Hello nineteen seventy-two...

Discussion of vintage Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Bass VIs, Electric XIIs and any other offset-waist instruments.
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terminalvertigo
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Re: Hello nineteen seventy-two...

Post by terminalvertigo » Thu Feb 09, 2023 8:51 am

johnnysomersett wrote:
Thu Feb 09, 2023 8:43 am
Yeah, I have a saved search for 70s JMs are they are a pretty rare occurrence.

I'm guessing they were still using Nitro as a clearcoat on the sunbursts of this era as mine is checked considerably. My 73 Mustang had a nitro sunburst too.
Early poly checks as well.. I know for a while the headstock face was done in nitro, to not fuck with the decal.. not sure how long the practice continued.. started around '68 IIRC
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JSett
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Re: Hello nineteen seventy-two...

Post by JSett » Fri Feb 10, 2023 10:11 pm

Well, I'd forgotten just how bright these old bridge pickups can be with the stock 1meg pots. The upper harmonics are in full force!

I might have to switch out the original (carefully) for a 500k otherwise it'll be cutting the eyelids off the front row at gigs :D I took the treble down from 5 to 3 on my Bassman at band rehearsal and it was still a little bright :derp:

If it ends up staying I'll get some Kinmans for it which will help. My #1 has Kinman Fatmasters and a 500k volume pot and it sounds perfect for the music I make (jangly power-pop/punk/grunge).

The sunburst is growing on me. I like how the bottom half is faded to tobacco 2-tone and the top still has a little red. The sub-8lbs weight really is a blessing too. I had it on for 3hrs of rehearsals and barely noticed it was there.
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?

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JSett
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Re: Hello nineteen seventy-two...

Post by JSett » Fri Feb 10, 2023 10:20 pm

terminalvertigo wrote:
Thu Feb 09, 2023 8:51 am
johnnysomersett wrote:
Thu Feb 09, 2023 8:43 am
Yeah, I have a saved search for 70s JMs are they are a pretty rare occurrence.

I'm guessing they were still using Nitro as a clearcoat on the sunbursts of this era as mine is checked considerably. My 73 Mustang had a nitro sunburst too.
Early poly checks as well.. I know for a while the headstock face was done in nitro, to not fuck with the decal.. not sure how long the practice continued.. started around '68 IIRC
I got around to digging out my acetone and testing a couple of inconspicuous areas. Both the clearcoat and black instantly came up with a tiny massage of Acetone...

Image

My 73 Mustang was exactly the same so they must have still been using Nitro for sunbursts up until the early-70s unless there's some weird type of poly that can be stripped with acetone that I've never heard of. The back of the neck is definitely poly though, which is a shame. I need to cut that back with a little 0000 at some point as it's a little sticky compared to every other guitar I own.
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?

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JSett
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Re: Hello nineteen seventy-two...

Post by JSett » Tue Feb 14, 2023 11:34 pm

Reporting back as I took this for a gig on Monday night in New Cross, London. It played extremely well, no feedback from the pickups at stage volume at all. I had to have the tone pot rolled off about 1/3 to tame the highs so I'm pretty sure I'm going to do a 1M to 500k swap on the volume pot at some point (the treble on my Bassman was on 2!). The bass player in my band has a lot less hearing damage than me and he'd noted that it was particularly more shrill in the >5kHz range than my other one so I made a point of walking out to crowd level during soundcheck. Glad I did.

Tuning was pretty stable under my usual heavy-handed punk rock beatings of the strings, just a bit less than my #1 - but that could possibly be just the fact that that one is dialled-in to utter perfection after 15 years of constant use. I'll fettle and lube the nut a bit...that should cure that issue quite easily.

The only thing I found weird was the 50 cycle hum...I didn't realise how quickly my ears had become acclimatised with the Kinmans in my other one!

Happy camper so far, happy camper
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?

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GreenKnee
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Re: Hello nineteen seventy-two...

Post by GreenKnee » Wed Feb 15, 2023 8:24 am

johnnysomersett wrote:
Tue Feb 14, 2023 11:34 pm
This is great to hear, congrats on the new guitar and enjoying it!

If it were me I would think about swapping out the whole harness, pickups incl. and storing safely so that the wiring can remain 'all original'. Then you can do what you like with regards to pickups and pots without affecting originality or value :)

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Embenny
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Re: Hello nineteen seventy-two...

