Jerzy Drozd Club

[ubone]

I'm hoping to talk to Jerzy & Dan at Namm. I'm interested in a Prodigy LE VII either fretted or frettless. The more I look at the JD website the more my obsession with those basses grows. I'd really like to see some big pics of them so if you got one post em and make this old dog drool.

Steve

 

[cosmicevan]

bump




(and subscribe )

 

[Carver]

Edited first post to include members so far...Let's see some more!!!

 

[bassINit]

Hello All,Glad to be here and in the club.Here is a couple of pictures.I use to own a 4 banger....moved up to this Excellency VI.I didn't have a picture of the VI....so I got this picture of it from Dan's Web page.Dan is the Man!

 

[Carver]

Welcome aboard! The finish on that 6-string is SICK!

 

[bassINit]

Thanks Carver,I got hold of a (camera 1.3 mexapixal)here are a couple more.I got this bass from Dan,after going to see him on the Sequel VI "Blue Boy".This is a 34''scale with 28 frets.It has an Audere 4 band pre in it.I'm digging the Audere pre.

 

[ubone]

Hello All,Glad to be here and in the club.Here is a couple of pictures.I use to own a 4 banger....moved up to this Excellency VI.I didn't have a picture of the VI....so I got this picture of it from Dan's Web page.Dan is the Man!

Wow.. I was looking at that bass along with the Blue Boy to purchase before I settled on my Excellency VI. Love the finish. Congratulations,
It's a beauty.

Steve

 

[Beast]

Alright, I know it's a bit rude to ask this, but would you guys mind letting us know on the cost of these beauties? I'm seriously considering saving up the cash for one, but I'm interested in how much i will have to save up.

 

[Thunderitter]

From what I've seen at www.luthiersaccessgroup.com starting around $4500 and heading upwards of $7500.

 

[Spencer!]

Alright, I know it's a bit rude to ask this, but would you guys mind letting us know on the cost of these beauties? I'm seriously considering saving up the cash for one, but I'm interested in how much i will have to save up.

I bought mine in early 2005 for $3200, but the price now would be closer to $5000. I guess I was just lucky to find out about them before more people did, because now the lead times on custom orders is way longer.

Try finding a used one; that should save you some cash.

 

[arbitrary]

Alright, I know it's a bit rude to ask this, but would you guys mind letting us know on the cost of these beauties? I'm seriously considering saving up the cash for one, but I'm interested in how much i will have to save up.

Try finding a used one; that should save you some cash.

I actually found mine here on the TB classifieds used. Used helps a lot with these high priced beauts.

 

[Debased]

I have a setup question - more of a gripe actually - for you Drozd owners, and I thought I'd post it here rather than on the setup board because it's specific to our instruments.

That lovely two-piece bridge is certainly a visual/sonic work of art, but in order to intonate it, you have to:

1) Loosen the string and remove the ball-end from the string anchor.

2) Loosen the angled saddle-retaining setscrew (inaccessible with the string in place) while holding the saddle in place, otherwise the piezo-equipped saddles have a tendancy to shift around unpredictably due to their associated wiring.

3) Carefully move the saddle slightly fore or aft by hand.

4) Still holding the saddle in place, retighten the setscrew, then reinsert the ball-end of the string.

5) Tune the string, check the intonation, and repeat until it's dead-nut.

This is time consuming and labor-intensive compared to your average one-piece bridge with spring-loaded saddle positioning screws that can easily be adjusted under full string tension, but that's okay. My biggest complaint isn't the extra setup time; it's dead strings! Every time I try a different brand, I naturally re-intonate the bass, and repeatedly loosening and tightening a brand spankin' new set of roundwound strings is the surest way to kill em as dead as an old (or new; pretty much the same thing ) set of flats.

Any pointers, or is this just the nature of the beast? I'm pretty sure that I'm sticking with DR "Nickle Lo-Riders" or "Sunbeams" - more lively and long lasting, I think, than the stock La Bella "Slappers" - so hopefully I won't have to deal with further intonation issues again for a while.

 

[ubone]

I have a setup question - more of a gripe actually - for you Drozd owners, and I thought I'd post it here rather than on the setup board because it's specific to our instruments.

