Jazz Bass guts?

sublime0bass · #1 11-13-2007, 08:15 AM

so i took the pickguard off my newly aquired American Jazz and found this when i removed it:

so, whats going on here? i suppose the larger neck pickup hole allows different pups (or possibly this is a body also used for a PJ), but what loses me is the other hole for a pot/switch on the lower horn area.

can i get a little explaination, plz? (year is 1999, ftr)

CincyBassMan · #2 11-13-2007, 08:22 AM

I'm not sure about the pup routs, but the hole in the upper bout is for hanging the body during the paint process. The pup routs could be due to CNC...

Webtroll · #3 11-13-2007, 09:04 AM

Yeah I dunno what's up with that either. I have a cheap Squier (Korean if that makes a difference) and the hole fits the pickup and the cable is under the top so it works without the cover. I guess it makes alignments easier, but with CNC machines doing the work I don't know they'd need to.

GlennW · #4 11-13-2007, 09:47 AM

It's quicker because it doesn't have to be as accurate - that means it's cheaper to make, and you can bet they passed the savings right along to you.

sublime0bass · #5 11-13-2007, 09:50 AM

i paid $500 for this rusty guy

so, should i ignore the painting hole, or should i keep it in mind for some kind of switch (understanding that routing needs to be done)

also, do you think a P would work in that?

GlennW · #6 11-13-2007, 09:51 AM

P won't fit.

DavidRavenMoon · #7 11-13-2007, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sublime0bass

so i took the pickguard off my newly aquired American Jazz and found this when i removed it:

so, whats going on here? i suppose the larger neck pickup hole allows different pups (or possibly this is a body also used for a PJ), but what loses me is the other hole for a pot/switch on the lower horn area.

can i get a little explaination, plz? (year is 1999, ftr)

This is just done to make things easier (and faster/cheaper) when making the bass... The pickup opening is their way of cutting corners... same reason they have the exposed wire channel. They figured no one would see it since it's covered, so they didn't need to spend the time to make it neat.

The big round hole is a tooling hole.. either they had a handle there or it was attached to a machine to hold the body while working on it. You sometimes see whole like this in the neck pocket too.

Pilgrim · #8 11-13-2007, 03:13 PM

Yup, the round hole is just a locating hole to keep the body in place for tooling - you see it on a lot of J bodies.

Modulator · #9 11-13-2007, 03:21 PM

Strange...I have a '96 Jazz and the pickup route is the shape of the pickup and there's no "painting hole."

DavidRavenMoon · #10 11-14-2007, 09:12 AM

I see mostly the MIM and Squires with the big rout and the whole.