I was going through my basses today as I rotate them in and out to give them all some playtime. I'd forgotten how sweet these both are.
The Jaguar H has been modded quite a bit. The neck has been slightly shaved and a vintage amber finish applied. Looks awesome against the black body. Black 'n' Maple baby! Pickup upgraded to a Delano MM with switching options. Series/parallel/single coil on a mini switch. Wiring and pots upgraded to USA. Bridge replaced with a current Charvel hi-mass (same as Fender uses and made by Kluson). Tuners upgraded with tension adjustable Grover style imports. No CNC routing hole under the pickguard so I'm able to run it naked. This bass just kills. A joy to play and cuts through like a knife. Hard to believe I originally got this bass new when they came out for $179.00.
Next is the Gretsch CVT medium scale in vintage white. Also modded because I just can't leave anything alone LOL. Fit and finish out of the box was exceptional. I was able to get it dialed in with a nice low action with zero problems. There was however pretty bad hum coming from it when it was plugged in I had to remove the wiring cavity cover and take a look. I loosened the pots and rotated them and realigned them a little bit and it quieted right down.
So much for the Sweetwater's fifty five point inspection. They obviously had an epic fail on this one. The minute it was plugged in to test that should have been noticed then corrected before it was shipped out. And not only by Sweetwater's guys but my Gretsch's manufacturing CS as well . So, I have to wonder if it was never plugged in at the factory for final inspection because I know for sure it wasn't plugged in at Sweetwater. None of the pots were loose so it was when they tightened them up originally that caused it to buzz. I told my sales Rep about it. For those who aren't familiar with this model it has a large humbucking pickup in the neck position. But unlike a Gibson it's not stuck right up at the end of the neck where you would find a Mudbucker it's moved back a couple inches so it's not as muddy and it has more clarity. I was really pleased with the way that neck humbucker sounded. Nice and deep with pretty decent mids and a nice fat overall tone.
The bridge pickup however was another story entirely. It looks like a mini humbucker with a solid chrome cover but in reality it's that same single coil pickup Gretsch uses in the Streamliner. Which is the pickup that was discovered by Leah (formerly LowendLobster) to actually be a single coil. Which caused Gretsch to do a retraction and change the description and specs. Sadly AFAIK the company never reimbursed people or compensated them in any way if they had already bought one actually believing that it had 2 humbucking pickups when in reality they were single coils.
So for the CVT it suffered from 60 cycle hum anytime you brought the bridge pickup into the mix. I'm sorry but I'm one of those players who absolutely detests single coil 60 cycle hum. So the search went on for a replacement. I originally picked up a Gretsch blacktop which is a humbucker but it would have required me to do a little bit of modification to the body in order to install it and I wasn't wanting to do that. Then I saw a TB member who was selling a TV Jones Thunderblade. It was a neck pickup but I thought that would be a good choice to put as a bridge pickup in the CVT just to get a little bit more low end punch out of it. So I installed that and it was a drop in using the stock Gretsch mounting ring. It made a huge difference in the way the bass sounded. If Gretsch were smart they would put a humbucker in the back and get rid of that single coil. I had no complaints as far as the volume out of the stock single coil bridge pickup because it was hot and it was punchy but all that did was make it have more hum. Maybe some people it doesn't bother but like I said I can't stand it.
Next stop the bridge. The stock bridge honestly does a this bass a big disservice. It's just a regular old cheapo bent plate. Yeah it works and it lets you adjust it but it just looks cheap. Since it is a standard five hole fender style mount I was able to find a really nice import copy of GOTOH 201-B and installed that. Normally I can't tell much of a difference if I put a heavier mass bridge on a bass guitar but in the case of this one I actually noticed an increase in the sound of the fundamental after I installed it. So I highly recommend that for anyone who has one of these and wants to upgrade their bridge. The final mod that I did may not seem like much but sometimes little things make a big difference. The knobs that come on this bass are just regular old cheapy chrome knobs. Since this neck uses the White Falcon shape headstock I thought it needed some nice knobs to give it a little bit more class. I ordered a set of the Gretsch arrow knobs and installed those. A small thing but it added that little touch that I really liked. I really enjoy the neck on this. The binding feels good the frets are nice, no sharp ends or anything it plays like a dream and it sounds great. Also, honestly you have to love the neoclassic inlays that Gretsch uses. I've always really liked those and I'm glad to see that Gretsch used them on this.
I'm tremendously satisfied with both of these bass guitars. The mods in this case just made something that was good even better. So, Here's a little medium scale Yin/Yang for you. I hope you enjoy it.