That lovely two-piece bridge is certainly a visual/sonic work of art, but in order to intonate it, you have to:

1) Loosen the string and remove the ball-end from the string anchor.

2) Loosen the angled saddle-retaining setscrew (inaccessible with the string in place) while holding the saddle in place, otherwise the piezo-equipped saddles have a tendancy to shift around unpredictably due to their associated wiring.

3) Carefully move the saddle slightly fore or aft by hand.

4) Still holding the saddle in place, retighten the setscrew, then reinsert the ball-end of the string.

5) Tune the string, check the intonation, and repeat until it's dead-nut.

This is time consuming and labor-intensive compared to your average one-piece bridge with spring-loaded saddle positioning screws that can easily be adjusted under full string tension, but that's okay. My biggest complaint isn't the extra setup time; it's dead strings! Every time I try a different brand, I naturally re-intonate the bass, and repeatedly loosening and tightening a brand spankin' new set of roundwound strings is the surest way to kill em as dead as an old (or new; pretty much the same thing ) set of flats.

Any pointers, or is this just the nature of the beast? I'm pretty sure that I'm sticking with DR "Nickle Lo-Riders" or "Sunbeams" - more lively and long lasting, I think, than the stock La Bella "Slappers" - so hopefully I won't have to deal with further intonation issues again for a while.

Thats an interesting question/gripe.
I didn't realize that the Piezo bridge setup would be that much of a pain and at the sacrifice of strings.
You cant just loosen the string tension to move it to the side of the saddle giving you access to the setscrew?
I don't have the Piezo bridge with my bass so please excuse my ignorance but am I correct in assuming there is no adjustment screw on the neck side of the saddles?

I think this is something best answered by Jerzy himself or Yeves Carbonne (hopefully answered here) so we can all get an education regarding this.

You might just have to sacrifice a set of your preferred strings to set the intonation, but I would be willing to bet that there's another way.

I'll make some of the expert setup techs and see if I can't get an answere for you.

Love your bass though. It's a beauty.

Steve

 

[Cerb]

Here's mine:

Every time that I see this bass I think to myself: Self, that is the most beautiful top wood on any bass... ever. Absolutely stunning.

 

[Debased]

Thats an interesting question/gripe.
I didn't realize that the Piezo bridge setup would be that much of a pain and at the sacrifice of strings.

So this setup condition is unique to the piezo version? The only reason that I initially brought up the piezos was because I've found that their wiring can make the saddles a bit twitchy to handle once the setscrew is loosened. OTOH, mine is the only JD I've setup, so I'm unfamiliar with the standard bridge configuration.

You cant just loosen the string tension to move it to the side of the saddle giving you access to the setscrew?

Perhaps, but the ball-end usually pops free as soon as the string is loose anyway, and the saddle adjustment is much easier with the string out of the way. Besides, I'm not as concerned with the intonation hassles as I am with the need to inflict all that tightening and loosening on a new set of strings when intonation is necessary. How do you avoid that on your non-piezo'd bridge?

I don't have the Piezo bridge with my bass so please excuse my ignorance but am I correct in assuming there is no adjustment screw on the neck side of the saddles?

Nope. The only adjustments are three setscrews on top of each saddle to set its height and level, and one angled setscrew hidden under the string to lock each saddle into its bridge recess.

You might just have to sacrifice a set of your preferred strings to set the intonation, but I would be willing to bet that there's another way.

In a way, that's what I've been doing. I use a new, unfamiliar set to get a feel for the sound of the strings, then I intonate the bass and the strings lose around half of their life due to the repeated loosening and tightening, and I live with em as long as I can before buying a "keeper" set.

Wouldn't it be something if Jerzy has a "beater" set of strings in the shop that he uses to set up each bass before the new set goes on?

I'll make some of the expert setup techs and see if I can't get an answere for you.

Love your bass though. It's a beauty.

Steve

Thanks very much for your reply, Steve. Much appreciated!

