Cort T35 Five-String Bass

Here's a brand-new Indonesian-made Cort T35 in gloss black. It belongs to an ex-student of mine, who's been active on the local indie circuit for a few years now. The bass was unplayable and buzzing badly in the lower frets. Seriously, the strings were virtually laying flat on the fretboard. He'd just changed strings, and they were of a much lighter gauge than the ones that the bass was originally set up with. I reckon the B string was a flimsy 125. 

So now, the tension of these strings wasn't enough to counteract the tension of the truss rod, and the neck was back-bowed. The solution then, was to loosen the truss rod gradually until the fretboard had enough relief; and then only proceed with string height and intonation adjustments. 

One very interesting feature about the T35 is that it sports a 35" scale. Yes, I measured and it's exactly that. In effect, using the same tuning and same gauge of strings, you'd be able to set string action lower sans buzzing on a 35-inch scale as opposed to the standard 34 inches. 

Now, as the bass was already in the shop, I couldn't resist taking a peek at the innards. I also did some research on the web, and coupled with my own observations; have been able to come up with the following specs:

Body: Agathis

Neck: Bolt-on, Canadian Hard Maple, heel-end truss rod access

Fretboard: Rosewood, 16" radius, 35" scale, 24 jumbo frets, White dot inlays

Bridge: EB7(5)

Pickups: PDX-5/F and PDX-5/R passive humbuckers

Electronics: 2-band active EQ

Power Source: 9V Battery

Controls: Master Volume, Pickup Pan Pot, Bass Boost/Cut, Treble Boost/Cut

Fender Japan Traditional II 60s Precision Bass: Part Two

◀ Part One

Deep Dive

This is the second installment of a series on a truly good-looking and groovalicious three-tone-sunburst Fender Japan Traditional II 60s Precision Bass. In Part One, we took a look at some of this fine instrument's most prominent features and specifications. Honestly, after spending some serious face and ear time with it, I do believe that this bass "was created by fusing traditional Fender aesthetics of instrument making with sophisticated Japanese craftsmanship."

Enough about that, then. In this exciting episode, we'll take the bass apart, restring it with La Bella 760FS Deep Talkin' Bass Stainless Steel Flatwounds; and set it up for optimal playability. And, of course; there'll be loads of pics. Yes, I actually had to remove the neck in order to access the heel-mount truss-rod adjustment nut. Headstock access would have been way easier, but what the heck; Fender Japan wants to keep things as vintage as possible.

Now, since the neck was already off the body; I could not resist the temptation to remove the gorgeous four-ply tortoiseshell pickguard for a sneak peek under the hood. What I saw was nice, really nice. Neat soldering and wiring, CTS pots; and a Switchcraft #11 output jack. 

The Vintage-Style Split Single-Coil Precision Bass® Pickup was shielded by a Vintage-Style Precision Bass Brass Grounding/Shielding Plate, and the electronics; under-pickguard self-stick foil. The control cavity was unshielded, though. I was lamenting this shortcoming for awhile; before remembering that my Robert Cray Strat also lacked control cavity shielding when I first got it. It's a '60s thing, you know.

So, I got the fretboard nice and flat, reattached the neck; and proceeded to restring the bass. Setup wasn't a breeze, thanks to heel-mount truss-rod access; but you gotta do what you gotta do. In the end, I managed to get the action much lower than the factory setup without any buzzes or farts. The owner came by close to midnight to pick up his bass, being the busy guy he is. 

As the neighbors were already asleep, trying it out amplified was out of the question. He settled for a few minutes of unplugged noodling, and took his leave when Johnny (another neighbor's dog) started barking for no apparent reason. I guess Johnny isn't into Fenders.

Well, folks, that's the story on this three-tone-sunburst Fender Japan Traditional II 60s Precision Bass. One thing I can tell you is that the good folk at FujiGen Gakki certainly know they're doing; more power to them! Thank you for stopping by my humble blog, and do come again. Till we next meet, stay safe :)

Squier Vintage Modified '77 Jazz Bass

This black beauty belongs to Juan of Kuantan-based indie band Whizzer. He wanted it derusted, cleaned, polished; and restrung with La Bella 760FS Deep Talkin' Bass flatwound strings. Of course, I was only too happy to oblige. I'll let the pics tell the story of what went down. Meanwhile, a little research at the websites of Swee Lee and Music Bliss have unearthed quite a bit of information concerning this instrument. Most of the features would be quite obvious even to the non-musician; but I'm listing them here for the sake of future reference.

