Wednesday, May 16, 2007
The "Anti-Blink"
With some musicians, it's a question of balance. With bassists, you are likely to own both a Fender (or Fender-style) Precision as well as a Jazz. Inherently, they have a different tone and sound, and as many will claim, a different place in the overall instrument mix. Once I had finished and played the Hoppus copy, I decided that for the next project, what I would like to try was the reverse configuration. (In nuclear physics, every elementary particle has a corresponding anti-particle, right?)
I started with a 'P'-style body from GR Guitars, and I asked them to cut one 'J' pickup route at about the same place as the neck pickup on a Jazz bass. The neck is a 1977-78 Fender Precision with a replacement brass nut. The were no tuners on it, but I found a set of real Fender ones on eBay. These were late 60's-early/mid 70's style but fit perfectly. Later on, I found a period-correct set of late 70's Fender tuners and installed them. (Those early 70's tuners were then installed on an early 70's fretless Fender Precision fretless neck. The repro reverse-style tuners that it came with were transfered to a MIJ '62 RI Precision to make it a little more "authentic". And those tuners? Well, they replaced the ones on the MIM neck that was part of the Hoppus copy!! Those went back on eBay... the circle of parts is complete.)
I searched around the hardware and home reno stores and found what I felt was just the right shade of red. I sprayed on quite a number of coats, then let it dry, and cleared it with Varathane Diamond Clear. (I don't know if that's a recommended procedure, but it didn't affect the colour coat, and made for a nice, durable finish.) I had initially decided that I would use a standard 'J' neck pickup from a spare set I had, but I found a Lace-Sensor 'J' neck pickup on eBay while I was still finishing the body. The cut-down pick-guard is a small piece of tortoise-shell that Tony from PickGuardian made for me. I like what he does a lot, and have several of his 'guards on my basses.
I assembled it, strung it with round-wounds and, as I remember, there was very little setup to be done to get it to play right. It has a very nice transparent, but not sterile sound, with lots of lows *and* highs when you dial in the treble. The neck is a little wider side-to-side than my '71 'P', but thinner front-to-back, but I don't think that, blind-folded, I could tell them apart. It has aged well, and taken on a nice amber hue.
(As I'm documenting these instruments, I'm realizing that they are difficult to photograph without pro equipment. I've included more pics for this one (and I'll go back and upgrade previous posts). I've put up both flash and non-flash images.)
I started with a 'P'-style body from GR Guitars, and I asked them to cut one 'J' pickup route at about the same place as the neck pickup on a Jazz bass. The neck is a 1977-78 Fender Precision with a replacement brass nut. The were no tuners on it, but I found a set of real Fender ones on eBay. These were late 60's-early/mid 70's style but fit perfectly. Later on, I found a period-correct set of late 70's Fender tuners and installed them. (Those early 70's tuners were then installed on an early 70's fretless Fender Precision fretless neck. The repro reverse-style tuners that it came with were transfered to a MIJ '62 RI Precision to make it a little more "authentic". And those tuners? Well, they replaced the ones on the MIM neck that was part of the Hoppus copy!! Those went back on eBay... the circle of parts is complete.)
I searched around the hardware and home reno stores and found what I felt was just the right shade of red. I sprayed on quite a number of coats, then let it dry, and cleared it with Varathane Diamond Clear. (I don't know if that's a recommended procedure, but it didn't affect the colour coat, and made for a nice, durable finish.) I had initially decided that I would use a standard 'J' neck pickup from a spare set I had, but I found a Lace-Sensor 'J' neck pickup on eBay while I was still finishing the body. The cut-down pick-guard is a small piece of tortoise-shell that Tony from PickGuardian made for me. I like what he does a lot, and have several of his 'guards on my basses.
I assembled it, strung it with round-wounds and, as I remember, there was very little setup to be done to get it to play right. It has a very nice transparent, but not sterile sound, with lots of lows *and* highs when you dial in the treble. The neck is a little wider side-to-side than my '71 'P', but thinner front-to-back, but I don't think that, blind-folded, I could tell them apart. It has aged well, and taken on a nice amber hue.
(As I'm documenting these instruments, I'm realizing that they are difficult to photograph without pro equipment. I've included more pics for this one (and I'll go back and upgrade previous posts). I've put up both flash and non-flash images.)
