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PJ Club

#221
My first two basses many, many years ago were PJ's: first an Aria Diamond, then my glorious '87 Charvel 2B. I foolishly sold that Charvel (sold the Aria, too, but didn't miss it) when I decided I was done playing bass. Well, add about 15 years and 2014 was The Year of ReBassing, and I've spent six months looking for a Charvel at a price I was willing and able to pay. I routinely check the local Craigslist, because I live right outside Fort Campbell (lotta people based there) and I'm an hour from Nashville. About, oh, a week and a half ago now, on a whim I checked the Craigslist in Bowling Green and came across this Charvel 4B that he wanted to trade for some non-music stuff. I had that stuff collecting dust so I got ahold of him and made an hour and a half drive to make the swap. It hasn't really been well cared for, but the body was in great shape. The neck had been neglected in that it had a really dry fingerboard and cruddy frets but it's straight and overall in good shape for it's age. It's off getting EMG's put in it (master volume, bass, treble, and selector lever) that'll be ready next week; similar to my original. I'm giddy like a kid on Christmas morning.
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#223
ImageUploadedByTalkBass1407455294.171633.jpg
Fender P Deluxe Special -I have two of them :)

Number please!
 
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#230
Haji said:
My first two basses many, many years ago were PJ's: first an Aria Diamond, then my glorious '87 Charvel 2B. I foolishly sold that Charvel (sold the Aria, too, but didn't miss it) when I decided I was done playing bass. Well, add about 15 years and 2014 was The Year of ReBassing, and I've spent six months looking for a Charvel at a price I was willing and able to pay. I routinely check the local Craigslist, because I live right outside Fort Campbell (lotta people based there) and I'm an hour from Nashville. About, oh, a week and a half ago now, on a whim I checked the Craigslist in Bowling Green and came across this Charvel 4B that he wanted to trade for some non-music stuff. I had that stuff collecting dust so I got ahold of him and made an hour and a half drive to make the swap. It hasn't really been well cared for, but the body was in great shape. The neck had been neglected in that it had a really dry fingerboard and cruddy frets but it's straight and overall in good shape for it's age. It's off getting EMG's put in it (master volume, bass, treble, and selector lever) that'll be ready next week; similar to my original. I'm giddy like a kid on Christmas morning.
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Haji #97
pgolliher said:
View attachment 458929 Fender P Deluxe Special -I have two of them :)

Number please!
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pgolliher #98
Gyver said:
View attachment 458930

Tony Franklin fretless with tort guard in place of original black guard. Someone mentioned it earlier, you just can't beat tort on black!
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Gyver #99
bray101 said:
I'll need a number too!

View attachment 460541
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bray101 #100
 
#232
So for you guys that modded a standard P bass. How did you measure for the J route? From the nut?

I'm coming up with 31 1/2 for a 60s route and the fender book says the 70s route moved .4" I don't have one for an exact measurement. Should it be 31 7/8 to the center of the pole pieces.
 
#234
peterpalmieri said:
So for you guys that modded a standard P bass. How did you measure for the J route? From the nut?
Click to expand...

I'm no luthier, but if it's a common 34" scale, I would think measuring from the bridge would do, yes? Or perhaps the neck heel? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

On a related note, my Projekt Blue bass does not have the P-pup in the classic "sweet spot". I used a Blacktop Jazz pickguard as the template for the new route, which is a little closer to the neck. It may not be the same, but it's still effective. However, if I were to do it again, I'd probably seek out a Reggie Hamilton Jazz pickguard to bring the pickup that much closer to it.

(There I go again…encouraging myself to acquire yet another bunch o' parts to get yet another P/J bass! :banghead:)
 
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#235
My choice in the studio for years now, 'though I can't explain why this cheapo allways sounds best, even compared to high end basses...
 

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#236
Malak the Mad said:
I'm no luthier, but if it's a common 34" scale, I would think measuring from the bridge would do, yes? Or perhaps the neck heel? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

On a related note, my Projekt Blue bass does not have the P-pup in the classic "sweet spot". I used a Blacktop Jazz pickguard as the template for the new route, which is a little closer to the neck. It may not be the same, but it's still effective. However, if I were to do it again, I'd probably seek out a Reggie Hamilton Jazz pickguard to bring the pickup that much closer to it.

(There I go again…encouraging myself to acquire yet another bunch o' parts to get yet another P/J bass! :banghead:)
Click to expand...

I don't think measuring from the bridge is the best idea, where on the bridge would be your reference point? If it's a bent plate, a high mass or BAII all vary. The nut or any fret is a reference point that translates to any 34" scale bass. In any case it doesn't make much of a difference where the measurement comes from as long as I can reference it. The mod will be to a AV57P bass. The standard known measurements are 3.6" between pickups for 60s spacing and 4.0" for 70s spacing, not having a neck J pickup you can't use this. What I did was measure the distance between the inside of the nut on my 64 jazz to the center of the bridge pickup to be 31 1/2 and than I'm adding .4" to that. Since a tape measure uses 8ths and 16ths .4" falls between 7/8ths and 15/16ths. Just want to confirm this with someone who knows for certain. Someone with a late 70s jazz coulf take a measurement for me?
 
#237
peterpalmieri said:
I don't think measuring from the bridge is the best idea, where on the bridge would be your reference point? If it's a bent plate, a high mass or BAII all vary. The nut or any fret is a reference point that translates to any 34" scale bass. In any case it doesn't make much of a difference where the measurement comes from as long as I can reference it. The mod will be to a AV57P bass. The standard known measurements are 3.6" between pickups for 60s spacing and 4.0" for 70s spacing, not having a neck J pickup you can't use this. What I did was measure the distance between the inside of the nut on my 64 jazz to the center of the bridge pickup to be 31 1/2 and than I'm adding .4" to that. Since a tape measure uses 8ths and 16ths .4" falls between 7/8ths and 15/16ths. Just want to confirm this with someone who knows for certain. Someone with a late 70s jazz coulf take a measurement for me?
Click to expand...

Ah, cool! Thanks for the very thorough explanation. It makes a lot more sense now, especially now that I think of it, different bridges have different sized "footprints". :bookworm::thumbsup:

If it would be any help, I have a Classic '70s Jazz. I could take some measurements with the handy-dandy tape measure. If so, just clarify something for me; you want measurements going from the inside of the nut to the center-most point of each pickup, right? Also, given the ever-so-slight curve of the fretboard, should I measure along the strings or keep the tape flush to the board?
 
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