Essex bass club (part 7)

[afireinside]

Originally Posted by stingray69

LOL! That's funny - over this past weekend I opened up my 2008 Am. Standard Jazz case just to see if I felt any differently about how the sound & playability compares to my SX's. I haven't even heard or played a single note on it since last December or so - to say I forgot what it sounded like would be a fair assessment. Anyway, I played about 15 minutes to get the tone good & burned into my ears, unplugged & immediately plugged in my Alder bodied SJB-57 (to be as apples to apples as possible). Played about 30 seconds and put the Am Standard back in it case & under the bed.

Similar to me over a few months I played about a dozen shows and 20 practices ect with my Vintage Green SX so to not risk my USA being dinged stolen ect. So one practice I finally took out my "Baby" and was blown away by the sound QUALITY.....It dident compare, I messed with the EQ for like 10 min to the anger of the rest of the band, to no avail I could not get a decent sound like my VG SX...... Now to be fair the USA has a maple neck and the SX has RW.........

USA


SX VG


Gratuitous LPB Maple

[Gearhead43]

Originally Posted by Pulse Generator

Got this last Thursday and I love it! A quick tweak of the truss rod, played with the action a little bit and it feels great.

I also went over the neck with a green scotchbrite pad, and it feels much nicer.

While I was at it, I used the pad to de-chrome the ashtray and anything else that was coated with a mirror like finish. It was a bit too blingy for me before; I like it sooo much better now.

I have one of those on the way to my house, should be here Monday. Hope I get a good one, first SX for me.

[stingray69]

Originally Posted by afireinside

Similar to me over a few months I played about a dozen shows and 20 practices ect with my Vintage Green SX so to not risk my USA being dinged stolen ect. So one practice I finally took out my "Baby" and was blown away by the sound QUALITY.....It dident compare, I messed with the EQ for like 10 min to the anger of the rest of the band, to no avail I could not get a decent sound like my VG SX...... Now to be fair the USA has a maple neck and the SX has RW.........

USA


SX VG


Gratuitous LPB Maple

Same here - I found myself having to f around with the EQ for the majority of the time to find something useable, or rather the kind of punch & growl I'm accustomed to with my SX jazz basses I should say. The MIA lacked punch in the lower mids especially between 100-200Hz to my ears (not a good place for a jazz to be lacking in frequencies) - it also seemed a bit artificially hyped in the highs but I don't know if that came down to the pickup voice or graphite support in the neck imparting extra sizzle. Maybe the lack of any real low mids made the highs more prominent & stand out more. Whatever it was, it lacked "oomph" and character. Flat & wide is the best term I can come up with to describe the sound. I think the 70's spacing really enhances the lower mids IMO. I mean I plugged the SX back in and BAM - instant balls & growl under the same amount of highs, it was a great refresher that I'm playing the right bass for my idea of a great jazz bass tone. In all complete honesty - sometimes I wonder why I'm hanging on to the MIA at this point.

SWEET basses you've got there BTW!

[ProfGumby]

Here are some pics of the bass that arrived today...um, well yesterday (1:P25 am here)
It was killin me to have to watch this box stare at me!


So I opened it!


And check out the figuring on the headstock and neck! clearly the best one I now own!




It was almost a shame to take the neck off the body, but it looks as hot on it's new body too!

Crappy pic, I will take more. I have the pickguard fitted for this one and am going to fill the holes that don't line up. I will take better pics when the guard is on the bass. Then it's new electronics time!

EDIT: pay no attention to the crappy ass 15 year old love seat the case rests on! I am washing the slip cover it normally looks much better than that!

[xbmedic]

Originally Posted by ProfGumby

EDIT: pay no attention to the crappy ass 15 year old love seat the case rests on! I am washing the slip cover it normally looks much better than that!

Ah yes, the preemptive defense against attacks on the love seat. Well played, sir.

Seriously, that SJB is looking awesome! I anxiously await the pics of the finished bass.

[Ivarrr]

Oh wow that looks amazing. First picture of the headstock I was like "nice." but then I saw the second picture and my jaw dropped, it's gorgeous!

