Oh another thing...the Jazz pickups on the latest Aerodynes don't have the polepieces in the "standard" placement; regular Fender pickup covers do NOT fit.
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I'm hoping this info can help someone down the line, figure this would be a good place to post it.
@petch has brought his Aerodyne P bass to me to swap tuners. A bit of neck dive was giving him a spot of bother, so he wanted to get this lightened up. He'd mentioned that it was kind of tough to find the tuner models and weights on here, so here's a pic of the tuner and its weight:
118.5 g
Extrapolated to 4 tuners and you're talking a combined weight of 474 g, which is 16.75 oz, which is 1.047 lbs.
These (I believe) are the Gotoh GB2 tuners.
The tuners that he's replacing them with are Hipshot Ultralight Licensed 1/2" Clover tuners.
This is where these weigh in at:
55.9 g
Doing the math, that's 223.6 g for the set, which is 7.9 oz, which is .49375 lbs.
Changing will remove 250.4 g, which is 8.85 oz, which is .553 lbs.
(give or take a gram or so for the material I'm using to fill the holes.)
This is going to make an already very light bass feel quite a bit lighter.
Hope this information helps someone in the future. You can return to your regularly scheduled Aerodyning now.
@petch has brought his Aerodyne P bass to me to swap tuners. A bit of neck dive was giving him a spot of bother, so he wanted to get this lightened up. He'd mentioned that it was kind of tough to find the tuner models and weights on here, so here's a pic of the tuner and its weight:
118.5 g
Extrapolated to 4 tuners and you're talking a combined weight of 474 g, which is 16.75 oz, which is 1.047 lbs.
These (I believe) are the Gotoh GB2 tuners.
The tuners that he's replacing them with are Hipshot Ultralight Licensed 1/2" Clover tuners.
This is where these weigh in at:
55.9 g
Doing the math, that's 223.6 g for the set, which is 7.9 oz, which is .49375 lbs.
Changing will remove 250.4 g, which is 8.85 oz, which is .553 lbs.
(give or take a gram or so for the material I'm using to fill the holes.)
This is going to make an already very light bass feel quite a bit lighter.
Hope this information helps someone in the future. You can return to your regularly scheduled Aerodyning now.
Been there, done that, either Gotoh or Hipshot on all my basses.
Great breakdown!
I did the same to a bass paired with a Fender Classic '70s neck. Those 70s-style, HB2 tuners are brutally heavy, especially with the E-string armed with a Hipshot BT2 Drop-D extender!
All that hardware weighed in at approximately 17.3 ounces/492 grams. I'd have to look up specs + do math to see exactly how much it lost, what with me using Hipshot Licensed Ultralites and a USA Ultralite Drop-D tuner, but whatever the figure is, it is "massively"
significant.Long story short...yay, Ultralites!
With Hipshot Ultralite tuners replacing the heavy stock ones, the Snow Goose now weighs in at a svelte 7.0 lbs. 
Hello Aerodyne enjoyers! I am looking to become one of you because I love the look of these things (especially CAR with black pickguard and the yellow outline OMG) and I love a PJ config with a slim neck. My question to you all: How much should I (not) pay for a used mid-2000s one of those? I saw one go from Germany for 1k euros the other day and regretted not getting it.
I am only looking to buy from within the EU to avoid paying insane shipping and import costs. There is one available in Spain but I think it's on the pricy side considering its condition and the seller isn't budging on price. Is it worth holding out for a better deal like the one I just missed out on? I get the feeling they are in demand because the one in Germany was listed for all of 2 days.
I am only looking to buy from within the EU to avoid paying insane shipping and import costs. There is one available in Spain but I think it's on the pricy side considering its condition and the seller isn't budging on price. Is it worth holding out for a better deal like the one I just missed out on? I get the feeling they are in demand because the one in Germany was listed for all of 2 days.
Older, first-generation Aerodynes are not going to be cheap, especially the Export Editions. How much is "too much"? That I cannot say, but it's probably fair to say $1,000 USD or less isn't unreasonable.
And while you say you'd like to limit your shopping to the E.U., I should mention this apparently stock Aerodyne that's available from the Land of the Rising Sun itself. I don't know how much one would pay customs and duties, but there's one thing I do know; buying from outside Japan means you won't have to pay their local Value Added Taxes/VAT.
If this sounds like something attractive, I'd reach out to Ishibashi directly, first. I bought a bass from them many years ago and the process was pretty painless. They laid out how much I'd be spending, with the caveat that import duties might be needed later. Fortunately, in my case, I didn't owe anything.
