Fender Jazz Bass Gold Foil

[thrashingbass]

Back in the day we simply relieved the pick guard if required with a rats tail file and used a long shafted screw driver. A period correct mod. Nobody would tolerate having to unscrew the neck.
Also if you are setting the relief with a feeler gauge the neck would be on and off more times than a tarts knickers.
Form follows function!

I suppose if you are OCD it matters more (not meant as an insult)-I just do a quick test to see if the relief is right for me. I am near OCD enough that I almost always perform this "feel" relief test before tuning and practicing-my particular vintage style neck is very stable and have not needed additional truss rod adjustments *for my "non-OCD" needs*. The intonation is right, and the feel amazing, cold, dry, or normal. The other bass with the "regular" allen wrench, headstock adjustment (I suppose those are also too old school for the modern bassist as well) has needed more adjustments than the vintage neck-perhaps luck, but also the vintage neck bass is more expensive. So I have the urge to check relief, but do not feel I have to reach for a feeler gauge all the time (which would not be wrong for someone else to prefer and do.)

My apologies if I appear contrarian. Just a short thought to express that at least in my case, I do not sweat the vintage neck truss rod adjustment as much as perhaps the majority do. Each to their own.

 

[Drredplate]

I suppose if you are OCD it matters more (not meant as an insult)-I just do a quick test to see if the relief is right for me. I am near OCD enough that I almost always perform this "feel" relief test before tuning and practicing-my particular vintage style neck is very stable and have not needed additional truss rod adjustments *for my "non-OCD" needs*. The intonation is right, and the feel amazing, cold, dry, or normal. The other bass with the "regular" allen wrench, headstock adjustment (I suppose those are also too old school for the modern bassist as well) has needed more adjustments than the vintage neck-perhaps luck, but also the vintage neck bass is more expensive. So I have the urge to check relief, but do not feel I have to reach for a feeler gauge all the time (which would not be wrong for someone else to prefer and do.)

My apologies if I appear contrarian. Just a short thought to express that at least in my case, I do not sweat the vintage neck truss rod adjustment as much as perhaps the majority do. Each to their own.

To be honest I don’t use a feeler gauge these days now I have set relief lots of times. My basses seem pretty stable I live in Uk so no massive climate changes.
If you put something together for someone else they may want to. You don’t want to be saying “ I’ve done your guitar for you if you want to change string gauge all you need to do is unscrew the neck” etc etc.

The rats tail file is used at a very shallow angle the same angle as the long shaft screw driver. So the relief is hardly noticed. Really just a bevel on the pickquard.

the secret is the correct screw driver (which is true for most jobs now I think of it)

 

[SethD]

Is the bridge misaligned or is it a narrow pickup and the neck needs to be adjusted side-to-side in the pocket?

 

[Oscar Fox]

View attachment 4930597

Went to my local guitar shop and saw this crazy bass. I’m pretty sure it’s directly from Fender, but I can’t find any info on it. The serial number doesn’t pull anything up, and I’m pretty certain it’s not a custom shop bass. It’s just a Fender, made in Mexico. Anyone got any info on this?

Before you buy that!!!!! If you haven't yet, you need to watch LowendLobster review it. There are many flaws with that bass.

 

[Volume Not Withstanding]

I contacted Fender about the PUPs. They replied:

"Thanks for reaching out to us. I have contacted our techs regarding the type of magnet used with this pickup, as it is not listed in our technical documents. However, it should be reading at ~8ohms. These pickups are intentionally low output, and are designed to accurately replicate pickups that were originally used in Sears Catalogue guitars in the 1960s - so they are a bit Lo-Fi on purpose. I will get back to you regarding the magnet selection, however this may be proprietary information. Either way I will let you know. Have a great one! "

Then:

"No word on specifics of this pickup other than what I've already told you. We don't have these pickups for sale outside of the instruments they're installed in, your best bet would be to either have the warranty work performed, or source a pickup via the used market."

It has since been suggested that they might not even have replacements to service repair or warranty work! I have not been able to find a after-market 'match' for these any where. And yes, despite what people who own them advise as being their personal experience of them, Fender itself claims these are mini-humbuckers????

P.S. I asked Guitar Fetish what they knew about it and they said:

"Thanks for emailing, our GFS pups are made to our own specs, with our own formula. I’m sorry, I don’t know the specs of that Fender pup / bass. Neat bass, though! I think that would be very cool with two pups! I would recommend the Alnico version for the bridge pup, for a thicker tone. I hope that helps, please email back if you have further questions, thanks!"