I'm trying to decide what to for my self this holiday season. I sort of want a fretless P so I can swap the necks with my SX jazz at will. Thing is I've only been playing bass since June/July and with my jazz combo since August (also been playing guitar since I was 16, 19 now), I don't know if I'm ready for a fretless or even another bass.

[THand]

Great looking neck (and bass) Prof Gumby!!

[bronzdragon]

Originally Posted by ProfGumby

EDIT: pay no attention to the crappy ass 15 year old love seat the case rests on! I am washing the slip cover it normally looks much better than that!

Kinda touches on something I was commenting to my wife the other day after spending weeks checking out all the cool basses people have on this forum. I was saying something about the amount of people that have basses worth more then a thousand dollars, but the pictures will be right next to like a milk crate as a bedstand, or a blow-up bed.

I guess you have to have your priorities.


~r~

I know, I know, off topic ... but i've been in this thread because i've been tossing over, either getting a MIM fender, Squier or SX in the near future and I just thought it was funny.

[Livewire]

Originally Posted by Dark Horse

Sometimes they fight ya tooth and nail -


Such is the case of this SX 57 P Bass, which I bought "in pieces". My original intention was to hog out a chunk of wood in the pickup area, install a EB0 pickup, varitone, and have a fatty dub machine. So, with that in mind, I set to work. First order of business was to strip the orange tint from the neck, and used the "Citrustrip method". I found out I prefer "Kleen Strip" instead, because I'm impatient and the Kleen Strip takes off the tint in "minutes", as opposed to "hours". Since I had no router here (it's back at my other place), and because I'm an impatient b*stard, I used the time honored hillbilly "drill and chisel" method to dig out the necessary wood.

See photo below -






Well, I got it all built - tortoise guard, I wired up a varitone for it, used a 1M volume pot, etc - and ran into a few problems.

1) the brass nut, which had been installed before I got the bass, was cut too low, so the "A" and "D" string buzzed at the 1st fret, regardless of adjustment.

2) The EB0 pickup I ordered, though it tested OK on the multimeter (just under 30k), had a flaw - the "E" string had very low output compared to the other strings. After mucking about with the polepieces and relative position/height, I realized that it was gonna be bad no matter what I did.

So, me being impatient and just wanting to finish up this project, decided to go another direction - straight Precision style bass. I had some DiMarzio pickups (one of the sets that came with the bass parts), so off came the tortoise guard and the EB0 pickup. I also had to remove the brass nut. That wasn't a big deal, as I really prefer bone nuts, but was gonna leave the brass one on if it was OK, just to save some work.

Reassembled -

Fender vintage bridge
homebuilt Varitone circuit
DiMarzio P pickup
1M pot
switchcraft jack
bone nut
D'Addario Chromes

The final result is a super light (I'm guessing at 7.5 lbs or so !), aggressive sounding P Bass that will mellow out greatly depending on how the varitone is set. It cost me next to nothing, I would have zero hesitations using it on gigs, and it will save wear and tear on my neck and shoulders !

Here are some final (for now) pics -

awesome!

[JPrinos]

Anyone notice the SX bass sitting against the wall of the main character's room in the movie 'Once'?

[ProfGumby]

Originally Posted by bronzdragon

Kinda touches on something I was commenting to my wife the other day after spending weeks checking out all the cool basses people have on this forum. I was saying something about the amount of people that have basses worth more then a thousand dollars, but the pictures will be right next to like a milk crate as a bedstand, or a blow-up bed.

I guess you have to have your priorities.


~r~

I know, I know, off topic ... but i've been in this thread because i've been tossing over, either getting a MIM fender, Squier or SX in the near future and I just thought it was funny.

I hear ya there! And FWIW We keep that love seat around as it is so damned comfy and has a deeper seat cushion. My wife has long legs and finds it very comfortable. And aside from most of 15 years of life with 2 dogs and us having 9 and a 14 year old sons it is holding up well. And a slip cover is where my bass GAS comes in vs a re-upholstery job!

Sorry bout that, back to your regularly scheduled bass related stuff....

[Dark Horse]

Originally Posted by Livewire

awesome!

Thanks !

