A luthier is someone who makes guitars. A “tech” is someone who maintains and repairs them. I am not a luthier. I am, however, on my way to becoming a good tech.
The Warwick Rockbass Corvette $$ plays every inch like the $1,499.99 (MSRP) instrument it was made to be. I paid $600 for it in 2017 and at that time it played like a $100 instrument. Not anymore. A music store told me it could not be fixed. I have proved them wrong as it is well and truly fixed. It is clearly the best bass guitar I have ever owned.
Tonight I cut the strings off it and sanded down a high fret. I put oil on the rosewood fingerboard and generally polished up the entire guitar. I snugged up the tuners, which for some reason were all a little loose. Then I put on a set of DR Sunbeams. They’re a bit like their Hi-Beams, but a little less bright owning to the fact that they are nickel plated instead of just stainless steel. They feel great and sound amazing. I was really missing that string flexibility from the stiff Lo-Riders I had on it before. Besides which they were old and needed to be changed out.
The Warwick is still rocking some very low string action with the B being just above 4/64s and the G just below.
The 2002 Jazz bass is…well, we’re still getting to know each other. It’s got lower output even though it’s an active bass. But I think this may be because of the low pickup height. I intend to fix this soon. In the meantime I’ve been having a good time boosting the bass on the onboard active EQ, something I never ever did before on my active basses. It sounds great and it plays well. It’s not as slinky action-wise as the Warwick, but the B is at about 6/64s and the G just under 5/64s. That’s below manufacturer spec and feels pretty good. We’ll see if I can get it any lower. If not, it’s great the way it is. It’s so comfortable to slap. I might just use it only for those songs in our set. Note: You can buy a new Fender Deluxe Active Jazz V bass made in Mexico for $925. I got mine for $480 shipped with a hard case.
Once I’m confident that I’m done tweaking the setup I’ll put on the set of neon blue DR strings I got for it. It should look killer against the all black body and the dark rosewood fingerboard.