Those machines on the Aero are pretty light already. Hipshot makes direct replacements but I have no idea if there is any weight to be saved doing that. They are a mega company and will reply quickly if you reach out and ask them.
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I don't know if I recommend this in this case, but here's what I did:
On one bass I built I a couple years ago, even with light tuners and good ergonomics the bass was still head heavy. It was a paulownia wood body in this case, which is ultra light wood. I wound up using lead to weight it down. I drilled a series of holes out under the bridge with a 1/2" forstner bit and filled the holes with lead. I also put a layer of lead into the back of the control cavity (it was a front control plate bass). I was able to add nearly a pound. It balanced out the bass, and I think it may actually have changed the tone (for the better).
As I said, I'm not sure that this is a good idea for an Aerodyne...
On one bass I built I a couple years ago, even with light tuners and good ergonomics the bass was still head heavy. It was a paulownia wood body in this case, which is ultra light wood. I wound up using lead to weight it down. I drilled a series of holes out under the bridge with a 1/2" forstner bit and filled the holes with lead. I also put a layer of lead into the back of the control cavity (it was a front control plate bass). I was able to add nearly a pound. It balanced out the bass, and I think it may actually have changed the tone (for the better).
As I said, I'm not sure that this is a good idea for an Aerodyne...
Obviously one of the most beautiful basses in the Fender universe.
I am glad to own a nice arsenal of different basses and surprisingly I always tend to grap the aerodyne. This bass not only offers a superb playability, it sounds simply amazing and comes out pretty fine in the mix.
I am glad to own a nice arsenal of different basses and surprisingly I always tend to grap the aerodyne. This bass not only offers a superb playability, it sounds simply amazing and comes out pretty fine in the mix.
Thanks everyone! I feel really lucky. I thought the neck was unusual - I've been looking at so many pictures of these AJBs before deciding to pull the plug and I didn't see anything highly-figured necks. Really glad mine turned out like this. Got it brand new too
I've noticed a couple things I'd like to improve though:
1) The tuners are too heavy, therefore creating a neck dive. Has anyone replaced the tuners on theirs? I'm a huge fan of Gotoh parts, so please let me know if any of the Res-O-Lite series is a direct replacement!
2) The J pickup is really noisy by itself :/
Regarding the tuners - I replaced my tuners with Hipshot, they work perfect and lightened up the neck quite a bit.
Hipshot seems like a popular choice! Thank you, I'll look into that. The problem is that my bass' body is *really* light that it felt a bit awkward the first time I picked it up. My two guitars are heavier :V
I was leaning towards Gotoh mainly because my guitars have Gotoh locking tuners, and I know that they're extremely well-made. Interested in one of these Invalid Link Removed, but I did some rough measurements and it looks like I'll have to drill more holes for anyone of them. The GB350 sounds like it's the lightest, so I like it best.
Has anyone changed their tuners to something that's not a direct replacement? I just want to see how it ends up looking to see if I should follow suit.
If you can't find the Gotoh hardware you're looking for domestically, here's their online store. I've ordered directly from them before. They shipping's a bit high, but it was the only place I could get exactly what I was looking for.
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Also, if you want to keep the hardware color-matched, you want the "Cosmo Black (CK)" finish. It's exactly the same as the Aerodyne's "smoked chrome" hardware.
Thank you for the link! I'm pretty sure the hardware on mine is just chrome, not cosmo black though.
It's quite possible you do have straight-up chrome hardware. If you want to be sure, and if you have another instrument handy, hold it up to your 'Dyne for comparison. At a glance, smoked chrome can sometimes look like regular chrome until you compare the two up close. For example, people rarely notice the difference between my Hipshot BT10 extender and the stock Aerodyne tuners (which I believe are made by Gotoh) until I point it out.
It's quite possible you do have straight-up chrome hardware. If you want to be sure, and if you have another instrument handy, hold it up to your 'Dyne for comparison. At a glance, smoked chrome can sometimes look like regular chrome until you compare the two up close. For example, people rarely notice the difference between my Hipshot BT10 extender and the stock Aerodyne tuners (which I believe are made by Gotoh) until I point it out.
Thank you for the picture. Yup, mine definitely has chrome hardware, not smoke chrome.
Anyway, I have a more pressing project to work on regarding this bass: it needs shielding. The pickups get really noisy, and the hum goes away when I touch the strings/ metal parts. I've been reading this So your bass has a hum and it sounds like shielding will fix my problems. Has anyone tried to shield their AJB?