Thanks! I actually did reach out to IM to ask for some more pics - those last 4 in the listing were the ones they sent me, that weren't there before. But from the research I've done, I think with shipping and import duties it would be more expensive than the one listed in Spain, and they appear to be in similar condition, so all else being equal I would probably sooner spring for that one and not have to deal with any potential nasty surprises on the import, since there's no way to guarantee how much they will charge at customs here on top of the 21% VAT that would be charged here. Because even if this price is sans Japanese VAT, I will still have to pay VAT on it once it clears the border.
Also, the one in Spain looks stock too, no?
your black aerodyne looks amazing too btw!
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Just looking at what's out there.. this is likely the best option for a CAR non-export Aerodyne Jazz
https://reverb.com/item/80692580-fender-ajb-aerodyne-jazz-bass-2006-2008-old-candy-apple-red
https://reverb.com/item/80692580-fender-ajb-aerodyne-jazz-bass-2006-2008-old-candy-apple-red
Also look on eBay. I got my 2012 there, and the shipping was free (arrived in Oregon in two days, unbelievably). The dealer packed it very well and neck-off, so the package was quite small.
Unfortunately, England is no longer a part of the E.U., so tariffs, duties and/or other importation fees might come into play.
It may still be worth it. But without knowing the tariff/fees. I’m clearly speculating
Man... that's seems awfully high. I feel like you could find one in Japan shipped cheaper than that. Mine was just shy of $700 two years ago.
Fender AJB Aerodyne Jazz Bass 2012 OCR Made in Japan https://reverb.com/item/48277497?ut...are&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=48277497
Granted, I did a little haggling with the seller...
On the subject of Old Candy Apple Red Aerodynes, I saw a nine-month-old listing for one up in Fanwood, NJ. I used to live near there and can breeze through almost anytime. Given how horribly it's been hacked up and modded, I'm considering making an offer to "rescue" it. (Fair warning...only check the pics if you have the constitution for it! 'Tis very not-good! 
)
In this case, "rescuing" it would probably entail ditching the skull-knobs, mismatched bridge and that slapped on pickguard, then doing some clean-up routing underneath and switching out the electronics for something else. For example, I already have a BC-sized pickup template and could set it up with a Squier Contemporary guard that uses that size. Another possibility would be to make it a J/J with some killer humbucking pickups.
The possibilities are wide and varied. Who knows? After the application of some serious elbow grease, it just might make for a great player. I'm just curious what the "Collective All-Y'all" think of this potential act of mercy.
)In this case, "rescuing" it would probably entail ditching the skull-knobs, mismatched bridge and that slapped on pickguard, then doing some clean-up routing underneath and switching out the electronics for something else. For example, I already have a BC-sized pickup template and could set it up with a Squier Contemporary guard that uses that size. Another possibility would be to make it a J/J with some killer humbucking pickups.
The possibilities are wide and varied. Who knows? After the application of some serious elbow grease, it just might make for a great player. I'm just curious what the "Collective All-Y'all" think of this potential act of mercy.
It definitely needs a white knight to come in and restore it! It's the kind of bass I'd consider stealing the neck from...except I'd wind up getting pennies on the pound for the body.On the subject of Old Candy Apple Red Aerodynes, I saw a nine-month-old listing for one up in Fanwood, NJ. I used to live near there and can breeze through almost anytime. Given how horribly it's been hacked up and modded, I'm considering making an offer to "rescue" it. (Fair warning...only check the pics if you have the constitution for it! 'Tis very not-good!
In this case, "rescuing" it would probably entail ditching the skull-knobs, mismatched bridge and that slapped on pickguard, then doing some clean-up routing underneath and switching out the electronics for something else. For example, I already have a BC-sized pickup template and could set it up with a Squier Contemporary guard that uses that size. Another possibility would be to make it a J/J with some killer humbucking pickups.
The possibilities are wide and varied. Who knows? After the application of some serious elbow grease, it just might make for a great player. I'm just curious what the "Collective All-Y'all" think of this potential act of mercy.
Yeah that thing is a hack job. It’s been listed a long time at prices it’s not worthy of.
For sure, that's why I'm wondering if the seller would drop the price even more if I made the trip out to Fanwood to check it out personally. Ultimately, even if I were to move the finished product on to someone else, the idea of giving it a bit of a makeover sounds more and more like a strong moral imperative.
Couple questions to any aerodyne special jazz owners:
1) is the pickup spacing 60s or 70s? I really can't tell without the usual land marks of the control plate
2) is the rear route enough to accept a preamp?
1) is the pickup spacing 60s or 70s? I really can't tell without the usual land marks of the control plate
2) is the rear route enough to accept a preamp?
