NBD: Eastwood sidejack 32

[johnk_10]

i've been wanting one of these mosrite style basses for a while now and finally got a good deal on a brand new one. out of the box is wasn't really set up very well (but that's not their fault at all since i asked them not to set it up as i prefer to set them up myself). after adjusting the neck and action & cutting the nut slots a little deeper it plays very well. i still am going to slightly level the frets so i can get the action lower (the way that i like it with no fret buzz). the bass weighs 8 lbs 1.7oz so it's fairly lightweight. it does exhibit quite a bit of neck dive though so i moved the strap buttons so it'll stay in one place (playing position), and filled the original stap button holes. The pickups sound great but since they'e single coils, they do have some hum/noise. i plan to use an EHX Humdebugger with it if it's too noisey on stage.

the neck has a clear flat finish on it, although when shopping for it, i did see some red ones with a gloss finish) and i actually prefer gloss nitro necks so as soon as the rain stops, i'll be shooting the neck with a slight amber tint of gloss nitro. i also ordered a set of hipshot ultralite 3/8" HB6Y's in chrome to save a little more weight at the headstock and will mount with zero mods. i also have some mosrite style knobs coming for it.

i sold my original Mosrite Ventures bass a while ago because the tiny frets and super small neck wasn't all that comfortable for me to gig with and this medium (32") scale is a nice fit since it's a little shorter than my fender's but it's also a little chunkier.

anyway, here's a pic of it:

 

[Crusher47]

Cool color, Congrats!

 

[Oren Hudson]

Sparkle town is nice.

 

[selowitch]

These seem like they would be great basses to play. Have fun!!

 

[johnk_10]

i just finished installing a switchraft output jack & shielding all of the cavities and even though it already uses shielded pickup wires, it cut its noise by about 60% (but there still is more than i'd like, since i prefer my basses to be dead silent ).
i also removed the neck, stripped the flat finish, rolled the fingerboard edges, sealed it with nitro sealer, added a slight amber tint and applied 6 nitro gloss top coats. the hipshot ultralites will be here in a couple of days so the neck finish is curing awaiting their arrival. i can't wait to put her back together again. i have a gig coming up and i want to use it on it.

 

[Rocknrollover]

Nice paint job

 

[johnk_10]

Nice paint job

yeah. i usually don't go for gawdy sprarkle finishes or pearloid pickguards (unless it's on a hofner or on a vintage sunburst mustang bass), but on this bass i love it.

 

[BBKINGBASS]

Great bass. I have a Univox they is very similar. What is your method for rolling the fretboard edges?

 

[johnk_10]

Great bass. I have a Univox they is very similar. What is your method for rolling the fretboard edges?

i think the univox's body style is similar but since i owned one many years ago, that's mostly where the similarities end. same goes for the vintage mosrite ventures basses.

i used a 2 foot long machined aluminum fingerboard radius block and run it along the entire upper ftretboard edge on an angle, then i use a variable speed makita RA 5" sander with a 1/4" soft sponge backing pad with an abranet 320 sanding disc to smooth everything out. finally, i sand it with 400 grit sand paper by hand.

 

[johnk_10]

i got the hipshots today and reassembled the bass with the amber tinted gloss nitro neck. i restrung it with Daddario prosteel EPS165's and i'm loving it. i also got the EHX humdebugger and it works great with it (it now has zero noise on the standard setting).

 

[MEKer]

i got the hipshots today and reassembled the bass with the amber tinted gloss nitro neck. i restrung it with Daddario prosteel EPS165's and i'm loving it. i also got the EHX humdebugger and it works great with it (it now has zero noise on the standard setting).

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I like that electric azure sort of blue. What about neck dive?

 

[johnk_10]

I like that electric azure sort of blue. What about neck dive?

after relocating the strap buttons it has zero neck dive.

 

[MEKer]

after relocating the strap buttons it has zero neck dive.

Excellent---can you tell us about the tones you get?
BTW: am familiar with Thousand Oaks, married (foolishly) a gal from there back in 70's but did not last long ..out of the condos in Ardillo someplace or another in 1000 Oaks.

 

[johnk_10]

i'm diggin' it's tone. IMO, it's kinda somewhere between a jazz bass and a rickenbacker 4001/3.

 

[lowendblues]

Not to nitpick, but I believe thats a "Sidejack" bass.

Nice bass.

 

[bholder]

Blingy!

 

[bholder]

Not to nitpick, but I believe thats a "Sidejack" bass.

Nice bass.

Always wondered about the name, because the jack, of course, is on the top, not the side. "Topjack" doesn't sound as cool I guess.

 

[The Wrench]

Love it! I'm a sucker for the sparkles!

 

[johnk_10]

Always wondered about the name, because the jack, of course, is on the top, not the side. "Topjack" doesn't sound as cool I guess.

oops. you're exactly right. fixed.

 

[johnk_10]

i'm really diggin' this bass with the nitro'd neck with the rolled edges. that mod took it to a whole other level.
after playing it for a few hours, one thing that i did notice is that on the neck pickup only, the G & E strings don't have as much level or punch as the A & D strings do. it seems counter-intuitive since the pickup magnet pole pieces are not radiused to the fingerboard and are all flush with the top of the pickup cover, so you'd think that the 2 middle strings might have a little less output being that they're a little further away from the strings but that's not the case. and on the bridge pickup, only the G string is a bit weak.

..............so, i this situation reminded me when i told Leo Fender in 1978 that my stingray's G string seemed to have less output and sounded thinner than the other 3 strings. he said that he'd heard of the issue before and reached in his pocket and handed me several small ferrite discs in varying thicknesses that were the same diameter as a stingray's pickup magnet poles and told me to experiment with placing them on top of the pickup's G's magnet poles. that did the trick, so i made some for the sidekick 32's pickups out of drill stock. i placed them on top of the E & G poles on the neck pickup and one on the G of the bridge pickup and voila, it's perfectly balanced now.

here's a couple of pics of them on the pickups: