Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Anyone build a Jazz 5 string, Deluxe or Standard? How's the weight and balance? Is it possible to build one under 9 lb? Im thinking light weight parts, rear routed body, graphite rod neck with the smallest fret wire.
I did get a Deluxe 5 built. It was pretty heavy, a bit neck heavy as the neck was quite chunky.
so sitting here waiting for my new knobs and had some time to kill . This neck did not have face dots or side dots , I do like no face dots but I was lost without side dots . I just so happen to have a piece of Luminlay here http://www.luminlay.com/indexen.html and the light I got for a previous build and never used . I'm sure it's way easier to drill out an existing dot but this was a pretty big deal for me , crappy drill , wrong drill bit and so on but I went for it and I'm very happy with the results , check it out...
before , you see the stick of dot material and the mini light you get from them
I went 1 at a time and left the neck on up to the 12th fret where I had to remove it to get the drill in .
followed their install guide , sanded it and resealed it with Minwax wipe-on . And there is still a good bit left over , drilling only about 4mm in and cutting it off with a coping saw
this stuff is cool !
before , you see the stick of dot material and the mini light you get from them
I went 1 at a time and left the neck on up to the 12th fret where I had to remove it to get the drill in .
followed their install guide , sanded it and resealed it with Minwax wipe-on . And there is still a good bit left over , drilling only about 4mm in and cutting it off with a coping saw
this stuff is cool !
It's a charging device. It charges the inlays with light in only a second or two. Pretty ingenious stuff.
Nice job by the way!
Man, that is a sweet build! Have you posted any sound clips anywhere yet? Very inspirational for me...I happened into a great deal on a Warmoth bubinga/wenge neck and have been feverishly fleshing out the rest of the build.My first Warmoth build is complete! Woohoo!
(Actually, it has been complete for a month. I just finally got around to taking pictures.)
Warmoth Jazz body (alder, with wenge thumbrests)
Warmoth Jazz neck (bubinga, with wenge fretboard)
Schaller tuners
Schaller bridge
Schaller straplock pins
Fender Super 55 split-coil humbucking pickups
Custom electronics package from Michael at [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
D'Addario rounds
And it sounds fantastic!
I picked up a brand new black Jazz body from the Warmoth site for $215! That and some sweet Hipshot black hardware and a pair of Nordy NJ4SE's are going to be relief for my recent Jazz Bass GAS.
I will be back with pics soon! Til then, here is a bad cell pic of my current Warmoth equipped bass, a Fender classic 50's body modded with a J pickup and festooned with black hardware and an all wenge neck.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
I've had this Warmoth bass for a while, but never posted it here. Custom ordered birdseye/birdseye neck, medium frets, swamp ash/redwood body.
I did pretty thorough research
Link Removed
I think it's a total mistake not to put threaded inserts on your guitar:
Schaller tuners, graph-tech nut, bartolini (deep) pickups, B/V/T passive wiring, and the now-rare Gotoh 206 bridge.
So, after having it for a few years, I had some problems:
1) Didn't like the standard taper jazz neck. I really tried. So, replace my beloved custom's neck? Nah. Extreme DIY instead. I took a router to it:
I did pretty thorough research
Link Removed
Don't worry, Invalid Link Removed. Now it's a wee bit thinner than a Geddy neck! And completely stable. I dig the steel rods inside it. Neck weight without tuners: 2 pounds, 1.8 ounces!
2) High mass bridge + Warmoth = high action. Replace bridge? Nah. How about a full-size stainless steel shim? I never did any metalwork before. Might be a bit excessive, but think it came out pretty good.
Invalid Link Removed
Link Removed
Before, the saddles were bottomed out and the action still was really high. Now, E string action is just under 7/64 at the 12th fret, and G is just under 5/64ths. The neck plays wonderfully. Oh, and I rolled the fret ends. Warmoth fretwork is fabulous, but I didn't love the sharp machined-looking angles:
(not my pic)
Invalid Link Removed
(my frets)
Link Removed
I needed longer screws, but couldn't find long enough hex head screws. I'll have to special order them, I guess. So I used plain old Home Depot stainless ones. They work fine, and the joint is very strong and stable.
