New member, new '73 JS II husk

mavuser

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The 90s bridge would have to be for a Starfire, not a JS (not made in the 90s), although they may very well be one in the same.

does the bridge you are looking at have rosewood saddles or brass saddles? Can u post the link?
 

mavuser

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I'd assume grisezd is looking at this bridge: http://www.guitar-parts.com/catalog/guilld-bridge-bass-53013
Ralf

thats a 90s Starfire bass bridge. Not sure how that would work on a 70s SF or JS bass but my guess is it can be done with either one and made to work somehow. Although I am personally a fan of the rosewood saddles, although that may put me in the minority.

Hans Moust,or someone else with a better handle on the subject than me, should advise you.
 

grisezd

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Happy Face

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I briefly put one of those 90s Starfire bridges on my JS-II. Briefly because it raised the action too high for my liking. Otherwise, outside of requiring a new set of holes, it did fit and work.

Now & then I ponder putting it back on, but it would require routing out a depression to get the action down to where I'd like it.
 

grisezd

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I've got pickups (DeArmonds) on the way! Thanks Jeff!

Since I don't have the harness to start with I'm kind of free to custom wire it. I have a few 2-band Stingray preamp boards I've wanted to build up, one of them might go in this bass. I'm thinking pickups to selector switch to passive volume. Mini toggle that was for the suck circuit will switch between a passive tone and out or the preamp and out. I'd just run the preamp gain with a trim pot inside the cavity. The passive tone would probably affect the active sound as well, but I think I can live with that!

I've decided on Hipshot Ultralights with clovers, still working on a bridge solution.

Thanks for all the help so far. You have all been great!
 

grisezd

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Update time. It will never be done, likely, but it's ready to play. Recent DeArmond humbuckers, Hipshot clover Ultralites, Hipshot B bridge in chromed brass (.669 spacing), and an SG-style wiring kit from Stewart MacDonald was all it took. There was concern that the neck had issues, but I was able to get a decent setup on it with a minimum of fuss. I don't have any pictures, as aside from the bridge it looks stock. And the finish is nothing to write home about. And the nut is a disaster in bad need of replacement (currently shimmed up with two layers of beer can aluminum!). But I'm in love.

I got a bit of an education on the pickups. They came without leads but with nice solder lugs. Before wiring them up I thought I ought to take the time to clean up the old solder to avoid a possible short to the backing plate. Turns out those lugs have a good bit of mass and are pressed into a plastic bobbin. On a few of them, as it turns out, I'd overheated the assembly and broke the connection between the lug and the winding end. I got to learn how to open a pickup cover and solder winding wire! But at least it's working.

So far I love the tone of the recent DeArmond humbuckers. Nice and crisp.

Thanks all for your help. I'm sure to need it again
 

grisezd

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Hi all. Another update and a question or two.

I've gigged the bass a few times and played it at a ton of jams with a bunch of other musical styles. While the bass sounds great solo I can't seem to get it to sit right in the mix for anything but a wooly blues/roots tone. That's fine, but I've got other basses that work well there too AND have the versatility to cover a wider range of tones. I have a few circuit boards for MusicMan style 2-band preamps and I'm thinking of building one up to try these pickups with the pre.

Regarding the neck issues, as I've been working through string options I've realized that while the truss rod is coping well with tension changes up to about the 15th fret, I can't seem to get rid of a hump that starts in the teens. I don't see evidence of any damage, cracking, or repairs in the area, so I'm assuming that the neck has just "settled". As the frets seem original, very worn, and far smaller than I'm used to playing I'm thinking of defretting, leveling the fingerboard, and refretting with larger wire.

That's where my questions come. What is the original fingerboard radius? It feels comfortable to me so I'd like to return to that same radius. Next, what was the original wire size used on these basses? I'd like taller than what I have now(super worn state!), but if the original wire size is close to what I'm used to I'd rather go original than experiment with other profiles. Finally, does any of this sound like I'm working around a problem that might be better solved in another way?

Thanks in advance!
 

grisezd

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Ugh, just can't make this thing work in a mix! Played it tonight for three songs and just nothing. Pickups? No hope due to construction? Help!

Thanks.
 

fronobulax

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Ugh, just can't make this thing work in a mix! Played it tonight for three songs and just nothing. Pickups? No hope due to construction? Help!

Thanks.

