Jazz bass assy/build opinions please...

Black blocked and bound maple neck OR maple satin finish with dot inlays?

  • Blocked and bound maple gloss neck

    Votes: 66 64.7%

  • Black dots inlays maple satin neck

    Votes: 28 27.5%

  • Carrots

    Votes: 8 7.8%
  • Total voters
    102
C Stone

C Stone

Sep 4, 2020
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12,779
15,261
USA
#1
Hey all lookin for some input as I'm putting together another bass, a jazz this time from a bunch of parts I have available and some choice input would be appreciated, if you could keep in mind I don't plan on buying additional parts so just plan on using the parts I already have on hand, the body is a CV Jazz in Daphne blue.

PARTS:
For tuners I have Fender American Elites "F" logo (from a fellow tb'er) OR a set of Highway One's to choose from.

Bridge options are a Fender vintage style bent plate w/threaded barrels OR a Fender Elite that could be used straight up as a top load or as a through body if I drill and buy ferrules. (Is it worth doing?)

As far as neck choices go I have a 70's Classic vibe gloss maple Jazz neck bound and blocked (black blocks/binding), OR a maple Jazz neck with a satin finish and dot inlays (leaning towards the bound/blocked).

With the CV neck the new "F" stamp Fender Elite tuners would show the old tuners screw holes no biggie I guess...but they would be a clean install on the satin neck as it is new and not pre-drilled.

Electronics are older MIM or newer Classic Vibe pick-ups (both Alnico's).

Pick guards: either tort (yea, yea, I know) but I also have a parchment I think would look really nice on the daphne blue.

I also have Fender ashtray covers I could install as well and a spare black tug bar.
(For a Fender Vintage '64' Vibe)

Still with me?
Really just thought it would be cool to see what others might do with the same limited options.

If anyone is interested I'll post a couple pics along the way in this thread of the progress as it comes together.

So if ya feel like contributing thoughts which way would ya go? There are no wrong answers of course any input would be appreciated AND thanks in advance for takin the time...
 
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#5
MovinTarget said:
Use ALL the pickups! Make a double J neck and Double J bridge, but don't make them humbuckers (forcing you to play it like a J. Then use mini switch so you can pick which coil from each set is used and have them positioned to closely emulate the 60's and 70's positions. :D
Click to expand...
Of course lol, easy peasy! Thanks MT! Just need to buy chisels, a router, clamps, switches and Dremmel. :laugh:
 
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#6
C Stone said:
Hey all lookin for some input as I'm putting together another bass, a jazz this time from a bunch of parts I have available and some choice input would be appreciated, if you could keep in mind I don't plan on buying additional parts so just plan on using the parts I already have on hand, the body is a CV Jazz in Daphne blue.

PARTS:
For tuners I have Fender American Elites "F" logo (from a fellow tb'er) OR a set of Highway One's to choose from.

Bridge options are a Fender vintage style bent plate w/threaded barrels OR a Fender Elite that could be used straight up as a top load or as a through body if I drill and buy ferrules. (Is it worth doing?)

As far as neck choices go I have a 70's Classic vibe gloss maple Jazz neck bound and blocked (black blocks/binding), OR a maple Jazz neck with a satin finish and dot inlays (leaning towards the bound/blocked).

With the CV neck the new "F" stamp Fender Elite tuners would show the old tuners screw holes no biggie I guess...but they would be a clean install on the satin neck as it is new and not pre-drilled.

Electronics are older MIM or newer Classic Vibe pick-ups (both Alnico's).

Pick guards: either tort (yea, yea, I know) but I also have a parchment I think would look really nice on the daphne blue.

I also have Fender ashtray covers I could install as well and a spare black tug bar.
(For a Fender Vintage '64' Vibe)

Still with me?
Really just thought it would be cool to see what others might do with the same limited options.

If anyone is interested I'll post a couple pics along the way in this thread of the progress as it comes together.

