Just de-fretted and re-wired my SX Jazz 5

[LanEvo]

Hi guys,

 

You might remember I picked up one of those ash-body, maple neck SX Jazz 5-stings a couple of weeks ago with the intention to de-fret it.

 

Well, I just got a shipment from Stew-Mac today. In it were some fret pullers and a J-bass wiring kit. This was the first time I've ever attempted either job on my own.

 

The de-fretting turned out to be incredibly easy since the varnish did not cover the frets (as I feared). I just heated each fret lightly with a soldering iron, then used the fret puller to walk the frets out of their slots. No cracks, chips or anything! Then I used a small knife with a wharnecliffe blade (sort of like a linoleum knife) to carefully clean each slot. I used an old credit card as a scraper to smooth out the edges of the slots. Tomorrow, I'll fill in the slots with a dark colored wood filler (I need to make a quick trip to Home Depot first).

 

As for the wiring, it was pretty straightforward. There is only one lead from each pickup on the SX Jazz, so that meant I couldn't follow the directions exactly as spelled out by Stew-Mac. But it was easy enough to figure out how it all worked. The only trick was soldering some of the ground connections to the smooth chassis of each pot. There must be some trick to this that I couldn't figure out! Anyway, I eventually got it all to work.

 

For anyone with an SX Jazz, you absolutely MUST change the pots! It made a HUGE difference to the sound. Much more open, powerful, and natural sounding. The stock pickups turned out to be quite good. I used to find the bass a bit compressed and dull...I'm amazed that the pots made such an enormous difference! It's literally just as obvious as swapping pickups. The wiring kit was only $20 from Stew-Mac. Even if you're new to this (as I was) it's a simple job. All you need is a cheap soldering iron and some solder from Radio Shack.

 

Emre

[zenfascist]

Cool dude I'd love to see pics of how it turns out.

[LanEvo]

Originally posted by zenfascist Cool dude I'd love to see pics of how it turns out.

Sure thing. There's still some detailing left. As soon as I'm done, I'll post up some pics (and maybe a step-by-step how-to if anyone is actually interested).

 

Again, I just can't get over what a huge difference the wiring kit made.

 

Emre

[Mr_GoodBomb]

How much would you charge to refret a neck?

[Fran da Man]

Was it the Black block series?

Did the varnish leave like a raised part where the frets were? or wasn't the coating thick enough?

[s4001]

thanks for the info on the pots.

[LanEvo]

Originally posted by Mr_GoodBomb How much would you charge to refret a neck?

I wouldn't

 

I'm not a pro or anything. But if someone in the Boson area wants to de-fret a bass, I'd be glad to help out. Anyway, I've bought the defretting tool...might as well use it

 

Emre

[LanEvo]

Originally posted by Fran da Man Was it the Black block series?

Yes, it's a maple neck with black block inlays. It's this bass:

 

 

Originally posted by Fran da Man Did the varnish leave like a raised part where the frets were? or wasn't the coating thick enough?

That's what I was afraid of. However, it looks like the neck was varnished and polished before the frets were laid in. The frets were just sitting completely on top of the varnish, so there was minimal roughness around the slots. What little there was, I was able to smooth over using a credit card like a scraper (like you'd do when installing body binding).

 

The only area that's imperfect is the black plastic neck binding. The ends of the frets were dug into the plastic, so there are some little indentations that I couldn't get rid of. However, I have not yet filled in the slots, sanded, and refinished the neck. I'm sure I'll be able to smooth out the binding with some careful sanding/polishing.

 

Emre

[Tlaloc]

what kind of pots (/tone capacitor) did you replace them with?

 

/Just curious

//thinking of buying an sx one of these days

[Fran da Man]

Thoses basses look awesome, how did it sound before you did anything to it?

 

BTW: I have an Original 73 Fender Blackblock...only thing different is mine has a white pg. and of course one less string.

[LanEvo]

Originally posted by Tlaloc what kind of pots (/tone capacitor) did you replace them with?

I used the J bass wiring kit from Stew-Mac. Here's a pic:

 

 

It comes with three 250K pots (very high quality!) and a single 0.050

[LanEvo]

 

Originally posted by Fran da Man Thoses basses look awesome, how did it sound before you did anything to it?

Actually, the acoustic sound was VERY impressive. Very close to the acoustic sound of my vintage Jazz, but maybe a tiny bit brighter and not quite as loud. So, I knew there was good potential there.

 

Plugged in, the sound was solid, but rather 1-dimensional. The bass only sounded good with all knobs turned all the way up. On my vintage Jazz, I tend to roll down the treble a bit and either roll off the bridge pickup a tad (for slapping or picking) or roll off the neck pickup a tad (for fingerstyle).

 

With the SX in stock form, that didn't work. I couldn't get that midrange bump I love so much. Swapping in the Stew-Mac kit completely transformed the bass. The sound was fuller, deeper, and louder. The midrange became much "rounder" and the highs are less harsh. It's a much smoother sound. Most important, I can now roll back on the neck or bridge pickup to give that classic J bass midrange bump.

 

For $20 and a half hour's worth of soldering, it's a no brainer!

 

 

Originally posted by Fran da Man BTW: I have an Original 73 Fender Blackblock...only thing different is mine has a white pg. and of course one less string.

