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It's finished - Introducing .... The Status "JazzRay" Bass !!! (long post with pics)

#61
lbwdog said:
Great job my friend!! While black is not my color, this one oozes sexiness!

What slays me are the lefthanded compliments from some responders. Such as; " Nice but I would've done it in walnut with a mirror pickguard"!
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:smug: Meh, that's OK! I guess that people just want to express their opinions and I'm happy to hear all of that stuff - sometimes it gives me inspiration :D! At least nobody on TB is down-right rude about these things just for the sake of it ;).

Of course lbwdog, I'd prefer it if everyone was a generous and polite with their comments as you've been :D.

lbwdog said:
I do have a question:
What do you think the Sadowski pre would sound like with a pair of Dimarzio Model Js on an alder body...
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Well, from what I know of Sadowsky Jazz Basses (all second-hand knowledge, I don't own one :crying:), I would think that the Sadowsky preamp would be the main upgrade that you could easily make to such a JB, to bring it somewhere close to "that signature sound".

IIRC, Roger uses DiMarzio Ultra J's (or was it Model J's :hmm:?) wound to his own specs ;), in his basses, so you'd be one the right track with the pickups.

Also, I've said this several times on TB recently; I don't think that the Sad preamp pedal will bring you "all the magic of a true Sadowsky bass", but it will make a good sounding JB sound seriously like a Sadowsky. Most of the Sadowsky "character" comes from the active circuitry, IMHO - if I bypass it on my Metro M5-24 and run it passive, it sounds pretty "average" at best :( (sorry Sad-fans)!

As I said earlier in this thread, I'd recommend that anyone who can get their hands on one, should try one of these preamp pedals - it's a really nice quality item to own :smug:.
 
#62
Fender32 said:
As you can see, it was a perfect fit - not a single gap anywhere :):

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Awesome. That's exactly the sort of pic I needed to see to have absolute confidence in such a project. Thank you!
Fender32 said:
Another important consideration with the MM neck over the Fender-style Status one, is that although it is a fraction "longer" (fretboard-wise), the 3+1 headstock does help to keep the centre of gravity further back. The WD body is made from very light alder and I suspect that a "proper" Status Fender-style neck, might just be enough to edge it towards neck-dive territory :(. As it is, the bass balances nicely, but you do kind of get the feeling that it's "on the brink", if you know what I mean ;). I also like the extra fret (very useful when practising scales in E :p).

A Status P would be a great little project, IMO :). I thought about it myself, but I'm more into the whole slap/funk thing atm and the JB just seemed the obvious choice for me.

Knowing how much you love your graphite basses, A9X, I think that you could do a lot worse than building a Status "P'Ray" ;). Let us know if you decide to go with it!?
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This is where my thinking on it is today. I know of a P body slab, IIRC in Qld walnut that's basically been bandsaw cut and been put aside. I had some friends that used to make instruments here, but found it hard to make a living at it and have gone into other things. This is a leftover I could probably get for little. They have all the templates and patterns, and a huge number of tools so I could, with guidance, do a lot myself and learn. And all at little cost.

Here's my thinking on what I'd actually build.
I wouldn't do a P or PJ as I have my Koa Kawai (say that drunk) which is a PJ, though the pickup placement is further towards the bridge than the Fender positions. This already has a composite neck.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=27282&d=1135909930

I like the black + chrome look of yours; very classy, very sexy and flash, but understated.
-Qld Walnut P, painted black, rear routed.
-Status MM neck + Hipshot UL tuners. These are the only parts I need to buy.
-Chrome Gotoh 206
-Two Status EMG35 soapbars I had Rob custom make (4 wire) for me.
-My own preamp with coil switching options for both pickups - NSC/P/S/BSC powered offboard, same as my Alembic S1.

If I really like it when it's done, a Carved top Warmoth Dinky P, whether from them or made my me and my mate (or go cheap and mod the Qld walnut body), with Alembic S1 pickup set in it and SVF filters would make a nice upgrade. And be a nod to the late, great JE who was my inspiration to play, sort of like to one in Bass Culture with the Kahler trem. As a tribute axe, it covers all the era's pretty well; the hybrid (which that would be) Fenderbirds, the Alembics and the Status basses at the end of his career. But it would be my tribute, not a copy. Sort of like my playing; inspred by but would never be confused with the original.
 
