First up was getting the frets leveled. I removed the strings, loosened the truss rod until the neck was straight (checked with a straight edge), and then used a sanding block with 330 grit paper and went very lightly over all frets, but especially the first two, checking with the straight edge. When I thought I had it, I then cleaned the neck of all dust and now metal dust, and then used oil on it to keep it moistened as it is unfinished and was just raw wood from the factory. It cleaned up nicely and looks a whole lot better. I then restrung it with Fender 9050 flats (50-100), set the truss rods, adjusted the bridge heights for medium action, and intonated all 4 strings.
It plays really nice, great action, great feel, no buzz now, and I am happy with it. As for tone, the pickups are not exactly the Fender Jazz sound, but are in the same vein but not to the degree a true Fender Jazz. The coils measure 9.5k, and I do not know what a real Fender measures, so pups will probably be in my future. Anyone know what real pups measure?
I am now torn between blacking this out, and leaving it the chrome/white that it is - haven't decided yet. The machine heads, though most on TB say they replace them, are actually decent and have a positive feel and stay put - so far. Time will tell if they get changed if I stay chrome, and definitely if I black this out. I do have a spare set of Rickenbacker machine heads I could put on it.....
Anyway, it is fun to play, and I feel worth the $120. I stopped today at a local shop to pick up Dunlop Straploks in black and played a Squire Affinity ($199) and a MIM Fender ($400). My SX beats the Squire for feel and finish, and though the clearcoat on the MIM is thicker, I do not believe it is worth the extra $280 for how I intend to use it. If my b&b depended on what bass I played, and I only wanted a Jazz, I'd spend more.
Okay, gotta go check the price of the Quarter-Pounders.....
