getting a reissue MIJ Bass VI up & running - finally

[Doorslams]

I hate MIJ guitars but I want yours! I didn't know they had a trem? Does it work well? I've never played one, it it different than a baritone?

[hieronymous]

I hate MIJ guitars but I want yours! I didn't know they had a trem? Does it work well? I've never played one, it it different than a baritone?

I hope the trem works OK - I never knew how to set it up until recently, thanks to this forum! I'm waiting for the pickguard, which just shipped yesterday and should be here within a day or so!!! 

The Bass VI is sometimes referred to as a baritone, but personally I like to think of it as a short-scale bass with two extra high strings - it's tuned E-E, the bottom four strings being the same as a bass guitar. But there are a lot of different ways to use it, so another person might have a different answer.

[hieronymous]

Well, I have some good news and some bad news:

The good news is, the pickguard finally arrived! 

The bad news is, it doesn't fit. 

I'm going to send it back, maybe send a tracing of mine so they can try again. I sent an email to pickguardian too - I really want this to work, so I'm willing to order two...

[sookwinder]

For what ever reason, the Bass VI template that Pickguardian uses for their bass VI guards , has the holes for the bridge feet in the wrong location (I assume this is what you were referring to when you say the guard doesn't fit)

Everybody that has built up a USCG bass VI or those who have fitted a new pickguarduian guard to their vintage bass VI have had to sand out the holes.  You can see what I had to do in this pic below:

[hieronymous]

If I do get a pickguard from pickguardian.com, I'm going to send him in a tracing. I don't really see in your picture where you did the sanding.

When I took off the original pickguard, I discovered something interesting:


They didn't do the red part of the sunburst underneath the guard! Makes me kind of wish the whole thing was tobacco burst with just the two colors...

[sookwinder]

I don't really see in your picture where you did the sanding.

the two holes to allow the guard to sit over the bridge leg thimbles need to be elongated. see how you can see blue between the thimble and the edge of the hole.  I did not need to sand much on my guard , but others (depending upon placement of the guard relative to the neck pocket) have had to widen the holes by up to 50%

[hieronymous]

I don't really see in your picture where you did the sanding.

the two holes to allow the guard to sit over the bridge leg thimbles need to be elongated. see how you can see blue between the thimble and the edge of the hole.   I did not need to sand much on my guard , but others (depending upon placement of the guard relative to the neck pocket) have had to widen the holes by up to 50%

Got it - as soon as you said what it was I could see it right away. Unfortunately, the guard that I got is really tweaked compared to the reality of the bass I have. They said they had a template for a Japanese reissue, but the one I got needs way more than just widening the bridge post holes. It's frustrating because parts of it fit just right, others are way off...

[concrete life]

beautiful guitar, man. enjoy.

[hieronymous]

Finally got a pickguard on! Ended up sending a tracing in to Pickguardian, even so it wasn't perfect - had to file the area by the control plate (the volume & tone one) and widen the holes for the bridge posts a bit. A couple of the screw holes don't fit - any advice on that?

Next step is to string it up and try and get the bridge set!

[Stereordinary]

Wow!  I can't believe how good a VI looks without a pickguard.    Interesting about the burst though, I wonder if they're all like that.

[woster]

Wow!  I can't believe how good a VI looks without a pickguard.   ???  Interesting about the burst though, I wonder if they're all like that.

I just found a picture of my own CIJ Bass VI without the pickguard, and it has the same burst thing. I never noticed that before  

BTW hieronymous, looks like we're after the same thing. I didn't like the tort guard on mine either, although for a CIJ it's not that bad. I got a black guard from the French guy a couple of weeks ago, and it's a perfect fit. First I was thinking of refinishing mine too, since I'm a bit fed up with sunburst. But the black guard sparks the burst back to life again and really brings out the reds. So I think I'll stick with the original finish. It even looks better in real life than in the dressing room!



edit: I'm getting a decent camera in a month or two, so I wont be able to take pictures of my VI + black pickguard until then 

[hieronymous]

Interesting to see another one with the pickguard off! Great minds think alike, eh? 

I will post pictures when I get a chance. Hope to do some recording with it too...

[fenderjapan]

Interesting about the burst though, I wonder if they're all like that.

Its like that on my cij jag too

[hieronymous]

Just a quick update, haven't had a chance to record or take pictures - put the pickguard on, two of the screws don't fit, but I'm going to worry about that later. Put new strings on - LaBella roundwounds - the high E is just barely long enough, it doesn't quite make one complete winding - I was expecting this though because someone posted that here a while ago. It's close enough, wonder if the flats are the same? Anyway, I put the strings on, let them stretch in, then clamped down on the tremolo tension arm, but couldn't get it closer than a half-step away from where it is with the trem-lock engaged. But it's still better than before - at least now the low-E string saddle isn't hitting the string! The intonation is off on a couple of strings - maybe the D & B strings - will work on that tomorrow.

Impressions: the LaBellas weren't bright at all, despite being new roundwounds - found that kind of surprising, but not necessarily a bad thing - I was already kind of regretting not getting flats. The string tension is still kind of tight - I was hoping it might be a bit looser, but I can live with it. The string spacing is definitely tighter than I'm used to - going to have to practice!

[hieronymous]

Finally took a picture with the new pickguard:



Except for the reflection of the case interior in the control plates, I think this picture came out pretty well - a single incandescent bulb for the lighting. I've been reading a lot here recently about people yellowing/aging their white plastic, and at first the pickup covers bugged me a bit, but then I got over it...