Birthday / Dad's day present coming!

[Dave W]

Poor Two Sheds. All he wanted to do was talk about his music. Let this be a warning.

[Denis]

He's a relative of Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson.

Hahaha!

[Pilgrim]

I checked the tracking report on the Jack Casady and it should arrive tomorrow - but it was shipped signature required (which I understand) so it will take me another day to get it.

IIRC, the last bass I bought from this gent, he not only sent it sig required, but required that it be signed IN PERSON - no signature slip could be left.  This REALLY pissed me off.  It happened that the first delivery attempt was two days before I was going on a week's business trip and unless I could get to the UPS depot to pick it up, the bass would have been sent back....because I couldn't sign a delivery slip and leave it.

The upshot was that I had one evening after work (the following day) to get the instrument, so I drove 15 miles each way through a blizzard in the only car available - my 280ZX with no snow tires - to get to the damn depot 15 minutes before they closed.  It was snowing and blowing so hard that I couldn't even read the street signs - they were plastered over with snow.  I sent him a strongly worded note recommending that he NOT require an in-person signature on his shipments.  I understand the need for security, but not everyone lives in a neighborhood with barred windows and rabid dobermans in the yard.

I sincerely hope that he didn't ship sig-required-in-person this time, as it's a 30-mile round trip to the UPS depot from my house.   At least it's summer and I'm not going out of town.

[Highlander]

Timing is everything, dear boy, timing is everything... 

[Pilgrim]

It's here - it's lovely - and the neck cracks appear to be easy to work with.  There are very thin cracks between the fretboard and neck on both sides for about 2" from the nut down the neck.  At first I was thinking I wouldn't even touch them - but twisting a bit on the headstock showed that they do open a tiny bit when twisting. I think I will try the small syringe and super glue injection...but the cracks are SO small I may only be able to work on one side.

I'll post pics tomorrow.  And I can offer these notes - this Casdady bass is a moderate (not severe) neck diver, and it DOES sound different than any other bass I have.  There are many times that I really don't hear much if any difference between basses - NOT this time.  The Casady has a growl and authority that's unique in my experience.

[Dave W]

That doesn't sound too bad. Since the cracks are on both sides, I wonder if maybe someone used very high tension strings and overcranked the truss rod to compensate. With superglue and normal tension I hope it won't give you any problems.

[Pilgrim]

When I got around to actually twisting the headstock, I can hear the neck give a bit and I think I see the cracks move...but it's really hard to see.  None of my other basses including my 70's Univox hollowbody act the same way or make any sound when twisting the headstock and body opposite ways (not that I've had a lot of reason to do this. "What are you up to this evening?" ..."Oh, I'm just sittin' around, twisting my headstock." ..."OK, I didn't know that was what it was called now...") 

I will work it out more this evening. 

[wagdog]

When you glue it up make sure you clamp it too to get the most wood to wood contact.  The Casady is also very sensitive to different strings.  I've settled on Blue Steels but it also sounds great with TI flats.

[Pilgrim]

When you glue it up make sure you clamp it too to get the most wood to wood contact. 

Good advice, I'm sure!

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

Congrats. Nice lookin' bass! 

[Pilgrim]

Since I've been a lazy butt and haven't gotten new photos, here are some from the auction...with the vendor's sig on them.  

(photos deleted except for neck cracks...)

Here's the E side crack:


Here's the A side crack:

[Pilgrim]

And...new photos from this am...along with my recent Gretsch acquisition...






Also see my post under repairs asking for thoughts on how to get a super glue smear off the neck.

[Highlander]

I so like the colour of that JC...

What is the scale length, Al...? Never seen one of those Gretch's, which looks even shorter...?

[Pilgrim]

The Casady is 34", the Gretsch is 30".  I'm very pleased with the sound out of both.  The Gretsch has a LOT more balls than the average inexpensive single pickup bass...it's a pretty hot pickup.  The Casady seems to gain volume as I turn the varitone switch from low to high (50-250-500).  The 50 setting is brighter, and the 500 setting has a strong low end with some real growl on the lower strings. VERY authoritative.  

I've already put the Casady in the category of "will not let go of this one".  If I had to choose one short-scale from those I own, the Gretsch would be a very strong contender.  I have a matching Gretsch pickup to mount in an old Lyle hollowbody - it ought to sound super!

[Highlander]

Ta, Al... I've always wanted to replace an EB2 copy I had as a first instrument, and this may come within a potential future budgetary range... 

I have never, ever played a short scale bass...