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!
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!
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