I got the DiMarzio DP126 BK pickup set today and installed it immediately. I must say the first impression is great. This set seems more articulate than the stock P and Seymour Duncan Basslines it replaced. Even if the P is still louder, the DiMarzio set seems well balanced and for the first time I find a great sound when both the P and the J volume is at max. Since both pickups are humbucking, noise is neglible. And I think it looks good, too (it is hard to photograph black on black properly).
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Don't worry! The sun will eventually return to your lands…someday…maybe…hopefully…
Hmmm…now you got me thinking how an Aerodyne might look when photographed using "time exposure" technique and light from the Aurora Borealis.
Oh, there is sun at daytime. You know, when I'm at the day job, not photographing basses. I am not in the part of Norway with a continuous winter darkness, which means I do not get the benefit from the midnight sun at summer time, either.Don't worry! The sun will eventually return to your lands…someday…maybe…hopefully…
I dearly love my Aerodyne. It's a newer model. I put a Hipshot bridge on it, black of course. I shielded it, and it was time well spent. I swapped the pickups for Dimarzio Model PJs, and hated them. The P pup was boomy and obnoxious. The J was good though. I pulled 'em back out and am liking the stock pups. The 7.25 radius is perfect for me, and over time I'll change all my basses for that. The drawback, it's my heaviest bass, and I can't figure that out. The bridge adds weight, but not that much. But it does balance well for me. I don't play it much, our bandleader is a P bass man, and prefers I play a P.
This is a bit weird to me, but I guess YMMV, and all that. For me, the DiMarzio added clarity and is by no means any boomier than the stock P. Did you change pickup height when you switched? The DiMarzios are slightly taller and can not use the same rubber pads underneath as the stock pickups. I have a bit of distance between the P and the strings (I did that with the stock pickup, too), and I have no boominess.
But the main benefit from the DiMarzio set is the better match between the two pickups, and the improved noise rejection of the J pickup.
My Aerodyne is my main bass, and one of the reasons I prefer it is the weight. My Aerodyne is quite light, and even with my bad back, I can play it standing for hours. I also play the P pickup most of the time, but with the DiMarzio set, I found a new sound with both pickups that will be quite useful for some songs.
I think your band leader should care more about how you sound than how you look, I totally get the P-bass preference, but for me that is mostly because of the P-pickup sound. I have owned and tried all J-pickup basses, but they never worked for me. I have another PJ-bass (a short scale), where i put in a switch to take out the J circuit. That turned the P-pickup into a monster. If you really love the P sound, that is a trick that made a much bigger difference than I thought possible. (I used a new volume pot with a push pull switch for this mod. I hate drilling new holes in my brand basses).
Ok. I understand, and believe me, if I had prominent booming P, I probably would have been disappointed, too. My experience is less boom and a better articulation. A little less overall output, actually, but I might have a tad lower pickup height on the new set.
Hi Cider,
The usual responses all apply here:
1. Try a different guitar cord
2. Try a different room and different plug in for your amp.
3. If it's none of the easy stuff, it may be that there's a loose ground in the control cavity - that's either for you to look at or send it off to a competent tech...
Hope that helps.
Hey Cider - same thing on my Aerodyne. It's not a problem with the Aerodyne, even American Fenders can hum, that's the price for the J Pickup. If it's a passive J or PJ it's going to hum with passive pickups. If you turn both pickups all the way up, that might help. It might also help to play using your P pickup without the J pickup. But there's really only 2 permanent solutions, shield the bass, or replace the pickups with noiseless pickups. I'd shield the bass first, then replace pickups later if you don't like the sound of the stock pickups (I do). There's a lot of articles out there about shielding, and a lot on this site. Read, study, then take your time. Mine is perfectly silent now. But don't get down on your bass, there's nothing like them anywhere. Enjoy it!
This is normal. The player is an interference that goes away when grounded to the instrument (same potential). Shielding may eliminate some of it, but as the strings act as antennas, and can't be shielded, grounding the player to the instrument by touching it is the normal way of eliminating this noise.
Our bodies contain a lot of water, salts and other chemicals which makes them fairly electrically conductive. Any electrically conductive material can serve as either an antenna or a electromagnetic reflective element. So, the position of your body relative to the instrument will affect this noise interaction.
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