My vintage Jazz is a 1972 with solid ash body (faded yellow finish that lets the grain peek through), black pickguard, ashtrays, and maple neck with mother-of-pearl blocks. It's 100% original. The pickups were getting microphonic so I had them rewound to stock specs at huge cost (don't ask!).

 

Emre

[Gaui]

Cool, looking forward to the pictures!.

 

How hard was the soldering work?

Im considering switching out the electronics on my Essex, I have a soldering iron but I have only used it for broken powercords and such, never any serious soldering.

[LanEvo]

Originally posted by Gaui How hard was the soldering work? Im considering switching out the electronics on my Essex, I have a soldering iron but I have only used it for broken powercords and such, never any serious soldering.

I had never done any soldering at all. I knew the theory from some electronics geek buddies of mine, but this was the first time I've actually done it.

 

Overall, it was simple. The only trick was soldering some of the ground connections to the backs of the pots. They have a smooth chassis and it's tough to get the wires and solder to stick. If you heat it up too much, the solder just balls up and rolls off! An extra hand would have helped

 

Emre

[Tim in WV]

the pots and wiring is really the only thing anyone needs to change on this basses. I did mine shortly after I got it with the same kit and there's no reason to do anything else. I also copper tape shielded mine under the jack all the way across the bottom of the control plate for RF reduction.

[mrcrow]

great work man

regarding soldering to new pots..use some flux paste to break down the surface grease...and a 25 watt iron..minimum

takes a bit of heat to get the solder to run cleanly...

 

ps i dont think you meant fixing the cap to the bridge vol pot...you mean the tone pot which is near the bridge

 

if you got it all going well ...fine...

 

standard wiring on the jazz is from middle pin on neck pup pot to middle pin on bridge pup pot to middle pin on tone pot...last one in line...and then to jack...

its a straight line...

then the cap goes on the pin 3 to pot body which is daisy chained to the bridge pot along with the neck pot ground

 

ground the pups to the middle pot and the jack and bridge ground

 

then all the grounds go to one point and then led to the jack..

 

like a daisy..

 

the defret idea must have been awesome for you..well done

 

[Rippin' Robin]

We really need pics.

[james on bass]

When you get new pots like that, can you get volume/balance/tone as an option for jazzes, or is it all in the wiring?

[LanEvo]

Originally posted by mrcrow regarding soldering to new pots..use some flux paste to break down the surface grease...and a 25 watt iron..minimum takes a bit of heat to get the solder to run cleanly...

Good tip! I'll try that next time.

 

Originally posted by mrcrow ps i dont think you meant fixing the cap to the bridge vol pot...you mean the tone pot which is near the bridge

Yes, you're right. The cap is on the tone pot. Don't know what I was thinking...

 

Originally posted by mrcrow standard wiring on the jazz is from middle pin on neck pup pot to middle pin on bridge pup pot to middle pin on tone pot...last one in line...and then to jack... its a straight line... then the cap goes on the pin 3 to pot body which is daisy chained to the bridge pot along with the neck pot ground ground the pups to the middle pot and the jack and bridge ground then all the grounds go to one point and then led to the jack.. like a daisy..

That's exactly what I did. I basically just followed the wiring diagram that came with the kit. It would have been even easier if I knew some basics...like your flux paste trick.

 

Originally posted by mrcrow the defret idea must have been awesome for you..well done

I'm pretty excited about it. It came out MUCH better than I was expecting. It's a very nice, bright, nasal kind of sound...which is exactly what I was going for. The midrange honk should be even stronger once I finish varnishing the neck.

 

Emre

[Jonny Five]

I'm thinking of buying the four string version of that very bass. I also have no experience with a soldering iron. Would any of you guys mind walking me through it if/when i get the bass?

[WhiteTbird]

Those SX guitars kick @ass. They were selling the floor models of that Jazz for $109 apiece.

[LanEvo]

OK, it's almost done now. Yesterday I finally had the time to fill in all the fret slots. I used Elmer's wood filler in a dark mahogany color. I used a putty knife to smooth over the edges.

 

Once dry, I sanded the fingerboard with medium and fine grit sandpaper. While I was at it, I removed most of the finish on the back of the neck, as I'm not crazy about the feel of glossy necks. Then, I cleaned off all the dust with mildly damp cotton cloth.

 

Once clean, I put on a thick coat of high-gloss polyurethane lacquer. I fine sanded and reapplied 3 times so far. I'll put on another coat or two later today just to give it that super deep wet-look.

 

Overall, it looks great! The mahogany wood filler initially looked a little too light. However, once the polyurethane went on, they look much darker. The lines are now "almost" black, which matches the block inlays and neck binding very nicely.

 

The only problem is that the wood filler shrank a bit and there are shallow depressions in the polyurethane lacquer. If I had to do it again, I would have reapplied more wood filler to the fret slots prior to lacquering the board. I didn't take into account that the filler would shrink.

 

Anyway, it's nothing some sanding and more lacquer can't fix!

 

Emre

[james on bass]

Sounds like you did a fine job. Let's see some close-up pics of the fretboard.

 

I'm GASsing more than ever now for a fretless again.

[6onzalez]

I would love to see pics too, just pulled the frets out of a cheapy johnson neck, trying to wwork out colour of the fret markers and what to use to fill . Prob going for filler because the slot doesnt go all the way through the fboard.

[rx jr.]

bump