GreeneKing Posted December 25, 2012 Share Posted December 25, 2012 (edited) I've owned quite a few Fenders over the years. With the exception of my RI Precision non have made a lasting impression on my bass soul. But they have to get one right once in a while I've had my 1987 Fender Jazz Power Special for a while now having bought it on a whim on BC. I loved the look and the specs interested me. The Fender electronics started to fail and I looked around for a replacement. I'm a big fan of John East's pre-amps but I wanted to retain the original pickup switching option. John said it was possible and customised a U-Retro to have a 3 way switch, like the original, with neck/both/bridge options. The neat thing is that there is an active blend too. If the blend knob is set to bridge then the switch works otherwise it's the blend that's used. There's sweepable mids, bass, treble and a treble boost by lifting the treble knob. There's also an active/passive switch. The bass is CIJ, a P/J with a reversed P pickup. It's got 22 frets and has a layer of carbon weave in the neck that exits on the headstock making the bass look as if it has a matching black headstock. Playability is a bit special, the best Fender I've owned by far. The neck is lovely and slim and the action is low and very clean to play. It's a tone monster with a huge range of tones. I've also fitted a Babitz bridge purely as the original was corroded. It is a great bridge and looks very nice too imo. I had a problem with lots of noise that went when you touched the strings. I checked the bridge earth and it was fine. I spoke with John and he suggested shorting out the pups to see if it was a shielding issue. It was. Today I just put the bass back together after putting two coats of shielding paint in all the cavities and joining holes. It's now very sorted indeed. Yeah I know it's Xmas day but what's a single guy miles from family to do [url="http://peterb4407.smugmug.com/Other/SmugShots/20297576_MJZnTm#!i=2289307308&k=Wc4zTnP&lb=1&s=A"][/url] [url="http://peterb4407.smugmug.com/Other/SmugShots/20297576_MJZnTm#!i=2289307359&k=pJXLGHW&lb=1&s=A"][/url] Peter Edited December 25, 2012 by GreeneKing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rOB Posted December 25, 2012 Share Posted December 25, 2012 Very nice indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted December 25, 2012 Share Posted December 25, 2012 Like that, the reversed P-pickup makes sense to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 Cool bass Peter, very cool indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 This kind of messing about scares me, I am afraid (). I wouldn't know where to start. Get a man in, I say Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreeneKing Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 (edited) Thanks for the kind comments. It really has turned out well. Bilbo, I'd swop your playing ability for my practical ability Edited December 28, 2012 by GreeneKing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted December 28, 2012 Share Posted December 28, 2012 [quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1356704409' post='1912648'] This kind of messing about scares me, I am afraid ( ). I wouldn't know where to start. Get a man in, I say [/quote] My thoughts always!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreeneKing Posted December 28, 2012 Author Share Posted December 28, 2012 [quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1356725598' post='1913023'] My thoughts always!! [/quote] Please see my comments to Bilbo above Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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