#68
A9X said:
Awesome. That's exactly the sort of pic I needed to see to have absolute confidence in such a project. Thank you!
This is where my thinking on it is today. I know of a P body slab, IIRC in Qld walnut that's basically been bandsaw cut and been put aside. I had some friends that used to make instruments here, but found it hard to make a living at it and have gone into other things. This is a leftover I could probably get for little. They have all the templates and patterns, and a huge number of tools so I could, with guidance, do a lot myself and learn. And all at little cost.

Here's my thinking on what I'd actually build.
I wouldn't do a P or PJ as I have my Koa Kawai (say that drunk) which is a PJ, though the pickup placement is further towards the bridge than the Fender positions. This already has a composite neck.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=27282&d=1135909930

I like the black + chrome look of yours; very classy, very sexy and flash, but understated.
-Qld Walnut P, painted black, rear routed.
-Status MM neck + Hipshot UL tuners. These are the only parts I need to buy.
-Chrome Gotoh 206
-Two Status EMG35 soapbars I had Rob custom make (4 wire) for me.
-My own preamp with coil switching options for both pickups - NSC/P/S/BSC powered offboard, same as my Alembic S1.

If I really like it when it's done, a Carved top Warmoth Dinky P, whether from them or made my me and my mate (or go cheap and mod the Qld walnut body), with Alembic S1 pickup set in it and SVF filters would make a nice upgrade. And be a nod to the late, great JE who was my inspiration to play, sort of like to one in Bass Culture with the Kahler trem. As a tribute axe, it covers all the era's pretty well; the hybrid (which that would be) Fenderbirds, the Alembics and the Status basses at the end of his career. But it would be my tribute, not a copy. Sort of like my playing; inspred by but would never be confused with the original.
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Wow, that all sounds pretty bad ass, A9X! :eek:

+1 on the Hipshot Ultralites (I wish that I'd specified the smaller bore holes in the headstock now, too :(). The pickup and electronics choice should give you a heck of a lot of options, too - go fur it :hyper: !!!

I know the (trem) bass that you're talking about, from the "Bass Culture" book, btw ;). Funnily enough, my inspiration for this JB came from a book too :).

Way back in my first year as a fledgling bassist (1985), I bought this (rather good) book called "BASSLINES", by Joe Hubbard. Joe was sporting a stripped-down, black, Squier Jazz Bass, with EMG pickups, no pickguard and a Badass bridge. I was hooked on that look for a while and assumed that the reason that I couldn't slap like Joe, was that I was using a Westone (Thunder 1A) with a P Bass pickup - it had to be a Jazz, I was so sure :smug:!

Here are the obligatory pictures ;) :

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I also have to add a significant acknowledgement to my good friend and (occassional ;)) fellow TBer, MachineheadMan, who added a Status Jazz Bass neck to his (black) USA standard and was blown away with it. Although he has an incredible collection of basses (including about 8 Wals :eek:), he tells me that his StatusJazz (a.ka. "The Bitch" :D) is actually his favourite, "go to" bass :eek:.

I'll post a couple of pictures of it, on his behalf (by way of a "Thank You" :smug:):

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Nice, eh? :)
 
#70
Mikeyd74 said:
This bass is just amazing. It just looks mean as hell.
I'm wondering what it would look like with some regular strings on it.
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:smug: Aah! The $64,000 question :confused: !?

Well, as I said in the OP (and much to the annoyance of those who complimented the black strings :(), I never meant it to look quite so "Stealthy" and had planned to slap on a set of (my favourite) Fender nickel-plated strings, as soon as the basic setup had been completed.

Today, after work , I did :hyper:.

So, "dial-up users", please hit the "STOP" button now :(, "Broadband users", please brace yourselves for another visual assault :D.

(I've gotta get the most out of this thread, as I really won't be buying, or making ;), any more basses for some considerable time :(). Anyway, here it is, in its' fully finished state - I hope that you will all approve :hmm:.

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OK, I think I've used my share of bandwidth for the rest of this month :( - better find some nice short, text-based threads to take part in :D.