So if ya feel like contributing thoughts which way would ya go? There are no wrong answers of course any input would be appreciated AND thanks in advance for takin the time...
Click to expand...
Bound and blocked. Sand the back of the neck, hit it with 0000 steel wool, and wipe it with one coat of oil. Either tung or boiled linseed.
 
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#7
The necks...
image.jpeg
image.jpeg
 
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#11
I voted for the carrots, before I saw the pix. But then, and then, and then, eh, eh... along came the pix...:smug:

I think the black blocks, which I'm usually not too keen on, really look good with the more yellow stain and black binding than the black dots on the more bleached out maple board of the other neck. Maybe if it didn't look so bleached out I'd still go with the dots, but then the figuring on the board with the blocks still looks better.

Black Blocks all the way if the bass is a black body.

bonus points to who can identify the hidden song in my response.
 
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#12
C Stone said:
Hey all lookin for some input as I'm putting together another bass, a jazz this time from a bunch of parts I have available and some choice input would be appreciated, if you could keep in mind I don't plan on buying additional parts so just plan on using the parts I already have on hand, the body is a CV Jazz in Daphne blue.

PARTS:
For tuners I have Fender American Elites "F" logo (from a fellow tb'er) OR a set of Highway One's to choose from.

Bridge options are a Fender vintage style bent plate w/threaded barrels OR a Fender Elite that could be used straight up as a top load or as a through body if I drill and buy ferrules. (Is it worth doing?)

As far as neck choices go I have a 70's Classic vibe gloss maple Jazz neck bound and blocked (black blocks/binding), OR a maple Jazz neck with a satin finish and dot inlays (leaning towards the bound/blocked).

With the CV neck the new "F" stamp Fender Elite tuners would show the old tuners screw holes no biggie I guess...but they would be a clean install on the satin neck as it is new and not pre-drilled.

Electronics are older MIM or newer Classic Vibe pick-ups (both Alnico's).

Pick guards: either tort (yea, yea, I know) but I also have a parchment I think would look really nice on the daphne blue.

I also have Fender ashtray covers I could install as well and a spare black tug bar.
(For a Fender Vintage '64' Vibe)

Still with me?
Really just thought it would be cool to see what others might do with the same limited options.

If anyone is interested I'll post a couple pics along the way in this thread of the progress as it comes together.

So if ya feel like contributing thoughts which way would ya go? There are no wrong answers of course any input would be appreciated AND thanks in advance for takin the time...
Click to expand...
<puts on old, dusty "art student" hat>

The big question you need to answer is "What visual 'groove' am I trying to achieve…Sixties or Seventies?". After all, "aesthetic tastes" are a very personal thing. If I had all those parts, I know exactly what I'd do (let's put a pin in that, for now, ja?), but that's kinda irrelevant. What speaks to you, makes you happy and would hit you deep inside and make you say, "Hell-to-the-eff' yeah! :drool:" is what's most important.

All that being said, if you want a Seventies groove, the bound & blocked neck with a black pickguard would be the way to go. If it's a Sixties look you want to capture, the plain maple and tort pickguard would do the job. The bridge cover would do further enhance the look.

Now I'm really gonna get into the weeds of "visual flow" and other art-student jive…

For me, the visual relationship between the body, pickguard and neck are very important. Personally, I try to make sure there's a certain "visual flow" to my parts-basses. One piece hands off something to the next one in line to create and continue that flow. Even if a neck and body have different colors, there needs to be something to hold it all together…to make it look one, unified instrument instead of a bunch of jumbled, mismatched parts holding hands.

