I shielded mine and now it's dead quiet (unless I play, of course).
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The other option is simply to purchase one of the many passive J pickups that are dead quiet because they are wound like a P pickup with two halves. The Dimarzio Area J is dead quiet as is the Fralin J. I have experience with both of these and they are awesome choices for that vintage J burp. I’d personally go with a matched PJ set but it’s not required. And neither is shielding or a battery if you go this route.
If I were to change mine, I would try the Aguilar p/j set.
Anyone know about this company? Some of the guitars look interesting, and their basses seem to be modeled on the Aerodyne.
Jericho Guitars | Alpha Blacker | PRE-ORDER
Jericho Guitars | Alpha Blacker | PRE-ORDER
I have the Aguilar set in one of my Aerodynes. Very happy with them, but there's not a huge difference from the originals IMO. A bit fuller, fatter sound.
Are they the hum-canceling ones? The main purpose for me would be to solve the issue of the noisy jazz pickup. Any upgrade in sound quality would be welcome too.
Almost any of the pickups mentioned are a significant upgrade to the stock pickups. My Fralins made a huge difference but they are a bit pricey (for the record, I did a custom wind at no extra charge: P is 3% over, J is 8% over). I’ve got the Dimarzio Area J’s in a Jazz — I can vouch for that pickup as well (and you can get Dimarzios in their tasty cream color). I have no experience with the Aggies but people generally say good thing about them, albeit they are supposed to be more modern sounding than vintage. If modern is your thing, Dimarzio also makes the Ultra Jazz pickup that is pretty sweet.
Do a forum search for "Jericho Alpha". I remember at least one TB'er who has one.
Then you would definitely like the Dimarzio Area J. I think I read somewhere that Dimarzio makes an Area P as well but it’s simply not on their website.
Yeah, I just found an Area PJ set on Reverb as well as a few other places. They must not make the Area P anymore or something? Not available through Sweetwater or Guitar Center.
Either way, very reasonably priced.
Either way, very reasonably priced.
Hey guys - what have people done when they want to replace the original bent plate bridge if your Aerodyne sports the recessed bridge route?
It looks to me like the older USA deluxe bridge would fit, although the screw pattern is different.
Any other contenders?
It looks to me like the older USA deluxe bridge would fit, although the screw pattern is different.
Any other contenders?
Kinda depends on what you are trying to achieve as an end result. If you seek a high mass bridge, you are limited to mounting it “not recessed” unless you want to further route the top. I’m sure that someone can chime in to confirm that mounting (without routing) works, but the end result certainly includes part of bridge being over the air pocket (ie the current route) and, without recessing the bridge like it normally is, you will not be able to get the action as low as it could otherwise go with a recessed bridge. Shimming the neck could possibly alleviate that however.
In my case, I was blacking out the hardware and was able to find a “black chrome” version of the bridge to drop in. The only issue I had to deal with is the softness of the basswood body — some screws weren’t biting properly so I had to use the old toothpick trick to get the screws to set well.
Bought one a year ago just for the look of it. Big positive surprise for me. No complains about the quality, tone and play-ability.
Jericho is pretty much underrated and you can have a top instrument for a super cheap price.
With a different logo on the head stock you could easily charge double the money.
If you are brave enough to order online, could be your kind of choice.
I shouldn't have the issue of soft wood (no giggling please) - my Aerodyne has a flame top and alder body.
My issue with the current bridge is due to the design the string saddles get pulled off centre and don't align\go out of tune etc.
I don't have an issue grabbing a Hipshot bridge and getting a luthier to route out the recess a bit more, but before I do that I thought there might be an existing bridge that will fit.
I'm hoping the older Fender Deluxe bridge may get the job done? Pic below is my bass and the bridge I'm talking about.....
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I can’t see any reason why that deluxe bridge wouldn’t work. But, I would want to know the exact dimensions before getting one.
This. Find the specs online. While searching for my replacement I recall that most of the “standard” Fender bridges were slightly larger in dimensions than our stock bridge. Nothing you’d notice by looking at them. I was surprised.
I like the Gotoh 201. Fits (almost) in the rout, and it comes in both chrome for those with that hardware, and Cosmo Black that almost matches the smoked chrome hardware for those who have it.
It’s not a very high mass bridge, but it does keep your saddles from moving around, which irks me too, especially with my fairly heavy right hand.
It’s not a very high mass bridge, but it does keep your saddles from moving around, which irks me too, especially with my fairly heavy right hand.
Reach out to Hipshot. Those guys are great and have been engaged off & on with the idea of making a bridge for this bass.
See my post 757 ( Fender Aerodyne Club! ). I manipulated a Hipshot Vintage Style bridge to fit the rout then sent the specs to Hipshot and they made me a custom bridge that fit perfectlyt. Best part was they didn't charge me too much more than a Vintage bridge would've cost me.