Finally, thanks a million to all of you for your kind comments, shocked "smilies" (:eek:) and all the rest of it - it really adds to the pleasure of owning such a great bass :).

Peace ;),

Andy
 
#71
I love it- with the black strings and chrome it rocks either way.

Another one of my favorite black basses
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This one is at Greensquare Music in Sydney. If it were a 5 I would have bought it a few years ago- as it is, it's still tempting me.
 
#72
tbrannon said:
I love it- with the black strings and chrome it rocks either way.

Another one of my favorite black basses
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This one is at Greensquare Music in Sydney. If it were a 5 I would have bought it a few years ago- as it is, it's still tempting me.
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That is an awesome looking Rogue :eek:!

I had one myself a couple of years ago (flamed maple top, though :hmm:). Maybe, if I'd painted it black, I would have liked it more and wouldn't have sold it so quickly :D.

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#75
bassybill said:
Woohoo! Another member of our club...

Andy, here's some pics as requested and a link to the saga of my own little beauties, with some soundclips...

Link Removed

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=183322
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That's so spooky Bill, that we both used almost identical components to make our Super-Js :eek:. Particularly weird that we both specified "custom" necks (without the dot markers) and had to wait longer for them to be made :smug:.

I was considering a J-Retro for mine too, but having just sold one (for a tremendous loss :() last year, I didn't have the heart to go down that road again. Also, I wanted specifically to use it with my Sadowsky outboard preamp, as that has THE tone that I've been looking for :D.

Thanks again for the pics and the sound clips (CHECK 'EM OUT IN BILLS' THREAD FOLKS ;)) !!! Nice slappin' there, too :bassist:.

:D
 
#76
We seem to have very similar tastes, Andy - especially as we both use Markbass rigs in addition to owning uncannily alike basses.

I'd really like to hear how yours sounds with the Sadowsky outboard pre for comparison to the J-Retro. The clips I recorded were done with very little or no EQ, but the combination of neck and bridge J pickups with John East's superb little gadget means I can get more tones out of this thing than I could ever wish to find a use for. But I've heard great things about Roger's pre and would like to hear it for myself with one of these basses.
 
#78
bassybill said:
We seem to have very similar tastes, Andy - especially as we both use Markbass rigs in addition to owning uncannily alike basses.

I'd really like to hear how yours sounds with the Sadowsky outboard pre for comparison to the J-Retro. The clips I recorded were done with very little or no EQ, but the combination of neck and bridge J pickups with John East's superb little gadget means I can get more tones out of this thing than I could ever wish to find a use for. But I've heard great things about Roger's pre and would like to hear it for myself with one of these basses.
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I still haven't found a good, easy to use and (above all) free website that I can use for hosting MP3 files :(, otherwise I'd sort out some sound clips. Any suggestions?

:( 'Fraid that my slapping's not as good as yours either, Billy :bassist::bassist::bassist::bassist::bassist:.

In text form, I can only say that the Sadowsky preamp sounds more "breathy" (good word that, if only it existed ;)) and "scooped", to my ears. The bottom end that it puts out is pretty huge without being boomy and the "throatiness" of the Jazz Bass seems to sound almost as if it's a tiny little bit out of phase (like a flanger, cocked 1/8th of the way up :hmm:). Odd sounding description, but it's similar to the way Sadowsky basses sound to me.

Anyway, I like it :D.
 
#80
Chris2112 said:
Yes, it looks like you silly boys both accidentally sold your Status basses! After I had complimented both of those gorgeous S2's in a futile attempt to seduce them into my clutches! :p
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That's it :eek: ! The final coincidence - bassybill must be my long-lost twin brother :).

(Must PM him now and set up that family reunion :hyper:).


Anyway Chris, a graphite-necked Jazz Bass is a far cry from a full-on Status Series II. For me, the Status bass wasn't "woody" enough and I didn't care for the rather "clinical" tone that much :hmm:. My new FrankenJazz sounds more like a Fender Bass than a Status Bass, except that it's "cleaner, clearer and more responsive".

Still, I know that I'll never be able to steer you away from your passion for "Max Graphite" (good user name for you there :D), so I'll stop trying :crying:.

;)
 

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