So, for necks with black binding and blocks, I usually go with a black pickguard, preferably black/parchment/black or black/cream/black. The black plays off the binding and blocks, while the parchment or cream complements the maple, like so…

LaUU63m.jpg


On the flip-side, if a neck has a rosewood board, pearloid blocks and ivoroid or cream binding, you get the same results with a black/white-cream-parchment/black guard…

D5cjyEL.jpg


There are, of course, other ways to achieve a visual flow. This particular method may not apply here, but the basic principal is still there. ;)

tY1fD8o.jpg
 
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#13
B-Mac said:
I voted for the carrots, before I saw the pix. But then, and then, and then, eh, eh... along came the pix...:smug:

I think the black blocks, which I'm usually not too keen on, really look good with the more yellow stain and black binding than the black dots on the more bleached out maple board of the other neck. Maybe if it didn't look so bleached out I'd still go with the dots, but then the figuring on the board with the blocks still looks better.

Black Blocks all the way if the bass is a black body.

bonus points to who can identify the hidden song in my response.
Click to expand...
Yea I agree with you B-Mac the maple with the satin finish is that fair (bleached out). The neck is going on daphne blue J bass body which I will get a couple pics up in the next day or so. Thanks for the input B-Mac. :thumbsup:
 
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#14
Malak the Mad said:
<puts on old, dusty "art student" hat>

The big question you need to answer is "What visual 'groove' am I trying to achieve…Sixties or Seventies?". After all, "aesthetic tastes" are a very personal thing. If I had all those parts, I know exactly what I'd do (let's put a pin in that, for now, ja?), but that's kinda irrelevant. What speaks to you, makes you happy and would hit you deep inside and make you say, "Hell-to-the-eff' yeah! :drool:" is what's most important.

All that being said, if you want a Seventies groove, the bound & blocked neck with a black pickguard would be the way to go. If it's a Sixties look you want to capture, the plain maple and tort pickguard would do the job. The bridge cover would do further enhance the look.

Now I'm really gonna get into the weeds of "visual flow" and other art-student jive…

For me, the visual relationship between the body, pickguard and neck are very important. Personally, I try to make sure there's a certain "visual flow" to my parts-basses. One piece hands off something to the next one in line to create and continue that flow. Even if a neck and body have different colors, there needs to be something to hold it all together…to make it look one, unified instrument instead of a bunch of jumbled, mismatched parts holding hands.

So, for necks with black binding and blocks, I usually go with a black pickguard, preferably black/parchment/black or black/cream/black. The black plays off the binding and blocks, while the parchment or cream complements the maple, like so…

View attachment 4390175

On the flip-side, if a neck has a rosewood board, pearloid blocks and ivoroid or cream binding, you get the same results with a black/white-cream-parchment/black guard…

View attachment 4390176

There are, of course, other ways to achieve a visual flow. This particular method may not apply here, but the basic principal is still there. ;)

View attachment 4390177
Click to expand...
Very thorough assessment of your "visual flow" process, it is important to me as well. I will normally visualize and if needed swap parts until it kinda "speaks to me" like when painting on a canvas if ya catch what I'm sayin.

As an example I was sure on my CAR project (parts P) in my head that a maple blocked and bound neck would do it for me (it didn't) so I went with a rosewood board and BWB pick guard, I love it!
image.png

Same with my Olympic white CV P, one of my most recent projects, to me it needed the blocks, dots just didn't do it for me and of course had to go with tort, also upgrade with Original 62's on this.
image.jpeg

Thanks for the rundown Malak, I always think I know which way to go (in my head) then reality hits so again I think I know where I'm going on this project in my head but as usual only time will tell :D
 
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#19
C Stone said:
@Malak the Mad I have to say damn fine looking basses, really well done! Kudos man those are great lookin instruments and the double P pick ups are sick! Your choices are spot on (IMO) really dig the black J with the blocked rosewood board but that burst is something else, just gorgeous! :drool:
Click to expand...
You're too kind!
dlakWFh.gif


For the record, the dual-P is a Fender Blacktop Jazz body and it's no overstatement when I say they are ballsy as f#*% all! "Best (passive) bass for metal" and all that jazz!
sw2R0gH.gif


Not that I've ever played in a metal band :whistle:, but regardless…it's a flippin' cannon!
 
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