Recent content by andyjevans

I play a Gretsch Junior Jet bass and it has a very nice action - the best I tried out of several models I auditioned. I recommend it. I have 2 of them and could let one go.

I have a Wal Pro fretless passive bass from around 1981. A couple of the rotary pots need replacing and I need to know the circuit and the values of the pots and if they are log or linear. A photo of the circuit would be really helpful too, to avoid me having to take the bass apart. Can anyone...

Guild JS1 I'd love another!

I used to play a Guild JS1 which I really liked. I'd love another but they're rare and I don't want to pay anything over-priced.

I've been researching pickups mainly by listening to an awful lot of YT videos. The pickup that stands out for me, leaving out multi coils like Wal etc, is the Musicman in Alnico 5. I have a couple of Junior Jets, and I'm thinking of replacing the bridge pickup on one of them with a MM. I was...

Here's the picture on the ALiExpress site. Certainly not the same as their cheaper ceramic one. From the sound excerpts I've heard on YouTube I definitely prefer alnico. But sound is a personal thing, and I'm sure there are fans of ceramic and neodymium.

Thanks, Steve. That's helpful. I ordered one. We'll see how it sounds and measures.

If you read the description more closely it says both pickups are 14.5K. The "alnico 5" is listed as 7.1H. This sounds much more like ceramic to me. The alnico 5 pickups from Seymour Duncan and Tesla are 1.9K and 2.55K. I'd like to order a PU off AliExpress if it really is alnico, but I'd need a...

Gretsch Junior Jet short scale. Arthritis in L. thumb so retired my 34" bass. The Gretsch is perfect - doesn't stress the thumb. Great slim neck.

That's all exceedingly helpful. Basically this is all called "contouring". Most used terms are forearm contouring and belly/tummy contouring. I've now found several Youtube videos that show different tools that can be used. I'd be using hand tools I think, and a random orbital sander.

I don't know the technical term for the slanted corner on some basses for more comfortable RH access. It's combined with a belly cutaway on the back in this Jaguar body attached. You see the same combination on other basses e.g. early Wals. I have a walnut Telecaster body I want to make into a...

I play short scale, so limited choice and the first thing to get right is the neck. Once you get a neck that feels good to you, the body and PUs can be looked at. I'm slowly building a bass with my choice of components. Telecaster guitar body in walnut, alnico MM type pickup. Haven't solved the...

I mostly played a Wal fretless but lately I have arthritis issues in my left thumb - not uncommon in older bassists. So it has to be 30" short scale from now on - least stress on the fretting hand. I tried out a load of them - Epi, Gibson, Fenders..... The one that stood out, and by a mile...

I'm new to MM pickups but I very much liked the sound clips I've heard on YT. I bought an Alnico 5 Tesla PU (wired // = 2.6K) not realising it was staggered, and it remains to be seen if this works on my intended build of a Telecaster guitar body with a 30" bass neck. Haven't got a neck yet, so...

I'm a fan of the Musicman Pickup sound. Fuller to my ears than a PJ combination, with the 9.5mm pole pieces. I imagine you'd want to put the main bridge PU in exactly the MM position. You could add a neck pickup if you wanted but the MM works with a single pickup.