New Project: Jazz Bass Assembly

Alright, so I've been wanting to post this for awhile, but I've held back, as I didn't have any parts.

I've always wanted a jazz bass but I don't really dig the tiny neck. I'm rocking an MIM P-Bass I put a new pickup in (Reverend P, awesome) and I dig the fatter neck. I also wanted a certain color combination. But I couldn't find a jazz bass with a p neck, so I decided to just assemble my own.

So, I've taken the plunge. This should be interesting, to say the least.

So, here's the laundry list:

Vintage Sunburst Alder J-Bass body

Maple on Maple P-Bass Neck

Vintage Noiseless Jazz pickups (I got a bargain)

Black Pickguard

Plates and hardware. (Fender replacements)

For electronics I'm doing a stacked concentric pot for the individual volumes. A fender "No-load" (Takes it out of the circuit at max) tone pot. And a toggle for a series/parallel switch. I'm looking for an oil and paper cap, as I've found I like those better than electrolytics.

The parts should start trickling in tomorrow. I'm excited!

I'll post some pictures as I progress. I figure someone may be interested in putting their own together. I'll try to answer questions, too, if anyone is interested.

Tim

sounds {censored}ing cool to me!

i've got a 66 P neck, neckplate and case at home i was hoping to use on a bass for Jimi from Doves a few years ago - or maybe something for myself.

i'll be following your thing and maybe ripping off a few ideas!

i'm going for a bit of a purist vibe, but i'll check out the rev P p/up...

Alright, first minor revision, I couldn't find a local supplier of Fender's No Load tone pot, so I'm doing something pretty similar with a push pull pot. You'd get a regular tone pot when pulled, and when depressed, it hard bypasses the pot altogether.

The schematic is coming, I'll post it later.

But here's a description. I used the series/parallel schematic from the bass forum's faq.

I'm having trouble getting a concentric 250k stacked pot for the volumes quick enough, so I may use another push-pull pot for this switch like show in the diagram. Except it wouldn't be the tone pot. Probably the 2nd volume, if I'm forced to. The tone push-pull would be for a bypass of the tone pot.

Here's how the tone switch is connected.

We'll Label the pins A through F.

They align as such.

ACE

BDF

Alright, From Pin to Pin

A: To B

B: To A (As expected)

C: From the 1st pin of the 2nd volume knob ( Bottom red wire on 2nd pot in the picture)

D: To tip of the output jack

E: From Center Pin of tone pot.

F: Seperate wire from Center Pin of tone pot

If you'd prefer to have the pull bypass, then switch A-B to E-F and have A and B conect via seperate wires to the tone controls center pin.

Now when on, the signal completely bypasses the tone circuit for an added brightness. This isn't exactly a cheaper solution, but, if I wanted a preset eq here (high cut, low cut) I could add it very easily by replacing the jumper from A-B.

So, in summary the controls are still volume, volume, tone. But now I have switching options. On the 2nd volume (or seperate switch) is Series/Parallel, On the tone pot is a tone bypass.

I received most of the parts last night and I already did some rough fitting to make sure everything would fit together. The rest of the parts should be in today (neck, pickups.) so I should be finally assembling something tonight.

Wiring schematic and pictures to come.

Tim

The reverend pickup was being blown out awhile ago. I want to eventually upgrade to a Lindy Fralin, but the cheap reverend sounds really good.

I'm a purist myself, but I wanted an option for a P-type sound on a jazz without going active. The series/parallel switch gets pretty close.

I also play quite often with the tone pot dimed, so my first thought was just take it out. But, I wanted it for recording purposes. I have it wired so it should hard bypass all the time and allow for tone control when pulled.

I'm really debating the whole push-pull pots thing vs concentric pot with tone control and switch. It really comes down to the aesthetics of it. Traditional vs. slightly modified.

So many choices...

Tim

i've had tons of mods on my guitars over the years, but i always come back to the standard stuff - i hate messing with tone pots when i'm playing out - it just starts me thinking "a bit more...a bit less...?" etc so i generally dont bother nowadays. i stuck the prs cap on my vol pot, but even that annoyed me in time, i wonder if its a "i grew up with this - and thats what i always go back to eventually" type thing. your bang on with the 'too many choices'....easy to get lost in it and stop listening to the notes!

either way, your bass sounds cool, there's something about cool old fenders that have a nice twist to em...theyre almost more than just instruments to me. beautiful. i'd love to see a pic at some point!

Alright, so last night I started the process. I dry fit everything to make sure it all fit well and it did. Except the neck joint was not as tight as I wanted. As it turns out, the corners were too sharp on the neck and needed a litte rounding out to match the neck pocket on the body. SO, I marked the height I needed to round down (so that it would still LOOK good at the visible part of the neck), then, I used a fine file to round it out. Now, I did a little and then I checked it, a little more checked again, and so on. I didn't want to over do it as I want a nice and tight neck joint. So, I have it down where I'm happy with it (I'll file a bit more just to see if I can get it tighter) and there is the slightest paper thin gap between the neck and the body. Short of routing out the body, I think I can deal with that.

