Jim's Axes

Click image to enlarge 1978 Fender Jazz bass. SN: 551088. I bought it from a great bassist who I knew in Sacramento, California. His name is John Jones. Last I knew, he moved to Branson Missouri. This bass has a superb sound and is perfect for recording.

original Fender pickups

two volume knobs and one tone knob

used to have a very pale yellow finish but it is stained with tobacco from smoky bars

natural finish fretboard with 20 frets

Fender stock tuners

black pick guard with metal faceplate under the knobs

stock Fender bridge with bridge cover removed

Click image to see details 1985 Ibanez RB885 Roadstar II 5-String bass. I bought it on consignment at a music store in Billings, Montana. This was my first 5-string bass and I have become completely addicted to hearing/feeling those lower notes! This bass has a narrow neck with the strings close together so it was an easy transition from a 4-string bass. I like the tone of the Jazz bass better but I simply must have the option of 5 strings now. Also, I could never get all the strings to have an even volume. Some notes would just jump out and others would disappear so I always played with a compressor. This bass has been sold to M. Wroblewski in Rhode Island in March of 2012.

active electronics

knobs: volume, balance, bass boost/cut and treble boost/cut

pearl white finish with black hardware

ebony fretboard with 24 frets

Ibanez stock hardware

Click image to enlarge 1958 Fender reissue Stratocaster made in U.S.A. When my friend and fellow musician, Lee Ingram, passed away from cancer, I bought his guitar and a bunch of his equipment as part of an estate sale to benefit his kids.

two single coil pickups, bridge pickup is double-coil DiMarzio Humbucker pickup

5-Position blade, one volume and two tone knobs

cream white finish with gold-plated hardware

rosewood fretboard with 21 frets

Fender tuners

white pick guard

Fender bridge and tailpiece but whammy bar is missing

Click image to enlarge Guild D44. I bought this guitar new at Don Weir's Music City in San Francisco in 1975. Unfortunately, it has spent most of its life inside the case.

Click image to see details 1987 Kubicki Ex Factor bass. I bought this bass new at Bananas At Large in San Rafael, California. This was the Cadillac of all my basses as far as ease of playing goes. Unfortunately, it did not have 5 strings so I hardly ever played it. I sold this bass in August of 2004 to Diego Alberto in Italy.

active electronics

concentric volume/pan, & bass boost/treble boost knobs with 6-position rotary selector switch

Kubicki humbucker pickups

Porche yellow Urethane finish with black hardware

alder wood body

"headless" neck is laminated with 37 pieces of rotary-cut maple veneer

ebony fretboard with 23 frets

Kubicki special design bridge

tuning machines are part of the bridge so strings are strung from nut to bridge

E string has extender (spring-loaded string clasp) for low D

Click image to enlarge 2002 German-made Warwick Thumb 5-string bass. I bought this bass on ebay in July of 2004 from a guy who owns a music store in St. Louis. This bass sounds great no matter what amp it is played through! All the strings have the same volume so it has an amazingly even tone - I no longer need to use a compressor! The sustain on it is incredible! The last note you play on this will ring until you dampen it with your hand! It is heavy and a little unbalanced; it likes to neck dive if your strap is slippery. Also it took me a while to get used to the way it hangs on me: The whole neck is shifted about four inches to my left from what I am used to so I had to adjust my reach in order to play the correct notes. I no longer have this bass. Brian Barrett, luthier at LowEnd Bass Shop in Nashville, sold this bass for me in September of 2023.

3-band active preamp

active MEC pickups

African bubinga pommelé wood body

Natural oil finish with black hardware

body is ergonomically designed to be easy to wear

classic neck-thru design

5-piece ovangkol and bubinga neck

26 frets

Click image to enlarge This 2009 Mike Lull M5 bass is my latest bass aquisition! This bass plays as beautifully as it looks and it has a supurb sound! I was looking for a bass that sounded as good as my Fender Jazz but with a fifth string. I believe I have found it with this bass! It is also very lightweight and very easy to play. Even though the neck is wide, it is thin so it is easy to get your hand around the neck. I guess there is something about the graphite reinforced neck that allows it to be so thin and yet strong.

