Ben Lindsey Hot Rod Jazz Build

[johnk_10]

i hear what you're saying. that's why i give all of my basses rollover on the fingerboard edges. it just makes 'em feel so comfy and already broken in, and i haven't had one person that said that they didn't like it.

 

[Scott McArron]

i hear what you're saying. that's why i give all of my basses rollover on the fingerboard edges. it just makes 'em feel so comfy and already broken in, and i haven't had one person that said that they didn't like it.

He said he was in the process of doing that while I was on the phone with him one day. Hmm. Maybe I just have picky hands.

 

[Scott McArron]

I sent an email to Ben today to see what my options are. I just don't know if I can live with both the offset control plate and the off white binding. The #1 thing that made me want to custom order a jazz bass instead of just refinishing my current 75RI was the binding. I wanted white, not off white. When I ordered this one with white binding it didn't even occur to me that it might come with off white.

It's been a rough weekend. Not only am I just not satisfied here, but I also had my iPhone stolen over the weekend. Doesn't help to lift my spirits any. We'll see what Ben can do, but I doubt that changing the binding on the fretboard is really a viable option.

I still can't get an accurate representation of the tone yet. I've spent 90% of my time just trying to get the bass setup. When I received it, the strings were down tuned a few steps, so the neck was backbowed. Once it was all re-tuned and sat for a half day or more, I went back to tweak it some more. The string were too close to the pickups, so the E and A strings were getting that nasty chorus-like effect. I dropped the pickups some and also raised the saddles a bit. It's still buzzing a lot, so when I get another moment I'll give it some more work and see what we get.

 

[johnk_10]

IME, it's alot easier to just replace whole neck with one that has white binding instead of replacing it on the one that you have, but it's not all that difficult to do if you love the neck that's on it.

please keep us informed as to how he's going to resolve the issues that you're having with it.

 

[Ben Lindsey]

Hey Scott, Be assured I will take care of all the problems with the bass. As I'm sure most guys on here know, customer service has always been my number one priority. The issues with the bass are my responsibility and will be taken care of. You are not being picky or out of line. My responsibility is to provide what you ask for and I will go above and beyond to do that! Call me when you have phone service and we can talk about the issues. Rest assure everything will be handled professionally! Ben Lindsey.

 

[Scott McArron]

I've got a couple of things I need to say here. First, Ben is definitely the cream of the crop with customer service. I've never met a bass builder who wanted to make his customers as happy as Ben. He makes the bass building process incredibly personal. It's obvious that there's a lot of love put into his instruments, which brings me to my second thing...

This bass really is a great bass. The woodwork on this bass is really well constructed and the attention to detail on the relic job is just incredible. I could easily see how this bass could be somebody's dream bass. It has a great "modern vintage" feel to it.

I also want to add that I regret posting some of the things I said earlier in the way I said them. As I look back on some of these posts, I realize that I sounded a little more negative than I intended. There were a couple things that I neglected to mention or clarify when we were going over the specs of the bass. I take responsibility for those things. Luckily, Ben is incredible enough to want to make my dream bass and is more than willing to do whatever is necessary to make that happen. There is no better customer service than that, IMO!

 

[lx_night]

I am really glad that Ben is willing to fix the issues with the bass, you did sound a little disappointed at first but things seem to change direction. This bass should meet all of your expectations.

Will you send the bass back to Ben?
Describe the lollar pickups.

How about some pictures as well.

 

[Scott McArron]

I am really glad that Ben is willing to fix the issues with the bass, you did sound a little disappointed at first but things seem to change direction. This bass should meet all of your expectations.

Will you send the bass back to Ben?
Describe the lollar pickups.

How about some pictures as well.

I've already shipped the bass back before taking any pictures. I'm not sure how I'd describe the Lollars. Being that I've never tried any other pickups in this particular bass I wouldn't have anything to compare it against.

I had Lollars in a Fender Am Std once. They helped the tone of the bass a little, but I found a more drastic improvement to low end warmth and punch with the Nordies. From my experience with the Nordies, they're great at warming up a bright bass. They might be just a tad too warm for an already warm bass, but that's just my very uneducated opinion of them with no side-by-side comparisons.