Next I had to fill some hole that were already in the neck. I had to turn down some dowel pins and hammer them in with some wood glue. Now I've let the glue dry over night, as I don't want the screws to go back into the old holes and knock the whole works out of whack. So I moved on.

I pressed in the tuner rings using 2 pieces of soft pine and a bench vise. It was actually pretty easy. Then I carefully placed a tuner through the hole and lined it up and marked one hole. I then used a small drill bit (1/16") and drilled a hole at my mark of about 1/4" deep. Then I mounted the tuner using the hole I predrilled. Once it was tight, I drilled the remaining three holes and screwed it down permanently.

I also wanted to check on the tightness of the neck pickup in the pickguard. What good is hieght adjustment if the pickup is too tight to move? It turned out alright, so I didn't worry any further.

There is a bit of a gap between the control plate and the pickguard, which sucks, but I'll get over it. There isn't too much I can do about that one. It's not noticable from more than six inches away. Still, it bugs me. It may be the pickguard, I'll have to check.

Other than that, Everything is going smoothly. I'm picking up the rest of the parts today. I've settled on the push-pull pots, so it should be cool.

I know i shouldn't be concerned, but the tiny gap is getting to me. I may have to fill a couple holes. Which is a big GRR... but, oh well, It'll work out. I'll make it.

I took pictures of some of the process, I just need to upload them. I'll do that tonight.

So far, so good.

Tim

i would ditch the no tone idea and use that switch for series parallel

good luck.

here are my custom basses:

the hoppus on the right has a new pickguard, control plate, pickup cover, and knobs. she is my favorite.

The white one is a maple body, maple necked P-bass with fender Original P-bass pickups.

i would ditch the no tone idea and use that switch for series parallel good luck.

I'm doing both.

Tim

have fun.

Sorry if that seemed harsh. Here's my schematic I drew up.

I'm at work and don't have the picture files with me, so, I'll be getting the rest up later.

Thanks,

Tim

good stuff, getting the neck joint tidy is a nice touch.

i wouldnt worry at all about the s/plate and chrome plate not meeting - as long as you dont keep getting your hand snagged in it

play it in then change it later if you want.

my g&l didnt get a scratch on it (god knows how) for about a year, then my wife moved it once and put a 6inch scrape up the back... i was actually relieved! the next 20yrs of wear and it'll start to look the way i like!

Alright. I worked more last night. I set the neck and wired the controls.

With this many pots and switches and all that went into wiring it, next time I'll probably go with the Dual concentric volume knobs, Fender No Load Tone Knob, and a DPDT switch just for ease of wiring. Things got cramped pretty quickly, but everything worked out okay.

Alright here's a list of "Lessons Learned So Far"

1. Dry fit. Everything.

2. Complex switching requires complex soldering. Not for the weak of heart. But reasonable. Just take your time.

3. When buying knobs, make sure they fit the pots. 1 knob didn't. It broke the shaft on the pot. So now I need another.

4. Never let anyone borrow your only set of allen wrenches. As soon as you want to set up a guitar, they won't be there.

5. Never throw anything away. I threw away the string retainer and now I have to buy another.

Alright so, a setup, a pot, a string retainer, and strap locks. We're playing tonight, we have to be at the venue at 8, and we don't go on until 1. I think I can have it working by then. Just need to buy a pot, string retainer and knob. I'm going to make an attempt at least.

Fun.

Tim

haha, too right! never lend tools, if the guy hasnt got his own..why hasnt he?

when you spend a couple on thousand per year on tools and people want to use them, they think they're free..somehow! always buy the very best you can afford - they'll do you right in the long run.

there's some mumbo jumbo relating to the pots, to help you get the right nobs that fit. split, non split, european {american for metric } etc. should have mentioned that to you - sorry bout that man.

think you'll make a great guitar tech in a few years! stick a pic up when you're done

Thanks. I really appreciate the compliment.

I should have known about the pots too. I was in a hurry though and didn't notice until I had already broken the post on the pot. I've got a temporary fix right now, but I'll have to replace the pot because I don't like half-assing stuff.

It looks beautiful. I'm going to do a big picture post when I get the time. I had a slight flooding of my basement that occupied most of my night... Luckily the only stuff down there is th water heater, furnace, softener, and the pressure tank for the well. My sump pump had frozen over on the outside end. Needless to say, I was a little preoccupied.

The neck feels nice, Needs the action set, but appears to have the proper amount of curve already. I'm going to try to do this at a bar by our merch table tonight. I'm not that worried. I once retubed and biased an amp in the same place... Ahhh being in a gigging band...

Tim