Franco was the bass player in a band a friend of mine got involved in about 15 years ago when he moved back into the area. Kind of a crusty guy but nice enough to a stranger who showed up at his gig with an old Precision that looked like it had never been played. He was slow getting back to the band stand after a break but showed up quick after (at the rest of the bands' request) I started playing my bass through his rig.
Over the years I sat in with the band 2 or 3 times a year mostly on guitar. Franco was a solid player who knew a million tunes and he really liked to play so my opportunities on bass were limited. I quickly found out that I could depend on him to keep the pulse and changes going even while I struggled with an unfamiliar tune.
Four years ago I brought my new (to me) Washburn bass to a rehearsal and he played it for the whole time. It sounded great. Franco was not a snob when it came to instruments. When I first met him he was using an old Ibanez but the day I brought the Washburn he had the Jazz Plus.
I'd never heard of a Jazz Plus. The headstock was painted the same color as the body and the words 'Jazz +' were there in blocky stick on letters. He told me it was a real Fender but he had refinished it. I don't think he was real happy with it, though. He didn't seem to know what the knob positions did and the battery was dead or dying. Maybe that's why he played my Washburn that day! The next time I saw him, he was playing a beautiful sunburst Jazz that I could hear two blocks away from the pizza joint the band was playing at.
That time and the next time a few months later I played a lot more bass with the band because Franco wasn't feeling too well. It sure felt good to be validated by Franco letting me sub for him while he was there.
Sadly, three months later, he wasn't there any more. Franco died in January 2012. Long story short, after a couple of months I was able to purchase some of Franco's gear from the estate. I really wanted the old Jazz but it turned out to belong to someone else who had loaned it to Franco so the Jazz Plus came to me almost by default.
I cleaned it up and played it around but it didn't move me like that old Jazz had. I liked the sound I got out of the Washburn – humbucking pickups and 3 band active preamp – so I set the Plus aside for a while.
I did like the neck on it, though, so I kept coming back to it, even if only to play for a few minutes in the bedroom unamplified. That's when I really started to notice the neck dive. I rationalized that it was no longer a stock instrument due to Franco's refinish job so I changed out the tuners for Hip Shot UltraLights.
Then I found that the battery kept dying even though I was careful to switch off the preamp when I wasn't playing. All the connections seemed ok so I eventually just took out the Kubicki preamp and put in a Bartolini 2 band. Same number of holes but the old knobs didn't fit so now you can see the darker unfaded finish around the now smaller knobs.
I still didn't like the sound so last month I replaced the Lace Sensors with DiMarzio Ultra Jazz pickups. Bingo! Now I've got a bass that's got some of Franco's mojo but with a sound I really like. Now when I rock it, I can feel Franco smiling at me!
