. Alway been a 3TS fan but could be tempted. I put 84s and a Badass on my MIM Jazz too - well worth it. Interested about the extra string guide - my A sometimes jumps out of the nut with a bit of over enthusiasm - I assume that sorts that problem?[/quote] Never had an A do a runner quite like that but years ago when I first got a Fender and my technique was 'heavy' ,to say the least, I did get it rattling around a lot. Maybe in those days I wasn't even stringing up properly but the addition of an extra string guide solved the rattle and I've done it to everything Fender-like ever since. Funny but I set out to get a 3TS but this dark blue (I lightened the pic a little to make it easier to see) just jumped out at me. My wife said it sounded 'dull' - what she didn't see was the ner-do-well that set it up simply screwed the saddles right back and the silk wraps were going over the saddles!! Nice to have something passive to take to Dr Blue gigs alongside the Shuker or the Status and I'll play it in the ZZ trib too - once the punters have got the novelty of the Epi Ex I'll change to this. I've just got silly precious about taking my 73 P out of the house so this will do me a job I haven't been letting the P do. Bit more versatile too. Loving the 84's at spare room vol through the Trace Combo's pre-shape - Gig on Sun at some dodgy s*** hole so we'll see how it does in battle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigjohn Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 [quote name='Rayman' post='160526' date='Mar 19 2008, 10:19 PM']My MIM Precision, as I've repeated endlessly elswhere, was by far the best Precision I've ever played, admitedly modded to the hilt, like yours, but marvelous none the less.[/quote] Not played yours - but mine's a beauty too. Not even modded (although it is an FSR) - it came with US standard pickups, reissue bridge (the one with the grooves) even the tuners are fine (esp after being taken to pieces and soaked in wd40... The neck is fabulous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jono Bolton Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 [quote name='thinman' post='160712' date='Mar 20 2008, 11:16 AM']Nice one Dr. Dave. I do like that pickguard with the 10:30 blue colour. Alway been a 3TS fan but could be tempted. I put 84s and a Badass on my MIM Jazz too - well worth it. Interested about the extra string guide - my A sometimes jumps out of the nut with a bit of over enthusiasm - I assume that sorts that problem?[/quote] The E on my MIM Jazz does the same thing, I think it stems from replacing the stock bridge with the BadAss II. Neepheid has a 3 string retainer bar on his OLP, you can see it in one of the build diaries he's done, I don't think it would fit in with the Fender vibe of the Jazz but it'd probably sort out your A string jumping out. My solution was to put a Graphtech nut on it (Tusq) and spend half an hour filing it down, tuning the E back up, hitting it as hard as possible to see if it was still jumping and repeating the process as required. Playing finger-style helps as opposed to playing with a pick, but if you have to use one try picking as close to the bridge as you can. Dr. Dave - nice bass! Although I've never seen a Jazz with Strat knobs before, it looks quite cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinman Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 [quote name='jono b' post='160889' date='Mar 20 2008, 03:51 PM']The E on my MIM Jazz does the same thing, I think it stems from replacing the stock bridge with the BadAss II. Neepheid has a 3 string retainer bar on his OLP, you can see it in one of the build diaries he's done, I don't think it would fit in with the Fender vibe of the Jazz but it'd probably sort out your A string jumping out. My solution was to put a Graphtech nut on it (Tusq) and spend half an hour filing it down, tuning the E back up, hitting it as hard as possible to see if it was still jumping and repeating the process as required. Playing finger-style helps as opposed to playing with a pick, but if you have to use one try picking as close to the bridge as you can. Dr. Dave - nice bass! Although I've never seen a Jazz with Strat knobs before, it looks quite cool![/quote] jono, I'll try the nut suggestion - I play finger style most of the time and it's not a problem then - just with a pick. I also have a strange resonance on the A when fretted around the 13th - the string sometimes resonates on the nut side and I wonder if there's a connection. And I think my problem arose after fitting the badass although the action's the same. Dr. Dave - nice bass again - and sorry to hijack your thread but you may have helped a couple of people out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Dave Posted March 21, 2008 Author Share Posted March 21, 2008 [quote name='thinman' post='161376' date='Mar 21 2008, 12:32 PM']jono, I'll try the nut suggestion - I play finger style most of the time and it's not a problem then - just with a pick. I also have a strange resonance on the A when fretted around the 13th - the string sometimes resonates on the nut side and I wonder if there's a connection. And I think my problem arose after fitting the badass although the action's the same. Dr. Dave - nice bass again - and sorry to hijack your thread but you may have helped a couple of people out![/quote] Not a hi-jack. Interesting point. Funnily enough it was in my pick playing days when I had rattly A probs. The 2nd guide stopped it in it's tracks. I can't say I noticed a prob with this Mex J - just something I do to Fenders. Think if there's some sort of weird resonant thingy going on with your bass the baddass would tend to amplify the problem , if problem's the word. Character , I'd prefer! Can't say I've ever fretted an A string that far up the dusty end much - not even on Sundays. Hang on a mo........ Nope, nothing odd - neither the Mex Jazz with (for the moment) original bridge nor the Precision with the Badass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Dave Posted March 24, 2008 Author Share Posted March 24, 2008 It had it's first job to do yest - and I'm really pleased with it. Brainwave about half an hour before I set off. I whipped the badass off my P and put it on this one so bar a few tweaks to that (which I did at the gig) the Jazz is a finished article now. The Wizards have a nicely rounded tone and plenty of output. The room wasn't a great one for sound though. It plays really well and held tune OK. I'd been worried about that as the M/C's look less than brilliant , there seems to be a small ammount of play on the gears. I couldn't really tell exactly what the badass did for it as I changed the strings at the same time as the bridge , so no 'like for like' comparison. It does noticeably sustain more than it did though and I have a lot more confidence in the bridge end of things. Soon as I picked up the gig bag - which usually has my Shuker in it - I felt the increase in weight. I was using my thinner strap too but no problems at all and I wouldn't describe it as heavy. Bare in mind that if I bought a modern US made Fender I'd want to upgrade the bridge at least,maybe the pups and customise the appearance a bit so it makes little sense to me to shell out 3 times the coin then chuck half of it away IF - obviously a big 'if' - the Mex one can do the job properly. It does. The bass as it is now has cost me £285. That figure will fall if I sell on the bits I've replaced. I'd happily take it to any job going and I don't at all see it as the poor relation alonside my Shuker,Status and '73P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 Nice one. I'm planning to do the same sort of mods to my new Squier Jazz, so maybe seeking your advice if you don't mind. I find it a bit unerving when first approaching a bass armed with a screw driver. Yesterday I made a tentative start by putting on strap locks. All went smoothly and the screws seemed to bite in properly. Looking for a bridge replacement next, either gotoh or bad ass, whichever is the most straight forward to install. Must admit I don't fancy filing the grooves on the badass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Dave Posted March 24, 2008 Author Share Posted March 24, 2008 [quote name='gary mac' post='162550' date='Mar 24 2008, 10:37 AM']Looking for a bridge replacement next, either gotoh or bad ass, whichever is the most straight forward to install. Must admit I don't fancy filing the grooves on the badass.[/quote] So...don't !! Many folk don't bother , including me. There's a sticky about them - I think in the repairs forum. A Badass 2 drops straight into a Fender and assuming the screw holes are the same on a Squier and a Fender I don't see you'll have a prob. A Badass 3 has the slots already filed. Leo Fender's idea was to make his instruments largely user serviceable , so no need get the shakes over modding so long as you;re careful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 thanks Doc. Will have a proper read of the sticky. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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