Hatchet job? (Ending edited and inching toward a postitive)

[REMBO]

THIS IS WHAT I'D DO...JUST DON'T USE THE SAME REPAIR GUY....

 

[mpdd]

I guess this is why the museum makes us lay everything out with blue tape before we're allowed to do anything, sorry about your bass man.

 

[tattooSAM]

OP:
That. Really. Sucks.
My condolences for your beautiful bass. I'd be livid.
What's done is done. Get him to compensate you for a quality repair or another body.
Good luck and I hope things turn out with as little headache as possible.

 

[Slater]

@Fletz Decide how you would like this situation resolved and present it to this “reputable” repairman.

I would ask for a full refund to start...

 

[two fingers]

See? This guy gets it. These instruments look terrible but I don't think he cares. He puts extra strings on a Rickenbacker and extra MM pickups on a P bass.

Dude, if you are drinking and posting, either put down the drink or put down the TB...OR BOTH. You are being a jerk. The guy payed good money to a pro repair guy to do a pro job. That was a hack job.

Now, if OP had done it himself, we could pat him on the back and say better luck next time and remind him how good it sounds.

But he played someone. This is just not right.

Seriously, let it go, man. You are simply incorrect in this case. Enjoy the rest of your drinks and your evening.

 

[electracoyote]

I don't know the dimensions of a MM pickup offhand, but it seems like jamming one in there is pretty much hoping the error/offset of the "high" side of that route is enough to compensate for the extra length (is there even any on an MM compared to a J bridge pickup?) on the other side such that it can be "centered." Not sure that it is a realistic solution unless the measurements line up just right with the existing hole.

If it does fit I suppose it could be cool, though. A MM pickup in that position sounds a lot like a single coil in the same spot to me...except with the added benefit of having a humbucker.

I get the whole lemonade from lemons mentality, and I respect it.

If I wanted a jazz rail at the bridge and not a humbucker, I'm sure I would have some very good reasons for it and I wouldn't be very happy having to settle for something else. After all, if they were truly that interchangeable, you wouldn't have so many players preferring one over the other.

OP wanted a jazz rail. Now he has some tough choices to make, all of which might equate to a serious compromise. Only a new body would bring this back to 100% status quo, and a more competent tech to do the install, and OP has every right to that IMHO.

 

[InhumanResource]

e

I get the whole lemonade from lemons mentality, and I respect it.

If I wanted a jazz rail at the bridge and not a humbucker, I'm sure I would have some very good reasons for it and I wouldn't be very happy having to settle for something else. After all, if they were truly that interchangeable, you wouldn't have so many players preferring one over the other.

OP wanted a jazz rail. Now he has some tough choices to make, all of which might equate to a serious compromise. Only a new body would bring this back to 100% status quo, and a more competent tech to do the install, and OP has every right to that IMHO.

Yeah, I agree. It's a crappy situation and I would not want to replace the single-coil that I wanted with a humbucker on account of someone else's f-up. Hell, I don't even want to replace my single coils with other single coils. Just saying that it doesn't seem to necessarily be a whole heck of a lot different in terms of sound, but yeah...OP shouldn't have to make this choice in the first place.

Not to mention the thing still might not fit quite right without having some extra space on one side or something weird like that.

 

[BassUrges]

This is why I do all my own work. Cars, guns, basses— even did a full setup on my DB, and that’s an ordeal. Not only is my work better than that, but if it’s a total fail there’s no one to blame but me.

I admire the work of real artisans, but the only people I would trust all have 2-year waiting lists and charge more than my gear is worth.

Refund + new body.

 

[InhumanResource]

THIS IS WHAT I'D DO...JUST DON'T USE THE SAME REPAIR GUY....View attachment 2803787

How does that help? Unless it is longer than OP's pickup to the degree of making the offset correct, it does nothing except be wider (in the wrong direction) and not what he originally wanted.

 

[jonathanhughes]

Yep tired of the trolling

Indeed. I'm glad we have the option of the "ignore" setting.