You know, now that I think about it, I've had Lollars in two basses now. I don't think I'm a fan from what I've heard yet. If it is the sound of the pickups I'm hearing, then I'd say the Lollars are really clear sounding, like they have a certain transparency to them. It's hard to describe. When I pick up a bass with Nordies right after, I find it more warm and punchier in the low mids, which gives it a perceived higher output. But the Nordies on every bass I've had has had a diminished high end. Awesome for warm fingerstyle sounds, but not perfect for that snappy slap sound.

These are just some unvalidated impressions I've gotten with no A/B comparisons. I've never even had the Lollars and Nordies in the same bass, so take everything I said above with a grain of salt. Hope it was worth something!

 

[arsie]

I just grabbed some random images off the web and did some 5 min photoshop on them, perhaps you can do a scheme like this if your bass has no pickguard.

 

[lx_night]

What changes is Ben going to make to your bass?

 

[Scott McArron]

What changes is Ben going to make to your bass?

We're not sure how we're gonna go about it yet. Ben wants to have the bass in his hands in order to really get a good idea of what we need to do. But here are some changes that need to be made in one form or another:

- White binding on the neck
- A lighter neck for better balance (so the bass sits at an angle on the strap and doesn't move from its playing position when I let go of the neck. If you have to support the neck with your hand while playing, it impacts proper form and greatly reduces good technique and playability, IMO/IME)
- Fingerboard edges rolled more for comfort
- New control plate route that aligns with the contour of the body
- Maybe new pickups. From both of my experiences with Lollar, I don't think I'm a fan. I like the way the bass sounded better acoustically than plugged in. It really sang acoustically!
- I haven't mentioned it yet, but I'd like the string tree in the typical Fender location, on the inside of the A string post rather than the outside for both aesthetics and added break angle on those strings if that's doable, but not a big deal.

The bass came in at 9 lbs even (my upper limit for a 4 stringer) on my home digital scale (rounds to the nearest 1/4lb, I believe), so it's not like we can just throw a heavier body on to give it more balance. We might need to shave a good half pound or more off of the neck or throw a lighter neck on it and somehow take care of that control plate issue on the body.

I really don't know what changes we're going to need to make. The neck is beautiful on that bass, so I'd hate to lose it, but I'm not a bass luthier so I don't really know what the options are as far as wood working goes. All I know is that Ben is the man and will do anything to make it right for me and my playing preferences.

 

[lx_night]

In thinking a new neck then? because of the binding and weight.

I agree on the pickups, you already have an experience with nordies, i think that is the route to go with.

seems like a lot of changes, i am really glad he is willing to fix it all but seems like he didnt pay attention to detail in order to prevent this.

 

[johnk_10]

earlier in this thread you stated:

Another thing, the body and the neck together alone come in at about 5 lbs without the hardware or pickups.

from my experience, that would mean that it would've had to have a 3lb 4.oz to a 3lb 8oz body, since most (standard fender type j bass necks weigh 1lb 8 oz to 1 lb 12oz.


and after you received it:

...............The bass came in at 9 lbs even....................

IME, then it seems that the body must weigh more than 3 1/2 lbs since with a standard neck & hardware that would make for a 7 3/4lb bass max (a featherweight for a j bass). generally, a 5lb bodied j bass will end up coming in at 9-9 1/4 lbs, unless it has a 3 lb neck!
one of my recent builds has a 4lb 5oz body and came in at 8lbs 5 oz AUW (all up weight) and that's almost exactly to the ounce of how every j bass i've ever built works out (i.e. the neck and all the pickups and hardware add almost exactly 4 lbs).

if you're going to have Ben correct the issues, to me, it seems that he's going to have to completely start over.

.......seems like a lot of changes, i am really glad he is willing to fix it all but seems like he didnt pay attention to detail in order to prevent this.

+1.
and IMO, the 'details' were major ones too.

 

[Scott McArron]

seems like a lot of changes, i am really glad he is willing to fix it all but seems like he didnt pay attention to detail in order to prevent this.

yeah, it's a lot of changes. I wouldn't say that he didn't pay attention to the details (minus the control plate route) with most of what I listed above, it's more that the result he was going for didn't work out to what feels right in my hands. He's going to correct that to get it dialed in to what we've found that I like more. I think there's something great to be said about that level of service.