Post by Embenny » Wed Feb 15, 2023 4:03 pm

johnnysomersett wrote:
Tue Feb 14, 2023 11:34 pm
The only thing I found weird was the 50 cycle hum...I didn't realise how quickly my ears had become acclimatised with the Kinmans in my other one!
It's hard going back, isn't it?
The artist formerly known as mbene085.

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Axolotl
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Re: Hello nineteen seventy-two...

Post by Axolotl » Wed Feb 15, 2023 4:40 pm

That's an amazing score, everything about that guitar sounds and looks just so good. Would love scoring a 70s one. Congrats!!

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JSett
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Re: Hello nineteen seventy-two...

Post by JSett » Wed Feb 15, 2023 11:30 pm

GreenKnee wrote:
Wed Feb 15, 2023 8:24 am
johnnysomersett wrote:
Tue Feb 14, 2023 11:34 pm
This is great to hear, congrats on the new guitar and enjoying it!

If it were me I would think about swapping out the whole harness, pickups incl. and storing safely so that the wiring can remain 'all original'. Then you can do what you like with regards to pickups and pots without affecting originality or value :)
The thought occured to me but it's already been disturbed in one place (a small wire splice that appears to serve no purpose) so that ship has already sailed. And I'm pretty adept at quick and clean soldering.
Embenny wrote:
Wed Feb 15, 2023 4:03 pm
johnnysomersett wrote:
Tue Feb 14, 2023 11:34 pm
The only thing I found weird was the 50 cycle hum...I didn't realise how quickly my ears had become acclimatised with the Kinmans in my other one!
It's hard going back, isn't it?
It really is. It's not too obnoxious but I definitely noticed it. My Tele still has regular noisy pickups but doesn't seem as susceptible to the hum as a JM.

No doubt, if this ends up sticking around, it'll end up with some Kinmans
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?

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JSett
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Re: Hello nineteen seventy-two...

Post by JSett » Wed Mar 01, 2023 1:25 am

I found a Kinman bridge pickup for cheaps already here in the UK as NOS. Installed it along with a 500k volume pot and it's brought it into line with my other JM as far as noisiness is concerned. Point of note, the Kinman fitted perfectly under the OG cover, which was pleasing.

I don't like swapping pickups and stuff in vintage guitars but it already had a small fix on one of the wires so it's virginity has already been taken. Plus, I'm super careful with soldering and labelling any removed parts for storage.

The tuners are pretty stiff, I'm guessing the old lubricant in them is getting goopy. Are these old F tuners easy enough to get apart and re-lubricate?
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?

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ludobag1
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Re: Hello nineteen seventy-two...

Post by ludobag1 » Wed Mar 01, 2023 3:11 am

try at first to turn them ,without string lot of turn normally this arrange the stiffness ,if not i am not sure ftuners can be grease easyer than kluson style ,you have to otate the cover to see if there is a hole for introduce oil or grease,schaller reissue are easy to oil ,but are more stiffer than kluson too (dutch kalitad)

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gishuk
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Re: Hello nineteen seventy-two...

Post by gishuk » Wed Mar 01, 2023 9:33 am

JSett wrote:
Wed Mar 01, 2023 1:25 am
I found a Kinman bridge pickup for cheaps already here in the UK as NOS. Installed it along with a 500k volume pot and it's brought it into line with my other JM as far as noisiness is concerned. Point of note, the Kinman fitted perfectly under the OG cover, which was pleasing.
Now thats good to know, I guess I'm back on the lookout for a set then

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JSett
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Re: Hello nineteen seventy-two...

Post by JSett » Wed Mar 01, 2023 9:42 am

gishuk wrote:
Wed Mar 01, 2023 9:33 am
JSett wrote:
Wed Mar 01, 2023 1:25 am
I found a Kinman bridge pickup for cheaps already here in the UK as NOS. Installed it along with a 500k volume pot and it's brought it into line with my other JM as far as noisiness is concerned. Point of note, the Kinman fitted perfectly under the OG cover, which was pleasing.
Now thats good to know, I guess I'm back on the lookout for a set then
I think the key thing is he offers pickups with 2 different magnet spacings, the one I got must have been the traditional one rather than the Mastery distance option he has
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?

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gishuk
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Re: Hello nineteen seventy-two...

Post by gishuk » Wed Mar 01, 2023 9:51 am

Well thats just annoyingly complicated! :D

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JSett
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Re: Hello nineteen seventy-two...

Post by JSett » Wed Mar 01, 2023 9:54 am

Isn't it just. Everything to do with Kinmans is overly complicated - but they do sound great.
Silly Rabbit, don't you know scooped mids are for kids?

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