Ambition + $$ + Sweat + Swearing =

[Munjibunga]

Way to go, man. Those are some nice-looking basses. Watch out, Nino.

 

[tommixx]

That P is sexy....nice job!! Play the heck out em!!

Peace,

T

 

[jive1]

NICE JOB!!!!! I'd love to learn to work on a bass like that, and the SX is the perfect platform. So did you file down the frets so they are like the Lakland "vintage" small frets?

I'm LOVIN' the small frets on my new Lakie!

My wish was to file em down to be like my Laklands, but learned that was not possible. On the good side, the jumbo-ish frets make the J a real nice slap bass.

 

[sargebaker]

real nice work! I'm impressed with how the foto flame finish looks. How do you feel the Gotoh bridge compares to the BAII. I planned on getting the BAII for ym Aria but found a Gotoh on the Bay for cheap and decided to give it a shot. The difference was night and day compared to the old bridge. everythign is tighter and punchier and I often wonder if the BA is really worth the extra cash.

 

[MODNY]

i think one day when i have extra cash 'd buy one of their jazz basses with the pickup covers, i'd soup it up, and then sell it to someone

 

[Soulbanana]

Jive, just out of curiousity, where did you get your replacement pickguards on the JB and PB from? Btw, really nice work. I'll have to post pics of my 75 when it's done. Wood-veneered Marcus Miller style pickguard and top-routing on the way!

 

[jokerjkny]

Way to go, man. Those are some nice-looking basses. Watch out, Nino.

seriously...

awesome lookin' stuff, Jive.

but with the weight of the bass, have you thought of using some hipshot ultralites? makes the headstock that much lighter.

 

[Hollow Man]

Phenomenal job, Jong. Next time we have a GTG, I'd love to try 'em both out, and maybe get some pointers from you to complement everything I just learned from Dr. Phunkypants.

 

[Andy Brown]

Incredible job Jive! Inspiring. I've built a couple in my time, but got away from it altogether. I may just give it a shot with a fretless though. I'm sure my SO would appreciate the financial advantages of this approach.

 

[jkritchey]

Those look terrific. I hope you had fun. Congratulations!

 

[Thor]

Very impressive work.

I am also interested in your take on the BAII vs Gotoh for this
project or a similar one.

After I finish the speaker cab building madness I have taken
on, I might be motivated to delve into a similar endeavour.

What product sources did you use for your hardware?

Also, could you be more specific on the capacitor values you
chose, as well as the make, model and source of the pots you
used, particularly on the first bass?

Thanks for a good read!

 

[jive1]

Once again, thanks for the comments.
Here's the answers to the questions inquring minds want to know.

Gotoh vs. BA II
Honestly, not much difference in tone. I think the BA is a little snappier, but in terms of sustain they are quite similar. The big advantage I see of the BAII is that the saddle posts are longer, which give you more room to set intonation. With the Gotohs, I was afraid that I was gonna run out of screw before a string was intonated. If you look at the pic of the P bass, you can see that the G string saddle is pretty much maxed out.

Pickguard
The pickguards I bought off of E-bay. They are generic Mighty Mite pickguards. They fit after you trim a little off the right side of the neck pocket. I previously had some off-brand tortoise shell on the J, but it was a little smaller, so the control plate didn't line up right with the guard. I could get it to fit, but it just didn't look right. It made the control plate seem too big.

Hipshot ULs?
I pondered over that for a while, and the two things that made me go with the HB-2s:
1. Ultralites for an 11/16" peg hole, were harder to find
2. I was thinking that the reduced mass at the headstock would affect it's tone.

Product Sources
I used a variety of sources.
Gotoh bridges and Schaller tuners - Warmoth (best price)
25K EMG Stacked pots, Hipshot Tuners - guitarpartsdepot.com
Screws, pots, switches, Tusq nuts - guitarelectronics.com
OBP-1, DiMarzio Ultrajazz,stacked knobs - bestbassgear.com
OBP-3 - TB classifieds
SD 1/4lber, pickguards - E-bay
Fret crowing file, small straight edge - Stewmac
24" Straight Edge - traditionalwoodworker.com (best price)

Pots and caps
The pots on the J bass consist of a stacked 250K CTS, 50k Aguilar, 50k stacked Aguilar, and a 500K blend pot. As far as caps, I got the values from Aguilar. If you go to the last page of [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] , you'll see some alternate wiring schemes and it includes cap values to change the range of mid cut/boost. Basically I combined the wiring from #7, and #8 and used the blend knob instead of a DPDT switch.

 

[Don't_Fret]

This thread should be stickied. It's a great resource. Awesome work, Jive.

 

[bassplayer7770]

Cool. That looks really nice!

 

[zac2944]

Can you comment on the changes in tone before/after for any of your projects? Any sound clips? How's the tone compare to a newer MIA Fender P or J?

 

[herndonbassist]

Wow Jive, seeing all those parts that you bought makes me confident that my check cleared Now I'm wishing that I had waited a couple of weeks on that Jazz... Seriously though AWESOME WORK!

It's fun getting that attached to a project bass, the SXs really are a great starting point!

 

[Thor]

This thread should be stickied. It's a great resource. Awesome work, Jive.

I agree wholeheartedly.

I am seriously thinking about asking Paul to create a DIY
forum, where people can layout projects like this with
sources, links, and building info. Good resource info.

A good build like this really gets lost quickly in the
multitudinous Sadowsky vs Yabbadabbadoobass threads.

Would anyone else be interested in such a forum?

 

[Akito]

Good read, thanks for sharing!

 

[Don't_Fret]

I agree wholeheartedly.

I am seriously thinking about asking Paul to create a DIY
forum, where people can layout projects like this with
sources, links, and building info. Good resource info.

A good build like this really gets lost quickly in the
multitudinous Sadowsky vs Yabbadabbadoobass threads.

Would anyone else be interested in such a forum?

I've always wanted to do projects like this. A forum like that would be a big help.

 

[Hollow Man]

I've always wanted to do projects like this. A forum like that would be a big help.

So have I. I'd love to be able to take an inexpensive bass and really go to work on it to make it my own. I'm trying to learn from more educated people, and threads like this are great helps.