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Upgrading a Jazz Bass (suggestions are wanted)

#44
leave it alone, nothing wrong with it, tarnished screws are part of it's character. Polish the chrome parts, clean the rest and put on the new strings that you mentioned. That bridge is fine, it will give you no problems, ever. Every time you change anything, you lower the value, if you care.
 
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#45
DiabolusInMusic said:
I would argue a series/parallel switch is a "must do" mod on a Jazz bass. It is pretty easy to do and adds a lot to the instrument.
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A healthy argument to have. I agree that it's a relatively easy mod, easily reversible, and can add something to an MIM Jazz of this particular era – hence almost a "no brainer" for someone talented with a soldering iron and access to the part or to a reasonably-priced tech. But until one has personally A/B'ed the mod, there's really no telling whether or not it suits an individual's tonal desires. For some folks, a pickup swap or some other mod might produce better results, depending on one's personal tastes. I did the series/parallel mod on my 2000 MIM Standard because I was already poking around under the hood at the time, and was very happy with the result. However, I'm not so sure I'd want to perform the same surgery on all of my Jazzes. Not that FMIC is the ultimate arbiter, but I did take note of the fact that they discontinued the S-1 switch as standard equipment on all MIA Jazzes. I presume that had something to do with customer tastes – or not. ;)
 
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#48
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#49
Oliversan said:
earlier I had posted a thread about finding a second bass to go with my rickenbacker, and I believe I found one.
I got this fender jazz MIM from GC for $410 and it’s quite pretty. It was listed as a seafoam green but it looks more like the Sherwood green, I’m not too sure really. Rosewood fingerboard, I’d assume. I’m assuming it’s all stock; the middle poles on both pups are raised so it definitely has a nice midrange sound which I really like
It is a bit worn out and beat up a bit sure. There’s some chipping on the back, some of the frets are starting to get that rusty worn out feel, screws are close to rusted, control plate is very worn out (I have a spare to replace it), machine heads still work but feel gross to the touch but that’s about it!
My current plans for right now is just to change the strings with some super slinky’s I have lying around since they came dead, oil the fretboard, wipe the body clean, replace control plate and screws for pickguard, and look inside the cavity to see what I’m working with.

I guess I’m open to any suggestions what else you’d do with a jazz bass like this? Replace any specific parts for better ones, change the pups (I like the ones already but open to any midrange specific pups), strings etc etc?

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Yeah I think it's killer once you clean it up and set er up. Other than that, I'd think of swapping out the usual, the pups (I'm a huge fan of the Dimarzio Model J's. I have them in a CIJ Geddy sig J bass I have and they are amazing). If not the pups then I'd swap the hardware for sure. Tuners and bridge at least.
 
#51
Those pickups look to me, like they may have already been upgraded. The beveled polepieces look like American pickups, I do ot think the MIM basses had those, but I'm not sure. Are the controls good? Any scratchiness? Pot cleaner will fix that..... I think a quick overall cleaning, and good setup, and leave it alone!
You could install a higher mass bridge, and some better tuning machines. But you could easily leave it just like that and go out and gig with it.
 
#56
I always put light weight tuners on all my basses. Then get the best setup you can find by an experienced luthier. I usually go to strings I want before the setup then maybe pickup swap if I’m still not hearing things a certain way, but I think standard single coils are the most versatile and would give them a long chance before moving on..
 
#57
DiabolusInMusic said:
I would argue a series/parallel switch is a "must do" mod on a Jazz bass. It is pretty easy to do and adds a lot to the instrument.
Click to expand...
Agree here, consider this mod!

I recently did this mod to my Jazz Bass and love it! I wish I would have done it years ago. It really opens up the tone and gives just enough of a boost in volume.

It's a great mod because you can switch it out and return to the normal 2 pickup independent or combined control function.

I did replace the stock pickups with side by side humbuckers because I like to dial back the bridge knob some when used in parallel mode. This will cause hum with single coils though.

Because of using humbuckers, I also changed the stock 250k pots to 500k for more clarity which are typically used for humbuckers.

I now run my Bass in series mode almost exclusively!
 
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#60
Js can be built however you like.
Lucky for you there’s tons of quality used parts to thrash in and out until you find something you like inexpensively.
You should buy some tools and learn to do your own setups.
Soldering isn’t hard, that’s something to learn.

Take your J out and try diff cabs and heads after every mod to get a clearer picture of capability.
 
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