The Jaguar H has been modded quite a bit. The neck has been slightly shaved and a vintage amber finish applied. Looks awesome against the black body. Black 'n' Maple baby! Pickup upgraded to a Delano MM with switching options. Series/parallel/single coil on a mini switch. Wiring and pots upgraded to USA. Bridge replaced with a current Charvel hi-mass (same as Fender uses and made by Kluson). Tuners upgraded with tension adjustable Grover style imports. No CNC routing hole under the pickguard so I'm able to run it naked. This bass just kills. A joy to play and cuts through like a knife. Hard to believe I originally got this bass new when they came out for $179.00.
Next is the Gretsch CVT medium scale in vintage white. Also modded because I just can't leave anything alone LOL. Fit and finish out of the box was exceptional. I was able to get it dialed in with a nice low action with zero problems. There was however pretty bad hum coming from it when it was plugged in I had to remove the wiring cavity cover and take a look. I loosened the pots and rotated them and realigned them a little bit and it quieted right down.
So much for the Sweetwater's fifty five point inspection. They obviously had an epic fail on this one. The minute it was plugged in to test that should have been noticed then corrected before it was shipped out. And not only by Sweetwater's guys but my Gretsch's manufacturing CS as well . So, I have to wonder if it was never plugged in at the factory for final inspection because I know for sure it wasn't plugged in at Sweetwater. None of the pots were loose so it was when they tightened them up originally that caused it to buzz. I told my sales Rep about it. For those who aren't familiar with this model it has a large humbucking pickup in the neck position. But unlike a Gibson it's not stuck right up at the end of the neck where you would find a Mudbucker it's moved back a couple inches so it's not as muddy and it has more clarity. I was really pleased with the way that neck humbucker sounded. Nice and deep with pretty decent mids and a nice fat overall tone.
The bridge pickup however was another story entirely. It looks like a mini humbucker with a solid chrome cover but in reality it's that same single coil pickup Gretsch uses in the Streamliner. Which is the pickup that was discovered by Leah (formerly LowendLobster) to actually be a single coil. Which caused Gretsch to do a retraction and change the description and specs. Sadly AFAIK the company never reimbursed people or compensated them in any way if they had already bought one actually believing that it had 2 humbucking pickups when in reality they were single coils.
So for the CVT it suffered from 60 cycle hum anytime you brought the bridge pickup into the mix. I'm sorry but I'm one of those players who absolutely detests single coil 60 cycle hum. So the search went on for a replacement. I originally picked up a Gretsch blacktop which is a humbucker but it would have required me to do a little bit of modification to the body in order to install it and I wasn't wanting to do that. Then I saw a TB member who was selling a TV Jones Thunderblade. It was a neck pickup but I thought that would be a good choice to put as a bridge pickup in the CVT just to get a little bit more low end punch out of it. So I installed that and it was a drop in using the stock Gretsch mounting ring. It made a huge difference in the way the bass sounded. If Gretsch were smart they would put a humbucker in the back and get rid of that single coil. I had no complaints as far as the volume out of the stock single coil bridge pickup because it was hot and it was punchy but all that did was make it have more hum. Maybe some people it doesn't bother but like I said I can't stand it.
Next stop the bridge. The stock bridge honestly does a this bass a big disservice. It's just a regular old cheapo bent plate. Yeah it works and it lets you adjust it but it just looks cheap. Since it is a standard five hole fender style mount I was able to find a really nice import copy of GOTOH 201-B and installed that. Normally I can't tell much of a difference if I put a heavier mass bridge on a bass guitar but in the case of this one I actually noticed an increase in the sound of the fundamental after I installed it. So I highly recommend that for anyone who has one of these and wants to upgrade their bridge. The final mod that I did may not seem like much but sometimes little things make a big difference. The knobs that come on this bass are just regular old cheapy chrome knobs. Since this neck uses the White Falcon shape headstock I thought it needed some nice knobs to give it a little bit more class. I ordered a set of the Gretsch arrow knobs and installed those. A small thing but it added that little touch that I really liked. I really enjoy the neck on this. The binding feels good the frets are nice, no sharp ends or anything it plays like a dream and it sounds great. Also, honestly you have to love the neoclassic inlays that Gretsch uses. I've always really liked those and I'm glad to see that Gretsch used them on this.
I'm tremendously satisfied with both of these bass guitars. The mods in this case just made something that was good even better. So, Here's a little medium scale Yin/Yang for you. I hope you enjoy it.
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