Frustrating Day

Happy Face

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Spent a few hours fashioning an 8 oz fishing weight to fit in the cavity of my JS-II. Trying to relieve the horrible head dive. Was inspired after I forgot to bring the S-shaped strap to practice and used a regular strap. Had to keep my right forearm pinned to the body to keep it from diving.

Got it sized and drilled a hole to secure it using the hole left by the now-removed suck switch. Didn't help much. perhaps because the only space in the cavity is towards the front, not the back. I cannot understand why it is so bad on my bass when others reports theirs are well-balanced.

Needed some rubber wahers during the process, so used the trip to pick up another bass getting serviced for a grounding problem. Luckily they didn't charge much since there was zero improvement.

A frustrating day! But I aint complaining - could be much worse.
 

fronobulax

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Sorry it wasn't a good day.

Let's talk about head dive. My JS tends to stay where I put it although I freely admit that my experience is not that extensive. It's been a long time since I played standing for more than 30 minutes at a stretch and an even longer time since the bass I did that with was the JS. That said, my strap is wide and does not slip on my shoulder. I play as low as possible. The neck is about a 45 degree angle from upright. I have enough of a paunch that buckle rash does not have to be a problem and I think it provides another point of stability. Am I doing anything that you haven't tried?
 

Happy Face

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About everything - even tried the paunch technique out! But I am too short for a 45 degree stance though - often play pretty horizontally. (No prob with a larger Rickenbacker which is beautifully balanced.) Just an annoyance that keeps the bass from being rated "perfect."

The only thing that works is a wide "S" shaped strap that the Dude briefly sold, especially (not kidding) if I dangle a weight off the back end of the strap as well. I was hoping a weight in the cavity would let me use a regular strap but it is not to be, I guess.

Again - in the great scheme of things, it's not worth getting bent out of shape over!! :)
 

Qvart

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Happy Face said:
Trying to relieve the horrible head dive.

At the risk of posting an irrelevant question - since I know absolutely nothing about these basses - I have a thought:

Are the tuners original or have they been changed?
 

Happy Face

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Not a bad question. They appear to be orginal. They aren't the heavy keys like you see on Schaller Les Paul tuners...
 

Qvart

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Happy Face said:
Not a bad question. They appear to be orginal. They aren't the heavy keys like you see on Schaller Les Paul tuners...

Hmm....strange. I have no idea. I just know that changing out the tuners on an SG can make the head dive worse. That's why I have S-100's. ;)

Good luck!
 

Happy Face

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I heard that mentoned enough that I've wondered. Thanks.
 

The Guilds of Grot

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I posted this awhile back somewhere so I'll say it again.

I started out with a B-302 which also suffer from head dive. (Even more so then a JS due to the long scale!)

I solved the problem by attaching a dog leash snap to my strap and once I had the bass in place I snapped the snap to a belt loop. Then the bass was locked in place! (It also helped hold my pants up when I pogo'ed! :wink: )

cobB5025B-10.JPG
 

Happy Face

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Thanks! I will definitely try that. (Less dangerous than having a weight swinging around.) That's great.
 

Qvart

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Happy Face said:
Thanks! I will definitely try that. (Less dangerous than having a weight swinging around.) That's great.

I saw this bass on Ebay and thought of your balancing dilemma.

"Nice lightweight bass, estimated at around 8 1/2 pounds. Balances well IF you have the right strap. (Axe Strap is highly recommended.)"
 

Happy Face

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Thanks! I'll have to check it out. *

BTW - he mentions the resistor I brought up in a thread a while back. (Someone on the old Pit had written about it & I was curious of what you'all knew about it.) This appears to be the same component.

"4: There was a factory stock 150K resistor inline with the bridge pickup's hot lead that served to knock down the pickup's output. I guess Guild felt the bridge pickup was hotter than the neck pickup and tried to balance them out...there isn't much of a difference in output (in fact, the bridge pickup's DC resistance is a tiny bit LOWER than the neck pickup: neck: 32.33K ohms, bridge: 32.30K ohms) and the same effect can be easily achieved by slightly rolling back the pickup's volume control. I removed the resistor since it sucked tone, but the original resistor is included should you prefer it. I'll even reinstall it if you wish, but you're better off without it. "


* I was really hoping I could use a regular strap though. In June, a band I played in 40 years ago (!!!) will have a reunion performance. I was hoping to use a suitable 60's psychedelic strap.
 

fronobulax

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I think that JS was discussed elsewhere - eBay or Solid Body is my guess - and everyone agreed the opening price was a bit much.

The 150K resistor is in my JS also. I never felt the need to take it out.
JSCCA.jpg


Good luck on the reunion gig. If the only thing you can't fit into from the 60's is a guitar strap then you're doing awfully well.
 
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