Surf's Up! Mosstone SG Custom Jag

[Mossman]

I never posted a thread about this project on the old AGF, because I didn't think there was that much interest in bass. But since you guys seem to be digging my recent bass adventures, I thought I'd put this up for your entertainment...

It's possible you might learn something from it too, I dunno.

The genesis of the inspiration for this build came when I first saw Fender’s Special Edition PJ in “Seafoam Pearl” at my local Sam Ash (though I think it looks more like Surf Green than Seafoam, but oh well). I never had one opinion or another about Surf Green before I saw this bass. I didn’t hate the color, but I didn’t fetish over it either, like some people do... I could take it or leave it.

Well, that all changed when I saw this bass. It was like Surf Green came into my awareness as a guitar color for the very first time... I actually loved the whole look of the bass, with the maple fretboard and block inlays, Badass bridge, and when they first came out they had a pearloid PG (not plain white as in this photo). It just looked super pimp to me, and I couldn’t get it out of my head.

Of course, there were a few niggling details that interfered with me justifying the purchase of this bass... The price fluctuated between $700 and $900 depending on what phase the moon was in I guess, because it went up and down frequently (and my brain still has a hard time thinking of MIM Fenders as costing more than $500). Also, as y’all probably know, I’m more of a Jazz Bass guy. I do own a P-bass (because every bassist should have a P-bass in their arsenal), and I love it, and I didn’t really feel the need to have another one (especially in a PJ configuration, which I’m not fond of), so I would be buying this just because it looks cool, and I can’t get behind that. If it were a CV Squier, and I could get a good deal on one, then maybe... But not for $700, $800 or $900.

Still, the gears kept turning towards a build, or some other alternative, and eventually I remembered that I had seen Jaguar style basses in Surf Green on Rondo in the past (and I’m slightly more attracted to Jaguar-style basses than P-basses), so I went to the website, only to discover that they had none in Surf Green in stock... That’s ok... It was kind of a frivolous idea that didn’t need to be satisfied immediately. I could wait until some more came in.

And I waited... and waited... and waited... Kurt kept telling me he’d be getting some more in stock any day now... so I kept on waiting... [mention]tobijohn[/mention] said I should buy one in “PBU”, because Kurt’s color blind, and PBU is actually Surf Green, but I didn’t want to take any chances so I waited some more...

I think it was over 18 months, then the day finally came when they showed up on the Rondo site!

It didn’t have 2 Jazz pickups, or a maple fretboard with black blocks (and that ugly red tortoise PG would have to go! Why do they put red tort on everything??!), but I bought it anyway, because the fretboard/inlay problem wasn’t really a problem... It was a solution. My #1 needed a new neck and it had a rosewood fretboard with pearloid block inlays (or what SX was calling "pearloid" at the time). I wanted to keep that look, but it would be an expensive neck if bought from ordinary sources, and I couldn't remember the last time I saw any of those necks available on Rondo for individual purchase, so the only way to get one cheaply was to buy an Ursa 4. Not an economical solution under normal circumstances, but in this situation, it worked out well in my favor. As an unexpected bonus, the pearloid and rosewood on these newer SX necks look 10x better than the original necks, so this is a nice upgrade!

I already had the neck I was going to replce the stock one with. While I was waiting for the Surf Green Ursa 4 to come back in stock, some SX bass necks became available on Rondo with maple fretboards and black block “inlays”. It also had the old-style (re-shapeable) headstock, and it only cost $60, so I jumped on that. I was originally planning to pick up a Squier VM ’70s neck, but those cost more than double what an SX neck costs, and I think SX necks are better.

Since I had plenty of time, I reshaped the headstock and refinished the neck while I was waiting. I was going to try to reproduce the headstock shape on the stock neck, but I didn't like the way that looked, and ended up doing something a little more “Fender-esque”.

I typically don't like to make an exact copy of the Fender Headstock shape - especially if I'm putting my own logo on it. Though these old style SX headstocks are big enough to do that (see my previous thread about the original "Custom Jag").

[Mossman]

I solved the issue of the P/J configuration with a chisel and a Dremel. The cavity for the P pickup was quite large to begin with, so I didn’t have to remove a whole lot of wood to accommodate a J pickup.

As was usual at the time, I had our friend Ryan ( @Floridian FX) make me a new pickguard out of matte pearloid material. I was expecting it to be glossy... I had never seen a matte pearloid pickguard before, and Ryan said he had never seen it glossy! At any rate, I like the contrast between the glossy body and the matte PG.

I used a set of Fender “Super 55” split coil pickups, which were highly praised and sought after at the time, as they had already been discontinued for about 5 years by the time I got hip to them. No one is really sure why Fender stopped making them (probably competing with their “Noiseless” pickups is my guess). You hardly ever saw these pickups show up in the used market, because people who have them don’t want to part with them, and if a set ever did become available they disappeared instantly. But I happened to come across an ebay seller who had a cache of these NOS and was selling them for a really good price. Now I wish I bought two sets!

Unlike my #1, the pickup positioning on this bass is not the same as a Jazz Bass. They’re further away from the bridge. I knew this before I bought the bass (I happened to notice that the body shape was a little different, and some things had been moved around in relation the original SJMB-62), so I had no expectations of what it would sound like. I just hoped it would sound good.

These pickups are very pronounced in the mids and high mids, and are very articulate and growly, but they lack the strong, well-defined bottom end that traditional Jazz Bass pickups have. I had thought this bass would sound a little boomier, due to the pickups being closer to the neck, but it’s not boomy at all. I think it sounds more like a Rickenbacker than a Jazz Bass... In fact; I think it sounds more like a Rickenbacker than my Rickenbacker did! If that were my intention from the beginning, I would have positioned the neck pickup even higher than I did (yes, I have thought about re-positioning it, or adding a third pickup... I’m still not well yet).

And of course, I had to use my last remaining Badass II bridge on it... This was the first BAII I ever bought (you never forget your first), reclaimed it from my MIM Jazz Bass before I sold it a few years ago. That bridge really made that bass come alive, and made me a believer in the Badass, but I’m over that now.... I just put it on there because I had it, not so much because it needed it.

Those aren’t brass saddles BTW, they’re the same Zinc that the rest of the bridge is made of, just with a brass-colored plating. Yes, I was disappointed too, but at least they look good.

[Mossman]

So this bass has been a real GAS killer. I have since lost all interest in the Fender Special PJ, as well as that feeling of desire whenever I see one in a guitar store. This bass satisfies the aesthetic attraction, and surpasses the PJ in tonality (I just don’t like PJs) for significantly less money. Total out of pocket expense for this project was about $350. That’s cheaper than a Squier CV!

Now some pron:

Oh, I forgot to mention the figuring on the fretboard! Gorgeous!

[Mossman]

These basses have gone through some changes over the years. I thought there were just two variations of this bass, but in my photo research, looking for the original stock photos for this thread, I discovered there are a few slightly different versions between the SJMB-62 and the most current Ursa 4 with different pickup and control locations, and pickguard shapes.

The original SJMB-62 was mostly accurate to the Fender Jaguar in general shape, except they didn't get the upper horn quite right, while the Ursa 4 got the horn right, but they changed the contours of the lower bout, making the body slimmer and more streamlined. I don't really care so much, myself. Nothing really jumps out and strikes my eye as being "wrong" when I look at either of these basses in isolation, but when you see them together, you notice how different they are from each other. I took this pic before mods, right after receiving the Ursa 4: