JS 2 bass bridge saddle, scale length, strings?

[Guildedagain]

I think the reason why wife likes bass better are infinite.

When on bass, there's a groove.

When on guitar anything goes, what she calls noodling, and she's a drummer, so if there's no downbeat it "sucks".

Then the electric guitar.

Have you ever seen a simple instrument as perplexing at getting the tone you "want" out of?

I have come to realize that "playing electric" means trying 20 different pedals to find something that fits the mood that day.

= very little playing and a lot of "pedal rolling", just really not a lot of playing.

Back on the bass. Quiet, mellow, flatwounds so that strings don't hiss (she don't like that) then me trying to figure out some old grooves form the past or whatever.

I actually wrote maybe my best compostion ever over the weekend, on the bass, then in my head, then on the bass again.

Maybe I'm just too freakin ADD to write music on the guitar. I usually have no control.

Bass is more grounded, more coherent, timing more natural.

 

[fronobulax]

I'm wondering what makes the older pickups so much better than the buckers, there may be tone clip comparisons?

Then the electric guitar.

Have you ever seen a simple instrument as perplexing at getting the tone you "want" out of?

You answered your own question.

I get the tone I want out of vintage Bisonics. I get a tone I sometimes want or like out of Guild humbuckers. If I can only have one tone, the choice is clear for me.

 

[mavuser]

Guildedagain, ur JS bass does not have the suck switch. your is the Deep/Hard switch, which is quite uesful and sounds good.

 

[fronobulax]

Guildedagain, ur JS bass does not have the suck switch. your is the Deep/Hard switch, which is quite uesful and sounds good.

To be clear, when I was younger and delusional and knew everything I used "suck switch" to describe any switch that made the tone suck or sucked all the tone out. So both the later Starfires and the JS had suck switches. After much consideration plus some pointed exchanges with @mavuser I decided the switches had little in common and were different electronically. So I decided the proper nomenclature for the JS switch was Deep/Hard which is what Guild actually called it. The Starfire switch remains the "suck switch" but that will change if I am told, and remember, Guild's name for it. They are different enough that they deserve different names if only to eliminate ambiguity and confusion.

 

[Jstwo61]

Good afternoon guys, apologies for interrupting the conversation, I have just joined the group, one of your members sent me this link via the facebook short scale bass page, I'm really glad even to just have read this thread so far, learnt alot.
Long story short, I have just bought a Jetstar II bass, an amazing bass which had been stored in it's case for ten plus years unplayed. The neck has and is taking some gentle persuasion to come back in line but it's slowly getting there, feels great.

The electrics are clean and untouched. No guild model/serial number sticker under the rear cavity cover?. Everything else appears original apart from a softwood home made saddle and two of the saddle pin adjuster screws are missing. I am based in the UK and have found a dealer that will order a new Newark St bridge from Guild America which I will probably use for parts, sadly the price for it to cross the pond doubles to £100. I will scour the net to see if anything pops up but the parts appear really rare.

Three questions please. Do you have your bridge sett flat to the board or do you raise it as part of your height adjustment?
Also do you recognise these tuners as being Van Ghent?
Should I sett the saddles so they are at their full width for string spacing?, I seem to have staggered them while trying to adjust the intonation and the E is missing the pickup poles...they probably should be more in a row to maintain consistent spacing

Many thanks for your time in advance..Si

 

[mellowgerman]

Good afternoon guys, apologies for interrupting the conversation, I have just joined the group, one of your members sent me this link via the facebook short scale bass page, I'm really glad even to just have read this thread so far, learnt alot.
Long story short, I have just bought a Jetstar II bass, an amazing bass which had been stored in it's case for ten plus years unplayed. The neck has and is taking some gentle persuasion to come back in line but it's slowly getting there, feels great.

The electrics are clean and untouched. No guild model/serial number sticker under the rear cavity cover?. Everything else appears original apart from a softwood home made saddle and two of the saddle pin adjuster screws are missing. I am based in the UK and have found a dealer that will order a new Newark St bridge from Guild America which I will probably use for parts, sadly the price for it to cross the pond doubles to £100. I will scour the net to see if anything pops up but the parts appear really rare.

Three questions please. Do you have your bridge sett flat to the board or do you raise it as part of your height adjustment?
Also do you recognise these tuners as being Van Ghent?
Should I sett the saddles so they are at their full width for string spacing?, I seem to have staggered them while trying to adjust the intonation and the E is missing the pickup poles...they probably should be more in a row to maintain consistent spacing

Many thanks for your time in advance..Si

Welcome! The bridge should be set up the opposite way, in that the back end should be down and the front end should be up; in other words, the bridge should be angled up toward the pickup. The saddles look to be about at the right height, you just have to screw the back end of the bridge down close to the body and raise the front as needed to get the desired string height/action.
Also, you likely know this, but your bridge is missing the rosewood G-string saddle.
Finally, yes those are indeed Van Ghent tuners. Original to a lot of Guild basses around '70-'71

 

[Jstwo61]

Hi there and thank you for getting back to me. That's great advice about the bridge, I will try adjusting it now and see how that goes.
The bass is on a 67 serial number so probably around 1972, I'm a fan of Van Ghents, I have some on my old Hagstrom too.
All the best

 

[mellowgerman]

Hi there and thank you for getting back to me. That's great advice about the bridge, I will try adjusting it now and see how that goes.
The bass is on a 67 serial number so probably around 1972, I'm a fan of Van Ghents, I have some on my old Hagstrom too.
All the best

1972 sounds about right. It's tricky trying to pin down exactly when Guild used specific parts. They were notorious for using up everything and not letting anything go to waste. I'm sure that also meant finding the occasional box of old parts and using them up well after already having introduced others. I wouldn't be surprised if we spotted original Van Ghents on a 1976 bass some day!

It seems that currently the easiest way to get replacement saddles, in case you're interested, is just to buy a whole new bridge, which Guild sells for around $50. I don't think anybody is selling the saddles separately at the moment. There was some discussion about compatibility between the original 60s/70's bridges and the current reissues, but I imagine the saddles will swap out just fine or could be made to fit with a tiny bit of modification

 

[Jstwo61]

That's better thanks, the bridge is flat, action has come up a fraction which is why I raised it originally I think to try and bring the action down. Still working on the truss rod so it should all work out fine.

Here in the Uk it's £100 I found out for a replacement bridge. I might order some rosewood and have a go at making a saddle myself or even get an experienced luthier to make one. Many thanks again

 

[fronobulax]

Welcome. I am the only owner of a '71, it did not have a label in the control cavity. Hans Moust confirmed that was to be expected for my bass and time. I have that bridge on three basses and I don't obsess about getting the pole pieces and strings aligned. Doing so would require more woodworking skills than I possess or choose to acquire. Comparing your bridge to mine might suggest you are missing some screws but I think you will find you are not and that you just need a hex wrench for adjustments.

 

[Jstwo61]

Hi Fronco, thanks for your welcome and confirming some models didn't have the cavity label. That must be something owning the only 71 model.

Having lowered the bridge and adjusted the saddles again, I have replaced the other hex screw I had taken off (to position a saddle).
I still need to get two screws for locking the saddle arms in position ( on the D and G ) and the ever elusive G saddle, and then take it out on the road, This bass is hard to put down, such a great tone

All the best Si

 

[Guildedagain]

That looks way wrong.

Your plate should be flat, but I'm not an expert.

Screw the big screws back down, use the two allen set screws to adjust the height is what I found out on mine, I have it all the way down, great action.

Your G string slider looks bent like i took a hit, straighten it out with a crescent wrench?

Super cool bass.

Your string spacing needs attention?

I'll see if I can post a couple clear pics of my bridge from close at different angles.

 

[Jstwo61]

Hi and thanks for your thoughts. Hadn't noticed the G slider top was bent, will straighten that out in the morning

I can't take the screws down any further because there are thick rubber washers under the plate screws...does yours have them?

 

[Jstwo61]

A better shot

 

[Jstwo61]

A better shot

Apologies, ignore that, I just took all the string tension off and the bridge screwed down flat, that's much better, sorry about that

 

[Guildedagain]

Closer up, not the greatest light.

 

[Jstwo61]

Thank you, I now have the same as your second photo, much appreciated, can't believe I didn't think of taking the string tension off....everyday a school day, cheers

 

[Guildedagain]

Yes, mine is like that, but somewhat of a mystery to me, not sure what's under the two screws, or does anybody have underside pics and bridge off body pics?

I suspect there are two big inserts in the wood and I wonder if the inserts have a tendency to creep up out of the body from the tension?

 

[Jstwo61]

I will probably take my bridge off this coming week so I'll put up a couple of photos. Many thanks again, already the action is so much better

 

[mellowgerman]

No inserts under there. The two back mounting screws are big and beefy and go directly into the wood. I've never heard of them pulling out. Granted, they really shouldn't be adjusted, so if somebody has a habit of disassembling their bass regularly, I could see them pulling out eventually. Even then though, I would venture to say that the majority of the pull on the bridge is not up, but rather forward, toward the headstock. In that regard, if anything, the string pull should help the screws keep a good hold and not pull out, right?
The front two bolts (whether phillips or allen) being the intended points of adjustment, have a flat, rectangular plate of metal underneath, that gives the height adjusters a good hard surface to push up off of. This plate is fastened by two small wood screws and underneath is the ground wire.