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Removing wood/weight on old Jazz Bass

Ringhammer

Ringhammer

Supporting Member
Sep 3, 2016
3,528
18,170
S. F. Bay Area
#1
I have a 1973 Jazz Bass, natural finish body, maple neck, black block inlays. As many of you know, these tended to be on the heavier side. This bass has a good amount of actual wear, nicks and worn through in a few places, but otherwise it's a beauty.

Has anyone ever routed out/removed a bunch of the wood from under the pick guard of an old J or P bass in order to lighten it up a bit? If so, did they notice a big difference in the way it sounded?

I want to keep the original body on it but if I could drop a pound or two, it would be more in line with the weight of my other early '70's Fender basses.
 
#2
Ringhammer said:
I have a 1973 Jazz Bass, natural finish body, maple neck, black block inlays. As many of you know, these tended to be on the heavier side. This bass has a good amount of actual wear, nicks and worn through in a few places, but otherwise it's a beauty.

Has anyone ever routed out/removed a bunch of the wood from under the pick guard of an old J or P bass in order to lighten it up a bit? If so, did they notice a big difference in the way it sounded?

I want to keep the original body on it but if I could drop a pound or two, it would be more in line with the weight of my other early '70's Fender basses.
Click to expand...
Sell it and buy a lighter one.
 
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#5
Why not buy a chambered body from Warmoth?

Use the pickups and bridge from your current bass.

If you like the reduction in weight, and can actually hear any difference in tone, you wouldn't have to do anything.

Use your current neck, and you have a new bass without destroying the old one.

If you liked what you created enough, eventually buy another neck, then you'll have two basses.

Mike
 
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#6
I can't really disagree with the above posters who advocate selling this bass and buying a lighter one... however jfyi I have done some mods that reduced weight and also made the instruments more playable... but you won't get more then maybe 1-1.5lb weight reduction in this way:
1. ultralite tuners - depending on your current tuners, hipshots will save between 1/4lb and 1/2lb. Could go even lighter with Gotoh Res-o-lite, but they will look weird on a Fender headstock.
2. Remove all the finish - not sure when Fender started doing poly finishes, but some of them are super thick and very heavy. If you go with an oil finish, or my preference of shellac (french polish) that could mean another 1/4-1/2 lb.
3. Sanding / thinning the body, and deepening the contours could take off another 1/4-1/2 lb. I've not tried chambering, but didn't really need to...
If you try the above, I suggest that you keep a luggage scale handy to weigh how much each step is impacting the weight, as you work, so you know when you've reached your goal.
Chris Squire remarked in interviews that the tone of his favorite Ric was due to it having been sanded / refinished several times and thus had a super thin neck and body.
Removing mass from your instrument will affect the sound. My experience was very positive, but mine was not a vintage instrument so wasn't worried about resale value.
 
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#7
This is about 6 and a half ounces of weight loss - but it's a light body to begin with. If it were a heavy (dense) body to start, you might get half a pound doing this. Weight reduction is not a one thing solution - to work, everything has to be light. Wood (light bodies, the necks on my basses are roasted), hardware, reinforcement rods (graphite, not steel). Even the neck mounting plate and knobs on my basses are aluminum.

Oee odd thing about weight is that it's time dependent - if you're watching your bass's weight, and you have a precise scale (weighs down to the gram) you'll find that over time (and between seasons) things change as the wood ages, crystallizes, and dries out. It's maybe 20 grams (.05 pounds) in the first few years, but it is there - I have a bass that's now right at 7 pounds that was a bit over when it was made.

holey bass.JPG
 
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#10
Well, I'm not selling it. I was just curious if anyone had actually done this since these early and mid '70's Fenders were notorious for being heavy, and if they noticed a big change. That what the forums are for, right?

It's not so bad that it's a big deal, I have had heavier ones (which I DID sell).

Thanks for the input everyone.
 
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#13
Don't route the body (you'll eventually be sorry if you do)... and don't take anything off you can't pull out of a box and throw back on if a Fender geek wants it all-original.

+1 on buying a lighter bass.
 
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#15
Best to preserve the value of the bass I agree with those who say replacing the body with a lighter one is the best way to do that. You can even relic a finish or apply one of those DIY "backyard refins" so popular back then
 
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#19
I have a 70s reissue and wouldn't mind it being lighter either. Currently 9.6-9.8 pounds. As far as sound goes, Sadowsky claims chambering helps. Also, as others have said, beware of hurting resale value, unless you don't care about that sort of thing.
 

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