Do you like your knobs stacked?

R

rze99

Jan 5, 2020
19
53
2,531
#1
Hi all here's my lovely new Jazz bass :)

I do hope you like your knobs stacked. I do.

I always wanted an early '60s Jazz bass in Oly white. Oly white + dark rosewood is for me a killer combo and I love my Tele and Strat in in this combo. The Fender early '60s stack knob replicas are really cool but only available on expensive Custom Shop guitars, e.g. the current CS Journeyman 1960 is a great bass, but very pricey. There were some AVRI Fender 62 reissues in 1982 I think. The original stack knobs were only made for about 18 months before they changed the design.

I tried the Fender Flea bass (MIM). The Flea is essentially a '61 replica relic and I thought it was absolutely perfect for me... apart from the mechanical relic work and rather grey faded pink which some love, it's fantastic. It has a really wonderful aged neck, great Fender '64 Pure Vintage pickups and proper USA CTS Stack pots.

So I waited to find one, and I bought one used last year from a West End theatre musician locally for a very good price with hard shell case - to then customise it to my needs. To be frank, once I'd got the Flea used it for some recording and it is was so good I was in two minds about breaking it up. But I didn't like the finish much and I really wanted it to be aged Oly white!

Rexter Guitars Rexter Guitars UK Custom Nitro Guitar Finishing, Bodies, Necks, Parts in the UK I have worked with a few times and Jon there does lovely thin nitro finishes the way I like them to my specs. Plus he's a lovely guy to work with. (no affil). So I did a bunch of research on the early '60s stack knobs and sent him some sample Oly White pics I liked and described the way I wanted it aged. So I commissioned a replacement body from him (the original Flea I will sell)

I really think he did a great job (as usual), a hit of yellowing, fine checking, light distressing... so this build is a Fender-Rexter bass. The body, and hand made made tort guard are Rexter Guitars, Fender Pure vintage cover parts, aged wood pull bar, natural bone nut cut cut are by my me. It plays and sounds great.

Link to a set of pics

img_6589-jpg.jpg

img_6431-jpg.jpg

img_6460-jpg.jpg
img_6519-jpg.jpg

img_6541-jpg.jpg

img_6549-jpg.jpg

img_6576-jpg.jpg

img_6600-jpg.jpg

img_6606-jpg.jpg

img_6620-jpg.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: friend33, BritBass 2, fretno and 18 others
#7
That's a lovely bass for sure! The aging looks totally credible too. In fact that is probably one of the first reliced basses in which I wouldn't know if were really old or not...nice!

Regarding stacked knobs: I tried them as I like their minimalist appearance. When I use a Jazz live I usually have both pickups on full and between songs I automatically turn the volume knob down to mute the signal (also if I'm using a clip on headstock tuner). I found the need to turn down two volumes in order to mute the bass a real drag.

I now only use Pan, Volume and Tone harnesses. My fingers always get trapped between those first two larger knobs on a Jazz bass for some reason, so I have to use 3x smaller ones.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rze99
#8
My bass is stacked knob, and I’ll probably have it rewired to vol/vol/tone as soon as I’m able. It isn’t bad, but it is definitely a little more clumsy. I don’t find the added tones to be anything I’d miss if they weren’t available.

EDIT: That bass is smokin’ hot.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rze99
#10
HalfManHalfBass said:
That's a lovely bass for sure! The aging looks totally credible too. In fact that is probably one of the first reliced basses in which I wouldn't know if were really old or not...nice!

Regarding stacked knobs: I tried them as I like their minimalist appearance. When I use a Jazz live I usually have both pickups on full and between songs I automatically turn the volume knob down to mute the signal (also if I'm using a clip on headstock tuner). I found the need to turn down two volumes in order to mute the bass a real drag.

I now only use Pan, Volume and Tone harnesses. My fingers always get trapped between those first two larger knobs on a Jazz bass for some reason, so I have to use 3x smaller ones.
Click to expand...


Thank you for the feedback. I'll relay those kind words to Jon at Rexter.

PS good point about the signal cut out being more time consuming to do on stage.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HalfManHalfBass
#15
I like the look of stacked knobs, but I often don't care for how they function in real-time live-playing situations. It partially depends on how it's done. If each control in the stack is too similar, it looks great, but I have to pay more attention to which control I'm actually using. It's easier when they controls are more dissimilar, like those on the J bass at the beginning of the post.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bobyoung53 and Passinwind
#16
I like it. I relic'ed my nitro finished bass myself. Personally I would like to do another one because I learned some tips from doing it once that I think will make my next one better. It is a fair amount of work. I enjoyed it though and would rather do it myself than hire someone. That being said, it looks nice. I also love stacked tone knobs on a J-bass. Do you live in England or did you have to order it from across the pond?
 
#18
Mantis Tobaggan said:
I like it. I relic'ed my nitro finished bass myself. Personally I would like to do another one because I learned some tips from doing it once that I think will make my next one better. It is a fair amount of work. I enjoyed it though and would rather do it myself than hire someone. That being said, it looks nice. I also love stacked tone knobs on a J-bass. Do you live in England or did you have to order it from across the pond?
Click to expand...

Yes I’m in London, England. We’ve got a few refinishers / builders doing great nitro finished work. Spoiled!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mantis Tobaggan
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back