3) Didn't like my original DIY neck finish. So I sanded it all off. Polyurethane. By hand. Fretboard and all. Highly NOT recommended! Tons of work. The good news is, the Minwax Helmsman Polyurethane spray was pretty much ideal for the refinish I did afterwards. Besides, I had to refinish the thing after recarving the neck anyway...
Satin on the neck feels great. I'm going to wait a few more months to buff out the headstock to high-gloss.
4) Didn't like the signature on the headstock, so I re-did that as well.
Link Removed
Took some tweaking, but I really love this bass. Now it just needs a preamp.
I did pretty thorough research
Link Removed
I think it's a total mistake not to put threaded inserts on your guitar:
Schaller tuners, graph-tech nut, bartolini (deep) pickups, B/V/T passive wiring, and the now-rare Gotoh 206 bridge.
So, after having it for a few years, I had some problems:
1) Didn't like the standard taper jazz neck. I really tried. So, replace my beloved custom's neck? Nah. Extreme DIY instead. I took a router to it:
I did pretty thorough research
Link Removed
Don't worry, Invalid Link Removed. Now it's a wee bit thinner than a Geddy neck! And completely stable. I dig the steel rods inside it. Neck weight without tuners: 2 pounds, 1.8 ounces!
2) High mass bridge + Warmoth = high action. Replace bridge? Nah. How about a full-size stainless steel shim? I never did any metalwork before. Might be a bit excessive, but think it came out pretty good.
Invalid Link Removed
Link Removed
Before, the saddles were bottomed out and the action still was really high. Now, E string action is just under 7/64 at the 12th fret, and G is just under 5/64ths. The neck plays wonderfully. Oh, and I rolled the fret ends. Warmoth fretwork is fabulous, but I didn't love the sharp machined-looking angles:
(not my pic)
Invalid Link Removed
(my frets)
Link Removed
I needed longer screws, but couldn't find long enough hex head screws. I'll have to special order them, I guess. So I used plain old Home Depot stainless ones. They work fine, and the joint is very strong and stable.
3) Didn't like my original DIY neck finish. So I sanded it all off. Polyurethane. By hand. Fretboard and all. Highly NOT recommended! Tons of work. The good news is, the Minwax Helmsman Polyurethane spray was pretty much ideal for the refinish I did afterwards. Besides, I had to refinish the thing after recarving the neck anyway...
Satin on the neck feels great. I'm going to wait a few more months to buff out the headstock to high-gloss.
4) Didn't like the signature on the headstock, so I re-did that as well.
Link Removed
Took some tweaking, but I really love this bass. Now it just needs a preamp.
so sitting here waiting for my new knobs and had some time to kill . This neck did not have face dots or side dots , I do like no face dots but I was lost without side dots . I just so happen to have a piece of Luminlay here http://www.luminlay.com/indexen.html and the light I got for a previous build and never used . I'm sure it's way easier to drill out an existing dot but this was a pretty big deal for me , crappy drill , wrong drill bit and so on but I went for it and I'm very happy with the results , check it out...
before , you see the stick of dot material and the mini light you get from them
I went 1 at a time and left the neck on up to the 12th fret where I had to remove it to get the drill in .
followed their install guide , sanded it and resealed it with Minwax wipe-on . And there is still a good bit left over , drilling only about 4mm in and cutting it off with a coping saw
this stuff is cool !
coolest thing ive ever seen!
So... would it help if we threw a couple packets of Top Ramen in the shipping box? Heck, what if we used Top Ramen for the packing material. That was one of my primary meals in leaner days......
Friend had a buddy in college who at nothing but Ramen noodles. He ended up getting scurvy!
right after a charge they stay bright for about 5 min. dim for another 1/2 hr. or so then faintly for several hrs.
Not mine anymore as I've sold it, but I built this back in '08. It's a Warmoth hard ash body (stained black), Warmoth maple neck (bound and blocked), Lindy Fralin pickups, Aguilar OBP-2 preamp under a Marcus Miller pickguard assembly, BadAss II bridge.
Did you route out the control cavity for more room? The pickguard area is unusually large. (I like it.)
(edit) Also, have you thought about using black pickguard screws?
(edit) Also, have you thought about using black pickguard screws?