 

[ubone]

I'll be heading over to Buffalo Brothers and talk to a friend who does an awful lot of setup on basses of all types. I'm pretty sure he'll be able to look at the issue and come up with good answer for you. I'll take my JD along so he'll get an idea of the setup.

I know Jerzy is slow to respond to email right now as he's working like a madman getting ready for NAMM, but I would fire off an email to Yeves.
He seems like a very friendly info giving kinda fellow player.

As far as setting the intonation with my JD it's been pretty straight forward. each saddle has a face screw to for adjusting distance and I haven't had to loosen the strings.

As far as strings go have you tried SIT strings yet? I just bought some stainless steel round wounds and so far I can't seem to wear them out.

Steve

 

[ubone]

Oh and I do just move the strings over to the side on the saddle to get to the set screw. I've only had to loosen the g and c strings but not enough that the ball end comes out of the anchor.

Steve

 

[ubone]

I have a setup question - more of a gripe actually - for you Drozd owners, and I thought I'd post it here rather than on the setup board because it's specific to our instruments.

That lovely two-piece bridge is certainly a visual/sonic work of art, but in order to intonate it, you have to:

1) Loosen the string and remove the ball-end from the string anchor.

2) Loosen the angled saddle-retaining setscrew (inaccessible with the string in place) while holding the saddle in place, otherwise the piezo-equipped saddles have a tendancy to shift around unpredictably due to their associated wiring.

3) Carefully move the saddle slightly fore or aft by hand.

4) Still holding the saddle in place, retighten the setscrew, then reinsert the ball-end of the string.

5) Tune the string, check the intonation, and repeat until it's dead-nut.

This is time consuming and labor-intensive compared to your average one-piece bridge with spring-loaded saddle positioning screws that can easily be adjusted under full string tension, but that's okay. My biggest complaint isn't the extra setup time; it's dead strings! Every time I try a different brand, I naturally re-intonate the bass, and repeatedly loosening and tightening a brand spankin' new set of roundwound strings is the surest way to kill em as dead as an old (or new; pretty much the same thing ) set of flats.

Any pointers, or is this just the nature of the beast? I'm pretty sure that I'm sticking with DR "Nickle Lo-Riders" or "Sunbeams" - more lively and long lasting, I think, than the stock La Bella "Slappers" - so hopefully I won't have to deal with further intonation issues again for a while.

Debassed,

I took my Drozd down to my friend at Buffalo Brothers Guitars and he checked out the bridge.
I was wrong in telling you how I was setting my intonation. I didn't cause any harm but if I had a piezo bridge I could have caused some damage. The upshot being setting the intonation with these bridges is pretty much how you've described it. The only difference being we only had to loosen the strings to relieve tension and move them to the side of the saddle to get to the set screw and then make the adjustment, afterwards locking down the set screw and retuning the string. Not the best of situations with regard to maintaining string life (At least for that set) but at this point I don't see another way around it.

I would like to get the full lowdown from Jerzy about this bass, maybe at NAMM he can take a little time.

Steve

 

[Spencer!]

Every time that I see this bass I think to myself: Self, that is the most beautiful top wood on any bass... ever. Absolutely stunning.

Thanks! I really need to take some decent pictures of it.

 

[Debased]

Debassed,

I took my Drozd down to my friend at Buffalo Brothers Guitars and he checked out the bridge.
I was wrong in telling you how I was setting my intonation. I didn't cause any harm but if I had a piezo bridge I could have caused some damage. The upshot being setting the intonation with these bridges is pretty much how you've described it. The only difference being we only had to loosen the strings to relieve tension and move them to the side of the saddle to get to the set screw and then make the adjustment, afterwards locking down the set screw and retuning the string. Not the best of situations with regard to maintaining string life (At least for that set) but at this point I don't see another way around it.

I would like to get the full lowdown from Jerzy about this bass, maybe at NAMM he can take a little time.

Steve

Thanks again, Steve!

I'll certainly mention this setup idiosyncrasy to Dan or Jerzy and report back, but I'll be surprised if there's a viable work-around. These intonation quirks may be a PITA when you're trying to find the ideal string set for a particular instrument and playing style, but once you settle into the right brand and gauge it's no longer an issue and the results are easily worth the effort.