Body Material: Agathis
Body Finish: Gloss Polyester Black
Neck: Maple/bolt-on/"C"-shaped profile/vintage-tint gloss finish
Fretboard: Maple/34" scale/9.5" radius/pearloid block inlays/white binding
Frets: 20 medium jumbo
Bridge: 4-saddle standard bridge
Pickups: Two Fender-designed single-coil Jazz Bass
Tuners: Standard Open-Gear
Controls: Neck pickup volume/bridge pickup volume/master tone
Knobs: Black Strat-style
Pickguard: Three-ply black/white/black
Hardware Finish: Chrome

Flood Victim #4 - SX Vintage Series Jazz Bass Copy

This happened to be the fourth victim of the great flood of December 2013 that had come my way to date. The earlier three were a Washburn XB125, Yamaha RBX775 FSL and '70s Fender Jazz Bass. This particular SX Vintage Series Jazz Bass Copy was well built and oozed a '70s vibe: 3-bolt neck plate, maple neck/fretboard with block inlays, solid wood body finished natural, chunky open-gear tuners; and a Fender-ish headstock profile.

The owner confided in me that after salvaging the bass from flood waters, he'd cleaned and dried it the best he could. However, of late, it had become increasingly difficult to play due to high action and malfunctioning electronics.

After closely examining the bass and trying it out for a couple days, I identified these main issues:
(i) excessively high action at the bridge even with the saddles at their lowest,
(ii) totally corroded metal components,
(iii) frozen saddle height adjustment screws,
(iv) excessive neck relief,
(v) incorrect neck/body angle -- the neck was tilting upwards,
(vi) grimy, cruddy, rusty and tarnished hardware and plastic components; and
(vii) barely functioning pots and output jack, even after servicing.

To address these issues, the bass was first disassembled down to the"nuts and bolts," so to speak. Following this, hardware and plastic components were cleaned of crud, grime and rust as thoroughly as possible. The pickguard, control plate, and saddle height adjustment screws were replaced as they were beyond saving. The bridge was lubed thoroughly so that it would be functional once more.

The truss rod was still working, thank goodness. I was able to tighten it to where the neck was straight without any strings on. To correct the neck/body angle, I inserted a shim of appropriate thickness; and the neck now tilted downwards slightly.

As the electronics were shot, I rewired the bass with new Alpha A250K pots, a 0.033uF tone cap, and Neutrik/Rean NYS229 output jack. After putting the bass back together, I was able to set it up with the lowest possible action sans buzz. Plugging this SX Vintage Series Jazz Bass Copy into a bass amp produced growly, midrangey tones that evoked memories of other '70s Jazz Basses I'd had the pleasure of working on. They sure don't build 'em like they used to!

Custom Bass Upgrade and Mods

I'll consider this to be a "custom" four-string electric bass, 'nuff said. It features a solid wood body, natural satin finish, tilt-back 2+2 headstock, rosewood fretboard, jumbo frets, maple bolt-on neck, twin humbuckers, monorail-style bridge, passive electronics; and zero shielding. The control configuration is two volumes and two tones, and the output jack is of the barrel variety; buried in an angled recess on the front of the body.

So, what's not to love about this bass? Lots, according to the owner. The "electronics suck," said he. There was no master volume to turn down during breaks -- he'd have to turn both volumes down, and in the process; lose pickup balance when he came onstage again. He was also apprehensive about using it live because of inconsistent signal strength and various annoyingly-audible snaps, crackles and pops. That, plus a setup that wasn't comfortable for slapping and popping (his favored style). I told him I'd have a look and get back to him ASAP.

What I discovered made me a very unhappy man. The routing and woodwork was generally slipshod and rough, pots were of the 3-bucks-apiece variety; and the wiring iffy. Next, I tried to remove the barrel jack in order to check it; but there was no way to do so. There was no access route, no nut; no nothing. I had to dig a hole through the control cavity wall to get to it and push it out from the inside. When it finally came out, totally mangled and unusable; I had a Eureka moment. The builder had simply drilled a hole from the front of the body and shoved the jack in, with just a piece of strategically-wrapped paper to keep it in place! 

With this new-found knowledge, we had a no-holds-barred discussion and decided to retain the pickups, upgrade the electronics, shield the cavities and back plate; and change the control configuration to pickup blend, master volume, and master tone. I'd also be plugging the existing output jack recess and one pot hole, and drilling a new hole in the side for a new barrel jack; amongst other woodwork-related tasks. 

That being taken care of, it was time to address the setup issue. Thank goodness the truss rod was working as it should, and tightening it up little by little over the course of a few days allowed for less relief and lower action. I strung her up with Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys (50-105), set up the monorail-style bridge (a real PITA) and called the owner to take her for a spin. He was happy about the positive changes in his best girl, slapping and popping to his heart's delight; but nowhere as happy or relieved as I was :)