Squier Fretless Jazz Neck on a Johnson Jazz Body
There's a very cool story behind the start of this build, and it started with the Squier neck, which was donated (aka free) by John Wentzien at Talk Bass. But it is not without it's twists and turns causing quite a bit of confusion on my part.
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Johnson Jazz Body
Front -|- Rear |
The fully loaded body has it's own opening act because it simply jumped into my lap without me actually looking for it~! Although not free, I just couldn't pass it up. I bought it from Joe Powell and this is his quote: "I have a Johnson natural bass body, black pickguard, with MIM Fender Pups and bridge. You can tell its been used but not abused." - TB thread.
However, there are a few discrepencies to Joe's claim of no issues . . . like the neck pocket and pickup areas chiselled out. The pickup area isn't too bad but the neck area is 3/16" out of level. |
Body: I'll have to fill all the holes and redrill due to oversize screws used and double screw holes from another pickguard used.
• 9-12-08 to 9-14-08: I've hand-sanded the body to remove the gloss coat. Cleaned up the cavities, filled holes, dents and dings, sanded body to 600 grit.
• 9-19-08: With all the work on the neck heal and pocket, the result with the neck being 1/4" shorter, I had to countersink individual neck joint bushings into the body so the screws would catch the neck in different locations than with a neck plate.
The bushings are flush and will be epoxied in position prior to painting the body.
Cavities: I've cleaned up all the sharp protrusions and irregularities inside the cavities so the copper shielding pieces will have a better chance of sticking. This is a true franken style bass; even the side walls of the cavities needed sanding~!
Body Finish: 9-24-08: Sprayed a few layers of Sweet Cream on the body. It'll get 4 or 5 coats of color and another 4 coats of clear, color-sanded between coats.
Here is another body view just to see how the components will look when finished.
And yet another view or a sneek-peek at the pre-assembly . . . drool worthy????
Pickguard: I have two pickguards that I'm considering; the black one that came with the body with holes for a pickup cover, thumb rest and a central hole.
Then I have a new SX tort guard that I like better with the Sweet Cream paint scheme. I also won't be attaching a p'up cover or thumb rest. All I'll have to do is file the neck pocket area and drill new holes . . . yup, that's it, decision made . . .
I also had planned to use split-coil P p'ups so I made a pickguard template. Then I came across an SX SPJ-62 P-bass body on TalkBass.com after I put an SX SJB-75 Jazz body up for sale or trade. I still may make the pickguard but I'll use the Tort.
The black pickguard is going out the door with the SX SJB-75 Jazz body trade.
• 9-17-08: Temporarily installed the pickup and control plate so I could attach the tort pickguard in order to file the neck pocket area of the pickguard. After filing the pickguard it was necessary to file the neck butt to fit the pocket.
Bridge: Body came with a bent-lip 5-hole Fender-style bridge but the body has 7 holes like an SX bent bridge. I've got both in stock and, while I may use one of these, I usually go for an upgrade with a heavier mass bridge. Seeing as this is a Franken-Squier, I'll probably go with the SX bent bridge; it's actually a little heavier than a Fender bridge and I'll be using up all 7 bridge holes~!
Neck: Squier Lined Fretless Jazz Neck - Defretted, lined and re-radiused to 7.25 vintage specs by John Wentzien (TBer). A new bone nut was also installed.
• 9-17-08: Had to file the neck butt 3/16" to fit the pocket. Finished neck butt.
• 9-18-08: Cut a 1/8" shim and glued into the pocket to raise the height of the board off the deck. The combination of the re-radiused board and overall thickness of the neck caused the need to shim the pocket. Here's two pictures: 1 -|- 2
• 9-19-08: Removed clamp, filled original neck joint plate screw holes in body and neck heal because they no longer lined up after fitting neck heal to pocket. I'll be using individual countersunk screw bushings instead of a stock 4-hole neck plate.
Here's a few photos showing how the neck will set in the pocket: 1 -|- 2 -|- 3
The neck will now sit 1/8" higher than normal but it's better than 1/8" too low. It's easier to raise the saddles and p'ups than it is to recess the bridge into the body.
Headstock: 9-13-08: I broke out my batch of Sweet Cream paint and sprayed the face of the headstock with it. Here's another photo. What do you think?
• 9-19-08: Polished and sealed the paint, then waxed and buffed the entire neck.
Tuners: I need Squier tuning machines and they're apparently hard to find. They need to fit the existing holes: see headstock. If YOU have a set, contact me.
• 9-11-08: All of a sudden I've got three people at TB forum who've got some tuners for me. Cool~! Of course, I think I'll go with the free ones offered by Justin from TB. They arrived via UPS on 9-17-08. They look new & came with screws~!
• 9-19-08: Installed onto headstock after many preparations of paint and neck.
Strings: Fender 9050M Stainless Steel Flatwounds: .055, .070, .090, .105
String Nut: Bone nut installed by John Wentzien (TBer).
Pickups: Body came with Fender MIM Pickups so I'm compelled to see if they'll at least put out. The first thing that caught my good eyeball is the staggered pole height. Even my bad eyeball could see them once I took the covers off. I probably should push the poles up a little bit before I install them but, hey, they had to of worked because Joe Powell said they did. Let's just say I have some doubts~!
Update: Installed a set of Dragonfire Pickups as they sound better in my opinion.
Controls: The control plate assembly that came with this bass will be installed just for shits'n'giggles to see how (if) it sounds, but is a great candidate for an upgrade with CTS and Switchcraft items when/if the need arises. The control plate and knobbage would also be swapped out for new. The pots work fine for now.
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 Body - Alder
 • Finish: Sweet Cream
• Chrome SX 7-H Bridge
• Chrome Bridge Cover
• Pickguard: Tortoise
• PG Scews: Chrome
• Chrome Pickup Cover
• Chrome Control Plate
• Chrome Strap Buttons
• Schaller Strap Locks
Neck - 34" FL Jazz
• Clear & Degloss
• Chrome Squier Tuners
• Chrome String Retainer
• Chrome Neck Plate
• Chrome Neck Screws
• Fender 9050M Flats
• Bone String Nut
Electronics
• Standard Jazz Wiring
• Copper Cavity Shielding
• SX Jazz Pickups
• Solid Pickup Covers
• Chrome Pickup Screws
• Pickup Springs
• Pickup Pads
• SX Pots & Controls
• Jazz Control Knobs
Custom Upraded
SX Bass Guitars
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