I’ve been meaning to write about this bass forEVER!!1972 Fender Jazz neck that’s on it’s fourth body (I am responsible for three of them).

At current, the CherryBurst body is the most elegant looking, by far. The neck has been refretted – The binding was filed thru, instead of the more expensive unbind the neck process. It was that way when I got it in 2006. The Rosewood board is probably the sweetest sounding Rosewood board I ever played on, PERIOD! I have the standard EMG Jazz Bass pickups in the bass. The EMG JV J Bass and Duncan Basslines SJ pickups are better suited for the board but I like the more synthetic tonality. “The Pank”, as my boy Darryl used to say. The headstock has been cracked and cigarette burned. The crack was repaired by Steve Ripley guitardoc@verizon.net  – Falls Church, VA. One inlay was cracked, one was loose and one was missing. These were repaired and fashioned by Matt Baker – Falls Church, VA. The back of the neck was sanded down and the great white binding was marked with yellow and green HighLiter markers. I used Naptha to remove the marker madness. I smoothed the neck with steel wool, and treated it with Tung Oil. I was also the owner of a 1979 Precision Bass at the time, so I swapped the, much heavier and tarnished (but higher valued), Klusion tuners, for the lighter in weight, chrome finished tuners from the P Bass. The E string tuner is a 1986 Shaller made, HipShot, D-Tuner. The nut and string tree are original. Overall, She’s a Beautiful disaster!

BODY NUMERO QUATRO! A recent Mighty Mite I won on Ebay. Canadian Ash with a quilted Maple top. The finish is a sweet, Ace Frehley’s, mid 70’s Les Paul, Cherry Burst colour, covered in Laquer. Stimpy likes!! This body has a bit more tonal detail than the 1983 body that preceded it. The 83’ body also better matched the singing fingerboard. I just decided I wanted something better looking. I was horribly jealous of Jaco’s re-topped, Bass of Doom and Geddy Lee’s red clearcoat, Jazz Bass. 😉  The Leo Quan, Bad Ass II bridge, was a “Must Have” item! Since the 72’ neck heel is a bit smaller than the neck pocket, I went with the pre notched, Leo Quan saddles for easier string alignment manipulation. I’m a freak for Dome Knobs, so I had to have those! The other parts, I aged them with steel wool and Solution CL, because I didn’t like the overly shiny pieces. My shiny, 1978 chrome pickup cover resides on my 2000 Marcus Miller Jazz Bass. Making for two very, very good Jazz Basses that sound Nothing Alike!

AND THE TWO BECOME ONE! Steve Ripley is “The Man”! Steve has done some great repair work on many of my basses. The original neck heel screw holes were slightly off-center. They were doweled with Maple and redrilled. The “near perfect” neck angle is assisted by a fashioned sliver of Maple. Looks like a Maple Wafer! The other bodies required a HUGE shim to keep the neck snug in the pocket. With the realigned screw holes, no shim required. They are held together using an AllParts, numbered neck plate.  How Does It Sound? Again, Stimpy likes!! If you’re expecting smooth and round and robust – NOPE! The Ash/Maple body and EMG set do not fit in that department – See Alder body and EMG JV Jazz for that. No additional preamp. I wanted it to sound…. “Synthetically Natural”. I fell in love with standard EMG Jazz Pickups because of the tones Victor Bailey was getting from his Shur bass on his, “Bottom’s Up” CD. – www.victorbailey.com   I’ve been trying to capture that tone and blend it with the awesome, Marcus Miller – www.marcusmiller.com  tone for a long, long time.   Ace 2/11