HERE'S a sound clip of that one, demonstrating the Varitone circuit I wired up. I posted about how to wire it in THIS thread.

[Pulse Generator]

I just got a black pickguard from Rondo to replace the tort one that came on my bass. Rondo's site says "Different production runs of SX basses vary slightly. May require some dremmeling"

Well this is certainly true. None of the screw holes line up, and the neck pocket area is cut way too wide. I don't really want to drill 10 new holes in my week-old bass, so I think the pickguard's going back.

Looks like I'll rock the tort guard for a while!

[EagleMoon]

Originally Posted by Pulse Generator

I just got a black pickguard from Rondo to replace the tort one that came on my bass. Rondo's site says "Different production runs of SX basses vary slightly. May require some dremmeling"

Well this is certainly true. None of the screw holes line up, and the neck pocket area is cut way too wide. I don't really want to drill 10 new holes in my week-old bass, so I think the pickguard's going back.

Looks like I'll rock the tort guard for a while!

Is your bass a four or five string bass? If it's a four string, maybe you got a five string pickguard? If the neck pocket is too big, it sounds like it to me.

[ProfGumby]

Originally Posted by Pulse Generator

I just got a black pickguard from Rondo to replace the tort one that came on my bass. Rondo's site says "Different production runs of SX basses vary slightly. May require some dremmeling"

Well this is certainly true. None of the screw holes line up, and the neck pocket area is cut way too wide. I don't really want to drill 10 new holes in my week-old bass, so I think the pickguard's going back.

Looks like I'll rock the tort guard for a while!

Originally Posted by EagleMoon

Is your bass a four or five string bass? If it's a four string, maybe you got a five string pickguard? If the neck pocket is too big, it sounds like it to me.

Agreed! Both of the pickguards I've ordered from Rondo have a noticeably smaller neck pocket than those already on a bass, They must fit each pickguard to each bass at the factory.

As to re drilling the the holes, the only other option I can think of is a custom cut pickguard using the original as a template.

[Darkstrike]

Originally Posted by ProfGumby

Agreed! Both of the pickguards I've ordered from Rondo have a noticeably smaller neck pocket than those already on a bass, They must fit each pickguard to each bass at the factory.

As to re drilling the the holes, the only other option I can think of is a custom cut pickguard using the original as a template.

Funny, I bought a Fender one for my SX, and it was 95% perfect, the stock pickup was just a little too big.

[Fajah]

Originally Posted by Pulse Generator

I don't really want to drill 10 new holes in my week-old bass, so I think the pickguard's going back.

Looks like I'll rock the tort guard for a while!

Black Krylon spray paint will do the trick for you. It comes in different textures and can take a beating. When I owned my SJB-75, I wanted to change the PG from white to black. Rather than gamble with trying to fit a new PG, I just painted it.

Before:



After:

[ProfGumby]

Originally Posted by Darkstrike

Funny, I bought a Fender one for my SX, and it was 95% perfect, the stock pickup was just a little too big.

You know, I had the Fender 62RI pickguard right here, 2 feet from the SX project and it never occurred to me to see how it fit!

I do have to plug and re drill 7 of the 10 holes to get the SX tort on my SX jazz. And the neck cutout and the control plate end of the pickguard needed a bit of sanding/filing to fit it.

I also didn't think about the spray paint for plastic...

BTW, anyone have durability report on a painted pickguard?

[Darkstrike]

Originally Posted by ProfGumby

You know, I had the Fender 62RI pickguard right here, 2 feet from the SX project and it never occurred to me to see how it fit!

I do have to plug and re drill 7 of the 10 holes to get the SX tort on my SX jazz. And the neck cutout and the control plate end of the pickguard needed a bit of sanding/filing to fit it.

I also didn't think about the spray paint for plastic...

BTW, anyone have durability report on a painted pickguard?

A lot of work, but worth it in the end.

I've painted a pickguard, but it was wood.

I hear Krylon Fusion works great, its made for plastic, and is very tough.

[MichaelVee]

Any word from Kurt about holiday 2009 shipments? Last check on the website, the inventory is getting pretty depleted. It's about time for the shiploads to start showing up!