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62 jazz refinished and refretted
- Thread starter geddy402
- Start date
The pot has nothing to do with it. If I had to guess, I'd say the bass is in the 8 pound range and the pickups might be a little low? Those two things would lead to a woodier tone.
Interesting. Usually the lighter the wood means more resonance which is a brighter tone... but each bass is different.
Could be like what jkeefe said... didn't have that resonance his 65 has. And my baseline for sound comparison is my lightweight ash 64 CS with Fralin's... which is very bright and growly.
My plan it to bring my headphones and kickback 12 and see how it sounds. Keep the variables to a minimum. It's how I usually practice and its what I'm used to hearing my based through.
Could be like what jkeefe said... didn't have that resonance his 65 has. And my baseline for sound comparison is my lightweight ash 64 CS with Fralin's... which is very bright and growly.
My plan it to bring my headphones and kickback 12 and see how it sounds. Keep the variables to a minimum. It's how I usually practice and its what I'm used to hearing my based through.
8 pound alder has a hollower sound to my ear which is what I'm hearing in the clips and what I tend to hear in all those 8 pound road worns. Light, but light in the booty too. My 62 and 62 ri are both in he mid 9 pound range and are beasts.
Definitely take headphones and a headphone amp with you. Test results on a live amp could be thrown off by the acoustics of the room you're in, unless you're used to that room and know what to expect.
But I would go an expect to get a similar sound out of a vintage and your CS. Anyway, I was shocked at the difference between my two P-basses. The new one definitely sounded more harsh and loud (CS pickup had much higher output), the tone control also had a larger range, with some extreme tones at both ends. The vintage bass in comparison is more subtle in every aspect, it never goes to any extremes.
Also what I found was the neck on the vintage one is like rubber almost, it reacts to truss rod adjustment like no other, you can tell even the slightest adjustment right after you tune up to pitch. On new instruments I usually have to wait a couple of hours to see the full effect.
- Feb 16, 2008
- 21,240
- 23,633
- Disclosures
- John K Custom Basses
I find lighter basses to be fuller and rounder sounding with a bit less sustain, and the heavier ones to be brighter with more sustain. 8.5-9.5lbs is pretty standard for a vintage alder bodied j bass.
And I think jkeefe said he was playing through a 1x10...and recording through an iPhone... so that combo doesn't scream bottom end. Which is what the samples were missing giving it that...not sterile sound, maybe woody is the right term... but I think you guys know what I'm talking about.
Ok...so I got up close and personal with the 62 GC bass this afternoon. Let me start off by saying that GC has been a pleasure to work with and overnighted the bass up to Baltimore so I could play it. They took pictures answered questions and were really nice the past week. I know I know, they're trying to sell a $4k instrument so they better be nice, but some of these vintage boutique owners can be a little prickly.
So, I got to the store around lunch and had it waiting for me. Took it over to a Markbass head and rocked out for a bit with my headphones on. Plugged in my SansAmp just for fun to see how the bass worked with the pedal. My 64 CS really hits its Geddy stride with the pedal.
So the bass: I think jkeefe did a spot on review. The bass sounded great. Pups were hot with a lot of clarity. The neck was a little sticky, which was noted before. The neck was wider than my 64 CS and did feel more like a P bass than a jazz, which surprised me a bit. I don't know if the neck was refinished at some point too but there was some funky feeling lacquer from about the 9 fret up. Just didn't feel right to me...but I could be wrong. Nice and worn in above that, but just seemed like a shotty lacquer job.
The body. Obviously refinished, solid feeling, not light by my feel. My 64 CS is ash and is lighter than this. I think the body contributed to the "stiffness" of the tone. Don't get me wrong, if I didn't have my 64 CS I would be all over this, but it didn't have the wow factor I thought it was going to have. I love my 64 CS a lot, and it will take a lot for me to consider getting it a partner. I think my 64 CS is more agressive sounding, because of the ash, and the Fralin's. Something about the 62 just felt weird, like I was playing a piece of furniture more than a bass. The jazz tone was there but didn't knock my socks off from my 64 CS jazz baseline.
Anyway, I think you can tell by now I passed. Just didn't blow my skirt up. It was a great bass, $4k great, probably not. Maybe $3k and get it refinished and electronics figured out would be a better bet. But even if they were willing to come down that much (I didn't even try) I probably would have passed. I love my 64 CS...but that doesn't mean I'm gonna stop looking, it's too much fun!
Thanks again to all the people who chimed in and helped out especially to naurd, jkeefe and johnk. Appreciate all the help and wisdom.
My search for the right vintage bass continues...and perfect timing my "The Fender Bass" book" just came in the mail today! Time to read!
So, I got to the store around lunch and had it waiting for me. Took it over to a Markbass head and rocked out for a bit with my headphones on. Plugged in my SansAmp just for fun to see how the bass worked with the pedal. My 64 CS really hits its Geddy stride with the pedal.
So the bass: I think jkeefe did a spot on review. The bass sounded great. Pups were hot with a lot of clarity. The neck was a little sticky, which was noted before. The neck was wider than my 64 CS and did feel more like a P bass than a jazz, which surprised me a bit. I don't know if the neck was refinished at some point too but there was some funky feeling lacquer from about the 9 fret up. Just didn't feel right to me...but I could be wrong. Nice and worn in above that, but just seemed like a shotty lacquer job.
The body. Obviously refinished, solid feeling, not light by my feel. My 64 CS is ash and is lighter than this. I think the body contributed to the "stiffness" of the tone. Don't get me wrong, if I didn't have my 64 CS I would be all over this, but it didn't have the wow factor I thought it was going to have. I love my 64 CS a lot, and it will take a lot for me to consider getting it a partner. I think my 64 CS is more agressive sounding, because of the ash, and the Fralin's. Something about the 62 just felt weird, like I was playing a piece of furniture more than a bass. The jazz tone was there but didn't knock my socks off from my 64 CS jazz baseline.
Anyway, I think you can tell by now I passed. Just didn't blow my skirt up. It was a great bass, $4k great, probably not. Maybe $3k and get it refinished and electronics figured out would be a better bet. But even if they were willing to come down that much (I didn't even try) I probably would have passed. I love my 64 CS...but that doesn't mean I'm gonna stop looking, it's too much fun!
Thanks again to all the people who chimed in and helped out especially to naurd, jkeefe and johnk. Appreciate all the help and wisdom.
My search for the right vintage bass continues...and perfect timing my "The Fender Bass" book" just came in the mail today! Time to read!
Your search continues!
Glad to help. JohnK, What's up with the neck feeling "wider"? Is that normal?
Your search continues!
could it just have been how the nut is spaced? those pre cbs jazzes have the strings spaced way wider than jazzes these days with the e and g strings placed almost right at the edge of the neck.
if your bassline is a jazz with fralins, id guess any old jazz is going to seem less aggressive.