 

[lx_night]

by making all of these changes to the bass i wonder if it will still be the same or like john said it might be better to start over, i know there will be a lot of money and time lost but at least the bass will be even not uneven with many changes.

He should have consulted you about the changed before making any of them.

It does say alot that he is gonna fix it

 

[Spencer!]

We're not sure how we're gonna go about it yet. Ben wants to have the bass in his hands in order to really get a good idea of what we need to do. But here are some changes that need to be made in one form or another:

- White binding on the neck
- A lighter neck for better balance (so the bass sits at an angle on the strap and doesn't move from its playing position when I let go of the neck. If you have to support the neck with your hand while playing, it impacts proper form and greatly reduces good technique and playability, IMO/IME)
- Fingerboard edges rolled more for comfort
- New control plate route that aligns with the contour of the body
- Maybe new pickups. From both of my experiences with Lollar, I don't think I'm a fan. I like the way the bass sounded better acoustically than plugged in. It really sang acoustically!
- I haven't mentioned it yet, but I'd like the string tree in the typical Fender location, on the inside of the A string post rather than the outside for both aesthetics and added break angle on those strings if that's doable, but not a big deal.

The bass came in at 9 lbs even (my upper limit for a 4 stringer) on my home digital scale (rounds to the nearest 1/4lb, I believe), so it's not like we can just throw a heavier body on to give it more balance. We might need to shave a good half pound or more off of the neck or throw a lighter neck on it and somehow take care of that control plate issue on the body.

I really don't know what changes we're going to need to make. The neck is beautiful on that bass, so I'd hate to lose it, but I'm not a bass luthier so I don't really know what the options are as far as wood working goes. All I know is that Ben is the man and will do anything to make it right for me and my playing preferences.

I'd be careful about trying to make it too much lighter. My Lindsey jazz bass weighs in right at 9 pounds, and it sounds like a 9 pound bass. Some of that tone's gotta be from the nice dense neck. As far as pickups go, I have a set of Fralins in mine that sound great.

 

[johnk_10]

IME, 9lbs is a bout average for a jazz bass. my favorite ones are 1/2-3/4lb lighter than that (8 1/4-8 1/2lbs). i don't think that a heavy neck does anything for tone. a big, full lightweight one, yes, but not a heavy one.

i've tried fralins a few times and they just never did anything for me. they always sounded too middy, harsh & brittle.

 

[ExaltBass]

My '59 P-Bass is a vintage 'heavy weight' at 9-1/2 lbs. Ben has done exceptional work for me on several projects... including the incredible restoration he did of my '59 neck. I'm hoping this project ultimately turns out 'roses' for you Scott!

 

[Scott McArron]

IME, 9lbs is a bout average for a jazz bass. my favorite ones are 1/2-3/4lb lighter than that (8 1/4-8 1/2lbs). i don't think that a heavy neck does anything for tone. a big, full lightweight one, yes, but not a heavy one.

i've tried fralins a few times and they just never did anything for me. they always sounded too middy, harsh & brittle.

I agree. 9 lbs is right on for a jazz. I definitely want one that is better than average if I can. The Mike Lulls I've had in the past have been anywhere from 7 - 8.5 tops. Even my 5 stringers have been sub 9 lbs. Similar story with my Sadowskys. Both Mike and Sadowsky believe that the better sounding basses are the ones that are as light as you can get without affecting the balance, so about 7-8.5 is ideal. 8 - 8.5 just feels spot on for me.

Thanks for the feedback on the Fralins. I've wondered about those. I know both Lull and Sadowsky now use custom wound Seymour Duncans. I don't hear about those too often aside from Sadowsky related topics, though.

 

[johnk_10]

IMO, duncan's sj1's are the closest you can get to a vintage jazz bass pickup. i've found them to sound exactly like 'em. IMO, fender's '62 AV reissues are super nice too. for a slightly more modern sound with no noise (hum), i have a set of dimarzio ultrajazz's in one of my basses and i dig them. i've never been an EMG fan in the past, but i have a set of their JV's in one of my jazz basses and they awesome too. they're nowhere near as sterile/bright as the older emgs that i used to hear.