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Fender Aerodyne Club!

#3,981
Nice! I think someone else in the thread was contemplating that Delano in their Aerodyne.

(My Hipshot Xtender came in, so when it's annual setup time for my basses, my Aerodyne's gonna get an Xtender and likely a set of GHS Balanced Nickels which I've always wanted to try).
 
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#3,983
lowplaces said:
Noticed a couple of posts asking if an Aerodyne was legit. Are there fakes out there ?
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Quite probably. It's been a solidly selling production bass for twenty years, so the odds are pretty good that some no-name companies have tried to make a quick buck before disappearing, changing their name and/or are hiding behind some legal firewalls.

Additionally, there are some firms that release basses that, while different enough, are definitely inspired by the Almighty 'Dyne.

On that note...I, for one, am very intrigued by the all-black Sire U7. :whistle:
U74stBLACKSATINVII.png
 
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#3,986
lowplaces said:
Noticed a couple of posts asking if an Aerodyne was legit. Are there fakes out there ?


​

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As @Malak the Mad points out there are several legitimate companies that make basses inspired by the Aerodyne series, and it’s possible that occasional Chinese copies exist (though I’ve never seen one, or indeed any fake Aerodynes whatsoever).

Most Fender fakes are actually parts basses or relabeled Squiers, due to the ready availability of cheap lookalike parts and and fake decals. The Aerodyne is visually different enough to make this difficult. There are few, if any, unoriginal parts that can pass muster as Aerodyne parts even to an untrained eye, and they would probably be expensive enough to produce to make a fake unprofitable.

I seriously doubt that it’s much of a problem.
 
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#3,987
Snake101st said:
Quick, someone grab it and build a cousin bass to the one I'm working on (use a shiny / raw aluminum neck vs black anodized + Delanos) :laugh:
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That would work. I could also see someone do something "70's Inspired" and throw on a bound & blocked maple neck, like this inexpensive Affinity/VM hybrid I put together years ago. (Sadly, fivers just don't work for me, so I had to let it go to someone who could put it to far better use than I. :crying:)

cm2ipyj.jpeg
 
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#3,988
JakobT said:
As @Malak the Mad points out there are several legitimate companies that make basses inspired by the Aerodyne series, and it’s possible that occasional Chinese copies exist (though I’ve never seen one, or indeed any fake Aerodynes whatsoever).

Most Fender fakes are actually parts basses or relabeled Squiers, due to the ready availability of cheap lookalike parts and and fake decals. The Aerodyne is visually different enough to make this difficult. There are few, if any, unoriginal parts that can pass muster as Aerodyne parts even to an untrained eye, and they would probably be expensive enough to produce to make a fake unprofitable.

I seriously doubt that it’s much of a problem.
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That makes a lot of sense. 🤔 Cranking out knock-offs with a black painted headstock is pretty simple (I may, or may not, have bought one in the past... :whistle:), but replicating the body would require a whole lot more engineering. Extra work + additional materials = much lower profit margin. With that in mind, I can definitely see how that would lead to far fewer Aerodyne copies.
 
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#3,989
I've had some annoying buzz from my Aerodyne. It's pretty much silent when touching any metal - strings, bridge, control plate - but buzzes otherwise. It seemed pretty consistent with any pickup combination - P, J or a blend of the two.

Shielding (or the lack thereof) seemed like the most likely cause so I used some downtime over the holiday season to shield my Aero.

With the pick guard removed, it's clear that there is no shielding whatsoever.

1-no-shield.jpg

No shielding

P pickup route shielded with copper tape. The overhang will make contact with copper tape on the back of the pick guard.

2-p-pickup.jpg

P route complete

To be continued...
 
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#3,990
Here we have all the shielding in place. There is a strip between the P pickup route and the control cavity to link the two. I also put a small strip to one of the pick guard screw holes to ensure good mechanical connection to the shielding on the back of the pick guard.

I didn't go quite as high up the sides of the J pickup route since I didn't want any of the shielding tape to be visible.

The only thing left to do now is to run a wire from the J pickup route to the control cavity and make sure the whole thing is grounded.

3-shielded.jpg


To be continued...
 
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#3,991
Just about done. I've soldered a ground wire directly to the shield in the J pickup cavity and run it back to a ground lug in the control cavity. This in turn is connected to ground on the back of the volume pot. There is also some wire to connect the grounds on each pot to the output jack. Pots tend to work their way loose and I don't have long-term confidence in a mechanical connection to the control plate to complete the ground.
4-ground-lug.jpg

(adding ground wire)

Finally I screwed the ground lug to the side of the control cavity (not shown).

I'm happy to report that my bass is now virtually silent. That annoying buzz is gone. :hyper::bassist:

I put a set of TI jazz flats while I had everything in pieces. They feel so nice under the fingers and sound great too :thumbsup:. They aren't as floppy as I was expecting. The rounds that were on the bass when I bought it must have been quite low tension. I didn't even need to adjust the action. I'll play it for a while as is but I might put just a touch more relief in the neck. This is my first bass so I don't have a whole lot to compare in terms of different strings yet.
 
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#3,994
Daniel Piper said:
View attachment 7115338
View attachment 7115339

Alright Club- with or without?
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Normally, I'm a "no pickguard" kinda guy, but that actually looks pretty snazzy. The only thing I would suggest, assuming it's even possible, would be to get a guard with no screw holes and mount it with some kind of double-sided tape, so as not to be a permanent mod. The only thing that would worry me there is the top's arch might not allow that kind of stick-on guard.

If you are going to mount it with screws, remember the old adage, "measure twice...cut once". You might want to brace it in-place with several strips of low-adhesive artists/painters tape, once you find the best mounting spot.

EDIT: I would also recommend getting a guard and pickup cover that matches the binding. No need for conflicting whites vs. off-whites, ja?
 
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