...and the results are below. Here's the story.
When I lived in Boston, I bought an MIM Jazz bass from a nice little shop in Cambridge that became my main player for the remainder of my stint there. I believe the color was called 'Agave Blue', and it was just one of those basses that felt *right*. I played in a prog-pop-punk band there (yes, that's a silly genre subdivision) and never once had an issue with the bass. But then I moved to Seattle, a couple other deals came along and my main basses were a American Deluxe Jazz and a Highway One.
After a couple of years in Seattle, I felt bad that my old MIM was sitting in a closet, ignored. The colored just screamed 'surf guitar' so I got an idea in my head. I had been wanting to try fretless, so why not merge the two ideas.
The order of the acquisitions is a bit murky a year later, but the first few pieces came quickly. I found someone selling a fretless MIM on Craigslist for $200. Considering I couldn't find a *neck* for that price, I scooped it right up. It was one of the 90s models with the same-sized pickups, so I just pulled hte neck off and left the body for later use with the neck I just took off the Agave.
I swapped out the control plate for an Audere pre that I had bought for my five-string. I had first bought the VBT config, but didn't like how the center detente had 50% of the signal. So I put that one on this fretless, and bought a VVT for the fiver. I followed that with a white pearloid pickguard, which added a needed shimmer.
The next part came almost by luck. I wanted lipstick tube pickups. There was only one way to get them: Kent Armstrong. So I emailed him about getting ones fit to spec, but almost the exact same day, someone posted a set on TB. They were for a Jazz, so I took the chance and bought them. The install proved to be a bit hairy.
The neck pickup had to sit under the guard. The metal flaps that the screws run trough on the PU don't fit through the opening. But hat was easy enough. The next part was a problem though: the bridge flaps started to hit the finish when they got down a ways. I didn't want to damage the finish at all, but when I put the strings on, I couldn't get the standard Jazz bridge to a height that would clear the pickups properly during play, the action was insane because of the angle from the bridge to the nut.
A luthier in Seattle (Aaron Andrews, who I highly recommend), talked with me about the issue and suggested I add a shim under the neck to give a better angle. I told him I'd bring it by and he said don't bother - he gave me two shims and said try them each first!
I tried to shim the neck and the second shim fixed the action issue, but I still couldn't get the string height how I wanted it. I ordered a Hipshot A-style from a TB'er, but didn't get the Fender-mount and sent it back out the door. That was when the project stalled. I moved from Seattle to Montana, the basses took a while to unpack, bills piled up...
Last week I finally got back on BestBassGear and ordered the bridge (along with some Barts for the other body that the neck came from), and installed it this weekend with a new set of Chromes. After a quick set-up and a twist of the truss rod, I took her in to play. Up to this point, I could only play with a) ridiculously high action, and b) some buzz against the PUs.
The results were terrific. This is the bass I set out to 'build' over a year ago, and it sounds great. The tuners probably will need to get swapped out for Hipshots at some point, but it sounds amazing. the lipsticks definitely have their own distinct sound, but it works well with the fretless. And just looking at it makes me smile. Hope it makes you smile too.
When I lived in Boston, I bought an MIM Jazz bass from a nice little shop in Cambridge that became my main player for the remainder of my stint there. I believe the color was called 'Agave Blue', and it was just one of those basses that felt *right*. I played in a prog-pop-punk band there (yes, that's a silly genre subdivision) and never once had an issue with the bass. But then I moved to Seattle, a couple other deals came along and my main basses were a American Deluxe Jazz and a Highway One.
After a couple of years in Seattle, I felt bad that my old MIM was sitting in a closet, ignored. The colored just screamed 'surf guitar' so I got an idea in my head. I had been wanting to try fretless, so why not merge the two ideas.
The order of the acquisitions is a bit murky a year later, but the first few pieces came quickly. I found someone selling a fretless MIM on Craigslist for $200. Considering I couldn't find a *neck* for that price, I scooped it right up. It was one of the 90s models with the same-sized pickups, so I just pulled hte neck off and left the body for later use with the neck I just took off the Agave.
I swapped out the control plate for an Audere pre that I had bought for my five-string. I had first bought the VBT config, but didn't like how the center detente had 50% of the signal. So I put that one on this fretless, and bought a VVT for the fiver. I followed that with a white pearloid pickguard, which added a needed shimmer.
The next part came almost by luck. I wanted lipstick tube pickups. There was only one way to get them: Kent Armstrong. So I emailed him about getting ones fit to spec, but almost the exact same day, someone posted a set on TB. They were for a Jazz, so I took the chance and bought them. The install proved to be a bit hairy.
The neck pickup had to sit under the guard. The metal flaps that the screws run trough on the PU don't fit through the opening. But hat was easy enough. The next part was a problem though: the bridge flaps started to hit the finish when they got down a ways. I didn't want to damage the finish at all, but when I put the strings on, I couldn't get the standard Jazz bridge to a height that would clear the pickups properly during play, the action was insane because of the angle from the bridge to the nut.
A luthier in Seattle (Aaron Andrews, who I highly recommend), talked with me about the issue and suggested I add a shim under the neck to give a better angle. I told him I'd bring it by and he said don't bother - he gave me two shims and said try them each first!
I tried to shim the neck and the second shim fixed the action issue, but I still couldn't get the string height how I wanted it. I ordered a Hipshot A-style from a TB'er, but didn't get the Fender-mount and sent it back out the door. That was when the project stalled. I moved from Seattle to Montana, the basses took a while to unpack, bills piled up...
Last week I finally got back on BestBassGear and ordered the bridge (along with some Barts for the other body that the neck came from), and installed it this weekend with a new set of Chromes. After a quick set-up and a twist of the truss rod, I took her in to play. Up to this point, I could only play with a) ridiculously high action, and b) some buzz against the PUs.
The results were terrific. This is the bass I set out to 'build' over a year ago, and it sounds great. The tuners probably will need to get swapped out for Hipshots at some point, but it sounds amazing. the lipsticks definitely have their own distinct sound, but it works well with the fretless. And just looking at it makes me smile. Hope it makes you smile too.