Swamp Ash body with AAAAA Maple Top

Graphite reinforced Maple neck

Birdseye Maple fingerboard

Contoured Neck Heel

35" Scale length

24 fret two octave neck

12" radius fingerboard

1 -7/8" nut width

Bone nut

Chrome hardware

Hipshot Ultralite tuners

Aguilar Active tone circuit

Bassline pickups (seymour duncan)

Aluminum bridge

Frets have been PLEK'd

Click image to enlarge This 2016 PRS S2 Custom 24 was my 2016 aquisition! I was looking for something like a Les Paul but not as heavy. I ended up narrowing it down to three different guitars: There was a Telecaster, a Les Paul Lite and this PRS S2 Custom 24. I played all three and the PRS turned out to be my favorite. This guitar had all the sounds I was looking for. It is an extremely well-engineered instrument: It stays perfectly in tune no matter how hard you play it or how much you bend the strings!

Classic maple top/mahogany back

PRS low mass locking tuners

Rosewood fretboard with bird inlays

Mahogany neck

Nickel hardware

24 fret two octave neck

3-way blade switch

PRS Patented Tremolo

Push/Pull Tone Control for Coil-Tapping

85/15 "S" Pickups

Click image to enlarge SN:2111098116
I bought this Taylor GS Mini Bass in May of 2019. I needed a light and portable acoustic bass to take to the Tumbleweed Music Festival. The Taylor GS Mini-e Bass is an acoustic-electric bass. Its compact, small-scale design is lightweight, comfortable, and easy on your hands. It has a punchy tone with plenty of resonance, courtesy of the GS Mini-e Bass's spruce-topped sapele body. Custom nylon-core D'Addario strings optimize this bass's sound. Taylor's ES-B pickup ensures top-notch sound when you plug the GS Mini-e into a PA or an amplifier. The Taylor GS Mini-e Bass is a great acoustic-electric bass for writing, recording, and performing. This GS Mini series is a scaled-down version of the popular Grand Symphony guitar shape. The GS Mini-e Bass features a 23-1/2-inch scale length, which makes it comfortable and playable. Kids, beginners, and guitarists who don't normally play bass find it easy to play.

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Click image to enlarge	1978 Fender Jazz bass. SN: 551088. I bought it from a great bassist who I knew in Sacramento, California. His name is John Jones. Last I knew, he moved to Branson Missouri. This bass has a superb sound and is perfect for recording. original Fender pickups two volume knobs and one tone knob used to have a very pale yellow finish but it is stained with tobacco from smoky bars natural finish fretboard with 20 frets Fender stock tuners black pick guard with metal faceplate under the knobs stock Fender bridge with bridge cover removed

Click image to see details	1985 Ibanez RB885 Roadstar II 5-String bass. I bought it on consignment at a music store in Billings, Montana. This was my first 5-string bass and I have become completely addicted to hearing/feeling those lower notes! This bass has a narrow neck with the strings close together so it was an easy transition from a 4-string bass. I like the tone of the Jazz bass better but I simply must have the option of 5 strings now. Also, I could never get all the strings to have an even volume. Some notes would just jump out and others would disappear so I always played with a compressor. This bass has been sold to M. Wroblewski in Rhode Island in March of 2012. active electronics knobs: volume, balance, bass boost/cut and treble boost/cut pearl white finish with black hardware ebony fretboard with 24 frets Ibanez stock hardware

Click image to enlarge	1958 Fender reissue Stratocaster made in U.S.A. When my friend and fellow musician, Lee Ingram, passed away from cancer, I bought his guitar and a bunch of his equipment as part of an estate sale to benefit his kids. two single coil pickups, bridge pickup is double-coil DiMarzio Humbucker pickup 5-Position blade, one volume and two tone knobs cream white finish with gold-plated hardware rosewood fretboard with 21 frets Fender tuners white pick guard Fender bridge and tailpiece but whammy bar is missing

Click image to enlarge	Guild D44. I bought this guitar new at Don Weir's Music City in San Francisco in 1975. Unfortunately, it has spent most of its life inside the case.

