The Jazz Bass of DOOM - Prog Doom that is........or anyone else's highly medicated or non medicated J B

ficelles

ficelles

Unicorn Ninja
Reaction score
3,995
Points
93
Location
An English peninsula
soulman said:
I hear the same thing about Babicz FCH Bridges. Some don't like the look. I just say I didn't install if because of how it looks it did it because it makes the bass sound better and I can get my action so low an ant would need to crawl to get under the strings. The Oly Wht Jazz is gone so that bridge in now the one on the blue Jazz I just bought in Sept. The Wilde J45 pickups too.

View attachment 10358
View attachment 10359
Click to expand...

The Babicz looks like a better option than the Badass, which adds too much height imo... I had the G right down on the stops and it still wasn't low enough, one reason I went for the trad Fender bridge. I've shimmed the neck up on the G side now. Guess I need to try a Babicz.
 
dedpool1052

dedpool1052

Royal Corn
Reaction score
18,039
Points
113
Location
A fourth wall break inside a fourth wall break.
ficelles said:
The Babicz looks like a better option than the Badass, which adds too much height imo... I had the G right down on the stops and it still wasn't low enough, one reason I went for the trad Fender bridge. I've shimmed the neck up on the G side now. Guess I need to try a Babicz.
Click to expand...
I've had good luck with the Schaller roller bridge (don't remember the official name of it)
 
soulman

soulman

Royal Corn
Reaction score
10,855
Points
113
Location
Fort Collins, CO
ficelles said:
The Babicz looks like a better option than the Badass, which adds too much height imo... I had the G right down on the stops and it still wasn't low enough, one reason I went for the trad Fender bridge. I've shimmed the neck up on the G side now. Guess I need to try a Babicz.
Click to expand...
The neck on my PBass is dead flat. No relief at all. The line of the strings from bridge cam to nut is basically parallel with the neck. Dead straight with no fret buzz. I can't get the action on my G&Ls anywhere near that low. Full disclosure; I am running LaBella 50-106 DTFlats on it though and I play with a light touch.
 
Rattfink

Rattfink

Unicorn Ninja
Reaction score
3,548
Points
93
Location
Denver
ficelles said:
Turned my JB into a mudbucker special with a parallel/series switch... pull the neck volume pot and you get both pickups in series, awesome :)

Easy enough to do yourself but I found a pre-wired assembly on fleabay which was even easier:

View attachment 12452
Click to expand...
I've used pre wired from Obsidian Wire and Mojo Tone. Both are excellent quality and have lasted without flaw may years
 
Jim C

Jim C

Royal Corn
Reaction score
11,696
Points
113
Location
Bethesda, MD
NSYMCE said:
Are you gonna request that pickup combination now?
Click to expand...
He had me completely sold sold on J pups when I gave him the deposit 6 months ago so I haven't thought about it.
I was just surprised to see this combo since he didn't want to do it awhile back. I'm thinking the bass in the photo may also be a 5-string so perhaps that makes a difference.
I really do like how a J sits in a busy rock / R&B mix. Just not sure if it would sound exactly the same using only 1 coil. This did not sound the same with a Lakland Skyline I had years ago. Another question is active vs. passive.
OTOH, I have no delivery date so who knows what Marco might come up with in the future 🤔 ?
 
NSYMCE

NSYMCE

Corn Star
Premium Corn
Reaction score
7,407
Points
113
Location
Pacific Northwet
Jim C said:
He had me completely sold sold on J pups when I gave him the deposit 6 months ago so I haven't thought about it.
I was just surprised to see this combo since he didn't want to do it awhile back. I'm thinking the bass in the photo may also be a 5-string so perhaps that makes a difference.
I really do like how a J sits in a busy rock / R&B mix. Just not sure if it would sound exactly the same using only 1 coil. This did not sound the same with a Lakland Skyline I had years ago. Another question is active vs. passive.
OTOH, I have no delivery date so who knows what Marco might come up with in the future 🤔 ?
Click to expand...
It is a 5 string. Not positive, but I think one coil of the MM pup by itself would normally be pretty low impedance and not a good match for the neck pup. I can of course discuss that when I go over there in a week or two.

And I will comp you a Marco branded plate preamp if you can live with the side jack it requires. There are other options but I really, really don't like stacked pots. I'll be doing a test install of the plate one on this next trip, for sure.
 
Last edited:
LBS-bass

LBS-bass

Administrator
Reaction score
13,266
Points
113
theothersemioldfart said:
Thanks - I often think as a guitar player who dabbles in bass I have no business owning a fretless. But It's so much fun, and I either have a knack for it or can't hear how bad I am. I'm sure things could go south in a hurry under stress and less than ideal conditions, but at home it sounds pretty good.
Click to expand...
I have been itching to find an inexpensive short-scale fretless I can play around with. My hands are too small to intonate well on a standard sized one - I own one that I never play - but I used to play violin as a kid and the intonation ratios are the same, so I think it'd not be too hard to pick up.
 
T

theothersemioldfart

Seasonal Corn
Reaction score
703
Points
93
I did it $300 at a time. Bought an affinity P-bass. $170. A year later I put a Warmoth Jazz fretless Jazz neck on it $300. Broke then nut trying to pop it off for sanding and it sat for two more years before I decided to fix it so I could either play it or get rid of it. So I guess you can count the nut files in the in between year. Finally I decided to get a J body so I could put the Squier back together to sell it. It's still sitting here while I fix a paint chip on the back, but... I need to get back to that one so I can entertain insulting offers on Facebook Marketplace.
 
T

theothersemioldfart

Seasonal Corn
Reaction score
703
Points
93
As far as hand size... I think the DB is onto something. Nobody is big enough for a DB but people of various sizes play them. I think the upright neck is just a far better ergonomic design with pretty much the sole exception of flat picking. But to date, pretty much 100% of EUB effort has been spent into making an electric double bass and not an upright EBG. (including Ned Steinbergers designs)

I think it'd be cool to do what Ned tried to do with the L2 for the UEBG. Start completely over. Probably make a standing design for showmanship but otherwise... design it like a mechanical engineer and George Gruhn can go occupy himself with his beloved collection. Do you need a knee rest or shoulder rest? Who says that needs 20 lbs of plywood in lovely curve, screw one on right there. Can you flat pick it if you put the bridge up near waist level? IOW total blank sheet design.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top