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My 80's MIJ Jazz (and what I've done to it)

MoD_Scotty

MoD_Scotty

Jul 22, 2007
1,432
7
Thrapston, UK
www.facebook.com
#1
I scored this baby off Craigslist for only $125. It was pretty nasty when I got it, covered in 20 years of funk and strung left-handed. When I plugged it in, I realized that only one knob worked (master vol), and the E string sounded strange. So I decided to give it a few upgrades.

It's now got an Audere JZ3 preamp, a Hipshot Vintage bridge, pickups from a Geddy Lee Jazz, all new screws on the body, and is now strung BF#BE (drop-B). I'm really digging this bass! So I decided I'd take some pics and record some samples of what it sounds like. Lemme know what ya think!

Pics taken by the previous owner:
squier2.jpg


squier1.jpg


squier.jpg


The mess of a control plate:
0718081253.jpg


Audere to the rescue:
0718081101a.jpg


0718081101.jpg


It's current state:
IM000006.jpg


IM000007.jpg


IM000009.jpg


IM000010.jpg


IM000013.jpg


Some audio clips:
(Plugged straight into my mixer, no outboard preamp)

Clip 1 (an old Sausage riff)
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1) bridge soloed
2) bridge soloed with hiZ engaged
3) middle
4) middle with hiZ engaged
5) neck soloed
6) neck soloed with hiZ engaged

Clip 2 (RATM riff)
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
1) middle
2) neck soloed
3) bridge soloed
 
#5
Those Japanese Squiers are great. What a steal. I paid twice that for mine, and it's worth that.

Too bad the pickups needed to be replaced; the originals on mine are among the nicest J pickups I've heard. A nice surprise.

The Hipshot Vintage bridge is awesome, especially if you change strings a lot.
 
#6
That price is great, even if it was a bit dogged out. Fundamentally, those old MIJ Squiers are very, very sound. I used to have an old MIJ Squier Strat when I was a kid.

I love the mods you've done, too. Very nice...
 
#10
So I eventually reallized that the neck was really warped. It was pretty much worthless. So, I scored a new neck on ebay for pretty cheap. Unfortunately, I ran out of free time.

So today I finally had some time to install the new neck. It's a generic jazz-style neck, but with 22 frets, sharkfin inlays, and a graphite face on the headstock. Drilled all the holes (tuners, neck joint bolts, string tree), and installed the neck. It play AWESOME. I'm going to let it chill overnight before I take it off again and adjust the truss rod. But Here's what it looks like now:

(I know it's not the traditional "jazz" look, but I dig it, and I think it looks a little more "metal," which suits my needs perfectly)

P1000922.jpg
 
#16
BTW, forgot to mention that I finally gigged the Jazz a couple weeks ago. It was perfect. Came through insanely clear...and when I had a tapping part that really needed to come out of the mix, I rolled the pickup blend to the neck pickup, and that part cut through like a hot knife through butter. I got a bunch of complements on the bass, too. A lot of people had no idea what kind of bass it was (due to the unorthodox looking neck). I can't wait to record wit this thing!
 

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