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- Jun 6, 2012
- 4,837
- 6,859
- Disclosures
- I don't wait 30 minutes after eating, to go swimming.
- Jun 6, 2012
- 4,837
- 6,859
- Disclosures
- I don't wait 30 minutes after eating, to go swimming.
All this talk about re-frets. I've been playing for over 40 years and owned dozens of basses and have always used roundwounds including "stainless" steels. I play a lot and I've never had to refret an instrument. What gives? Do y'all have bionic hands?!?!?
- Jun 6, 2012
- 4,837
- 6,859
- Disclosures
- I don't wait 30 minutes after eating, to go swimming.
That's gotta be the narrowest 5er I've ever seen!I carved this nut for my L2500 myself.
Filed a "shelf" for the overhang. Nice side effect, no glue neededsorry about the crappy pic.
Bound markerless ebony board.
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View attachment 3395309
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
Send me your magic fret dust … I live in Littleton and I have ground off and filed off fret ends on more than 30 basses … some more than once … When it gets below zero outside the humidity level in my house goes below 20% and the wood shrinks … And in the summer when I open my windows and let in fresh air quite often the humidity outside is under 20%. I have also seen instruments in music stores with protruding fret ends and I have seen instruments at my friends houses with the same problem. I run several humidifiers, but my house is pretty good sized and the furnace dries it out. It rained yesterday but still the humidity where my basses are is still only 30% … 35% to 50% is best for wooden musical instruments.
So I just assume than any instrument that I own that does not have a bound neck will need to be fixed after spending time in my house. There are a few exceptions. Also Right now I have a new bass neck that has never been on a bass and it came to me needing the fret ends fixed. No big deal … I have the tools and the experience.
- Jun 6, 2012
- 4,837
- 6,859
- Disclosures
- I don't wait 30 minutes after eating, to go swimming.
Wow! I don't use humidifiers and have never had a problem. I also brought quite a few instruments from California and bought from all over the country and Europe. Maybe you have your own micro-climate.
Nah it's the angle of the pics.
White binding ebony markerles= yummm.
Goes great with the Marty Bell flake finish.
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Fender actually used bound necks on the "regular" Jazz Bass just a couple of times. Once was in 1966 on that terrible mess of a thick neck with a deep U shape when they introduced the block markers. Looked good, played terrible - was really glad mine was a '65. They again used them in 1982 and some of those necks were used in the 1983 Jazz Bass too.
I have a 1982 Fender Jazz Bass that I bought about 10-years after my '65 Jazz was stolen. The serial number says late 1977/early 1978. Was told by someone who had worked for Fender that a lot of the necks with '77/'78 serial numbers were still being used in the early 80s. My Neck has no date on the heel, which was common in the early 80's and it's a 4-bolt neck. Most of the necks in the 70's were 3-bolt necks. The neck pocket looks like it was originally drilled for a 3-bolt neck and then drilled for the 4-bolts. The neck itself feels exactly like my '65 did. I figured out the date from the pots that are used in it. They are originals and from late 1982 (Nov/Dec). You don't see a lot of bound-neck Jazz Basses, but it's a good look..
I like the look a lot and, since it has the same feel as my '65, it plays just as well. I wouldn't buy a particular bass just because it has a bound neck, but I'm glad mine has one. My '65 had the rounded edges as does this one and it's a very comfortable neck to play.
Got to mention that I very specifically was looking for the thin Jazz Bass neck. My '65 had a "60's shallow C-shape neck" with a 7.25" radius, and my current Jazz has the same thing. That neck shape spoiled me as far as necks go. I toured with my '65 in the early 70's and had somewhere around 750 performances in a 3-year period (5-nights a week, 50-weeks a year). You get to know your bass pretty well when you play it almost every night. Every Jazz Bass I picked up after my '65 felt fat and unwieldy. Tried out some P-basses and their necks felt like the fat end of a baseball bat to me. So my neck preferences are a bit different from yours. Really happy with mine!
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"All wood shrinks why exposed to low humidity over a long time. I live in Denver and all of my basses with unbound necks need to have the fret ends filed off even though I run humidifiers."
Humidity expands wood. Lack of humidity drys it out and shrinks it. Basses built before the wood has reached the proper moister content will almost certainly have some fret sprout that needs to be dealt with.
Humidity expands wood. Lack of humidity drys it out and shrinks it. Basses built before the wood has reached the proper moister content will almost certainly have some fret sprout that needs to be dealt with.
They look cool on vintage styled basses in my opinion. When I started playing around 10 years ago or so, it seemed like there were way less bound/blocked options. Nowadays it seems like they're really common. The fact that they're so common actually makes me like them less. Instead of looking deluxe they merely look standard in some ways. Just my opinion!
My BIL must play differently than I do. I’ve been playing 25 years and I’ve refretted nothing at all, nor needed to. He just took up guitar maybe seven years ago and has already refretted all three of his instruments.
I saw them before he got the refrets. They were DEEPLY divoted.
I dunno, man. I’ve been keeping one of my Strats at my folks’ house in Littleton for over a decade. The frets feel exactly the same whenever I pick it up, no matter the season.
I think it’s an instrument-by-instrument thing.
Sixgunn said: ↑
All this talk about re-frets. I've been playing for over 40 years and owned dozens of basses and have always used roundwounds including "stainless" steels. I play a lot and I've never had to refret an instrument. What gives? Do y'all have bionic hands?!?!?"
String up a bass with Rotosound 66's and play that one instrument about every weekend for about 10 years and see what happens.
All this talk about re-frets. I've been playing for over 40 years and owned dozens of basses and have always used roundwounds including "stainless" steels. I play a lot and I've never had to refret an instrument. What gives? Do y'all have bionic hands?!?!?"
String up a bass with Rotosound 66's and play that one instrument about every weekend for about 10 years and see what happens.