 

[MDBass]

went to a reputable local guitar repairman to see if he could install a j pickup on my American design Experience precision bass. He said he could and he showed me other guitars he’d repaired, built etc. No jazz pup installations but he assured me he could do it. I bought a p/j set and brought it to him. A week and a half later it was done so I picked it up. In the moment, I plugged it in and it sounded good. No ground hum or buzz. Wasn’t thrilled with the rout but it wasn’t enough for me to gasp in horror. I finally got home and took it out. I played for a few minutes then took a closer look only to realize he did a god-awful job lining up the pickup. First I noticed the poles didn’t line up to the strings but thought maybe it was a slight bridge adjustment. Then I noticed that the jazz pickup is dramatically higher than up on the body than the precision pickups. (Not pickup height up and down but position wise into the body). See the pictures below. The blue bass is the one that I am talking about. I put the pencils on there for alignment. The black one was done by another guy when I was working elsewhere and was much closer.

What course of action would you take? It wasn’t cheap and it’s essentially ruined this bass. What do you think? Am I wrong?

That's an almost unbelievably bad hack job.

He owes you a full refund and a serious apology at the very least.

 

[WardEarth]

Care to say how much you paid? Just wondering.

I f'd up the pickup placement on my first bass. That mistake should only happen once. My second bass is perfection. I doubt this guy has done that many pickup jobs.
The solution to this problem probably won't be easy if it sounds good I might just get a full refund and be ok with that. Maybe push a little for some other compensation or repair but I probably wouldn't go through the hassle of the court system.
The pickup surround is probably the easiest fix.

 

[LT131]

Whatever it takes to be put back the way it was. IMO no repair will do. Ask for a new, finished body and, if you still want to modify, take it elsewhere. You could ask for a new, finished P/B configured body. By ask I'm saying insist.

Sorry, that is a foxy bass.

If all fails the suggestion of a surround could be a great option.

 

[arbiterusa]

I have no problem with the distance from the bridge - that is excusable although wrong. What is not excusable is how off center the pickup is. Were I the repair guy, I'd be buying you a new body and moving the parts over for free. He will probably have another opinion about that, I don't mean to speak for him. Anyhow, good luck.

 

[Frenchy-Lefty]

Nah. Not only way.
All you need to do is to get a qualified luthier to take out the jazz pickup and then build a wood piece out of whatever your body wood like say alder in the exact shape of a jazz pickup to fit the wrongly placed hole, Glue it in. Sand it flat on the top. the rerout the J pickup hole again in the proper location and repaint the entire bass body. Simple.

Kinda simple. Isn't a full paint job around $300?

 

[7dollarbologna]

Looks like freehand routing - no template - sux, I'd be goin through the roof.

 

[Bill Whitehurst]

A surround or extended PG could cover the extra route,
but would look a bit odd nd you'd always know it was there.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

went to a reputable local guitar repairman to see if he could install a j pickup on my American design Experience precision bass. He said he could and he showed me other guitars he’d repaired, built etc. No jazz pup installations but he assured me he could do it. I bought a p/j set and brought it to him. A week and a half later it was done so I picked it up. In the moment, I plugged it in and it sounded good. No ground hum or buzz. Wasn’t thrilled with the rout but it wasn’t enough for me to gasp in horror. I finally got home and took it out. I played for a few minutes then took a closer look only to realize he did a god-awful job lining up the pickup. First I noticed the poles didn’t line up to the strings but thought maybe it was a slight bridge adjustment. Then I noticed that the jazz pickup is dramatically higher than up on the body than the precision pickups. (Not pickup height up and down but position wise into the body). See the pictures below. The blue bass is the one that I am talking about. I put the pencils on there for alignment. The black one was done by another guy when I was working elsewhere and was much closer.

What course of action would you take? It wasn’t cheap and it’s essentially ruined this bass. What do you think? Am I wrong?

Must have been high when working ...

 

[andruca]

I've done better "routing" than that with a Dremel and a chisel. If presented your bass I'd get my Dremel and chisel out, carve enough to correct pickup position and install a nice frame for it matching the pickguard (as narrow a frame as possible, applied with some thin double sided adhesive tape). Maybe cut the square out of an actual Jazz Bass pickguard. OR find a bigger pickup for throwing in there and have it rerouted (find somebody else this time). Only ways I can think of to fix that (pretty rookie if you ask me) screwup.

 

[Fletz]

thanks for the comments all. It’s clear (a) I am not overly pissed off and (b) I need to ask for at least a full refund and at best a full refund and new body. He’s a small business so I’m sure it’s not going to be an easy ask but this bass is clearly ruined.