I'm too lazy to re-read the whole thread again so forgive me. What PUs did it end up with, what other instruments are in the mix and what seems to be lacking? For example I very much recall playing a stock JS II, killing the treble anywhere I could and likewise boosting the bass and all I contributed was a rhythmic thump. that was what I wanted because it meant no one really know whether the note i was playing was right or wrong with respect to the harmony ;-) So in a sense I was trying to hide behind the bass drum in the mix and it worked.
 

grisezd

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I ended up with the DeArmond (90's) humbuckers. wired with Stew Mac's kit for Gibson SG (500k pots, 3 way toggle, VVTT, whatever caps they included) (very nice kit, btw!). I put on some worn Chromes that I use on just about everything else. I played through a Zoom B3 with a nice SVT sim and compressor into my 800W head and 6/15 cabinet. I play rock covers in a trio so I have to fill up a lot of sonic space, while having enough definition in the sound to keep the melody going while the guitarist plays leads. I'd call the tone I'm getting with the JSII is a dull thump, not enough definition, and without the roar I would have expected. My fallback, always works bass is a shortscale Jazz with an added hot-rails type guitar pickup at the neck, J pickups wired in series, everything wide open, using my worn Chromes.
Am I asking too much of this thing?
Thanks for following up.
 

fronobulax

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I ended up with the DeArmond (90's) humbuckers. wired with Stew Mac's kit for Gibson SG (500k pots, 3 way toggle, VVTT, whatever caps they included) (very nice kit, btw!). I put on some worn Chromes that I use on just about everything else. I played through a Zoom B3 with a nice SVT sim and compressor into my 800W head and 6/15 cabinet. I play rock covers in a trio so I have to fill up a lot of sonic space, while having enough definition in the sound to keep the melody going while the guitarist plays leads. I'd call the tone I'm getting with the JSII is a dull thump, not enough definition, and without the roar I would have expected. My fallback, always works bass is a shortscale Jazz with an added hot-rails type guitar pickup at the neck, J pickups wired in series, everything wide open, using my worn Chromes.
Am I asking too much of this thing?
Thanks for following up.

"Rhythmic thump" seems to be a very common description of the stock JS's tone, but I always attributed that to the Guild humbuckers which isn't the case here. I've got rounds on mine which might help some in your case. I think we want Happy Face to comment because he plays his JS more than I play my JS :)
 

Happy Face

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Frono calls, I respond.

A dull thump is something I've never come close to. If anything, I've been criticized for not having enough thump. I've only played a JS-II with Darkstar pickups. Passive until recently. Mostly with TI Jazz Flats. The notes are really articulate and clear. And now with some added punch. Mainly play with fingers.

So, perhaps it is in the pickups?
 

grisezd

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Initially, with some light rounds I think that the sound lacked any sort of weight. Now with the heavier flats I've got some weight but no real punch.

It's probably worth trying another pickup. Dark stars are out, just can't justify the expense. Maybe I'll try the thundertrons I had in mind earlier.
 

mavuser

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It says earlier in this thread the dearmond humbuckers are based on the guild Humbucker so what you are reporting sounds accurate. It sounds to me like your JS sounds pretty nice, but you are looking for more of a single coil versatility. Guild has some great single coils of late 70s early 80s, but those basses are long scale. Perhaps you can put one of those pickups on the short scale JS. Might not look too pretty though unless u can procure a "hagmeat pickguard". (Hagmeat has those pickups on a JS bass stock, but that JS is long scale...). You can also see what Curtis Novak has for a Humbucker replacement. I think he makes a Gibson bass bucker replacement.
 

grisezd

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I took another crack at it this week. I installed some decent rounds on it which helped liven things up. I noticed that I was getting a lot of finger noise when I dug in (string against last frets) so I lowered the neck pickup. Viola, much better tone. Backed both off, into their bezels actually, and now I think I've got something I can work with! I'll play it out tomorrow night, hope that's the ticket!
 

mavuser

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Nice. Sometimes it is those little adjustments that make the biggest difference. Those pickups you have should sound pretty good. Also sometimes I roll off the mids on the bass amp, that's what I typically do with the guild Humbucker . Have fun with it at your gig. And remember rule #1 is always in effect- pictures or it never happened!
 

grisezd

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Well, the gig went great. Pre-drunk crowd (always helps), just the right set list for the room, and the bass sounded great! I brought a backup but never touched it.
We typically do our own sound, and in those cases I don't bother running myself through the mixer. We had a sound guy tonight and he took a direct off my amp. Before I had to add volume at my amp I got to hear the sound I was looking for through the mains and monitor. It was only when I had to add my rig to get stage level that I heard the harsh yuck I'd been complaining about. My cab has a tweeter which is useful on a tiny stage when I otherwise wouldn't be able to hear myself in the mix. My other basses must have a more compressed top end to them, so the sound through the tweeter is almost pleasant. The Guild HB pickups sound uneven and harsh there. This morning at home I disconnected the tweeter and viola, the middy, growly tone I heard through the mains reappeared!! Reminds me a lot of my old departed Ripper!

Still need to refret, and might still consider doing something differently with the pickups, but I'm a lot closer to being ecstatic with this bass!

Photo, so it happened:

Guild_at_Eagles_zpsa37175f7.jpg
 
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