Click image to see details	1987 Kubicki Ex Factor bass. I bought this bass new at Bananas At Large in San Rafael, California. This was the Cadillac of all my basses as far as ease of playing goes. Unfortunately, it did not have 5 strings so I hardly ever played it. I sold this bass in August of 2004 to Diego Alberto in Italy. active electronics concentric volume/pan, & bass boost/treble boost knobs with 6-position rotary selector switch Kubicki humbucker pickups Porche yellow Urethane finish with black hardware alder wood body "headless" neck is laminated with 37 pieces of rotary-cut maple veneer ebony fretboard with 23 frets Kubicki special design bridge tuning machines are part of the bridge so strings are strung from nut to bridge E string has extender (spring-loaded string clasp) for low D

Click image to enlarge	2002 German-made Warwick Thumb 5-string bass. I bought this bass on ebay in July of 2004 from a guy who owns a music store in St. Louis. This bass sounds great no matter what amp it is played through! All the strings have the same volume so it has an amazingly even tone - I no longer need to use a compressor! The sustain on it is incredible! The last note you play on this will ring until you dampen it with your hand! It is heavy and a little unbalanced; it likes to neck dive if your strap is slippery. Also it took me a while to get used to the way it hangs on me: The whole neck is shifted about four inches to my left from what I am used to so I had to adjust my reach in order to play the correct notes. I no longer have this bass. Brian Barrett, luthier at LowEnd Bass Shop in Nashville, sold this bass for me in September of 2023. 3-band active preamp active MEC pickups African bubinga pommelé wood body Natural oil finish with black hardware body is ergonomically designed to be easy to wear classic neck-thru design 5-piece ovangkol and bubinga neck 26 frets

Click image to enlarge	This 2009 Mike Lull M5 bass is my latest bass aquisition! This bass plays as beautifully as it looks and it has a supurb sound! I was looking for a bass that sounded as good as my Fender Jazz but with a fifth string. I believe I have found it with this bass! It is also very lightweight and very easy to play. Even though the neck is wide, it is thin so it is easy to get your hand around the neck. I guess there is something about the graphite reinforced neck that allows it to be so thin and yet strong. Swamp Ash body with AAAAA Maple Top Graphite reinforced Maple neck Birdseye Maple fingerboard Contoured Neck Heel 35" Scale length 24 fret two octave neck 12" radius fingerboard 1 -7/8" nut width Bone nut Chrome hardware Hipshot Ultralite tuners Aguilar Active tone circuit Bassline pickups (seymour duncan) Aluminum bridge Frets have been PLEK'd

Click image to enlarge	This 2016 PRS S2 Custom 24 was my 2016 aquisition! I was looking for something like a Les Paul but not as heavy. I ended up narrowing it down to three different guitars: There was a Telecaster, a Les Paul Lite and this PRS S2 Custom 24. I played all three and the PRS turned out to be my favorite. This guitar had all the sounds I was looking for. It is an extremely well-engineered instrument: It stays perfectly in tune no matter how hard you play it or how much you bend the strings! Classic maple top/mahogany back PRS low mass locking tuners Rosewood fretboard with bird inlays Mahogany neck Nickel hardware 24 fret two octave neck 3-way blade switch PRS Patented Tremolo Push/Pull Tone Control for Coil-Tapping 85/15 "S" Pickups

Click image to enlarge	SN:2111098116 I bought this Taylor GS Mini Bass in May of 2019. I needed a light and portable acoustic bass to take to the Tumbleweed Music Festival. The Taylor GS Mini-e Bass is an acoustic-electric bass. Its compact, small-scale design is lightweight, comfortable, and easy on your hands. It has a punchy tone with plenty of resonance, courtesy of the GS Mini-e Bass's spruce-topped sapele body. Custom nylon-core D'Addario strings optimize this bass's sound. Taylor's ES-B pickup ensures top-notch sound when you plug the GS Mini-e into a PA or an amplifier. The Taylor GS Mini-e Bass is a great acoustic-electric bass for writing, recording, and performing. This GS Mini series is a scaled-down version of the popular Grand Symphony guitar shape. The GS Mini-e Bass features a 23-1/2-inch scale length, which makes it comfortable and playable. Kids, beginners, and guitarists who don't normally play bass find it easy to play.