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Dress up my MIM Jazz!
- Thread starter Jon Glassett
- Start date
And for me? Installed PG and covers - kept the original 10-year-old strings, the pickups and all the electronics are bone stock, and the band LOVES the sound. Can't imagine why I would ever mess with the bridge or control plate, as they work well. The stock pickups sound great, too...my standard advce is "Don't change parts unless you're solving a problem. If no problem, you don't need to change parts."
As far as I can tell, the MIM Jazz is a great player out of the box.
pin_head_47 said:
For this bass I want to keep it (or get it to--who am I kidding?) a classic Jazz bass sound. As warm and mellow as possible. I may even string it with flats, but will have to see. I don't want it to sound too dead. Just nice and round.
What Year/Model Jazz is that? Deluxe or not?
I want to put the covers on my 2009 Fender Deluxe IV and the Fender covers (Gearhead) won't fit over the stock bridge.
AFAIK - there is only one size for Jazz covers.
I kind of like the one piece guard, not real common.
I'd put on some chrome P bass knobs & an upgrade bridge from Fender or Gotoh.
I'd use Dimarzio Area J or Seyour Duncan STK-J2 pickups, and make sure you have a good tech help with install.
I like Fender TBX tone controls, but YMMV.
How are the tuners? If not great, I'd use Gotoh nickel tuners (full sized vintage style or vintage reverse style).
Best wishes.
I'd put on some chrome P bass knobs & an upgrade bridge from Fender or Gotoh.
I'd use Dimarzio Area J or Seyour Duncan STK-J2 pickups, and make sure you have a good tech help with install.
I like Fender TBX tone controls, but YMMV.
How are the tuners? If not great, I'd use Gotoh nickel tuners (full sized vintage style or vintage reverse style).
Best wishes.
Spraying isn't that hard after some practice. Or find somebody to do that part for you. Good luck!
I'd try to find an old set of Di Marzio J models in cream, or at the very least change the covers. THese black pickups are an insult to the rest of the bass.
Otherwise I think it's fine and distinctive.
If you have a thing for active electronics, put the jack on the side and you're ready for a typical 4 knob arrangement.
It will also prevent the pickguard from breaking around the jack, which they always do at some point.
Otherwise I think it's fine and distinctive.
If you have a thing for active electronics, put the jack on the side and you're ready for a typical 4 knob arrangement.
It will also prevent the pickguard from breaking around the jack, which they always do at some point.
.. so then you do have two neck pups on there ... make sure what you get isn't a neck/bridge pair ... probably wont fit the routing ...
BTW, I like the white, it has aged nicely ... perfect for a tort guard
Control plate and chrome knobs are ordered. Next step is choosing pickups and ordering a tort guard (a bunch of you echoed my initial sentiment--I love the idea, as well).
I think I'm okay to order standard neck & bridge pickup sizes, right? If I'm replacing with a standard guard, that would have a smaller route for the neck position than what I have currently. There's plenty of spare room under the guard in terms of the cavity the pup sits in, if that's the concern.
I think I'm okay to order standard neck & bridge pickup sizes, right? If I'm replacing with a standard guard, that would have a smaller route for the neck position than what I have currently. There's plenty of spare room under the guard in terms of the cavity the pup sits in, if that's the concern.
Gotcha. Okay, so I'm just going to have to pay extra attention to the pickup dimensions when ordering.
Jon,
I did the exact same thing to a Jazz bass just like that that you have with the exception of mine being black instead of white. I even had the same one piece pickguard. A few things to note when changing things over.
1. The bridge pickup will not fit. You will need to open it up slightly to make it work. Not only to increase the length but you will probably have to massage the openings where the screws go as well.
2. The holes on the new pickguard and control plate will not match the old holes. So if you want to change things you're going to have to drill new holes in the body.
3. Stock electronics from these are junk. You'll hear a huge improvement when you replace everything (pots, pups, etc...)
4. Stock bridge was OK but I found the "barrels" or "string saddles" on mine were not drilled through correctly which caused them to sit strange. I had some new ones made up at work out of stainless steel to correct the issue.
5. Keep it! The neck on these from this era are awesome! I'm still kicking myself for selling it. Here are some picks of the finished bass.
I did the exact same thing to a Jazz bass just like that that you have with the exception of mine being black instead of white. I even had the same one piece pickguard. A few things to note when changing things over.
1. The bridge pickup will not fit. You will need to open it up slightly to make it work. Not only to increase the length but you will probably have to massage the openings where the screws go as well.
2. The holes on the new pickguard and control plate will not match the old holes. So if you want to change things you're going to have to drill new holes in the body.
3. Stock electronics from these are junk. You'll hear a huge improvement when you replace everything (pots, pups, etc...)
4. Stock bridge was OK but I found the "barrels" or "string saddles" on mine were not drilled through correctly which caused them to sit strange. I had some new ones made up at work out of stainless steel to correct the issue.
5. Keep it! The neck on these from this era are awesome! I'm still kicking myself for selling it. Here are some picks of the finished bass.
I've been thinking of doing something like this to my MIM squier series bass for a long time - mine is identical to yours except that the pickguard is a one-ply white, as opposed to w/b/w. I'd keep the pickguard a one-piece, given that it's unique, so I'd go somewhere that could make you a copy of it - pickguardian, WD, greasygroove - this way it still looks unique, but you just don't have to put up with the obnoxious white (at least it's obnoxious in my opinion). Next would be the electronics, I don't really mind the pickups, but my tone pot is starting to get scratchy, I would maybe pot the pickups with wax to get rid of microphonics, although I've really thought of replacing them with some other kind of pickup. The bridge has never given me any problems before, though the "E" string saddle does not sit quite right and it "sinks" after a while. As for the neck, and body, keep 'em the way they are - I love my neck and just rub some boiled linseed oil on it whenever I change strings, and the cream/white finish would look kickin' rad with a black or tort guard on it.
If I had a white bass, I might choose to go for an artistic painted pattern, f.e. pad it with a sponge with some profile, or spray it after putting on crossing strips of masking tape (so blocks of the sprayed paint will be left when you remove the tape. In a hobby shop you might find many more ideas.
I think that one-piece pickguard is that bass's real party piece.
What I would do is replace the pickups (Lindy Fralins or Duncan Antiquities).
I'd take the PG off and spray it matte black (Krylon plastic paint). I'd then replace the knobs with three chrome P-bass knobs.
Oh yeah.
What I would do is replace the pickups (Lindy Fralins or Duncan Antiquities).
I'd take the PG off and spray it matte black (Krylon plastic paint). I'd then replace the knobs with three chrome P-bass knobs.
Oh yeah.
Jon,
I did the exact same thing to a Jazz bass just like that that you have with the exception of mine being black instead of white. I even had the same one piece pickguard. A few things to note when changing things over.
1. The bridge pickup will not fit. You will need to open it up slightly to make it work. Not only to increase the length but you will probably have to massage the openings where the screws go as well.
2. The holes on the new pickguard and control plate will not match the old holes. So if you want to change things you're going to have to drill new holes in the body.
3. Stock electronics from these are junk. You'll hear a huge improvement when you replace everything (pots, pups, etc...)
4. Stock bridge was OK but I found the "barrels" or "string saddles" on mine were not drilled through correctly which caused them to sit strange. I had some new ones made up at work out of stainless steel to correct the issue.
5. Keep it! The neck on these from this era are awesome! I'm still kicking myself for selling it. Here are some picks of the finished bass.
That looks great. This is more or less the direction I'm going.
Regarding the control plate: any tips for drilling the new holes and getting things lined up properly? That area of the current guard has extra holes and only one lines up with the new plate.
