I did it about a year ago. Dead easy upgrade and well worth it. No mods necessary.
The J is much quieter and beefier and the P is also a little bit of an improvement, although I liked the stock P pickup just fine.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
The J is much quieter and beefier and the P is also a little bit of an improvement, although I liked the stock P pickup just fine.
I’ve just put Black beauties on my Aerodyne but not before I tried Rortosounds new Nexus black strings.
What a disaster they turned out to be.
The first set had the coating coming off after week or so of playing.
After waiting another month for them to make crappy excuses and asking stupid questions
like what pick do I use and do I have long fingernails, like seriously!
I finally got some from “another batch” and guess what?
The coating started coming off after one, yes one song.
The coating was actually coming off on my fingers.
At $100 a pack it’s just not good enough.
Never will I try them again and I’d suggest you don’t either.
The Black beauties look amazing on the Black Aerodyne but I’ve yet to play them.
Fingers crossed
What a disaster they turned out to be.
The first set had the coating coming off after week or so of playing.
After waiting another month for them to make crappy excuses and asking stupid questions
like what pick do I use and do I have long fingernails, like seriously!
I finally got some from “another batch” and guess what?
The coating started coming off after one, yes one song.
The coating was actually coming off on my fingers.
At $100 a pack it’s just not good enough.
Never will I try them again and I’d suggest you don’t either.
The Black beauties look amazing on the Black Aerodyne but I’ve yet to play them.
Fingers crossed
From my experience with Black Beauties, I can attest that with modest use the frets will scrub small spots off the strings. That's not to say the coating is flying off in huge pieces, just a little buffing away where they're getting pressed against the frets.
What's funny is I have a set of Rotosound Nexus coated strings on my Aerodyne, but since it gets very infrequent use their coating is still intact. Still, if I start using it in heavier rotation, I'll keep an eye on the coating. Then again, if it is an issue with this-or-that batch, my results may be different since I put them on a couple of years ago.
The reason I didn't keep up with using the Black Beauties is because I thought their sound was inconsistent. The first set I installed sounded great, but successive sets proved to be less than impressive. I used to think it was a "made on a Friday" issue and that later batches weren't made with the same care, or perhaps something was subtly compromising the coating at the factory level. Nowadays, though, I've been wondering if I was twisting the strings too much when mounting them. It's something I've learned about very recently and have been taking steps to counteract during setups and string installations.
One last thing, where on Earth does a set of Nexus strings cost $100?!
Question about fret size:
Specs on the export model say medium jumbo.
But what is fret size on the non-export aerodyne jazzes pj that have pick guard, metal plate, and matching headstock? Are they vintage, medium jumbo, or vary by year?
Thanks
Specs on the export model say medium jumbo.
But what is fret size on the non-export aerodyne jazzes pj that have pick guard, metal plate, and matching headstock? Are they vintage, medium jumbo, or vary by year?
Thanks
Late to the party from across the pond in the UK. Here's my Aerodyne. Modifications; Bartolini 8S + 9J pickups, Audere 2 Band Vol/Bal Preamp (no extra routing whatsoever), Hipshot bridge, Tusq nut and John East Fender Style Knobs (concentric included).
Attachments
Stealthy!
So, about that Audere pre…my eyes aren't deceiving me and there's enough room for the pots, module and battery in that wee lil' control route, ja?
Stealthy indeed! Enough room by a gnat's weiner for a two band Audere pre with all the necessaries. I believe an EMG will fit, but you need their pickups. With the Audere you can wire any brand passive pickups.
It sounds great too.
It sounds great too.
Hey all,
After lusting for an Aerodyne for most of my bass-playing life, I finally splurged on one.
I was hoping if you can shed some light about it. It should arrive on Wednesday:
It says Made in Japan and serial number is U + 6 digits. A quick search yields made in 2010-2011. What finish is this exactly? Is this the Dolphin or the Gunmetal?
After lusting for an Aerodyne for most of my bass-playing life, I finally splurged on one.
I was hoping if you can shed some light about it. It should arrive on Wednesday:
It says Made in Japan and serial number is U + 6 digits. A quick search yields made in 2010-2011. What finish is this exactly? Is this the Dolphin or the Gunmetal?
Thank you! Was this made at the Fujigen plant or someplace else?
That’s excellent news. I’m probably getting this Audere upgrade as well.
For pickups I’m waiting for the new Aguilar DCB-4PJ set to release.
I'm not sure where they are made as far as terada, fujigen, etc. maybe @Malak the Mad would know.
I'm more knowledgeable of the colors.
UGB (US Gunmetal Blue) - tricky to photograph. i have a MIM jazz in this color and it looks a lot like the 1st picture below. more pictures here [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
v
most photos of UGB online look like this. washed out. it can look like this in certain light.
v
DFG (Dolphin Gray) - lighter and hardly any blue tone. more of a warmer color.
GMB (GunMetal Blue) - much darker. much more blue. one of my favorite modern fender colors.
Thanks a bunch for educating me. I agree the GMB looks very premium, reminds me of the Ultras.
Am I right to assume all Aerodynes have a 7.25” fretboard radius?
don't know why this one should be different and maybe the listed specs are wrong but it says 9.5"
Fender MIJ FSR Aerodyne Jazz Bass Sienna Sunburst
I appreciate the nod, but to be honest, I haven't researched which factories line up with any particular year. That's a gap in my research I'll have to fill in the future.
One other thing I didn't know until you mentioned it is the difference between UGB and GMB. I knew there was a darker, more primal blue used on certain models, like the J/J configured DiMarzio Aerodynes, but I never came across it's name until now. Many Thanks, dude!
all 3 are shown on this catalog page i posted earlier tooI appreciate the nod, but to be honest, I haven't researched which factories line up with any particular year. That's a gap in my research I'll have to fill in the future.
One other thing I didn't know until you mentioned it is the difference between UGB and GMB. I knew there was a darker, more primal blue used on certain models, like the J/J configured DiMarzio Aerodynes, but I never came across it's name until now. Many Thanks, dude!
